At the moment have also been reading about Moghul Kings (books by Indu Sunderesan) I have always been influenced by Moghul History. Wonder what the Universe is trying to point out to me? That riches is not much to fret about? That 'everything passes? Yet one has to play the game of life, the best way one can!
About 'The King in exile:
Not much has been written about the personal life of King Thibaw, the last king of Burma, after he was deposed by the British in 1885 to live in exile in Ratanagiri, a small and isolated town in India. And even less has been written, even in Burmese historical books, about the tragic lives of the four princesses.
In Burma’s history, Thibaw’s rise to throne was marred by the massacre of a large number of royal family members, and his reign made infamous by marking the end of many centuries of monarchy due to British colonization.
The first section gives readers a feel for the magnificent riches and power enjoyed by Thibaw and Supayalat in their palace as well as the intricacies and scheming alliances of the power struggle in court, and how it affected the future of the country.
The second and third parts highlight the impact British colonization had on Burma and Thibaw’s family personally. From being the sovereign of Burma, Thibaw was reduced to having to survive on a comparatively paltry allowance from the British government after his precious treasures and properties—much of his wealth subsequently unaccounted for—seized by the British.
On one hand, Thibaw and his family have to get approval from the British on every aspect of their lives—how much money they can spend per month, who they can meet, who they can hire and fire in their housing staff, who the princesses can marry, even what education the grandchildren receive.
Thibaw and Supayalat used to have the power of life and death over the Burmese people, and so life in exile, subjected to totalitarian control, must have been extremely strange and frustrating.
The princesses grew up without any formal education and their peer group was principally limited to just staff—mostly uneducated Indians from the town and their Burmese “servants.” Would they have had better futures if properly schooled and exposed to other privileged societies?
The British government—in order to curb a possible rising of Burmese nationalistic spirit—did not allow the ashes of Thibaw, who died in exile in 1916, and his junior Queen Supayagalae to be brought back to Burma.
Was the British government being too severe on a family who had to live in exile in a foreign land for more than 31 years? These questions might surface in the reader’s mind upon finishing the book.
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