Burma

Burma (now officially called the Union of Myanmar) was a province of the Bengal Presidency until the establishment of the Burma Office in 1937 after which it was administered separately until independence in 1948.

Geography

Places in Burma:

• Ava
• Bassein
• Martaban
• Mandalay
• Moulmein
• Negrais Island
• Pegu
• Prome
• Rangoon

History

The British annexed parts of Burmese territory after their victory in the 1st Burma War. Lower Burma was annexed in 1852 after the 2nd Burma War. In 1862, these territories were designated the minor province of British India, British Burma. After the 3rd Burma War in 1885, Upper Burma was annexed, and the following year, the province of Burma in British India was created, becoming a major province in 1897. This arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma began to be administered separately by the Burma Office and the Secretary of State for India and Burma. Burma achieved independence from British rule on January 4, 1948.

FIBIS resources

• Images of Burma
• FIBIS database:Burmese Cemeteries inscriptions and photographs
• "The Life of a Madras Artilleryman: The William Porter Letters" by Peter Bailey FIBIS Journal Number 3 (Spring 2000). FIBIS members may read this article online.

Extracts from "The Private Letters of William Porter, Gunner, 3rd Batt., Madras Artillery (1826-1857) (Mss Eur. G128, British Library)", including time spent in Burma

Military

• 1st Burma War - 1823-24. View the FIBIS Google Books Library

• 2nd Burma War - 1852-53. View the FIBIS Google Books Library

• 3rd Burma War - 1885.
• "The Kachin Hills Uprising: Burma from January to February 1915" by Harry Fecitt from Harry’s Sideshows (kaiserscross.com)
• "The Kuki Rising 1917-1919 : Insurrection in north-eastern India and Burma" by Harry Fecitt from Harry’s Sideshows (kaiserscross.com)

Also called Kuki Punitive Operations.

"Breaking the spirit of the Kukis: launching the 'largest series of military operations' in the northeastern frontier of India" by Thongkholal Haokip. academia.edu. Chapter 3 from The Anglo-Kuki War 1917-1919: A Frontier Uprising against Imperialism during the First World War, edited by Jangkhomang Guite and Thongkholal Haokip 2019.

• Burma Rebellion 1930-1932
• Second World War
  • Army in Burma Reserve of Officers, A.B.R.O. or ABRO, see External links, below.
  • "Behind the enemy line: British-led guerrilla operations in the Indo-Burma frontier during the Second World War" by Pum Khan Pau Small Wars and Insurgencies 2019, Vol. 30:2, 307-334. academia.edu. This paper discusses the case of three ethnic communities in the Indo-Burma frontier Kachin, Naga and Zo (Kuki-Chin) and the formation of the Kachin Levies, Chin Levies, and Naga Levies.

Also see

• Burma Military Police
• Burma Volunteer Corps
• British Army
• Indian Army

Trek Out of Burma in 1942

Following the Japanese bombing in 1942, half a million refugees attempted to walk to India. Many died.

• Koi-Hai website
• Anglo-Burmese Library - transcriptions and report. Also the list of internees.
• Exodus from Burma, 1941-42; a Memoir by Captain Nadir S. Tyabji Parts 1 and 2 , scroll down for Part 1, Parts 3-12 in reverse order, scroll to the bottom for Part 3. amitavghosh.com. The author was appointed as Assistant to the Agent of the Government of India in Burma, and was subsequently in charge of arrangements for the refugees, predominantly Indian, trekking out of Burma.
• "Burma before the Japanese Invasion" and "Diary of the Trek out of Burma 1942" by Jose Johnson with an earlier memoir "My Journey to Burma 1940 by Flying Boat" bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar
• The Elephant Man is about the rescue of refugees by Gyles Mackrell , an Assam tea planter. He mounted an operation to save refugees who were trapped by flooded rivers at the border with India using the only means available to get them across - elephants. website of Cambridge University.
• Tales of wartime courage revealed Yorkshire Post Wednesday 11 January 2012
• "Barefoot from Burma to India, 1942" by Benegal Dinker Rao, born 1917 in Rangoon, an employee of the Government of Burma. A nephew Arvind Benegal, is the author of the first part, based on his uncle’s oral accounts.
• "Exodus from Burma" by Krishnan Gurumurthy, aged 9 in 1942. His father was employed in the Burma Railways and was one of the many Indian working in Burma. amitavghosh.com
• Account of Capt. G.J. Stapleton. I.A., Burma Frontier Force: Retreat from Myitkyina 1942 . He was awarded the King´s Police and Fire Service Medal, for Gallantry. spink.com, now an archived page.
• "Burma, 1942 and the Anglo-Indian and Anglo-Burmese Community" by Megan Stuart Mills, 1999. Eighth edition of the International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies.
• "Retreat from Burma 1942: The Struggles through the Northern Passes" by Harry Fecitt. “Harry’’s Sideshows” kaiserscross.com/
• ICRC Archives in Geneva. The International Committee of the Red Cross has some records in respect of refugees from Burma.

Historical books online

• Forgotten Frontier by Geoffrey Tyson, published 1945. Archive.org. The book is about the escape of refugees from Burma in 1942 and the help provided by the tea planters of Assam in assisting the refugees from north Burma into India.
• Burma Diary by Paul Geren published 1943 In 1941 Paul Geren agreed to spend two years at Judson College in Rangoon, Burma, as a short-term missionary under the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. Following the Japanese bombing Professor Geren's classroom became a field hospital as he offered his services as an ambulance driver to Dr. Gordon Seagrave, the famed Burma surgeon. He later trekked to India. From the website ourstory.info
• Through the jungle of death : a boy's escape from wartime Burma by Stephen Brookes published 2000. Archive.org Lending Library.
• Flight by elephant : the untold story of World War Two's most daring jungle rescue by Andrew Martin 2013. 2nd file. Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library. Tea planter Gyles Mackrell mounted an epic rescue mission, with the aid of a herd of elephants and their mahouts.

