Publication Date:
2019
Description:
〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉Successive wars and the establishment of a border between the kingdom of Burma and British India in the nineteenth century challenged Burmese conceptions of sovereignty and political space. This essay investigates how European, and more specifically Anglo-American, notions of race, nation, and consular protection to nationals, progressively informed the Burmese concepts of ‘categories of people’ 〈span〉(lumyo)〈/span〉 and ‘subject’ 〈span〉(kyun)〈/span〉. First, I present the semantic evolution of these concepts in the 1820s–1830s, following the annexation of the western Burmese province of Arakan by British India in 1824. Then, I argue that the Burmese concept of 〈span〉lumyo〈/span〉 was progressively associated with the European concept of ‘nations’ in the 1850s–1860s, following the annexation of Lower Burma in 1852. Finally, I uncover developments in the 1870s, when British consular protection extended to several freshly categorised ‘nations’, such as Shan, Karenni, and Kachin.〈/p〉〈/div〉
Print ISSN:
0022-4634
Electronic ISSN:
1474-0680
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Political Science
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