In the process of historical development, Burma( Myanmar), one of the largest countries in Southeast Asia, occupying the western part of the Indochina Peninsula and inhabited by numerous peoples of the Tibeto-Burmese, Mon-Khmer and Thai language groups, has gone a long way from early statehood to the creation of an imperial-type state under the hegemony of the dominant ethnic group - the Burmese.

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of the Burmese state in the so-called Second Taungu Dynasty period, when an "imperial" type structure was created in Burma. This structure was based, in contrast to the" early imperial " loose associations, on a fairly developed hierarchical system of administration and the concentration of economic levers in the hands of the central government, primarily the supreme ownership of land.

For centuries, the Burmese have been fighting other peoples who also claimed hegemony in the country: first of all, with the main rivals-the Mons, who created their states in the south on the sea coast, with the Arakanese, who lived in the west along the shores of the Bay of Bengal, as well as with the Shan, who migrated in the XIII-XVI centuries. from the mountainous regions of the north north-east to the plains of Central Burma, creating their own barbaric state structures.

Already the first Burmese state of Pagan (XI-XIII centuries) united the Burmese center, whose economic basis was irrigation rice farming, and the Mon south with its rich port cities, and also conquered some mountain tribes in the east of the country. Combining the two types of development in a single Pagan structure allowed the latter to make a huge leap - from the tribal system to the multi-ethnic empire of the early class type, the monarchical and bureaucratic system of which was consecrated by Theravada (Hinayana) Buddhism.

Pagan's state-administrative structure, where power was reduced in concentric circles from the center to the periphery, became a model for subsequent imperial states in Burma, which appeared with a certain cyclicity after periods of decline.

The decline of the Pagan kingdom, as well as subsequent imperial states in Burma, was the result of contradictions between the centralizing tendencies of the supreme power, which sought to retain state ownership of the country's land and human resources, and the feudalization of the secular and spiritual elite on the periphery. If as a result of secularization already in the Pagan era, the Buddhist church was placed under the control of the center, then in relation to the secular elite this was achieved to a certain extent only since the Second Taungu Dynasty.

The collapse of the Pagan Empire at the end of the thirteenth century led to a period of chaos that lasted almost two and a half centuries. Arakanese and Mons, having achieved independence,

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they created their own mono-ethnic states, which flourished in the XIV-XV centuries. Until the middle of the 16th century, the Mon state of Pegu occupied the leading positions in Burma, which grew rich due to active international trade in the Indian Ocean, which allowed the Mon kings to support the Buddhist sangha (community), conduct cult construction and spread Buddhist culture in Burma and beyond.

On the central plain, the Burmese population, suffering from continuous Shan raids (ravaged towns and villages, burned Buddhist monasteries, destroyed irrigation facilities and flooded rice fields), sought protection in small fortified possessions (Myinsain, Pinya, Sagaing) those Shan leaders who were Burmanized in the Pagan period and adopted the norms of statehood, as well as the religion of the Burmese. However, the young barbarian structures of the Shans did not last long and were swept away in the XIV century as a result of raids by their own tribesmen from the north. But they managed to delay the Shan migration and secure the Burmese principalities of Taungu and Awu.

The principality of Taungu, founded in 1280, was ruled by the Burmese, who adopted the title of Pagan kings and built palaces, pagodas and monasteries in the tradition of Pagan architecture. The population of the principality was predominantly Burmese and consisted of refugees from both Pagan and Shan-held Pinya and Sagaing. The favorable economic and demographic situation, the policy of the rulers to support the Sangha and Buddhism created the ground for the birth of national Burmese literature here.

Ava (Inva), located on one of the tributaries of the Irrawaddy, became the center of the state, founded in 1364 by a prince who traced his lineage to one of the Pagan kings and the Shan ruler of Sagain. The Avian rulers, like the princes of Taungu, revived the traditions of Burmese statehood, religious politics and culture, as well as restored the destroyed irrigation facilities in the Chaushe River Valley, contributing to the revival of the country's famous agricultural region, where it was possible to get three rice crops a year.

The main goal of the Avian rulers was to expel the Shans, from whom they gradually began to recapture the captured territories (Sagain, Pinya, Myinsain), uniting them under their rule.

Again, as in the Pagan period, the Burmese turned to the south in an effort to unify all of Burma, i.e., to capture Pegu by subjugating the Mons. In turn, the Mon state, which flourished during this period, because it practically did not suffer from Shan raids, covered by the Burmese principalities, and from the end of the XIV century by the Japanese state, itself acted as a pretender to hegemony in the country. The Ava and Pegu wars of the 15th century continued for 40 years, drawing other Burmese peoples into their orbit.