Railways and Tramways

• Irrawaddy Valley State Railway from 1877 until 1896
• Burma Railway from 1896 onwards
• Burma, Mandalay Tramway opened 1904, extended 1907

Records

British Library

• Baptisms, Marriages and Burials for Burma are included in the Bengal returns (N/1) up to 1936. Records for 1937 to 1957 are in a separate series N/10 with a single index for Burma BMBs. All these records (subject to a few exceptions) are part of the digitised India Office Records collection on the commercial website Findmypast where however due to the dates of the N/10 record series, for privacy reasons only minimal details may be displayed for baptisms and marriages, although death records should display standard details. The N/1 record indexes are available on FamilySearch, but those for N/10 are not. If you want a full record from the N/10 series, for most people the only option will be to request a copy from the British Library.
• Burma Gazette IOR/V/11/3406-3694 1875-1952.This publication was one of the Government Gazettes which were the official newspapers of the Government of India and its provincial governments where information, such as appointments, promotions,etc was 'gazetted'.

LDS (Mormon)

Note: Microfilm ordering services ceased 8 September 2017. Microfilms have been digitised, refer individual microfilm catalogue entries. Please take this into account when reading the information below. . See FamilySearch Centres for more details.

The LDS film catalogue has the following entries:

• Burma ecclesiastical returns, registered 1937-1957. Note: These are the N/10 records referred to above, from the British Library, now available on Findmypast, but most, due to privacy reasons will contain very little detail. The N/10 records are held by FamilySearch and have been digitised, but due to the date range, are viewable only as a microfilm, likely to be available only at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
• Registers and indexes of the Burma Office. It is unclear from the catalogue just what records these are. However, from the film notes, they appear to be indexes only (Z/M records). Available at FamilySearch Centres and FamilySearch Affiliate libraries.
• Extracts from St. Andrew's Outlook, quarterly messenger of the Presbyterian Churches in Malaya, Sumatra, Burma and Siam : marriages and deaths, March 1914 - July 1951 Microfilm number 87992. Available at FamilySearch Centres and FamilySearch Affiliate libraries.
• Extracts from Scots Kirk', the church magazine of the Presbyterian Church in Signal Pagoda Road, Rangoon, Burma : baptisms, marriages and deaths, June 1930-June 1941 Microfilm number 87993. Available at FamilySearch Centres and FamilySearch Affiliate libraries.
• Microfilm of manuscript vol. of St. John the Baptist Armenian Apostolic Church in Rangoon, Burma. Births and baptisms, 1867-1980; marriages, 1858-1981; deaths, 1857-1957. Text in Armenian. Microfilm number 1356948 Item 2. Digitised but due to the date range, currently (2021/03/25) only accessible by microfilm likely only at the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Other

• FIBIS blog: Book of the month. A comprehensive new edition of Burma Register of European Deaths and Burials, edited by Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, published by BACSA, 2015. Covers burials up to 1948. 212pp
• From the catalogue of the Centre for Jewish History, New York and available through the American Sephardi Federation, whose Library may be contacted through the latter's website
  • Birth Register Book: Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue Rangoon. Published 1979 In English, records available from 1896 to 1979. In Hebrew, available from 1888.

  The following datasets, now archived webpages from Genealogy National Sephardic Library, appear likely to be from the previous book

  • Rangoon Old Book, October 1892-October 1923 birth records
  • Rangoon New Book A, November 1923-December 1928
  • Rangoon New Book B, December 1928-November 1932
  • Rangoon New Book C, December 1932-September 1938
  • Rangoon New Book D, October 1938-October 1979

  • Death Register Book: Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue Rangoon. Published 1979. Available from 1888. In Hebrew with Sephardi Script.
• "Inscriptions on Christian Tombs, Akyab, Arakan" [1836-1906] page 15, Bengal Past and Present, Volume 18, Jan-June 1919. Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection.

Economy and business

The leading British firms in Burma were the Burma Oil Company, which controlled the oil industry, Steel Brothers and Company Limited, which worked in oil, rice and general trading business, the Rangoon Electric Tramway and Supply Company Limited, the Anglo-Burma Tin Company , and the Burma Corporation Limited, which operated the Bawdwin Mines.

Also refer Twentieth century impressions of Burma: its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources by Arnold Wright, published 1910 in Online books below.

Recommended Reading

• The book Old Soldier Sahib by Frank Richards, is about the early 1900s in India and Burma and mentioned in Military reading list. The book was first published in 1936. There is a further 2005 edition, annotated by Krijnen and Langley, with many footnotes and illustrations. "Each page is annotated to give information on Frank Richards’s friends, his officers, the places where he served in India and Burma, dates, events and the language, for example".
• Details of the book A Soldier’s Story-From the Khyber Pass to the Jungles of Burma: The Memoir of a British Officer in the Indian Army 1933-1947 by John Archibald Hislop, edited by Penny Kocher 2010. There is a review by Richard Morgan of A Soldier’s Story in FIBIS Journal Number 26 Autumn 2011, page 52. For details of how to access this article, see FIBIS Journals. The review may also be read in this link, along with other reviews.
• The Brewing Storm – 1939-1941 (2013) and Burma Invaded - 1942 (2013), both by Major C M Enriquez, based on his diary. Review by Peter Bailey, page 52 FIBIS Journal Number 33 (Spring 2015)

