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Maung Htaw Lay (, ; also spelled Maung Taulay; 1776–1869 or 1871) was Magistrate of Mawlamyaing (Mawlamyine) from 1838 to 1853 during the early British colonial period of Myanmar (Burma), and governor of Dala Township from 1805 to 1827 during the Konbaung dynasty. Prior to his defection to the British in 1827, he had been a Royal Burmese Army commander, and had fought in the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26). At Moulmein, Htaw Lay became one of the most senior indigenous officials in the colonial government. He moved to Yangon (Rangoon) in 1853 after the British annexation of Lower Burma. He successfully used his influence with the colonial government to stop the occupation forces' pillaging of Buddhist shrines around Yangon, and with the help of his son-in-law Maung Khaing, spent the rest of his life restoring the Shwedagon Pagoda.
The colonial government named two wide streets in downtown Yangon after him and Maung Khaing. The two street names survived the renaming of Yangon Streets until 1989. Some of his descendants became some of the most prominent members of the colonial era, including Mya Sein, May Oung, and Tun Hla Oung. The singer Myo Kyawt Myaing is his four times great-grandnephew.
In the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26), Htaw Lay was one of the commanding officers responsible for the defense of Yangon (across the river from Dala) against the British invaders. After an eight-month battle, the Burmese were ousted from Yangon in December 1824.Myint-U 2006: 118–122 He returned to a war-ravaged Dala as governor after the war's end in 1826. His kingdom had been defeated and left crippled in debt. (The British had returned Lower Burma in exchange for an agreement to pay an indemnity of one million pounds sterling as well as to cede Rakhine State, Assam, Manipur, and the Tenasserim coast south of the Sawleen. The war reparations, which were to be made in four installments, were to impose a huge burden on the populace in the following years.Htin Aung 1967: 212–214)
At 62, Htaw Lay became one of the highest ranking indigenous officials in the early colonial administration. Another indigenous sitke was Myat Phyu, a brother-in-law of King Bodawpaya and ex-governor of Shwegyin,Oung 2007: 23 who too had defected in 1832.Oung 2007: 24 The British made Myat Phyu sitke of North Moulmein. The two former governors made an alliance by marrying Ma Htu, daughter of Htaw Lay and Maung Khaing, son of Myat Phyu.
Htaw Lay remained in office for the next 15 years, working from his home office in the later years. According to Htaw Lay family tradition, he was conflicted about British rule. Though trade and commerce flourished under British rule, the devout Buddhist was alarmed that Moulmein's Buddhist identity was fading away. According to an 1871 stone inscription on the terrace of the Kyaikthanlan Pagoda, Htaw Lay used his powers to stem the tide as much as possible by restoring Buddhist monasteries and pagodas around the town. His main project was the pagoda itself, the principal Buddhist shrine of the town. He led a group of local leaders to restore the pagoda at a total cost of 10,000 rupees.Coryton 1870: 22 He retired from office in 1853 right after the Second Anglo-Burmese War in order to devote full-time to restore the shrines in Yangon, which the British had just seized. The area of Moulmein where he lived was named Sitkegon ("General's Hill") in his honor.
At the top of their list was the Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred shrine in Burmese Buddhism. The pagoda had been used as a fort by the British during the war, and had been severely damaged by the British troops and their Indian . The most egregious act of desecration, to the Burmese, was the British commanders' decision to have their sepoys make 1.8 m wide, 45 cm long and 60 m deep penetrations into the pagoda, ostensibly to assess its utility as an arsenal.Moore 2013: 244 Htaw Lay had written to the British commander and to the India Office in London to stop the desecration but his pleas were ignored during the war.Moore 2013: 242Oung 2007: 23 But after the war he found a more receptive ear with the incoming colonial administration led by Commissioner Arthur Purves Phayre. He got the Phayre government to stop the looting of the treasure chambers of Buddhist shrines by the occupation troops, and to provide some compensation for the damages done to the Shwedagon. He and Khaing went on to lead the restoration and re-gilding of the Shwedagon with public support and donations.(Moore 2013: 244): An 1875 inscription on four stones (95 x 75 cm) donated by Htaw Lay’s daughters and Khaing to Naungdawgyi Pagoda installed on the northeast corner of the Shwedagon platform commemorates their gift, including 25 viss, 63 ticals, and 14 Indian anna of gold. In about two years, the duo was able to restore much of the great shrine. He became one of the founding trustees of the Shwedagon Pagoda Trust.