Thus, the impulse to create a single state on the territory of Burma continued in the XIII-XVI centuries. in the difficult conditions of Shan migration and the breakup of the country into monoethical formations. At the same time, the era of disintegration of the country intensified the "feudalization" of socio-economic development. This was clearly evident among the Burmese by the end of the Jurassic period, and not the least role was played here by the influence of the Shan, who were in the process of disintegrating the tribal system under the influence of Burmese norms of statehood.

In Burma of the XIV-XVII centuries, divided into a number of state formations (Ava, Taungu, Pegu, Arakan, Shan principalities) with Mon, Burmese, Shan and Shano-Burmese dynasties, which constantly fought with each other, an imperial model of a unified and centralized state was developed, and a synthesis of heterogeneous socio-economic,social and cultural relations was observed. political and religious-cultural structures.

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The strongest unifying tendencies ideologically linked to the Burmese national revival came from the Burmese Principality of Taungu. In the first third of the XVI century. they began to be implemented: with the advent of the ruler of Tabinshwetha (1531-1551), the creation of a single state under the rule of the first Taungu dynasty began. The" great kings " of Tabinshwethi and his successors, Bayinnaung and Nandabain, created a vast empire (the largest in Southeast Asia at that time) that was never seen again in Burmese history. The center managed to hold its possessions only by the most brutal measures, relying on a huge army. Punitive expeditions were constantly conducted against the Mon, Tai, Shan, and Lao. Feudal separatism tore the country apart, the conquering tsars could not pay due attention to administrative reforms: all their forces were spent on military campaigns and suppressing uprisings.

The state of the First Taungu Dynasty (its capital was Pegu) was modeled on the Pagan imperial model: only the capital was directly governed, and all major provincial centers were autonomous possessions of governors (bayins). In Ava, Prohm, Martaban, and Chiengmai, the baiyins were usually the brothers or sons of the monarch by the principal wives. They had royal regalia, considered themselves equal to the minji (ruler) himself, and bayin Taung even had the right to pass on their possessions by inheritance ^.1 The Bayins constantly organized separatist rebellions, and when the central government weakened, they even began internecine struggle with each other for the throne ^.2

The smaller domains of Salin, Tawoy, Myaunmya, Nyaunyang, and others were distributed to Minji's sons by concubines, as well as to high officials and associates. They, like the Bayins, were loosely connected to the central government, and even surrounded their possessions with fortresses ^.3 Even greater autonomy - in the form of vassalage - was enjoyed by the periphery, i.e., the territories of the Shan principalities and ethnic minorities (Chinovs, Tsars, Karens, etc.), which were governed through their traditional leaders - chieftains (sobva among the Shan).

The state of the First Taungu Dynasty was a loose and loosely controlled central federation, where minji was essentially one of the Bayin, who were bound to it only by passing on a part of their charisma.

In unifying the country, the "great kings" attached great importance to the annexation of Pegu, a perennial rival in the struggle for dominance in Burma. Located on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, the Monow State flourished and grew rich, participating in international maritime trade ^.4 In an effort to attract the Mon nobility to their side, the Burmese rulers left the dignitaries of the former state in their former places, and most importantly, they equalized the rights of the Mons with the Burmese. In order to consolidate his state, Tabinshwethi was even crowned not only according to Burmese custom ,but also with the observance of the Mon ritual in Pegu, emphasizing in other ways respect for Mon customs and culture. ⁵

In the conquered Shan principalities, during the reign of Bayinnaung (1551-1581), a more strict regime was established: garrisons were set up in all major settlements under the command of Burmese warlords (Sike), and the Shan sobwa left at the head of their possessions had to strictly observe the rules of vassalage, not trying to come under the protection of another suzerain (Siam or Chinathe latter was considered treason and entailed sending a military expedition from the center.

If unification (albeit forced) with the Mon Pegu was facilitated by a religious factor - both Burmese and Mon were Buddhists, as well as almost the same level of socio-economic development, then the integration of Shan feudalizing society was accompanied by a rather brutal Burmanization

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and forced conversion to Buddhism. Buddhist missionaries were regularly sent to the Shan states, and monasteries and pagodas were built there ^.6 Part of the Shan population, especially skilled artisans, were taken out of the principalities by whole families and settled in the most depopulated areas of central Burma.

The rulers of the First Taungu dynasty tried to implement some measures to consolidate the state: the system of weights and measures was standardized, the judicial system was reformed, and in the Shan principalities the rites of animal sacrifice and even human sacrifice were prohibited ^.7

However, the power efforts of the "great kings" alone were not enough to centralize Burma. Most of the time they had to spend in punitive expeditions inside the country and constant wars with neighboring Siam for hegemony on the Indochina Peninsula. As a result of successful campaigns (1563, 1568 - 1569), Bayinnaung managed to subdue Siam and put it under its control for 15 years. Under Nandabain (1581-1599), Siam achieved independence in the wars of 1587-1593, while Burma exhausted its material and human resources and disintegrated as a result of separatist rebellions and uprisings (1599).