External links

	The FIBIS Google Books Library has books tagged: Burma

• Burma Wikipedia
• British rule in Burma Wikipedia
• The Anglo-Burmese Library. This website contains extracts from a number of directories including lists of inhabitants, as well as muster rolls of Volunteer Forces. They have obtained copies of selected files from the Myanmar National Archives, some samples of which are shown on their "Projects" page.
  • The Message Boards page states "Given the historic close connection between Burma and Siam we do collect incidental records relating to Siam, especially BMDs for the 19th century. The Andaman Islands BMD returns were always included in the Burma returns, and so we feel justified in including these Islands in our remit".
  • Army in Burma Reserve of Officers
• Planet Burma, website of the Britain-Burma Society including Book World
• Online Burma/Myanmar Library, Burmalibrary.org, under the subject History has many categories including
  • Historical periods / British Colonial Period [1824-1948]
  • Economic History/Overseas trade/Trade with Europeans and the East India Companies
  • Historical documents/Memoirs and accounts of Burma by missionaries
• The Burma Campaign rothwell.force9.co.uk. Includes internal links to many categories such
  • Officers and Men/Army in Burma Reserve of Officers (A.B.R.O.)
  • Burma Auxiliary Force following separation of Burma from India in April 1937
  • The Burma Army 1937-43, The Burma Rifles, Burma Territorial Force, Burma Frontier Force, Burma Military Police etc
• Burma/Myanmar Bibliographic Project: A Collection of Publications in West-European Languages by Siegfried M. Schwertner Heidelberg University Digital Repository South Asian Studies. An extensive bibliography, with separate downloads for each letter of the alphabet.

Other

• "Myanmar Catholic Church Found In Historical Records (1287-1900)" maristfathers.org.au.
• Adoniram Judson, Ann Judson-Pioneer American Baptist Missionaries to Burma Wholesomewords.org
• Joseph Valu's World War 2 Burma Diaries
• Obituary of Reuben Solomon born Rangoon 1921, from the Sydney Morning Herald dated 24 October 2009. He is mentioned in Burmese Nights tajmahalfoxtrot.com
• De La Salle Brothers in Myanmar
• "Fire-Hearted Pebbles from Burma" by C.M. Enriquez, reprinted from Asia Magazine, October, 1930, Vol. 30, No. 10, pp. 722–725, 733. , is about the ruby mines of Burma and the Burma Ruby Mines Company. Palagems.com
• "Burma’s jade mines: An Annotated Occidental History" by Richard W Hughes. ruby-sapphire.com.
• "Leaving the Glass Palace" by NP Chekkutty. Burmese Prince Moung Lat was a British state prisoner in India for 54 years during which time he married the daughter of an Australian widow. Tehelka.com, now archived.
• Family budgets in 1920s India by John O’Brien 27 February 2012 British Library Blog: Untold Lives: Sharing stories from the past. Includes a mention of Rangoon.
• "Browsing Through a Treasure House: The Literature of the Burma Campaign" by Gordon Graham. Part of WW2. From the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 2011 pdf, Abstract

Burma Campaign Memorial Library, SOAS, London, and Digital catalogue

• Chronology of the Press in Burma May 1, 2004 The Irrawaddy.

Maps

• Maps of Burma from Old Survey of India Maps zenodo.org. "A set of about 250 maps of Burma produced by the Survey of India before and during the Second World War". Also see Maps.
• Burma 1:250,000. Series U542, U.S. Army Map Service, 1955- lib.utexas.edu

Historical photographs online

• Photographs: Burma from a collection "ca. 1889, some photographs later” New York Public Library Digital Collection.

Historical books online

• Also see Gazetteers-Burma for more online Gazetteers.
• "Early Fifteenth Century Travels in the East: Nicolò de' Conti of Venice". From the 1579 translation by John Frampton, with notes by Kennon Breazeale. SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research Vol 2, No 2 Autumn 2004. Archive.org. "Editorial Introduction to Nicolò de' Conti'€s Account" by Kennon Breazeale from the same SOAS Bulletin. Archive.org. For additional online accounts of Nicolò de' Conti, see Travel accounts online.
• Ralph Fitch, England's Pioneer to India and Burma. His Companions and Contemporaries. With his Remarkable Narrative Told in his Own Words by J. Horton Ryley. 1899 Archive.org. Fitch was active 1583-1606.
• Early English Intercourse With Burma 1587-1743 by D G E Hall 1928. Archive.org version, originally from the Digital Library of India. Preview Google Books reprint of the 1968 edition
• "Pegu, Ava and Arracan" page 55 The New Universal Traveller: Containing a Full and Distinct Account of All the Empires, Kingdoms, and States, in the Known World by J Carver 1779 Google Books
• Oriental Repertory by Alexander Dalrymple Volume 1 1793 and Volume 2 1808 contain a number of references to early Burma. See Scientific books online
• A Concise Account Of The Climate, Produce, Trade, Government, Manners, and Customs, Of The Kingdom Of Pegu by W. Hunter A.M. Surgeon. Calcutta printed reprinted London 1789 Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek “The result of observations made on a voyage performed by order of the Hon. East-India Company”
• Shipwreck of the Juno on the coast of Aracan in 1795 and history of Aracan. Google Books
• The View of India Extra Gangem, China, and Japan by Thomas Pennant 1800. Archive.org. Contents. Index. Volume III in a series Outlines of the Globe but sometimes catalogued as Volume III of The View of Hindoostan.
• "In Arakan A Century Ago" page 175 The Calcutta Review (April 1907). Archive.org. Includes details of the life of John Christopher Fink, born 1796, who became a missionary.
• "Short Description of the Mines of Precious Stones, in the District of Kyat-pyen, in the Kingdom of Ava" by Père Giuseppe D’Amato, reprinted page 24 SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 2004. It was translated from Italian for publication in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1833, and the original edition is pages 75-76 HathiTrust Digital Library. The author, also known as Padre Don José, was an Italian Catholic missionary of the Barnabite order who was in Burma c 1784 until his death in 1832. "Memoir of Giuseppe d’ Amato" by Major H Burney, Resident at the Burmese Court dated 9 April 1832. Page 349 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. v.1 (1832) HathiTrust Digital Library. Also see External links above for "Myanmar Catholic Church Found In Historical Records" for more about the Barnabites.
• A description of the Burmese Empire Compiled Chiefly from Native Documents by the Rev. Father Sangermano and translated from his MS by William Tandy 1833 Google Books. Father Sangermano was an Italian Barnabite missionary in Burma 1782- 1808 (see preceding listing) and died 1819. His manuscript was translated and published 1833, 2nd edition 1884, with a Preface and Note by John Jardine. Archive.org; 3rd edition 1893 was published under the title The Burmese empire a hundred years ago as described by Father Sangermano. With an Introduction and Notes by John Jardine Archive.org.
• History of Burma including Burma Proper, Pegu, Taungu, Tenasserim and Arakan. From the Earliest Time to the End of the First War with British India by Lieut-General Sir Arthur P Phayre 1883 Archive.org
• History Of Burma by G E Harvey 1925. (later reprint edition) Full title: History of Burma : From the Earliest Times to 10 March, 1824, the Beginning of the English Conquest. Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection.
• The Modern Traveller: A Popular Description, Geographical, Historical and Topographical, of the Various Countries of the Globe: Birmah, Siam, and Anam 1826 Archive.org. With a Map of Indo-China. The author is catalogued as Josiah Conder.
• Official Papers on the Medical Statistics and Topography of Malacca and Prince of Wales' Island and on the prevailing diseases of the Tenasserim Coast by T M Ward and J P Grant 1830 Archive.org. Wellcome Library version (same file).
• “General Remarks on the Coast of Arracan” by Captain Laws, H M S Satellite. Read at a meeting 13 June 1831. The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society Volume the First , published 1832. Google Books.
• Report on the Eastern Frontier of British India by Robert Boileau Pemberton 1835 Archive.org. There are no maps included.
• "An Account of some of the Petty States lying north of the Tenasserim Provinces: drawn up from the Journals and Reports of D Richardson … Surgeon to the Commissioner of the Tenasserim Provinces" by E A Blundell, Commissioner, page 601-625, and pages 688-707 Journal of the Asiatic Society, October and November 1836. Includes Journal items from 1829 (Part 1), and 1834 (Part 2). Google Books
• Travels in south-eastern Asia, embracing Hindustan, Malaya, Siam, and China: with notices of numerous missionary stations, and a full account of the Burman Empire; with dissertations, tables, etc by Howard Malcolm 2nd edition 1839 2 volumes in one. Book 2 with index follows page 276 of Book 1 Google Books.
• ‪Travels of Doctor and Madame Helfer in Syria, Mesopotamia, Burmah and other lands, Volume II (Volune I) 1878 Archive.org. Their travels commenced in 1835, and continued until 1840, when Dr Helfer was killed in the Andaman Islands.
• "Notes on Arakan by the late Rev GS Comstock, American Baptist Missionary in that country 1834-1844" from Journal of the American Oriental Society Volume 1, No 3 1847, page 219 Google Books.
• The Maulmain Almanac for the years 1850, 1852 and 1853. See Moulmein. Includes information for a wider area than the town/city of Moulmein.
  • "Tables of Money, Weights and Measures" page 22, 1850 edition Google Books.

