1800s
Scenes of Konbaung court life
room Myanmar
In recent years, numerous Burmese manuscripts held in collections around the world have been digitized and are available for viewing online. These manuscripts are meticulously illustrated in full-colour and provide a remarkable insight into the details of daily life during the Konbaung era, from an age before cameras and film.
A Burmese Regatta: Annual regattas were traditionally held around September, in the sixth month of the Burmese calendar called Tawthalin. “A finer sight than their regattas, when the king is present, can hardly be conceived,” reported an Australian newspaper (the Launceston Examiner) in 1861. “The boats are all of the light elegant build, the bottom scooped from the trunk of a single gigantic teak tree […] varying in length from sixty to eighty or even one hundred feet, and rowed by crews of nearly those numbers.”
This image of a regatta is from a book of court festivals that is one of some 1,800 Burmese manuscripts held at the British Library. The library keeps an ongoing list of manuscripts that have been digitized to date.
Burmese Polo: Equestrian festivals (traditionally held over December/January in the tenth month of the Burmese calendar known as Pyatho) were considered part of royal events right until the last king was exiled by the British in 1885. These nine men are playing polo (guli in Burmese), which had been part of these festivals since at least the 15th century. This image is from a group of manuscripts depicting traditional games of Burma that have been digitized by the British Library.
A Royal Donation: This scene comes from a mid-19th-century parabeik (traditional Burmese books crafted from bark paper and folded horizontally in a concertina fashion) that records seven royal donation ceremonies made by King Mindon (r. 1853-78) during the first few years of his reign. In this donation ceremony, held in 1853 at Kyaukmyaung in today’s Sagaing Division, King Mindon is seated under the canopy on the left and the text records that 100,000 oil lamps are being set afloat on the Irrawaddy River. All seven royal donation scenes can be viewed online via the British Library’s Digitised Manuscripts Viewer.
Sabbath: This is the opening scene of an especially lavish and detailed parabeik containing 15 scenes of court processions, ceremonies and events. Likely painted in the 1870s, the artist has captured tremendous detail of contemporary dress, textiles, and hair styles. The original parabeik is held at the Met Museum of art and can be scrolled through online in its entirety.
Alms-giving Ceremony: This 19th-century alms-giving ceremony shows the Burmese practice of offering food to monks – one of the most common rituals practised in Myanmar to this day. This manuscript was digitized by the British library and is part of a collection of scenes of Burmese New Year, when alms-giving is among various other rituals performed.
King Mindon’s Amusements: These scenes come from a parabeik of 16 images that chronicle “royal amusements” enjoyed by King Mindon. Scenes include: a ploughing ceremony, a game of chinlon (played with a rattan ball), cock-fighting, wrestling, a royal barge procession, a dramatic performance, and a tiger hunt. The parabeik can be viewed online in its entirety as part of the digitized manuscripts collection at the Penn Museum in Pennsylvania, USA.
King Thibaw’s Amusements: This image is from another parabeik booklet held at the Penn Museum. It contains six images from the life of King Thibaw (r.1878-85). This scene shows King Thibaw meeting with his ministers.
The Last Court at Mandalay: The Victoria & Albert Museum in London holds a rare album of 48 paintings that depict a range of officials and their wives from the last Burmese court at Mandalay. The paintings are exquisite portraits of individuals and include a detailed recording of each of their personal insignia and regalia. The leather-bound album was likely commissioned by a European visitor from local court artists. This painting of an “Hindu Brahmin” at the court is one of seven images available for viewing online at the V&A Museum’s website.
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