Mindon Min, born Maung Lwin, was the penultimate king of Burma from 1853 to 1878.
18 Facts About Mindon Min
2.
Mindon Min was one of the most popular and revered kings of Burma.
3.
Mindon Min spent most of his reign trying to defend the upper part of his country from British encroachments, and to modernize his kingdom.
4.
Mindon Min studied at the Maha Zawtika monastic college in Amarapura until the age of 23, and he held deep respect for religion and religious scholarship throughout his entire life.
5.
Under Pagan, Mindon was the president of the Council of State, and was presiding as the Second Anglo-Burmese War began.
6.
Mindon Min was against the continuation of the war and favored an unpopular program of appeasement.
7.
The early reign of Mindon was characterized by joint rule with Kanaung, who was allowed a large court and was designated Mindon's heir, as well as given control over matters of technology, modernization, and the arts.
8.
Immediately following his taking of the throne, Mindon went into a ceasefire with the British, coming into effect on 30 June 1853.
9.
In late 1853, Mindon won a pyrrhic victory against the Siamese, but when they returned again, he sent 3,000 cavalry supported by artillery, which finally stopped the Siamese encroachment upon Burmese land.
10.
King Mindon founded the last royal capital of Burma, Mandalay, in 1857.
11.
Mindon Min had already created the world's largest book in 1868, the Tipitaka, 729 pages of the Buddhist Pali Canon inscribed in marble and each stone slab housed in a small stupa at the Kuthodaw Pagoda at the foot of Mandalay Hill.
12.
In 1871 Mindon donated a new hti to the 105-metre-tall Shwedagon Pagoda, which is located in then British held Yangon, although he was not allowed to visit this most famous and venerated pagoda in the country.
13.
On 15 August 1873, Mindon enacted the Seventeen Articles, one of Southeast Asia's first indigenous press freedom laws.
14.
In 1875, during a royal consecration ceremony, Mindon took on the title Siripavaravijayanantayasa Pandita Tribhavanadityadhipati Mahadhammarajadhiraja.
15.
Mindon Min was in charge of the Royal Army, as was customarily required of Burmese crown princes, and he imported and manufactured guns, cannons and shells.
16.
Mindon Min helped build monasteries and missionary schools for Buddhism.
17.
The first non-Sangha-run schools in Burma was run by Christians, and Mindon himself sent his son, Thibaw Min, to study in a missionary school.
18.
Mindon Min reasserted the king's role of being the protector of Buddha Sasana, convened the Fifth Buddhist Council in 1871, and supported the work of scholar-monks and their returning to Lower Burma to teach.