However, the impetus to unify the country soon led again to the creation of a new Burmese state under the so-called Restored or Second Taungu Dynasty. Since 1635, its capital has been the city of Ava in the central part of the country, in the original Burmese lands, far from the sea coast. Unlike the state of the First Taungu Dynasty, the new empire, which was recreated by the Burmese as a result of the conquest of the Mons and Shans, the subjugation of Burmese separatist governors, and the expulsion of Europeans from Siam (the Di Brithu Adventure ⁸ ) by the ruler Anauphelun (1606-1628), abandoned the ruinous policy of conquest towards Siam and consolidated within certain borders: from Mogaung and Bamo in the north to Tawoi and Chiengmai in the south, from the eastern Shan states (Gyeonggung and others) to Arakan in the west.

The rulers of the Second Taungu Dynasty focused on internal reforms. These reforms are mainly associated with the name of Talun (1629-1648). He expressed the interests of the part of the Burmese ruling stratum that favored an isolationist policy and renunciation of conquest, i.e., for the development of the country according to the traditional continental model for Burmese people, with a focus on the agricultural sector of the economy, and not on maritime trade, unlike Pegu9.

The main innovation of Talun was the destruction of governorates led by bayins who had royal regalia. Tighter relations between the center and the periphery, between the ruler and local authorities, made it possible to strengthen the country in political and administrative terms, avoid troubles and preserve the integrity of the empire even under the last weak kings of the Second Taungu Dynasty (late XVII-early XVIII century).

Burma's "classical" pre-colonial political and administrative structure, which historians have called centralized since the Second Taungu Dynasty, was based on the cosmological ideas of Theravada Buddhism and was similar to the structure of the universe: the core (or nuclear zone) extended its power with varying degrees of attraction to three other zones that radiated in concentric circles from the center to the periphery. According to the well-known expression of R. von Heine-Geldern, in Burma, as in other countries of Theravada Buddhism, the political doctrine of the state was expressed in harmony with outer space, and these countries themselves were microscopic reproductions of macrocosmic concepts of the universe ^.10

The center was the capital of the state of Ava, located on the Irrawaddy in its middle reaches, almost in the middle of the country. Here was the ruler, his palace and court,

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higher administrative institutions headed by the top of the official hierarchy. The first zone was adjacent to the capital, occupying the middle reaches of the Irrawaddy and its tributaries with the most fertile land, especially in the valley of the Chawshe River-the ancestral home of the Burmese. The second zone coincided with the territory of the former Mon State of Pegu along the lower course of the Irrawaddy and the southern sea coast. The third included the mountainous regions of the country on the north-western, northern and north-eastern outskirts, where the Shan, Thai and Lao principalities were located, as well as the Chin, Kachin, Sinpo, Karen, i.e. peoples who were at a lower stage of development compared to the main ethnic groups.

The center was the main element in the structure of the state, since it was here that the Buddhist absolute ruler (minji) was located, from which the power emanated, the magic of which was possessed by the capital, the palace, the throne, and the regalia of the monarch ^.11

The main qualities of the ruler were charisma (pon), strength (letiyon), authority (ana), and the main function was to maintain cosmic order and justice in society by observing Buddhist teachings and morals (dhamma) It is not for nothing that such epithets as mintayaji - the king of justice, dhammayaza - the king, the bearer of morality, etc. were often applied to the monarch. If political unrest, natural disasters, crop failures occurred in the country, and minji was unable to provide his subjects with life benefits and security, then the cause of such cataclysms was considered nothing more than deviation this in turn led to the disappearance of the ruler's royal karma and the possibility of a pretender seizing the throne. A ruler who perfected the dhamma through the patronage and material support of the Buddhist community (even through wars over the possession of Buddhist relics and valuables )could become "enlightened", i.e., achieve the hypostasis of the Buddha and lead his people to achieve nirvana, i.e., in the social sense-to a happy life. ¹³

The Burmese rulers were particularly committed to achieving the ideal of chakravartin, the Buddhist patron saint of the universe, whose actions anticipate the appearance of the messiah, Maitreya Buddha. ¹⁴ Therefore, the peace-loving Buddhist ethic did not condemn the endless wars of some Burmese rulers, especially with neighboring and also Buddhist Siam.

