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Konbaung Kingdom - Commercial and Diplomatic Relations

Although there was no official British representative at Mandalay during the first years of Mindon's reign, cordial relations were maintained with the commissioner of Lower Burma, the scholarly Major Arthur Phayre. Although the king continued to refuse to recognize the annexation of Lower Burma, he concluded a commercial treaty with the British, signed in 1862. It provided for the reciprocal abolition of some customs duties; the freedom of traders, both British and Burmese, to operate unrestricted along the coast of the Irrawaddy; and, most significantly, the posting of a British political agent at Mandalay.

A second commercial treaty, signed in 1867, had important strategic, as well as economic, implications and represented substantial concessions on the king's part. Remaining customs duties were further reduced, the export of gold and silver from the kingdom was permitted for the first time, and royal monopolies on all products except oil, timber, and rubies were abolished, thus cutting the ground from under Mindon's "state capitalism." A British residency was to be established at Bhamo, near the Chinese border, and the Burmese governmeqt agreed to assist the British in opening up an overland trade route to China. The British-owned Irrawaddy Flotilla Company was allowed to send ships up the river to Bhamo. These provisions, allowing for British activities within the Burma-China border area, seriously compromised the kingdom's independence, as did a further provision that the Burmese could purchase arms only with the prior consent of the commissioer of Lower Burmma. Certain extra-territorial rights were also granted British subjects. Although there was opposition to the treaty, Mindon felt he had little choice but to agree to it.

The year before, there bad been a attempted coup d'etat, instigated by two royal princes, in which the heir apparent and members of the Council of Ministers were massasated and the King himself narrowly escaped death. One prince fled to the Karenni states (now Kayah State) to continue the rebellion there and was later interned by the British in India. Mindon's government was greatly weakened and, despite whispers of British involvement in the plot that were never substantiated, he desperately needed British arms and cooperation. Owing to the kingdom's landlocked position, relations with Western countries other than Britain were intermittent. In 1856 a French mission had appeared at court, and a few years later the king purchased a French river steamer. Contacts with Italy, unified in 1871, were also fostered. The following year the Kinwun Mingyi led the first Burmese diplomatic mission to Europe, visiting Italy, France, and Britain. The Burmese hoped that, at long last, they would be able to establish direct diplomatic contact with London. They met Queen Victoria, traveled extensively through the British Isles, and enjoyed such Anglo-Saxon amenities as horse races and cricket matches yet they came no closer to having their kingdom recognized as a fully independent state. This was revealed by the fact that they were introduced to the queen not by the foreign secretary but by the secretary of state for India.

On the way home the delegation stopped at Paris, where a treaty of commerce and friendship was signed with the French government. This roused British suspicions, for it was thought that Burma and France had agreed to secret provisions, perhaps providing for arms and military training. Other issues poisoned Burmese-British relations. The British were accused of stirring up trouble in the Karenni states, still vassals of the Burmese king. There was talk of war, but Mindon opposed it, signing a treaty recognizing the neutrality of the Karenni states in 1875. That same year the Indian governor general ordered the Mandalay resident to cease observing the supposedly humiliating custom of removing his shoes when being received by the king. Unwillingness on either side to compromise on the "shoe question" led to the king's refusal to see any British envoys in person.