Queen Supayalat

HM Queen Supayalat, the Last Queen of Burma

HM Queen Supayalat (13 December 1859-24 November 1925) became the "Middle Palace Queen" of King Thibaw in 1916 at the age of 19. During her seven years on the throne she fought attempts by reformist ministers to curtail royal authority (especially royal spending). She also fought to limit the number of queens and royal concubines. British propaganda portrayed her as a decadent tyrant, dominating her husband and opposed to all change. Negative images of the king and queen were usually...

The vision of King Thibaw’s government

This is a rare early photograph of King Thibaw and Queen Supayalat. The government of King Thibaw came to power in November 1878. Contrary to popular views, it was a highly reformist government at first, led by men such as the Kinwun Mingyi and the Yaw Atwinwun, as well as several who had returned from studies in Europe. They were eager to modernize, reach out to the West, and preserve Burma's independence, but their ambitious plans for political and economic...

"Sin Kho Ma Lay"

This photograph from Mandalay has been identified as the 1880s court dancer and favourite of Queen Supayalat, Ma Shwe Hmyin. She is perhaps better known by her sobriquet "Sin Kho Ma Lay" (or "the little maid carried away on an elephant") after having allegedly been transported on an elephant to the smitten Yanaung Prince (Maung Toke).

The ultimatum that led to war

On 22 October 1885 Lord Dufferin the Viceroy of India issued an ultimatum calling on the government of King Thibaw to place its foreign relations under the permanent control of the British Indian Empire. The formal aim of the ultimatum was a resolution of the dispute with the Bombay-Burmah Trading Company but the real intent was to permanently end Burmese sovereignty. The British were increasingly worried about prospect of closer Franco-Burmese relations and attracted to the idea of Burma as...