However, this same idea of cosmic order and justice, which must come from minji, justified the change of ruler if the latter lost his royal karma or if the pretender managed to master the royal regalia. "Legitimacy" of this kind, sanctified by Theravada Buddhism, weakened the central authority in the country, as well as did not contribute to the establishment of a clear order of succession to the throne. The throne passed to the successor usually by force (and very often by blood), since there were many contenders for the throne in the huge royal family (minji, in addition to several queens, also had a whole harem of concubines and favorites). There was no birthright. When changing power, tradition gave preference to the ruler's brothers and only secondarily to the sons. All of them were dangerous rivals of the Minji, especially during the First Taungu Dynasty, when as bayins they lived in their own governorates and, with material resources, their own armies, and royal regalia, often fought for the throne or declared independence from the central government.

Under the Second Taungu Dynasty, greater stability was achieved. First, in the order of succession to the throne, the priority of the king's eldest son from the main wife was legalized - he received the title of heir (einshemin), and as the history of the dynasty shows, this principle was generally observed, although not always strictly. Secondly, the system of governance through viceroyships was finally destroyed. Now

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all the closest relatives of the king - numerous sons and brothers-had to live in the capital, under the ruler and under his control. If we draw a certain parallel with the West, (of course, very conditional), then the destruction of the viceroyships (and some of them were in the possession of the same family from the XIV to the XVI century.) can be considered the end of feudal fragmentation in Burma.

The innovations of the 17th century did not completely destroy the connection of the upper stratum with certain territories of the country. Cadres of the highest echelon were drawn from the same overgrown royal clan and related courtiers, who together formed a fairly rigid hierarchical community, the position in which was determined by the degree of kinship with the ruler. The first in the hierarchy was the heir-Einshemin, who received the right not only to a magnificent palace, repeating in miniature the royal one, and a three-thousandth guard, but also to a large maintenance, or "feeding" - miosa (the recipient of feeding was also called miosa), i.e. deduction of taxes from certain territories or activities. According to the" table of ranks", Einshemin received up to seven such" feedings", while the king's sons from concubines received no more than one ¹⁵ .

Since the Second Taungu Dynasty, the myosa system has become widespread, covering all the top levels of government. The newly established State sought by various measures to prevent the Miosa, especially the large ones, from becoming owners of their possessions. The Myoza were required to live in the capital and even request permission from minji to visit their holdings; in addition, myoza grants were distributed only near the capital or in the first zone; according to sources, almost 70% of all feeding territories were distributed here ^.16

The large Myosa that fed cities or even provinces were known by the names of these territories. But the "feeding" was neither permanent nor hereditary - the power moved miosa. According to later sources (mid-19th century), there were 100 - 120 major miozas in the country, including the Shan princes ^.17 The Myoza received in their favor those taxes that usually went to the treasury, which accounted for up to 50% of the total amount of taxes collected from the territory of myoza ¹⁸ .

The administrative apparatus of Burma at that time was a huge bureaucratic machine. The capital swarmed with officials of all ranks, especially the highest ones: they were court dignitaries, ministers, military leaders, provincial governors, judges, major officials of the Buddhist Sangha, heads of the royal artisans and peasants who farmed the land of Minji.

There were two councils under Minji. The Khludo, or Supreme Council of the State, performed legislative, executive, and judicial functions under the ruler. All of Minji's instructions went to Hludo first, and from there they were sent to the authorities. The most important function of the Supreme Council was the transfer of royal decrees and orders to the territorial and departmental services, where the administration of the royal domain and its population, who were obliged to serve the sovereign personally, was concentrated.

Nominally, the chairman of the Khludo was the Minji himself; traditionally, the High Council consisted of four ministers-the Wunji (the highest officials of the Burmese hierarchy), their four assistants - the Wundau, heralds, messengers, scribes and others. The distribution of responsibilities in the Council was not strictly fixed, each of the wunji could deal with various issues: agriculture, finance ,the army, foreign policy, the court ¹⁹.

The second Council, the Byedai or Atwynyon, or" inner court, " was headed by four atwynwuns or councillors; its main function was to monitor the state of the royal court, the security of the ruler's chambers, and transmit edicts from Minji to Chludo. Being with the royal personage day and night, the Atwynwuns were able to-

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They were even more influential than the wunji, who had a formally higher rank of ²⁰ .

Separate from both councils was the Shuedai Treasury, headed by shuedaiwun. It was not only the royal treasury, but also the repository of state archives, where the Genealogies of hereditary officials and artisans were located.

