Bronze Hall Massacre

Bronze Hall Massacre
A painting of Bronze Hall Massacre painted by Saya Chone
Location	Mandalay Palace, Mandalay, Mandalay Region, Myanmar (Burma)
Date	13–19 February 1878; (6 days]
Target	Most of the princes and princess who could succeed Mindon Min
Attack type	Assassination, familicide
Weapons	bamboo sticks (Wayintout) swords
Deaths	10 (including the perpetrator)
Perpetrator	Hsinbyumashin and her hired hitmen (guided by the husband of famous Mandalay Tabin dancer, Ma Htwe Lay)

The Bronze Hall Massacre (Burmese: ကြေးနန်းလူသတ်ပွဲ) was a royal massacre that occurred in 1878 at the Mandalay Palace located in Mandalay, led by Hsinbyumashin, which was a significant event in the history of the Konbaung dynasty.

At the command of Hsinbyumashin, a group of co-conspirators over 40 princes and princesses while king Mindon Min was ill. After the massacre, Thibaw Min and Supayalat successfully succeeded the throne.

Background

Inside the Mandalay Palace, there was a hall named Bronze Hall (Kyéa Nan) (ကြေးနန်း), which was built for no reason, and the princes and princesses were killed there, known as the Bronze Hall Massacre.

Kanaung Mintha, Mindon Min's younger brother, had previously been assassinated by Myingun Prince in 1866 to get his crown prince title. Since then, Mindon Min hadn't given the title of crown prince to anyone, believing that those who wanted power would kill whoever who had the title of crown prince.

In 1877, Mindon Min's declining health put his court in a state of alarm, and was pressured by his court to choose a successor.

The massacre

Beginning

Hsinbyumashin put the sick Mindon Min in a heavily guarded private dormitory, and treated by physicians. At that time, she was ruling the entire country under her husband's name. According to their royal constitution at that time, women were not allowed to be monarchs. As all three of her children were female, she conspired with the prime minister, Kinwun Mingyi U Kaung to crown Prince Thibaw (later Thibaw Min) as the successor of the throne, who was in love with her middle daughter Supayalat.

Hsinbyumashin with her eldest daughter, Supayagyi who is the sister of Supayalat in Yangon

Declaration and arrests

Hsinbyumashin had every member of the imperial family come to the Mandalay Palace without weapons in January 1878 to meet Mindon Min. When February came, the royals came to the palace as ordered. While they were waiting to see the king, an armed group led by the husband of Mandalay Thabin scholar, Ma Htwe Lay, arrived and took them inside the Bronze Hall.

Murder in the hall

The group of hitmen killed the royals from 13th to 29th of February. They killed more than 40 royals by hitting the throats with bamboo sticks (some are killed by regular swords) until Mindon Min noticed their bad actions from the report of the mother of Thibaw Min, Lonshay Mipaya (လောင်းရှည်မိဖုရား), one of his consorts and other royals.

Aftermath and Legacy

Mindon Min passed away on 28 October 1878 in Mandalay Palace. As Hsinbyumashin planned, her daughter, Supayalat became chief queen consort as she was married to Thibaw Min. Thibaw Min was more occupied in Buddhism, rather than ruling, Hsinbyumashin controlled the country until the British rule in Burma. However, the plan of Kinwun Mingyi U Kaung to change the country's form of government from Absolute monarchy to Constitutional monarchy did not work.

The hall is now designated as a restricted area, and no one is allowed to enter except for educational purposes. Visitors have said that the hall is haunted by those who killed.

In popular culture

Kinwun Mingyi in his Burmese traditional military uniform

The White Elephant (ဆင်ဖြူတော်) is a short thesis film by Burmese CalArts student Thet Chal, which is inspired by the events of the Bronze Hall Massacre.