Palace Rebellion
During an unsuccessful palace rebellion on 18 June 1866 by Princes Myinkun and Myinkhondaing (sons of King Mindon, jealous for not being named successor, and backed by the British who were alarmed by Kanaung's modernization of the Burmese Royal Armies), the crown prince was assassinated. The two princes fled to British Burma, and were granted asylum by the British.
King Mindon himself got away in an extraordinary manner, which the Burmese regarded as a sign of his hpon (a sum of past good deeds that affect one's present life). He ran into the very person who was assigned to kill him and whom he recognised, but on encountering the king face to face, the man dropped his sword and dropped on his knees from force of habit. The king was then promptly offered a piggy-back ride by his would-be assassin and escaped towards the barracks of his loyal guards.
Read more about this topic: Mindon Min
Famous quotes containing the words palace and/or rebellion:
“How the Chimney-sweepers cry
Every blackning Church appalls,
And the hapless Soldiers sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“Men must be capable of imagining and executing and insisting on social change if they are to reform or even maintain civilization, and capable too of furnishing the rebellion which is sometimes necessary if society is not to perish of immobility.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)