Another layer of the highest bureaucracy was the governors of the provinces into which the territory of the country was divided. The provinces adjacent to the most important urban centers bore the same names as them. So, in the nuclear zone, the most important was the governor of the capital Ava, in the first and second zones, the governors of Prohm, Taungu, Pegu, Bassein, Martaban were the highest ranks of the bureaucracy. However, the rulers of the Second Taungu dynasty also put the governors under their control: the latter were forbidden to live in their provinces, they were obliged to stay in the capital, in the immediate vicinity of the Minji palace ,and leave the administration in the hands of royal appointees or favorites. ²¹

All these changes led to the fact that the struggle for power was concentrated in the capital: now it was between the palace cliques and groups.

The Burmese ruler - "father of the people", "master of land and water" - was separated from the common people (sinet) by a huge mass of officials (ahmudat). Every year, on the so-called Kado Day, the ruling stratum of society, organized according to the official hierarchy, took the oath of allegiance to Minji; the ceremony was accompanied by a certain ritual, offering gifts and distributing posts, awards, and distinctions provided for officials of each rank. The Signetas did not participate in this ritual.

The ruler appointed most officials only theoretically (with the exception of the top or his advisers and favorites). In fact, the entire management structure was permeated vertically by the patron - client relationship, and since there was no inheritance of positions or obtaining them through the examination system, appointments depended on the patron's place in the hierarchy of ranks. The higher ones appointed the lower ones to their posts; the former provided patronage in the courts or in cases of royal disfavor to their clients, while the latter owed personal loyalty, services, and offerings. The central government, fearing the abuse of senior officials as patrons, kept traditions of unclear differentiation of functions of officials, duplication and fragmentation of administrative responsibility to counteract them.

The first concentric zone closest to Ava was located between the middle reaches of the Irrawaddy and its tributaries, where the most fertile land, irrigated with restored and new irrigation facilities, produced several rice crops per year. It was transformed under the Second Taungu Dynasty into a royal domain, the country's breadbasket, and the economic pillar of central power. The population density here was many times higher than in the second zone, in the south, because the mass deportations of the population from the south and from the mountainous regions of the northeast, carried out by the kings of the Second Taungu Dynasty, restored the demographic stability of the depopulated areas of the first zone during the wars.

In the domenic zone, the ruler of Talun not only settled prisoners of war and the population withdrawn from the conquered territories, but also organized a settlement system (acs)here in the tsarist lands, some of the peasants (Akhmudans) began to perform military service, while others - especially in the area of the most fertile lands, in the valley of the Chaushe River-began to cultivate the land (lamains)

Under Talun, in 1638, the first population census was conducted (censuses became regular from that time on), which recorded not only its number,

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but also the division into categories and obligations of each person to pay taxes, public works and services in favor of the state, as well as the size of land plots.

The Achmudan and Lamain were run by the capital's officials: the former by one of the Atwinwun of the Jedi, Minji's personal adviser, usually close to the sovereign's person, and the latter by a Lamainwun, one of the highest dignitaries of the court.

The Akhmudans lived in military units in villages that were named after their service: villages of musketeers, gunners, boatmen, archers, shield bearers, and soldiers of the war elephant corps. On the ground, they were subordinate to their commanders. Some of the people of each Akhmudan unit were constantly serving in the ruler's guard, returning home after 3 to 5 years, while others worked on the ground to support the waiting list.

Thus, the first zone, mainly domenic, with state-owned lands, was turned into a stronghold of central power: the Lamains produced rice and other crops, which were sent to the royal storehouses in the capital to provide for the royal family, guards and army (in wartime); and the Akhmudans, remaining always at the ruler's hand, since the capital was close, they could be mobilized in the shortest possible time to the army, where they made up the strongest and most professional contingent ²³ .

The organization of the domenic zone contributed to the strengthening of state ownership of land and, accordingly, the power of the rulers of the Second Taungu Dynasty.

Part of the territory of the first zone was not part of the domain and was administered like the provinces of the second zone.

The second zone consisted of the lower reaches of the Irrawaddy, its delta and the Tenasse-Roman coast, mostly with a Mon population, divided into provinces. Provinces were headed by myowun governors (and in reality, as already noted, they were ruled by appointees or favorites of the ruler) and were named like the cities that were the centers of provinces. Most important were Pegu, Siriam, Bassein and other port cities. The provinces consisted of rural districts - myo headed by myotuji. Etymologically, the word "myo" meant a fortress, a fortified place, and historically it has long been the name of the main administrative unit in all the states that existed on the territory of Burma ^.24

The number of villages in myo was not the same and varied quite a lot: from a few dozen or even hundreds to a single village (such a village was headed by Yuvatuji). They were inhabited by peasants belonging to the category of ati-taxpayers, who were on the social ladder below the Akhmudans, who were exempt from taxes for serving in favor of the sovereign. In addition to the main taxes - land and per capita, ati paid numerous other taxes, as well as performed public works for the construction of roads, canals, pagodas, etc. In addition, they were conscripted into the militia during wartime.