Tenasserim and Martaban Almanac & Directory for 1857 Google Books

• Selections from the Records of the Government of Bengal: no 6: Report on the Tin and Other Mineral Productions of the Tenasserim Provinces 1852 Archive.org
• Selections from the Records of the Government of Bengal: no 9: Report on the Teak Forests of Tenasserim Provinces with an Index 1852 Archive.org
• Rough Pencillings of a Rough Trip to Rangoon in 1846 by Colesworthey Grant 1853. With illustrations Archive.org. HathiTrust Digital Library where the images can be rotated.

Sketches of Oriental Heads by Colesworthey Grant c 1846-1850 HathiTrust Digital Library. (These appear as the second half of a book file Portrait sketches of the public characters of Calcutta by Colesworthey Grant). Includes images of ethnic groups such as Taline [Mon], Karen and Shan.

• ‪Anglo-Burmese Hand-book: Or, Guide to a Practical Knowledge of the Burmese Language‬ by Dormer Augustus Chase, Lieut. 64th Regiment Bengal N.I. and Officiating Assistant Commissioner T.P. 1852 Google Books "The Anglo-Burmese Handbook" 28 April 2016 British Library Untold lives blog.
• Myamma : a Retrospect of Life and Travel in Lower Burmah by Deputy Surgeon General C T Paske, [Charles Thomas], Late of the Bengal Army 1893 Archive.org. Also published with the title Life and Travel in Lower Burmah, a Retrospect Archive.org. The author joined the Bengal Medical Service in August 1852, and was posted to Burma for about two years c 1853-1855, returned to India for four years, and was then reposted to Burma c 1859 for a few more years.
• The Dalhousie-Phayre Correspondence 1852-1856 edited with Introduction and Notes by D G E Hall 1932 Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India. Correspondence between Lord Dalhousie, Governor-General of India and Captain Arthur Phayre, first British Commissioner of Pegu, and Governor-General’s Agent in the negotiations with the Court of Ava at the end of the 2nd Burma War.
• A Narrative of the Mission sent by the Governor-General of India to the Court of Ava in 1855, with notices of the country, government, and people by Captain Henry Yule, Bengal Engineers 1858 Archive.org. Google Books version
• Tenasserim Provinces , page 685 A Gazetteer of Southern India: with the Tenasserim Provinces and Singapore by Pharoah & Co 1855 Google Books
• Burmah, its people and natural productions; or, Notes on the nations, fauna, flora, and minerals of Tenasserim, Pegu, and Burmah, with systematic catalogues of the known mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, insects, mollusks, crustaceans, annelids, radiates, plants, and minerals, with vernacular names by Rev F Mason 2nd edition 1860.
  • The first edition is probably ‪Tenasserim: Or, Notes on the Fauna, Flora, Minerals, and Nations of British Burmah and Pegu‬ by Rev F Mason 1851 Google Books‬
• Four Years in Burmah by W H Marshall, late editor of the Rangoon Chronicle 1860 Google Books Volume I, Volume II
• "British Burmah" page 306 Reports on mountain and marine sanitaria; medical and statistical observations on civil stations and military cantonments, jails - dispensaries - regiments - barracks, &c. within the Presidency of Madras, the Straits of Malacca, the Andaman Islands, and British Burmah from January 1858 to January 1862 by Inspector General of Hospitals Duncan Macpherson. 1862 Archive.org. Part of the series Selections from the Records of the Madras Government.
• Hand-book for British Burma by George Edward Fryer 1867 Google Books
• My child-life in Burmah, or, Recollections and Incidents by Olive Jennie Bixby 1880. The author, born 1856, was the daughter of an American missionary who appears to have left Burma c 1865. Archive.org
• Bhamo Expedition: Report on the practicability of re-opening the trade route, between Burma and Western China by Captain A Bowers 1869 Google Books includes
  • Preface to the Administration Report of British Burmah for 1867-68 by Major General A. Fytche, C. S. I. Chief Commissioner , page 129
• Practical sailing directions and coasting guide from the Sand Heads to Rangoon, Maulmain, Akyab, and vice versa. To which is added, Directions for the entire Bay of Bengal and Straits of Malacca by N Heckford Sixth Edition, Enlarged and Improved 1871 Google Books
• Journal of a Voyage up the Irrawaddy to Mandalay and Bhamo by J Talboys Wheeler, Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of British Burma 1871. Hathi Trust Digital Library. Archive.org version, note the latter is missing some pages.