The colonial government was pleased with Htaw Lay and Khaing. In particular, Governor-General of India James Broun-Ramsay of Dalhousie on his last visit to Yangon in 1855 was impressed by the progress made at the Shwedagon, and with Htaw Lay and Khaing.(Singer 1995: 81): Dalhousie also donated 300 rupees to the pagoda. Dalhousie saw the value in loyal, "pious and capable" indigenous figures, and included Htaw Lay and Khaing in the list of figures after whom the new roads and streets of Yangon were to be named. Two wide streets in downtown Yangon came to be named "Sitke Maung Taulay Street" and "Sitke Maung Khaing Street". Both Htaw Lay and Khaing were also awarded the title of KSM ( Kyet-tha-yay-saung Shwe-salwe-ya Min), the highest honor for public service bestowed by the colonial government.
To be sure, there were limits to the duo's influence with the colonial government. They could not prevent smaller ancient shrines that lined from downtown Yangon to the Shwedagon from being razed (in order to make way for the new grid-lined Yangon the British were building).Singer 1995: 73 Nor could they replace the damaged hti (crowning umbrella) of the Shwedagon for nearly two decades. (The hti affair came to represent the sovereignty dispute of Lower Burma. As the Burmese government had not recognized the British annexation of Lower Burma, the British sent back the new hti donated by King Mindon Min in 1853. Only in 1871 after long negotiations did the British permit Mindon's new hti to be shipped to Yangon.(Singer 1995: 91) and (Moore 2013: 244): The Mandalay-made hti was made of iron; its seven tiers were 9.5 m high with a 4.5 m long vane. It was transported on a royal barge that arrived in Yangon on 22 October 1871.)
It is not clear if Htaw Lay ever witnessed the raising of the new hti. According to Kin Thida Oung, a direct descendant of Htaw Lay, he died in 1871 but others such as Noel Singer and Wai Wai Myaing, a direct descendant of Htaw Lay's younger sister Auk, say he died in 1869.
The streets that bore his and Khaing's names survived until 1989.(Myaing 2005: 61) incorrectly says that Maung Taulay and Maung Khaing Streets were renamed in the "Socialist era in the 1970s". But per (Aung Myoe 2006: 8), the renaming took place in 1989, a year after the Socialist era had ended. The two streets escaped the initial round of renaming of Yangon's streets to Burmese names after independence. In 1989, the new military government renamed not only the country's English name from Burma to Myanmar but also the rest of the colonial era street names of Yangon and the name of Yangon itself (from Rangoon). The Maung Taulay Street became Bo Sun Pet Street.Aung Myoe 2006: 8
Later life
The ex- sitke was to spend the rest of his life based out of Yangon. His overriding zeal was to restore the Buddhist shrines pillaged during the war. He was joined by his son-in-law Khaing, whom the colonial government had just appointed governor of Dala (and shortly after as sitke of Yangon). The duo would lead the restoration and rebuilding Buddhist shrines and monasteries around Yangon.Myaing 2005: 60–61
Legacy
Htaw Lay's descendants became one of the leading indigenous families of colonial Burma. May Oung, co-founder of the YMBA, was his great-grandson.Oung 2007: 43 His great-granddaughter was the wife of Maung Khin, the first Burmese to be knighted and the first Burmese Chief Justice of the High Court.Oung 2007: 27–28 Kin and Oung were the first two Burmese to become High Court justices.Oung 2007: 50 Mya Sein, the first Burmese woman to graduate from Oxford University, was born to Htaw Lay's great-granddaughter Thein Mya. Maj. Gen. Tun Hla Oung, the colonial era Police Commissioner, was Htaw Lay's two times great-grandson. Myo Kyawt Myaing, a popular singer-songwriter, is his four times great-grandnephew.
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