For the peasants of his myo, motuji was the absolute master: he collected taxes (going to the state or myoza, if there was one) through the village elders (yuwa-o, yuwagaun), settled land disputes, issues of non-fulfillment of mortgage obligations, petty theft, consent to marriage or divorce, appointed to public works and recruited recruits to the army. As a rule, the Myotuji inherited their position, and some families retained this position for several generations. A number of authors believe that the Myotuji were feudal proprietors25 who managed to preserve their possessions during the disintegration of Burma, acting as protectors of the Myo population. They also helped their peasantry resist the state's (and miosa's) harsh fiscal policies and kept the population from fleeing to the jungle.

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Centralizing reforms in the Taungu State also affected Myotuja. By strengthening State ownership, Talun and his successors integrated the Myotuji-medium and small landowners - into the hierarchical community of officialdom. The Myotuji were now required, like the rest of the country's bureaucracy, to appear before the Minji on Kado Day, demonstrating their loyalty to the sovereign and reporting taxes to the treasury. They began to be registered and approved in the capital as officials with administrative, tax and judicial functions, but with the preservation of their hereditary status in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The condition was genealogical confirmation in a special document-sittan, which they were required to present to the Treasury. The sittan had to accurately indicate the size of the myo, its boundaries, types of land, the size and social status of the population, ²⁶ as well as the taxes received.

As the only hereditary and most permanent element in the state structure, the Myotuji institute contributed to stability and integration processes in the country under the Second Taungu Dynasty.

The third zone of the state consisted mainly of Shan and Thai principalities on the northern, western and north-eastern outskirts of the country, which surrounded the capital in a semicircle and the first zone of mountain ranges (Arakan-Yoma and Chin Mountains in the west, Kachin Highlands in the north and the Shan Plateau in the northeast). Their management was indirect. The central government exercised it through traditional leaders-sobwa (princes), but required them to abandon the custom of recognizing double vassalage (from Burma and China). Increasing Burmese control over the principalities resulted in the deployment of military garrisons under the command of a Burmese military commander, Sike, who was responsible to the central government in Ava. During the Second Taungu Dynasty, Shan princes were required to attend the Burmese court on Kado Day, swear an oath of allegiance to the ruler, and pay a certain tax on the traditional products of the principality. The children of princes were hostages: the sons served at court in the governor's guard, and the daughters were placed in the harem. It is significant that the children of the king from the Shan princesses, as a rule, did not have a chance for the throne.

The Shan cavalry was one of the main forces of the Burmese army, often providing it with military successes; under the Second Taungu Dynasty, each sobwa during military expeditions had to report to Ava with a certain military contingent.

With each principality (there were about two dozen of them), a system of relations was developed: from the annual payment of tribute to more or less constant control over the activities of the sobva and its revenues.

* * *

Despite the centralizing reforms, from the end of the 17th century, the state of the Second Taungu Dynasty began to decline, entering, according to the American historian W. Lieberman, a period of disintegration that regularly follows the stabilization period for Burma ^.27

The main factor of internal instability, as before, was the inability of the central government to control the ruling stratum, which in various ways encroached on the income and rights of the center and thus either narrowed the state property base on which the entire system was based, or simply sought to change the ruler and redistribute key posts in the state.

By the end of the dynasty, the Myosa were no longer so tightly subordinated to the center. They sought, first of all, to increase the share of their income that was due to them by rank: by various frauds, by imposing additional taxes on the peasants.-

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taxes and levies, illegal driving them to work in their favor (building houses, roads, laying out gardens, etc.), enrolling them in their retinue and protection. Sometimes the Miosa took over a part of the land and collected taxes on it exclusively for their own benefit. This led to the emptying of the treasury, and extortion reduced the human and economic resources of the state, as the peasantry fled from the domenic zone, hid in monasteries, sought the patronage of stronger patrons, and changed their ranks (this mainly applied to the Akhmudans). The Akhmudans ' desire to get rid of state pressure or extortion of mioz by transferring to another category, hiding in a monastery or in the house of a "strong man" - tugaun, and going into debt servitude ²⁸ was punished by branding and returning to their abandoned domicile in the domenic zone.

"Strong people" appeared, as some researchers believe, at the beginning of the XVII century, when under the Restored Taungu dynasty, the unification of the country contributed to the revival of trade ties between Central and Southern Burma, which led to the connection of the Burmese state to international maritime trade. It began to bring income not only to the state, but also to individuals who managed to enrich themselves and attract part of the fugitive population from the nuclear zone, thereby depriving the ruler of material and human resources.