A Short History of India and of the Frontier States of Afghanistan, Nipal and Burma by J Talboys Wheeler 1899. Printed in London. Archive.org

India and the Frontier States of Afghanistan, Nipal and Burma by J Talboys Wheeler 1899 Printed in New York. Volume I, Volume II Includes a supplementary chapter in Volume II, but otherwise the text is probably the same.

• The Ficus elastica in Burma proper or a narrative of my journey in search of it : a descriptive account of its habits of growth and the process followed by the Kakhyens in the preparation of caoutchouc by G. W. Strettell 1876. Archive.org [Natural rubber, or India rubber]
• Burma Past and Present, with Personal Reminiscences of the Country by Lieut-General Albert Fytche, late Chief Commissioner of British Burma 1878. Volume I, Volume II. Archive.org. Includes details of his career in India and (mainly) Burma 1839-1871.
• The Land of the White Elephant: Sights and Scenes in South-Eastern Asia : A personal narrative of travel and adventure in Farther India, embracing the countries of Burma, Siam, Cambodia, and Cochin-China. (1871-2) by Frank Vincent Jun. 1874 With numerous illustrations. Archive.org. Also available at Cornell University Library - Southeast Asia Visions in an 1873 edition.
• Our trip to Burmah. With notes on that country by Surgeon-General Charles Alexander Gordon, Army Medical Department, Principal Medical Officer, British Forces, Madras Presidency. 1877 Archive.org. A trip December 1874-February 1875.
• A Narrative of Travel and Sport in Burmah, Siam and the Malay Peninsula by John Bradley 1876. Archive.org.
• Mandalay to Momien : A Narrative of the Two Expeditions to Western China of 1868 and 1875, under Colonel Edward B. Sladen and Colonel Horace Browne by John Anderson 1876. Archive.org version, also available British Library Digital Collection with rotatable images.

English intercourse with Siam in the seventeenth century by John Anderson 1890, with a Map Archive.org. The province of Tenasserim was then part of the kingdom of Siam.

• Routes in Asia. Office of Quarter Master General in India. Section 6. pt. 1. Routes in Nepaul. pt. 2. Routes in Bhutan. pt. 3. Routes in Sikhim. Pt 4. Routes in Thibet. pt. 5. Routes in Burmah. pt. 6. Routes between Assam and Burmah compiled ... by H.S. Brownrigg, Rifle Brigade. 1878 Google Books
• A Thousand miles up the Irrawaddy : Burmah Proper by An Officer 1879 Archive.org. Final pages missing. A journey August- October 1878.
• Sport in British Burmah, Assam and the Cassyah and Jyntiah Hills : with notes of sport in the hilly districts of the Northern Division, Madras Presidency ... by Lieut.-Colonel Pollok, Madras Staff Corps. (Fitzwilliam Thomas Pollok) 1879. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org

Fifty years' reminiscences of India : a retrospect of travel, adventure and shikar by Colonel Pollock, Madras Staff Corps 1896. Southeast Asia Visions, Cornell University. Archive.org version. In 1853 the author was appointed to the Madras Sappers and Miners in Burma.

• The Game Birds of India, Burmah, and Ceylon by Hume and Marshall 1879. With coloured plates. Archive.org. Volume I, Volume II. Volume III.
• The British Burma Gazetteer: Volume I 1880 British Library Digital Collection. Volume 1 Archive.org version 1880, mirror from Digital Library of India; Volume II A-Z 1879 Archive.org.
• The Practice of Medicine Among the Burmese by Keith Norman MacDonald, late Civil Surgeon of Prome. 1879. Archive.org
• The River of Golden Sand: being the Narrative of a Journey through China and Eastern Tibet to Burmah by Captain William Gill R. E. Volume I 1880, Volume II 1880 Condensed [memorial] edition 1883 Archive.org
• Across Chrysê, being the narrative of a journey of exploration through the South China border lands from Canton to Mandalay by Archibald R Colquhoun, Executive Engineer, Indian Public Works. Volume I 3rd edition 1883 (probably first published also 1883), Volume II 1883 Archive.org. Also available Volume I, Volume II 1883 British Library Digital Collection with rotatable images. Chryse (Chrysê) is the Greek short name of gold-producing Chryse Chersonesos (The Golden Peninsula) in the East Indies (Wikipedia)
• A Parson's Holiday : being an account of a tour in India, Burma, and Ceylon, in the winter of 1882-83 by W Osborn B Allen 1885 Archive.org
• Burma, after the conquest, viewed in its political, social, and commercial aspects, from Mandalay by Grattan Geary 1886 Archive.org
• Correspondence respecting the Ruby Mines of Upper Burmah presented to both houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty 1887 Archive.org

"On the Ruby Mines near Mogok, Burma" by Robert Gordon, C.E with Map showing the position of the Ruby Mines Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, Vol. 10, No. 5, May 1888, pages 261–275, Map page 324. Archive.org

A Short Account of an Expedition to The Jade Mine in Upper Burma by C H E Adamson 1889 from Gill's Historical Index To Gems And Jewelry Online scroll down and click on the link, or direct pdf. gemology.se.

