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Potrait of Mindon Min By ​en user Wagaung,

Top 10 Astonishing Facts about Mindon Min

Mindon Min was the Konbaung dynasty’s last monarch. He was born on 8th July 1808 in Maung Lwin, Burma and he died on October 1, 1878, at Mandalay Palace. He ruled from 1852 to 1878 and was the most capable and modern of the dynasty’s rulers. Mindon was the son of Tharrawaddy Min and his mother Chandra Mata Mahay, the Queen of the South Royal Chamber. 

He completed his undergraduate studies at Amarapura’s Maha Zawtika Monastic College when he was 23 years old, and he had a lifelong devotion to religious studies and research.

The following are 10 astonishing facts about Mindon Min.

1. He was Very Fertile

Besides being an icon of his people, Mindon Min was fortunate to be strong and fertile. Mindon Min had a Total of 45 Consorts and Concubines. They collectively bore him 55 sons and 53 daughters. His consorts comprised four first-rank queens and four queens of the second rank.

As a result, his many concubines and consorts had brought his total number of children to 108. This was uniquely remarkable and added to his posterity as the King.

2. He was the Founder of Myanmar’s Capital, Mandalay

Portrait of King Mindon Photo by Unknown Author

The reign of Mindon is seen as a cultural and religious apex in Myanmar’s history. In 1857, he constructed Mandalay, the new capital of Myanmar, which features stunning palaces and temples built in the traditional style.

A fifth Buddhist council was convened in Mandalay in 1871 to edit and cleanse the Pli texts, which the King also hoped to become a centre of Buddhist scholarship there.

3. He Fought for His Throne but Cowered To Fight For Independence.

After a brutal succession battle with his half-brother Pagan Min, Mindon was crowned King. Mindon had served as the Council of State’s President under Pagan. Instead of fighting on, he supported an unpopular conciliatory strategy, with Kanaung Mintha, his brother, as his most steadfast supporter throughout this period.

The loss of so much land in two successive wars depleted the Burmese spirit in Burma, which was jointly controlled by the Burmese and the British. His three-pronged strategy to halt the decline in morale was to pursue right and non-provocative ties with the British and to modernize his backward country’s economy.

As a result of their calm negotiations, the British chopped off part of Mindon’s land and dispatched his chief minister on an international diplomatic mission in London, Â鶹APP, and Rome. To gain international recognition of Myanmar’s independence and to make a case for the return of its exiled territory, this was done.

4. Religious Devotion Took His Best

A total of 217 monasteries-complexes and, and 1442 monasteries were established in Amarapura and Mandalay under the reign of King Mindon. Eleven sermon halls were established in Mandalay by him. In addition, the palace’s outer gates were surrounded by a network of twelve prayer rooms. Those who adhered to his five principles received gifts of money and clothing.

King Mindon put out effort for both monks and non-monks alike. There were more than11,000 monks in Amarapura and the capital, Mandalay, according to a list from 1874.  The king also devised a reward system for monks who excelled in their religious studies.

5. He Hosted the Famous Shwedagon Pagoda’s New Tiered Canopy

Portrait of King Mindon Photo by Unknown Author

King Mindon’s most notable accomplishment was the raising of the Shwedagon Pagoda’s new tiered canopy in Yangon. A well-wisher, Ko Tun Aung, petitioned the monarch on December 5th, 1869, pleading with him to purchase a new umbrella to replace the current one.

The Shwedagon Pagoda’s throwing finial was safeguarded as royal merit for centuries and therefore selected by the king.

6. Despite His Devout Buddhism, He Tolerated Other Religions

Mindon was well-known for both his Buddhist fervour and his openness to other faiths. He helped built mosques for Muslims, missionary schools and churches for Christians, and a rest lodge for Burmese Muslims in Mecca, all of which he supported financially.  

In Burma, the first non-Sangha-controlled schools were managed by Christians, and King Mindon himself enrolled his son, Thibaw Min, on a missionary school.

7. He Preserved His Brother’s Loyalty in Governance

It was astonishing how Mindon managed to keep his brother loyal to him and entrust him with a senior position in the government. This was unusual as most royal siblings are known to be a rivalry for the throne.

Burmese recall Kanaung, the younger brother of King Mindon, as a modernizer who would go to factories early in the morning with a blanket wrapped over him to assess how the equipment worked.

Managing the Royal Army was part of Kanaung’s duties as Burmese crown prince. He procured and created a variety of weapons and ammunition.

8. He Failed to Leave a Capable Successor for the Kingdom

As a result of the assassination of the Burmese heir apparent in 1866, King Mindon did not choose a successor. This was undoubtedly the biggest blunder of his administration in a country without an ordered monarchical succession pattern.

After the death of Mindon Min in 1878, the Burmese Konbaung dynasty was replaced by the British colonial administration of Burma in 1885 because of Prince Thibaw’s incapacity. All this failure was due to a palace plot by his two sons who attempted a palace coup against him and his brother Kanaung

9. Despite the European Oppression, He Paid Back With Good

Mindon Min Sketch By Sir Henry Yule

Mindon Min had renounced the monastic life to take the throne as a peaceful gesture. All European prisoners held by the Burmese were released by him as a gesture of goodwill. Nevertheless, the British did not cease their invasion of Burma.

As a result of their second battle with the Burmese, the British obtained the remainder of Lower Burma. Before colonial power was imposed in full, his reign was renowned both for its reforms and for its artistic expression.

10. He Broke the Burial Traditions.

The Konbaung Kingdom’s tenth monarch, Mindon Min, passed away at the age of 64 on October 1st, 1878, at Mandalay Palace. Before his funeral, which was held on October 7th, there was a seven-day period of grief. The Hluttaw Council (centre of government) proclaimed his son Thibaw as the next king.

There had been a tradition in the Konbaung Kingdom of placing cremated bones into velvet bags that were subsequently dumped in the river; Mindon Min broke with this practice and had his remains buried intact at the spot where his tomb sits to date. He was the last Monarch to be buried in Kobaung