Maung Maung Tin (Burmese: မောင်မောင်တင်; 20 August 1866—23 March 1945), also known as Mandalay U Tin, was a prince of the Konbaung dynasty, courtier, resistance leader, British colonial civil servant, writer, and historian. He is best known as the author of the last royal chronicle of Burma—the Konbaung Set Yazawin.^[1][2][3]

Royal ancestry

Maung Maung Tin's royal name was Hteik Tin Maung Maung Tin (Burmese: ထိပ်တင်မောင်မောင်တင်).

Maung Maung Tin was of both Burmese and Thai royal blood. He was a great-great-grandson of Hsinbyushin and, therefore, one of Alaungpaya's great-great-great-grandsons—the founder of the Konbaung dynasty, Burma's last royal house.

Maung Maung Tin's ancestral connection to these two widely eulogized kings of Burma can be traced fairly well. Sometime during the late 18th century, the Princess of Tantabin Thiri Pabadewi (Burmese: သီရိပဘာဒေဝီ), a daughter of Hsinbyushin, was wedded to the Prince of Wuntho Minye Myat Swar (Burmese: မင်းရဲမြတ်စွာ). They would later produce a son whose date of birth is not known. During the latter half of the 19th century, this son of theirs, Prince of Myinmu Minye Thiha Kyaw (Burmese: မြင်းမူမင်သာ မင်းရဲသီဟကျော်), went on to wed the Ayutthaya princess Kyauk Pwa Saw, whose ancestors were, ironically, part of the cadre of Ayutthaya royals forcefully relocated to the ancient capital city of Inwa by Hsinbyushin during the Burmese–Siamese wars of the late 18th century. It was to this royal couple, in 1866, that Maung Maung Tin was born. He had an older sister Princess Kyundaung.^[1][4]

Early life and education

Maung Maung Tin was born to the Myinmu prince Minye Thiha Kyaw and Ayutthaya princess Kyauk Pwa Saw (Burmese: ကျောက်ဖွားစော) under the reign of then king of Burma Mindon Min in Burma's former capital city of Mandalay in the early morning hours of the 20th of August, 1866—a Monday.^[5]

In 1876, at the age of 10, he was ordained as a novice at Shwe Kyin Monastery, situated at the foot of Mandalay Hill. Upon completing his time as a novice, the prince continued his education as a layperson, delving into the realm of Burmese Studies at the very same monastery. Subsequently, he pursued English Studies at the court school of Dr. J.E. Marks, a renowned institution dedicated to imparting English education to Burmese princes and princesses.

During his time at the court school, the young prince's exceptional abilities were recognized, earning him a scholarship and a stipend of fifteen kyats from His Majesty the King's Treasury. At the tender age of fifteen, Maung Maung Tin, accompanied by his father the Myinmu Prince, was summoned to serve at the royal court of King Thibaw.

Third Anglo-Burmese War

After Burma's defeat in the Third Anglo-Burmese War and Thibaw Min's resultant capture in 1885, many Burmese, especially those in the arid Bamar heartlands of central Burma, took up arms and put up fierce resistance against the English. Since the British army virtually bypassed the entirety of the Royal Burmese Armed Forces, there were still many Burmese soldiers who were on active duty and, hence, proved a formidable force. Though he was just 19 years old at the time, Maung Maung Tin partook in these resistance efforts and, by virtue of the fact that he was a prince, led them. Eventually, however, after 5 years of fighting and some diplomatic maneuvering by the British, he agreed to lay down his arms in 1890. A year later in 1891, he would be endowed upon by the British an administrative role in the townships of Kawlin and Pinlebu, Sagaing Region.^[1]

Civil Servant

In 1891, Maung Maung Tin was given chief administrative roles in the Sagaing towns of Kawlin and Pinlebu, thus earning him the name Kawlin Mintha (Burmese: ကော်လင်း မင်းသာ), or prince of Kawlin. 15 years later, in 1906, he was brought up to the provincial level and became Kyaukse District's principal secretary. While serving, he was awarded the Good Service Medal (Burmese: အမှုထမ်းကောင်း ရွှေတံဆိပ်ရမင်း). He lived in the town of Myittha during the first few years of this tour of duty before moving to Ye-U town. It is in this town that he would be awarded once more. This time with the K.S.M (Burmese: ကျက်သရေဆောင် ရွှေစလွယ်ရမင်း), roughly translated to "Medal of Honour" in English, in 1916.^[1]

In 1917, he was promoted to the rank of Extra Assistant Commissioner (E.A.C.) and reassigned to Monywa District. He would live in the town of Monywa for the next 4 years.

After 30 years of service in the British colonial administration of Burma, Maung Maung Tin would withdraw from public service in 1921.

However, in 1925, Sir Harcourt Butler, the Governor of Burma, appointed Maung Maung Tin as the Mahadunwun (Minister of Religious Affairs). With great dedication, Maung Maung Tin devoted himself to the development and purification of religious affairs during his tenure from 1925 to 1940.

Historian

Besides being a writer and government official, Maung Maung Tin was also a historian. It is not known, however, why he developed an interest in history, but based on the many activities he conducted throughout his life, it can be concluded that Maung Maung Tin felt a great desire to safeguard and preserve Burmese history for future generations of Burmese.

Maung Maung Tin possessed a profound passion for collecting, amassing a remarkable collection that showcased the very best of Burmese civilization. Over the course of several decades, he astutely gathered an array of cultural artifacts and antiques, including ancient Theravada Buddhist scriptures and canonical gold inscriptions inscribed on white pa-ra-paik (palm leaf manuscripts). This was an activity that he performed up until the Second World War. This collection of his, stored in his Mandalay home, eventually grew to over 4,000 palace manuscripts, including records, drawings, plays, etc. before it was set ablaze by retreating allied KMT Chinese forces in 1942 during the Japanese invasion of Burma.

This interest of his eventually compelled him towards a stint as a college professor. After briefly stepping down from politics in 1921, Maung Maung Tin volunteered as a professor to teach students of the Mandalay College history twice a week, which he did so in the hopes that the knowledge he imparted would benefit future generations.^[1]

Konbaung Set Yazawin

Maung Maung Tin is the author of the last royal chronicle of Burma, the Konbaung Set Yazawin (Burmese: ကုန်းဘောင်ဆက် ရာဇဝင်တော်ကြီး). The chronicle covers the entire history of the Konbaung dynasty through a synthesis of the parts of the two previous chronicles—the Hmannan Yazawin and Dutiya Yazawin—which focus on the relevant royal house, historical records, notes from interviews of former courtiers, and U Maung Maung Tin's own writing.^[1]

Death

While on a visit to Thailand in April 1945, Maung Maung Tin fell ill and, shortly after, died on 23 March from dysentery in the town of Taunggyi, Shan state.^[1]

Family

Maung Maung Tin had 13 children in total with Hteik Tin Sint, who he married in 1890. His children are listed here in descending order: Hla Tin, Tin Tin Kyi, Tin Tin, Tin Tin Aye, Tin Tin Nwe, Saw Tin, Tin Tin Phyu, Tin Tin Let, Tin Tin May, Tin Tin Shwe, Tin Tin Nu, Tin Tin Su, and Tin Maung Maung Lay. His granddaughter Su Su Lwin is a politician and former First Lady of Myanmar who married Htin Kyaw, the ninth president of Myanmar.

References