"Burma Rubies" page 153 Precious stones and gems, their history, sources and characteristics by Edwin William Streeter 6th Edition 1898 Archive.org

• Report on the Railway Connexion of Burmah and China ... with account of exploration-survey by H. S. Hallett. Accompanied by surveys, vocabularies and appendices by Archibald R Colquhoun 1888 British Library Digital Collection
• Eighteen Hundred Miles On A Burmese Tat through Burmah, Siam and the Eastern Shan States by Lieutenant G J Younghusband, Queen’s Own Corps of Guides. 1995 reprint edition, originally published 1888. Archive.org
• Notes and statistics in four parts, compiled in the Office of the Chief Secretary to the Chief Commissioner Rangoon Contents 1893 Archive.org. Lists the cantonments, railway stations, Telegraph offices, Volunteer Regiments etc.
  • 1891 Outline Map of Burma
• Henry S. King & Co.'s Hand book for homeward-bound travellers from India, Australia and the East 1893 National Library of Australia. Includes the telegraph code to be used, as words or phrases more than ten letters are charged double.
• Routes in Upper Burma by A B Fenton 1894. Volume 1 Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India; Volume 2 Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. Full title: Routes in Upper Burma, including the Chin Hills and Shan States, to which are added a number of routes leading from Lower Burma and Siam into those districts. Compiled for the Quartermaster-General of the Madras Army.
• Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States 1900-1901 (Archive.org)
  • Part 1, Volume 1 includes Chapter 10, Ethnology with Vocabularies Part 2, Volume 1 A-K Part 2, Volume 2 L-P Part 2, Volume 3 R-Z
• "Burma" page 71, And that reminds me 
being incidents of a life spent at sea, and in the Andaman Islands, Burma, Australia, and India 
by Stanley W. Coxon 1915 Archive.org. The author was appointed District Superintendent of Police in Kyaukse District, Upper Burma c late 1880s
• Among Pagodas and Fair Ladies: an account of a tour through Burma by Gwendolen Trench Gascoigne 1896 Archive.org
• Wanderings in Burma by George W Bird 1897 “South East Asia Visions” Cornell University
  • Names of the English [Church of England] churches, page 87

Archive.org version

• Picturesque Burma, Past and Present by Mrs Ernest Hart 1897. British Library Digital Collection. With illustrations.
• Rangoon Diocesan Association: Quarterly Paper Printed in London. (Church of England, "Affiliated to S.P.G." (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts)). Quarterly issues from 1897 to 1927 when it was superseded by Burma News available online to 1970. SOAS Digital Library. London University.The issue for June 1898 listed Clergy and English Missionaries throughout Burma. If the link is not permanent Search using keyword Rangoon or Burma News.
• The Soul Of A People by H Fielding Hall [Harold] 1909 edition, first published 1898. Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India. It is indicated elsewhere that he was a senior lawyer in the Civil Service in Burma.

Thibaw's Queen by H Fielding (later H Fielding Hall) 1899 Archive.org.

Also see Fiction, below.

• The Burma Medical Manual : containing rules for the management of charitable hospitals and dispensaries and for the guidance of medical officers under the Government of Burma ; issued under authority 1898 Archive.org
• The Burma Police Manual, Volume II The Criminal Law bearing on Police Action compiled by A St. J Ingle, Officiating District Superintendent of Police 1899 Google Books.
• An English girl's first impression of Burmah by Beth Ellis 1899 Archive.org. (Biographical details of the author.)
• Wild sports of Burma and Assam by Fitz William Thomas Pollok and W. S. Thom 1900 Archive.org
• "Prisons of Burmah" page 171 Oriental Prisons: Prisons and Crime in India, The Andaman Islands, Burmah- China-Japan-Egypt Turkey by Major Arthur Griffiths, late Inspector of Prisons in Great Britain. C 1900. Archive.org. Volume XII in the series The history and romance of crime from the earliest time to the present day. Published by the Grolier Society.
• Monographs concerning Industry and Industrial Art. Mainly Pdf downloads, Digital Repository of GIPE. Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune]

Monograph on Ivory Carving in Burma by H S Pratt 1901 Archive.org.

Glass Mosaics of Burma with Photographs by Harry L Tilly 1901

Silk in Burma by J P Hardiman 1901

Silverwork of Burma with photographs by P. Klier by Harry L Tilly 1902

Wood-carving of Burma, with photographs by P Klier by Harry L Tilly 1903. Also available Archive.org

Monograph on Iron and Steel Work in Burma by E N Bell (cataloged as Bett) 1907. Also available Archive.org

• Burma under British Rule - and Before by John Nisbet, late Conservator of Forests, Burma. 1901 Archive.org. Volume I Missing Map. Volume II, Index, page 443, Vol. II.
• A Treatise on Elephants. Their Treatment in Health and Disease by Vety.-Capt. G H Evans Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department, Burma 1901 Archive.org

Elephants and their Diseases. A Treatise on Elephants by Lieut.-Colonel GH Evans , Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department, Burma 1910. Revised edition. Archive.org

Notes on elephants and their care by the late Mr W Hepburn. 2nd Impression 1919 (first published 1918? or 1913?) Rangoon. Click to a separate digital file for inserts. The author worked as Veterinary Surgeon to the BBTC Ltd (Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation). Digital Library University of Missouri.

• Scenes in Burma: An Album of 125 Views c 1900-1910? Archive.org
• Further India: being the story of exploration from the earliest times in Burma, Malaya, Siam and Indo-China by Hugh Clifford 1904 with Orographical Map and Political Map of Farther India and Index Archive.org
• The Silken East: a record of life and travel in Burma by V C Scott O’Connor, Comptroller of Assam 1904 Volume I, Volume II Archive.org. With many illustrations.
• A Yankee on the Yangtze; being a narrative of a journey from Shanghai through the central kingdom to Burma, by William Edgar Geil ... With one hundred full-page illustrations. 1904 London edition with a map
• Burma, painted and described Robert Talbot Kelly, 1905 Archive.org
• Burma: A Handbook Of Practical Information by Sir J. George Scott 1906. New and revised version 1911 Archive.org

Burma From The Earliest Times To The Present Day by J G Scott, 1924 Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.

