THE IRISH PONGYI IN COLONIAL BURMA: THE CONFRONTATIONS AND CHALLENGES OF U DHAMMALOKA

Abstract

This article charts the career of U Dhammaloka, an Irish working-class sailor turned Buddhist monk, in the context of colonial Burma. Focusing on his popularity with the Burmese laity as a preacher and his conflicts with colonial authorities, it considers what scholars of Buddhism can learn from Dhammaloka's remarkable career. It argues that for all the challenges he mounted to the Christian missionaries, middle-class Buddhists and the colonial state alike, Dhammaloka poses an equal challenge to contemporary scholars, forcing us to reconsider the motivations and meanings of European Buddhist converts at the turn of the twentieth century. The article examines the multiple modes of perceiving Buddhism and interacting with Buddhists in Asia available to Europeans at the turn of the twentieth century, challenging scholars to rethink how the colonial divide might have been reconceived or bridged by these interactions.

Acknowledgements

Many people have aided our research but the author wants to especially thank Michelle Hubert for her assistance in understanding the legal aspects of Dhammaloka's time in Burma.

Notes

 1. ‘Obituary’, The Times of Burma, 23 June 1900.

 2. He tactfully never claimed to be the first European to be ordained, but at one point said he was the first ordained in Burma, which left open the possibility that he was ordained after Bhikkhu Asoka (Douglas) who was ordained in Ceylon in February 1899.

 3. Dhammaloka, ‘Notice’, The Times of Burma, 3 November 1900.

 4. The Times of Burma, 23 January 1901. The announcements of his tour claimed that he was coming to pave the way for a new ‘Buddhist Mission Society from America which will arrive shortly’. However, we have been unable to find a connection with any Buddhist organisation in the United States.

 5. ‘Mr. Gordon Douglas as Buddhist Priest’, Journal of the Maha-Bodhi Society 7, no. 11 (1899): 106–7. He was ordained in the Amarapura fraternity by the Burmese monks because he had been refused ordination by the famous Singhalese reformer Ven. Sumangala. On Sumangala see Blackburn (2010).

 6. ‘Bhikkhu Asoka’, Journal of the Maha-Bodhi Society 8, no. 6 (1899): 59; The Times of Burma, 21 November 1900 ; ‘Mr. Gordon Douglas exhibits himself in Benares’, Journal of the Maha-Bodhi Society 8, no. 12 (1900).

 7. ‘Bassein’, The Times of Burma, 16 February 1901.

 8. Dhammaloka, ‘Remarkable Circular’, The Times of Burma, 9 January 1901.

 9. ‘Wearing Shoes in Pagodas’, 1919, Series 1/15(D), Accession 1330, File 2P-45, Myanmar National Archives, Yangon, Myanmar.

10. ‘An Open Letter’, The Times of Burma, 10 April 1901.

11. ‘The Open Letter’, The Times of Burma, 13 April 1901.

12. ‘The Shwe Dagon Pagoda’, The Times of Burma, 11 May 1901.

13. A judge could decide to hear any case in a summary fashion under Criminal Procedure Code section 260 rather than to hold a full trial. This section limited the possible sentence for a conviction to less than three months imprisonment, whereas under Indian Penal Code section 504 for insult the sentence could be as much as two years. If the sentence under a summary trial is less than three months imprisonment, 200 rupees fine or whipping, there was no right to appeal.

14. Justice, ‘The Shoe Question’, The Times of Burma, 5 June 1901.

15. The Times of Burma, 27 March 1901; ‘Dhammadesana tarācakākui Konswāhopyomñ Akon’, The Hanthawaddy Weekly Review, 9 March 1901.

16. There are two reports saying that the reception Dhammaloka received in Mandalay was a grander affair than that given to Curzon, but we have not been able to find the original articles making this claim. See Franck (1910); Sunday Independent, 6 August 1911. The second report, from the Sunday Independent, claimed that few Burmese appeared to welcome Curzon because most were nearby paying homage to Dhammaloka. However, this article, which appeared a decade after the event, appears to be an exaggeration. We can find no evidence that Dhammaloka and Curzon were in Mandalay on the same days. The earlier report, which was perhaps the inspiration for the later, is from Harry Franck, reporting on his encounter with Dhammaloka in 1905, in which Dhammaloka showed him a newspaper clipping stating ‘the reader was invited to compare the receptions tendered Lord Curzon and the Irish Buddhist in Mandalay’. The potential that a newspaper, especially one sympathetic to Dhammaloka, would ask its readers to compare the two receptions held one month apart is much more plausible.

