| ID | 077782 |
| Title Proper | Governing British Burma |
| Other Title Information | the career of Charles Bayne (1860 - 1947) in the Indian Civil Service |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Bayne, Nicholas |
| Publication | 2007. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | My grandfather, Charles Bayne, spent his career in the Indian Civil Service administering Burma from 1880 to 1906. He and three colleagues - Edward Symes, Donald Smeaton and Herbert Thirkell White - filled the key posts in the central Burmese administration for two decades. He assisted Sir Charles Crosthwaite (Chief Commissioner 1887 - 90) in pacifying the province after the third Burmese war. Through the calmer 1890s he was responsible for economic policies, especially rice cultivation and teak forests. But the quartet broke up in the 1900s: Symes committed suicide; Smeaton fell out with Lord Curzon; Bayne, after two breakdowns, retired early; only White survived, to end his career as Lieutenant Governor. Burma's experience 100 years ago has parallels with the occupation of Iraq and the advance of globalization. The British annexed Upper Burma before deciding its future. The colonial administration was orderly, but inhibited the growth of locally based, democratic government, with consequences still seen today. Burma under British rule grew rich from the export of rice and teak (and later oil), but this wealth went mainly to expatriates, not local Burmese cultivators. The resentment this caused later brought a reversion to inward-looking economic policies |
| `In' analytical Note | Round Table Vol. 96, No.389; Apr 2007: p121-134 |
| Journal Source | Round Table Vol. 96, No.389; Apr 2007: p121-134 |
| Key Words | Burma ; Secretary ; Secretariat ; Administration ; Rice ; Teak ; Globalization |