• The Romantic East: Burma, Assam, & Kashmir by Walter Del Mar 1906 "Containing sixty-four full page illustrations from photographs" Archive.org
• Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India Volume V: Burma Compiled in the Intelligence Branch, Army Headquarters, India. 1907 Archive.org
• Colonial Administration in the Far East: The Province of Burma by Alleyne Ireland 1907 Archive.org. A report prepared on behalf of the University of Chicago. Volume I, Contents, Volume II, Contents.
• A Bachelor Girl in Burma by G E Mitton, containing ninety-five illustrations from photographs 1907. Archive.org. Also available Southeast Asia Visions, Cornell University
• From Peking to Mandalay: A Journey from North China to Burma Through Tibetan Ssuchʻuan and Yunnan by R F Johnston 1908 Archive.org. Incomplete map. Map from the Gutenberg.org edition.
• Twentieth century impressions of Burma : its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources by Arnold Wright 1910 Southeast Asia Visions library.cornell.edu. "Contents" "Index".
• Experiences of a jungle-wallah by Hugh Nisbet 1910 Southeast Asia Visions. library.cornell.edu. The author worked for the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation from 1879. The company logged teak in the Burma forests
• Burma Through The Centuries by John Stuart (Managing Proprietor, Rangoon Gazette) 2nd edition Revised and Enlarged 1910 Archive.org
• A Year on the Irrawaddy by E M P-B. 1911. Archive.org. Also available Southeast Asia Visions, Cornell University. The author was the wife of a captain of an oil-steamer.
• Big Game Shooting in Upper Burma George Patrick Elystan Evans 1911 Archive.org
• Christian Missions in Burma by W C B Purser, Missionary of Kemendine, Rangoon 1911 Archive.org. Church of England Missions.
• Josiah Nelson Cushing, Missionary and Scholar, Burma by Wallace St. John 1912 archive.org. American Baptist Mission.
• India, Burma, and Ceylon. Information for travellers and residents Published by Thos. Cook & Son 1912 Archive.org.
• Bibliotheca Indosinica: Dictionnaire bibliographique des ouvrages relatifs à la péninsule indochinoise [Biblioteca Indosinica: Bibliographic dictionary of books on the Indochinese Peninsula] by Henri Cordier 1912 Archive.org. Volume I includes Birmanie [Burma]. Includes English publications. Contents; Index of authors; Alphabetical Index all volumes
• A Civil Servant in Burma by Sir Herbert Thirkell White, 1913 Archive.org

Burma by Sir Herbert Thirkell White 1923 Archive.org. Volume 4 in the series Provincial Geographies of India.

• Burma Under British Rule by Joseph Dautremer , formerly Consul for France in Rangoon. 1913. Archive.org. Translated by Sir George Scott.
• History of Upper Assam, Upper Burmah and North-Eastern Frontier by Leslie Waterfield Shakespear 1914 Archive.org
• In Farthest Burma: The record of an arduous journey of exploration and research through the unknown frontier territory of Burma and Tibet by Captain F Kingdon Ward, late Indian Army Reserve of Officers, attached 1/116th Mahrattas. 1921 Archive.org. With a Map. The journey took place in 1914.
• Thacker's Medical Directory of India, Burma, and Ceylon 1915. Third year of publication Archive.org. Also includes a list of Nurses and Midwives.
• A Burmese Enchantment by Captain C M Enriquez, 21st Punjabis (“Theophilus”) 1916 Archive.org. Biography of the author

A Burmese Loneliness: a tale of travel in Burma, the Southern Shan States and Keng Tung by Captain C M Enriquez, 21st Punjabis (Burma Military Police: 85th Burma Rifles) 1918 Archive.org.

A Burmese Wonderland : a Tale of Travel in Lower and Upper Burma by Major C M Enriquez, 3-70th Kachin Rifles, Divisional Recruiting Officer, Burma 1922 with a Map of Burma Archive.org

A Burmese Arcady, an account of a long and intimate sojourn amongst the mountain dwellers of the Burmese hinterland and of their engaging characteristics and customs by Major C M Enriquez, [3/70th] Kachin Rifles. 1923. Archive.org. Also available Southeast Asia Visions, Cornell University.

• Forty years in Burma by Dr J E [John Ebenezer] Marks 1917 Archive.org. He went to Burma in 1859 as a layman for educational purposes in connection with the Society for the Propogation of the Gospel [SPG] at Maulmein. He was ordained Priest in 1866 in Calcutta, and subsequently returned to Burma, as an educational missionary, particularly at St John's College Rangoon, retiring in 1900.
• Tourist guide and shopping list : where to go, what to see, where to shop in Calcutta and Burma 1920. Southeast Asia Visions, Cornell University
• Burma Pictures c 1920 Archive.org
• Report on a visit to some salt workings in the Shwebo and Sagaing Districts, Upper Burma by F W Walker 1921 Digital Repository of GIPE Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune, India]
• The Quarterly Civil List for Burma 1st July 1928 (No.233) and The Quarterly Civil List for Burma 1st January 1941 (No.283) in one digital file Archive.org.