Along with economic instability, political instability has also emerged: competition between the ruling groups for influence over the ruler has intensified. There are cases when some clans acquired a huge role: for example, under the ruler of Sana'a (1698-1714) and his son Taninganwa (1714-1733), Vunji Twintingji put people of his clan in all key positions in the state and practically ruled the country. As a rule, such power was wielded by high-ranking officials who derived income from maritime trade and increased their clientele (mainly at the expense of the Ahmudans of the domenic zone) ^.29

The weakening of the central government, the intertwining of the functions of territorial and departmental services in the management system contributed to the revival of localism and regionalism, and provincial governors again began to turn into full - fledged governors-bayins. During the reign of the last king of Taungu, Mahadhammayazadipati (1733-1752), the governor of Ava, Maung Pu, who helped him come to power through his clan, received a ministerial post, and in 1735 created his own armed forces of a thousand people (from Ahmudan refugees) without any consent of the ruler. In 1748, in Sagain (and later in Taungu), the king's brother practically received the rights of bayin and even his co-ruler (minbayin).

The internal disintegration of the state was supplemented by the fall of the re-created Mon kingdom of Pegu, and then, under the blows of the Manipurians and the combined forces of the Mons and Shans, Ava fell in 1752. The second Taungu dynasty ended. However, the incentive to re-establish a unified state among the Burmese was so strong that in the same year, a movement for its restoration began in Central Burma, led by Myotuji, who took the name of Alaunpai, the founder of the new Konbaun dynasty.

The third and final Burmese Empire, the Konbawn Dynasty, generally followed the pattern established during the Second Taungu Dynasty in its political and administrative structure. Centralizing tendencies in it have become even stronger. The Konbaung state existed during the period of the onset of European colonialism and the country's involvement in the world capitalist market system, which led to attempts at new reforms that the Burmese ruling stratum began to implement in order to preserve the country's independence.

The ruler of Mindon (1853-1878) managed to undermine the system of myoz and the emerging private feudal land ownership by appointing all relatives of the king and the highest

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officials receive a monetary salary. The administrative structure practically became territorial: with the destruction of military settlements and categories of the population, the latter became subordinate to the Myotuji of the myo in which they lived, and not to "their" heads. However, the more consistent integration of the Myotuji into the bureaucracy as officials could not completely change their nature: the Myotuji remained a feudal domain of the Myo until the English conquest, and the administrative system of Burma was quasi-feudal.

Some scholars believe that the Burmese people built a nation-state by the end of their independent existence, ³⁰ although it seems that the assimilation of the three main ethnic groups was never completed. Integration was based on a single civilizational factor, which included the Buddhist religion and the historical desire to unite the three centers of statehood: Burmese, Mon and Shan. But this factor was most clearly represented in the Burmese ethnic group, which ultimately led (in the 19th century) to the destruction of the Mon state, accompanied by the physical extermination of a significant part of the Mon population, and the final pushing of the Shan to the periphery of the political and economic life of pre-colonial Burma.

notes

^{Lieberman Victor B.} 1 Burmese Administrative Cycles. Anarchy and Conquest, 1580 - 1760. Princenton, 1984. P. 34.

² Thus, in 1581, Bayinnaung's brother, the viceroy of Pegu, at the time of Nandabain's accession, tried to involve the Bayin Prohm and Taungu in the struggle for separation from the center. According to the Venetian traveller Gaspard Balbi, Nandabain, who learned of his uncle's machinations, turned against him and defeated him in a battle, during which, according to tradition, both chiefs engaged in single combat on elephants. See: Hall D. J. E. Istoriya Yugo-Vostochnoy Azii [History of Southeast Asia], Moscow, 1958, P. 188.

^{Trager Frank N.} 3 Burmese Sittans, 1764 - 1826. Records of Rural Life and Administration. Tucson, 1979. P. 14 - 15.

⁴ When Tabinshwethi captured and destroyed the seaport of Martaban in 1541, the loot consisted of " gold, silver, precious stones, pepper, sandalwood, aloe wood, camphor, silk, varnish, brought by traders of many nations-Portuguese, Greeks, Venetians, Moors, Jews, Armenians, Persians, Abyssinians, Malabars, etc. Sumatran people." ( Harvey G. E. History of Burma. L., 1967. P. 157.)

⁵ As reported in the Burmese chronicles, Tabinshwethi even began to wear a Mon-style hairstyle, and also allowed Mon princesses to wear national clothes at the Burmese court. See Ibid. P. 160.