17. ‘An Irish Buddhist Monk’, Maha-Bodhi and the United Buddhist World 10, no. 10 (1902): 91.

18. ‘Liberalities of Shan Chiefs’, Maha-Bodhi and the United Buddhist World 10 (1902): 92.

19. The Maha-Bodhi News (Burmese language), 5 June 1902.

20. This article is one of at least three Cotes wrote during her time in Burma. The first described her travels with Lord Curzon; a third is a description of Burmese princesses living in Mandalay.

21. Burma Echo, 18 May 1907; ‘Anglo Vernacular School’, Burma Echo, 6 July 1907; Burma Echo, 6 July 1907.

22. ‘The Water Festival in Akyab’, The Times of Burma, 24 April 1901.

23. ‘The Irish Hpoongyi: The Only One in the World, Interesting Interview’, Rangoon Times, 6 July 1907.

24. ‘Mandalay’, Burma Echo, 28 December 1907.

25. Sight-seer, ‘Mandalay’, Burma Echo, 18 January 1908.

26. ‘Mandalay’, Burma Echo, 4 January 1908.

27. ‘Minbu’, Burma Echo, 14 March 1908; A Sympathizer, ‘Myingyan’, Burma Echo, 29 February 1908; Cerberus, ‘Pakokku’, Burma Echo, 29 February 1908.

28. A Sympathizer, ‘Myingyan’, Burma Echo, 8 February 1908.

29. ‘Henzada’, Burma Echo, 9 May 1908.

30. ‘Pakokku’, Burma Echo, 7 March 1908.

31. ‘Henzada’, Burma Echo, 9 May 1908.

32. There is a chance, since we know that the Editor of the Burma Echo was sympathetic, that Dhammaloka sent in the paragraphs on his tours and these were spliced into the regular correspondents' columns, but there is no stylistic evidence that makes this apparent.

33. U Dhammaloka, alias Colvin v. Emperor (1911) 12 Criminal Law Journal 248; 10 Indian Cases 789; 4 Burma Law Times 84.

34. Ibid

35. This is section 108(b) of the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure.

36. U Dhammaloka, alias Colvin v. Emperor (1911) 12 Criminal Law Journal 248; 10 Indian Cases 789; 4 Burma Law Times 84; ‘The U Dhammaloka Case’, Rangoon Times, 21 January 1911.

37. ‘Modern Preaching’, The Burman Buddhist 1, no. 3 (1908).

38. ‘The Shoe Question: The Vernacular Press’, The Times of Burma, 5 June 1901.

39. In this, his role was similar to that of Col. Olcott in Ceylon, although Dhammaloka's class background and status as an ordained monk meant his influence had different implications.

40. Compare for example the preaching tours of Ledi Sayadaw at the time or Sitagu Sayadaw, U Nyanissara today.

41. A Sympathizer, ‘Myingyan’ Burma Echo, 29 February 1908; An International Degree Good Templar (1909).

42. This law was written specifically for sedition and creating hatred between different classes of people, but does not mention religion. There was a separate class of offences on religion (Indian Penal Code Chapter 15 Sections 295–298). Dhammaloka's appeal specifically mentioned hatred between different religious groups, as did the later case that cited it. However, prosecution under these statues would have required a full trial that the 108b sedition prosecution avoided. It appears that the later evolution of this law in post-colonial India has been used to address religious communalism.

43. Dhammaloka, ‘Buddhism and Journalism’, Burma Echo, 31 August 1907.

44. He offers letters after his name indicating he was a member of the Theosophical Society, but we never see him actively affiliated with any branch. Similarly he worked with the local representatives of the Maha Bodhi Society in Burma and Singapore but never seems to have been a member.