Burma / Myanmar: The Bee Throne (Bhamarasana) of Mandalay Palace, pictured c.1892-96.

The Bee Throne (Bhamarasana) is so called because it was adorned with figures of bees in the small niches at the bottom of the pedestal. It is made from the wood of a caraway tree.

Today it is housed in the east room of Mandalay Palace, the last royal palace of the last Burmese monarch, King Mindon, who constructed the palace between 1857 and 1859 as part of the founding of the new royal capital city of Mandalay.

The British conquest of Burma began in 1824 in response to a Burmese attempt to invade India. By 1886, and after two further wars, Britain had incorporated the entire country into the British Raj. To stimulate trade and facilitate changes, the British brought in Indians and Chinese, who quickly displaced the Burmese in urban areas. To this day Rangoon and Mandalay have large ethnic Indian populations. Railways and schools were built, as well as a large number of prisons, including the infamous Insein Prison, then as now used for political prisoners.

Burmese resentment was strong and was vented in violent riots that paralysed Rangoon on occasion all the way until the 1930s. Burma was administered as a province of British India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony. Burma finally gained independence from Britain on January 4, 1948.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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Pictures From History