Further editions 1934-1941 Archive.org

• The Gentleman In The Parlour by W Somerset Maugham 1930 Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection. Full title: The Gentleman in the Parlour : a record of a journey from Rangoon to Haiphong. "The story of several trips: One up the Irrawady river to Mandalay in Burma, then a trek across the Shan mountains into what was then Siam, after that down the Mekong to Saigon and up then up coast to Hue in Vietnam".
• The Old Burma Road 1945. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. Full title: The Old Burma Road. A journey on foot and muleback. From the diary, notes and reminiscences of Doctor N. Bradley. The author spent many years in China as a medical missionary. This is an account of a journey taken in March, 1930 on the granite slab road along which, 650 years earlier, Marco Polo had ridden with his escort of Kublai Khan's horsemen from Yunnan-Fu to Bhamo.
• Rangoon riots in 1930 pages 551-553, India in 1930-1931 Government of India 1932 Archive.org
• Trials in Burma by Maurice Collis 1938. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. The author was a member of the Civil Service in Burma, and his autobiography covers the years 1928-1931, particularly his role as District Magistrate of Rangoon, and the riots of 1930. Also see Maurice Collis.
• The Rebellion In Burma (April 1931-March 1932) 1932. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• The Geology Of Burma by H L Chhibber (Harbans Lal) 1934 Archive.org

The Mineral Resources Of Burma by H L Chhibber 1934 Archive.org. Both mirrors from Digital Library of India.

• Where China Meets Burma. : Life and Travel in the Burma-China Border Lands by Beatrix Metford 1935. Link to a pdf download PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. (If download does not display, located in Books/Tibet And China). A description of the book elsewhere indicates the author accompanied her husband, who was a British official. They lived for several years in the Shan States, Burma and then in Yunnan, southern China. From elsewhere, it appears she was the second wife of Stanley Wyatt-Smith of Britain's China Consular Service.
• Bamboo Hospital; the Story of a Missionary family in Burma by Katherine Read with Robert O Ballou 1961 Archive.org Lending Library. Albert Henderson, an American Baptist medical missionary and his wife Cora arrived in Burma in 1893, and worked in Mongnai and Taunggyi in the Shan States. Albert was in 1932 awarded a gold Kaiser-I -Hind medal and died in Burma in 1937.
• Burma Police Manual 1985 reprint of Volume I 5th edition 1939, Volume II 5th edition 1940 burmalibrary.org
• Songs of The Survivors, including the Editor’s Preface Google Books. Stories about the Goan community in Burma and the Trek of 1942
• Burma During Japanese Occupation Volume II 1944. A government Burma Intelligence Bureau report, published at Simla. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Burma under the Japanese : Pictures and Portraits by Thakin Nu, Prime Minister of Burma. Edited and translated, with introduction, by J.S. Furnivall 1954 Archive.org
• Elephant Bill by Lt.-Col. J H Williams 1950. The author joined the Bombay Burma Corporation after the end of WW1. Includes Part II page 171. The War years. In 1942 he helped escort a group of women and children on the Trek out of Burma and later, in October, he was appointed elephant adviser to the Eastern Army (later XIV the Army). Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. "Elephants at war", by Philip Wynter Life April 10, 1944. In Burma, World War 2 from "China - Burma - India: Remembering the Forgotten Theater of World War II".
• The Raiders of Arakan by C. E. Lucas Phillips 1971. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. The exploits of Denis Holmes and V Force during WW2.
• Also see Second World War - Historical books online.
• Editions of Journal of the Burma Research Society from Volume I 1911 to Volume XXII 1932. Archive.org.
• Many editions of the SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research are available on Archive.org. The SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research offers current information on Burma research, activities, and resources at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, as well as information on international Burma research of relevance to Burma scholars in the United Kingdom.
  • Wil Dijk's "Report on the Archives Of The Dutch East India Company (VOC) as they relate to Burma" Published in the SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research 1.1 (Spring 2003). Archive.org
• History of Services of Gazetted and other Officers serving under the Government of Burma July 1931 Vol I Part II . This Volume is titled Officers of Public Works Department. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Burma by D G E Hall 1950. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. Contents.
• A History of Modern Burma by John F Cady Third printing 1965. 1958 edition. Archive.org Book to Borrow/Lending Library.
• Inland Water Transport Board (Irrawaddy Section), published July 1952 or later. Archive.org. Information - Passage regulations, schedules etc. Includes a
  • Map of the Irrawaddy River facing page 43 with "Alphabetical List of Stations", page 45
• Race, sex, and class under the Raj : imperial attitudes and policies and their critics, 1793-1905 by Kenneth Ballhatchet 1980. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Includes some content about Burma.
• Dictionaries etc
  • Judson's Burmese-English dictionary Revised and enlarged by Robert C Stevenson, Burma Commission. 1893 Archive.org. Contains Burmese script.
  • Tables for the transliteration of Burmese into English Superintendent Government Printing, Rangoon 1907. Central Secretariat Library, Delhi (Govt.of India). Archive.org mirror version.
  • Burmese self-taught (in Burmese and Roman characters) with phonetic pronunciation. (Thimm's system.) R F St. A St. John 1911 Archive.org
  • Short Glossary of Burmese First edition, January 1945. GSGS War Office, London. SOAS Digital Collections, University of London. Uses transliterations (Roman characters).

Fiction

• The Orchid of Fô; or, a Tale from Burma. By S. C. M. 1896 British Library Digital Collection.
• The Dacoit's Treasure, or, In the Days of Po Thaw : a Story of Adventure in Burma by Henry Charles Moore c 1897 Archive.org. With illustrations.
• Palace Tales by H. Fielding (later H Fielding Hall) 1900 HathiTrust Digital Library. Traditional tales. For other books by this author, refer above.
• Burmese Days a novel by George Orwell, first published 1934. The author’s real name was Eric Arthur Blair and the novel is based on his experiences in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927. Orwell was stationed from December 1926 to June 1927 in the northern town of Katha, on which the fictional town of Kyauktada in Upper Burma in the novel is based. For online book links, see George Orwell.
• See Cecil Champain Lowis. Lowis was a member of the Indian Civil Service in Burma until 1912, who wrote more than a dozen novels set in Burma, from 1899 until 1936.
• The Glass Palace : a novel by Amitav Ghosh 2001. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. The Glass Palace Wikipedia. The story begins story in Mandalay (Burma) in 1885, during the last days of the Konbaung Dynasty, during the 3rd Burma War.
• The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason (Daniel Philippe) 2002. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Set in 1886.