⁶ According to the Burmese chronicle Hmannan Yazawin ("Chronicle of the Glass Palace"), the sobwa (princes), their advisers and military leaders were required to listen to Buddhist prayers in monasteries four days a month and learn the" new virtue " (Ibid. P.166).

⁷ During the burial of the Shang princes, slaves were killed and elephants and horses were slaughtered for burial with the body of the deceased. (Hall D. J. E. Edict. op. p. 186).

⁸ Philippe de Brito, a Portuguese adventurer in the service of the Arakan ruler Min Razaji, arrived in Burma with the Arakan forces that invaded the country during the collapse of the First Taungu Dynasty, as a customs officer in the port of Siriam. If at first he tried to put Siriam under the control of the Portuguese viceroy of Goa, then later he became the ruler of Siriam and its environs. In the process of unification of Burma, Anauphelun ended the "kingdom" of di Brithu and himself in 1613. In the memory of the people, the latter remained as an enemy of Buddhism and a desecrator of Buddhist shrines.

⁹ By the middle of the 17th century, the English and Dutch trading posts were closed in the country.

^{Lieberman Victor B.} 10 Op. cit. P. 114.

^{Sarkisyanz E.} 11 Buddhist Backgrounds in the Burmese Revolution. The Hague, 1965. P. 85.

¹² Ibid. P. 49.

¹³ Ibid. P. 63. Giving the ruler the hypostasis of the Buddha, Theravada Buddhism sanctified the connection of the minja with the people with this religious and ideological concept, contributing to the unity of the country.

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¹⁴ According to Theravada Buddhism, the appearance of the Future Buddha or Maitreya Buddha symbolized the liberation of all living beings from the wheel of samsara, i.e., endless rebirths.

^{Lieberman Victor B.} 15 Op. cit. P. 78 - 79.

¹⁶ Ibid.

^{Yule H.} 17 A Narrative of the Mission Sent by the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava in 1855 with Notices of the Country, Government and People. L., 1858. P. 298 - 305.

^{Kozlova M. G.} 18 Burma on the eve of the English conquest. Public and State Order, Moscow, 1962, pp. 79-85.

¹⁹ For more information, see ibid., pp. 43-45.

^{Hall D. G. E.} 20 Burma. L., 1958. P. 132.

^{Trager Frank N.} 21 Op. cit. P. 18.

²² The Chronicle of Syriam states that Talun distributed Burmese, Talain (Mon), Shan, Tai, and others among the Ahmudan settlements, determining their location and specialization of the Ahmudans. See Furnivall J. S. The History of Syriam//The Journal of the Burmese Research Society (hereinafter referred to as the Burmese Research Society). JBRS). V. V. Pt. II. P. 54; Kozlova M. G. Edict. Op. pp. 107-124; Trager Frank N. Op. cit.; Do Mya Tin. On the issue of land ownership in Burma, Moscow, 1961, pp. 58-62.

^{Lieberman V.} 23 The Burmese Dynastic Pattern 1590 - 1760: An Administrative and Political Study of Taung-ngu Dynasty and the Reign of Alaungnhaya. Ph. D. Thesis. School of Oriental and the African Studies, University of London, 1976.

²⁴ There is information about the existence of mj already in the Pagan era (XI-XIII centuries). It is known that the ruler Pegu Razadari (1385-1423) divided his state into myo. Traditionally, there were 4,600 MTOs in Burma (Luce G. H. Geography of Burma under Pagan Dynasty / / JBRS. V. LXII. Pt. I.. 37; Furnivall J. S. Op. cit. P. 10-11.

^{Kozlova M. G.} 25 Decree. op. s. 85-104; it is the same. From the history of public relations in Burma to the English conquest (land ownership of Myotuji) / / Brief reports of the Institute of Asian Peoples of the USSR Academy of Sciences. N 52. Moscow, 1962. American scholar Frank Trainger in his work on Burmese Sittan documents of the XVII-XIX centuries. on the situation of the myo and its owner myotuji, the term gentry is explicitly used in relation to myotuji (Trager Frank N. Op. cit. P. 28, 38).

^{Kozlova M. G.} 26 Burma on the eve of the English Conquest. pp. 85-104.

²⁷ См.: Lieberman Victor B. Burmese Administrative Cycles.

²⁸ Slaves occupied the lowest rung of Burmese society; they were mostly debtors who, after paying the debt, became free again.

^{Trager Frank N.} 29 Op. cit. P. 21.

³⁰ Ibid. P. 29. The greatest authority on Burmese economic history, John Furnivall, believed that the country, as "a politically unified whole, with a common religion and social culture, had a more pronounced national character than anywhere else in India" (Furnivall J. S. Colonial Policy and Practice. N.Y., 1956. P. 17).

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