伊東 利勝

Most studies of peasant uprisings against the colonial government in Burma have concentrated on the Peasant Rebellions of 1930-1932, although there were frequent smaller uprisings. An attempt will be made to throw new light upon this field of study by constructing a model of Burmese peasant uprisings, taking into consideration the cultural conditions of the time. As it is an example which allows clear observation of the rebel Burmese peasant consciousness, this paper will study the Myinmu uprising, which broke out in Myinmu township of Sagaing district on the 7th November 1910, with regard to the process by which a leader emerged, the formation of rebel groups, and the socio-economic background.<br>In this work it will be shown that the uprising was composed of three factors: (1) the emergence of a "Buddhistic" leader possessing supernatural powers, who (2) excited the peasants' expectations of a coming Buddhist millennium, and (3) a concurrent major economic crisis. When the peasants anticipated the advent of an ideal society in which Minlaung or Setkyamin rules by Buddhist Law, and a disastrous crop failure or economic collapse attackted their livelihood, then peasant uprisings broke out.<br>Other rural uprisings resulting from colonial rule equally reveal these three factors. Even if some of the supernatural "Buddhistic" leaders exploited contemporary sentiment by claiming relationship with the late Konbaung kings, or if a world without taxes was presented as a pragmatic image of the ideal society, a set of three factors leads to the uprisings.<br>The peasants did not rise up against the government with Da, or swords and spears, if one or more of these elements were lacking. For example, when the first and second factors, but not the third, were present, the movements would result in the peaceful formation of religious sects, or in petty uprisings without widespread support. And when a "Buddhistic" leader did not emerge, or various interpretations of the millennium arose amongst the people, the uprisings would neither occur easily nor be so long-lasting.<br>However, each of the three factors does not have equal weight. Economic crisis is the most important, and is fundamental to the occurrence of peasant uprisings. The usual pattern is that a "Buddhistic" leader emerges owing to an economic crisis, so that people seek to achieve an ideal Buddistic society. The more serious the crisis, the more popular, long-lasting and widespred would be the uprisings.

この論文は国立情報学研究所の学術雑誌公開支援事業により電子化されました。A rebellion led by a pongyi (Buddhist monk) named U Thuriya, who lived in a monastery at Mayinkaing near Zigon, broke out in July 1888 in the Tharrawaddy district. The monk's adherents, about 1,700 in all, were villagers from the northern part of this district, who were discontented with heavy land, capitation and punitive police taxation. The rebels were tattooed with four Burmese letters that meant invulnerable, and rallied round the Myingun Prince as their leader. From investigations of 14 other anti-colonial uprisings that took place in the late 19th century in Lower Burma, it appears that Myingun was merely a symbol. What is important about this and several other uprisings is that pongyis were the leaders and that tattooing, a traditional practice legitimized by Buddhism, was the means by which they obtained their followers. These two factors and the motive behind the rebellion can thus be understood in the context of fork Buddhism. The name of the Myingun Prince was used and the restoration of the Burmese Empire was proclaimed because leaders would not otherwise have been able to impose their concept of the ideal society on the people.

The rapid growth of a rice export economy in the Irrawaddy-Sittan Delta was achieved because large numbers of migrants came to the region from Upper Burma and the Indian Subcontinent. In this paper, we trace first the trends of immigration to the Delta. Secondly, we discuss the 'Pull-push' factors of migration, but will concentrate on the 'push' factors of migration from Upper Burma. Thirdly we shall discuss the relationship between 'push' factors and colonial policies. The number of migrants from Upper Burma reached a peak in the 1890s when migrants claimed swamp, forests and grew rice. Most of the agri-cultural labourers w'ere Burmese, but the number of Indian immigrants sharply increased in the period 1881-1931. They worked mainly in the rice mills, the dock yards, etc. although a few did become agriculturists. In other words, Burmese migrants contributed to the rice export economy of Burma by cultivating the paddy fields and Indian immigrants by processing and transporting the rice. It has been said that great acceleration of migration must be attributed primarily to the 'pull' factors-rapid economic growth, improved transportation facilities, the promise of abundent and fertle land, and incetives such as low taxes and consumer rewards-which developed after annexation of the the Delta. But according to our investigations, these 'pull' factors in the Delta disappeared in the early phase of the development. Migration within the Delta, caused by the spread of agrarian indebtedness, began in the first half of 1880s, and the ratio of internal migrants to all immigrants was relatively high from 1881. We must conclude that the reasons for migration into the Delta are to be found not in the 'pull' factors but in the 'push' factors. According to the latest study, the 'push' factors were drought, food shortages, and periodic famines which occured in the Dry Zone of Upper Burma. But those occurrences which caused the cultivaters distress, tended to be man-made calamities. The tariff policy of the colonial government to the Kingdom of Mandalay until 1862 caused the price of staple commodity to rise in Upper Burma. Also the export of surplus rice from the Delta to the English colonial settlements of India, Ceylon, Straight Settlement, etc. led to food shortages in Upper Burma. Farmers and peasants in the Dry Done had to leave their homeland because of hardship caused by a colonial policy which destroyed the indigenous circulatory systems needed for daily life.