Death and state funeral of Mindon Min

Death and funeral of Mindon Min of Burma
The tomb of King Mindon in Mandalay Palace in 1903
Date
  • 1 October 1878
  • (date of death)
  • 7 October 1878
  • (date of ceremonial funeral)
LocationMandalay Palace, Mandalay, Burma
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Mindon Min, the tenth king of the Konbaung Kingdom, died in Mandalay Palace at the age of 64 on the afternoon of 1 October 1878 (6th waxing day of Thadingyut, 1240 M.E.).[1] A mourning period of seven days preceded his funeral, which took place on 7 October.[2] His son Thibaw was proclaimed the new monarch by the Hluttaw (royal parliament).[3][4]

Mindon Min was the first to break a tradition of putting cremation ashes into a velvet bag which was then thrown into the river;[5] his remains were not cremated, but instead were buried intact, according to his wishes, at the place where his tomb still stands.[5] Mindon's was the last funeral of a Burmese monarch to take place within the kingdom, since his successor, Thibaw,[6] was dethroned by the British Empire in the Third Anglo-Burmese War and sent to Ratnagiri, India, on 29 November 1885.[7]

  1. ^ Maung Maung Tin 2004, p. 297.
  2. ^ Maung Maung Tin 2004, p. 313.
  3. ^ Sein Tin 2005, p. 64.
  4. ^ Maung Maung Tin 2004, p. 294.
  5. ^ a b DAS 1963, p. 23.
  6. ^ Myint-U 2001, p. 125.
  7. ^ Synge 1911.