The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma By Thant Myint-U, Faber, Rs 495

The year’s rains had just ended and Mandalay, awash with brilliant sunshine, dozed in the sultry heat. King Thibaw stood still, watching his cavalry practising drills on a muddy field. The British were at his kingdom’s door, and Thibaw had a difficult choice to make — go to war or pledge his country as a protectorate. His generals advised him to open negotiations. The queen wanted war.

And there was war. The British under General Prendergast routed the Burmese in a brief exchange. Thibaw and his queen were exiled, the Court of Ava declared defunct, and another land of riches added to the Empire. For the Burmese, the year, 1885, changed their lives forever.

But the British occupation of Burma was never complete. Guerrilla campaigns were launched against the ‘liberators’, violence spread, and Burma’s slide into disorder continued.

Over a hundred years later, General Ne Win, the man in power since the coup of ’62, sat in a silent air-conditioned chamber, addressing his military colleagues. This time, it was the season of rains. During the meeting, Ne Win resigned, anointed a successor and promised a return to democracy. As the word spread, cheering crowds took to the streets. Meetings were held, demonstrations were organized by leaders, strikes took place, and blood was shed. Civil order collapsed, and, soon enough, the army returned, quelling protests, abolishing the Constitution, and burying the hopes of a democratic future.

For Thant Myint-U, these two events signify a continuum that is characteristic of Burma , a country where the past holds up a mirror to the present. Modern Burma, in the eyes of the world, is a failed State. But this is also a land that once served as Asia’s highway, connecting great civilizations, and straddling a myriad cultures, customs and people. Myint-U’s narrative is an attempt to unravel the nation’s past. For in that lies the key to unlock a new future, he writes.

Burma’s beginnings are shrouded in myth. It is said that Abhiraja, a Kosala prince, founded a kingdom on this land. Gradually, City States emerged, with flourishing trade and complex irrigation systems. In the early 8th century, the Nanzhao established a diverse and aggressive empire, which, years later, gave way to Pagan, a fortified settlement, that rose to greatness under the rule of a near-mythical warrior lord. By the 13th century, Pagan too was in ruins, decimated by the Mongols.

Monarchs and empires were born out of old shells. There was King Bayinnaung of Pegu, a hero and a unifier, a favourite among Burma’s present rulers. The kingdom of Arakan gained prominence next. And then, sometime in the mid-18th century, came Alaungpaya, the “future Buddha”. He and his descendants captured vast swathes of territory, including Syriam and Pegu, and even repelled imperial China. The Konbaung throne, over the years, was the seat of a militant dynasty, intoxicated with the dream of further conquest. It was destined to meet its match soon — the British.

In 1824, the Burmese clashed with British forces under Archibald Campbell at Rangoon — the bloodiest and costliest conflict in the history of the Empire. It ended in victory for the British. For the Burmese, it meant ceding of territory, and humiliation.The debacle also checked their expansionist aspirations, and, unbeknownst to them, symbolized the beginning of the end of their independence. A second war followed, ending Thibaw’s reign and reducing Burma to a colony, till Burmese nationalism and the Second World War won the nation a chequered independence.

At 4.20 on a January morning in 1948, the Union Jack was lowered and independent Burma’s flag hoisted in its place. But the country was in turmoil. There were insurgencies — communist and Islamic — as well as skirmishes with China. A short, democratic spell followed in the Fifties. But it failed and the army took over in a deft, final move in 1962.

Since then, Burma has swung between hope and despair. Aung Saan Suu Kyi’s NLD swept the polls when the army called for elections in 1990, only for the military to go back on its promise and disband the electoral process. In this context, Myint-U’s analysis of the army’s role as well as Burma’s present plight is instructive. The military is the State in Burma. It sees itself as the only force capable of holding a tottering nation together, and, hence, brooks no opposition, not even the peaceful demonstration of Buddhist monks.

The international community’s response to the Burmese problem — imposing crippling sanctions on an already isolated country — is also flawed, writes Myint-U. Such a tactic, he argues, only deepens Burma’s isolation. There are “no quick fixes” to solve the problem, he warns and adds that international efforts directed at change would have to consider “a slow opening up of...civil society”.

Myint-U’s work isn’t a simple rendering of a nation’s history. The book, in fact, blends two kinds of histories — personal (Myint-U’s family’s) with that of a nation (Burma’s). Neither is it a dry-as-a-bone account of dates and events. Myint-U is a dexterous writer, and he writes engagingly. The narrative’s mobility fascinates as well. The plot is “roughly chronological”, but there are continuous movements in the text across time and space.

The author, possibly because of his stint at the UN, is restrained in his criticism. But he does throw in a few surprises, choosing “Burma” over “Myanmar”, the Generals’ preferred epithet. He remains hopeful too, showing that the people of “crisis countries” seldom wilt. They only know that it would be a long wait.