1879 massacre at Mandalay Palace
1878 massacre
The 1879 massacre at Mandalay Palace (Burmese: ၁၈၇၉ မန္တလေးနန်းတွင်းလူသတ်ပွဲ), occurred on 13, 15 and 17 February 1879 (8th, 10th and 12th waning days of Tabodwe, 1240 M.E.) at the Mandalay Palace. It was one of the most notorious events in the history of the Konbaung dynasty.
Orchestrated by Queen Dowager Hsinbyumashin, it was intended to secure the succession of her son-in-law, Prince Thibaw, and her daughter, Supayalat. During King Mindon's final illness, more than forty princes and princesses were killed by a group of co-conspirators to eliminate potential rivals to the throne.
Background
By claiming for King Mindon's making Prince Kanaung the King Brother a crown prince rather than his senior sons, Myingun Prince and Myinkhondaing Prince attempted a palace coup on 2 August 1866, and Prince Kanaung was murdered during the revolt. Since rebellion caused the king a great reluctance in naming a successor to Crown Prince Kanaung for fear of civil war, he made no one his heir apparent until his death in 1878 which led to the succession crisis.
Prelude
When King Mindon became in ill health and could not manage state affairs since August 1878, all the high-level ministers took an oath to the king and the one to whom he pointed. Queen Hsinbyumashin essentially controlled the nation at the time under her husband's name. As all three of her children were female, she conspired with the prime minister, Kinwun Mingyi U Kaung, to secure the succession for Prince Thibaw, who was in love with her middle daughter, Supayalat. U Kaung also hoped to introduce a constitutional monarchy if Thibaw succeeded to the throne.
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