Myanmar and the Second-Oldest Profession

Picture: New Mandala

In an article by New Mandala, Andrew Selth analyzes Myanmar’s long history of intelligence operations, which predated the colonial era.

Myanmar historians cannot cite any books that match these works, but they can point to the organised use of spies from an early date.

Old Myanmar records refer, directly or indirectly, to espionage or secret operations of one kind or another. For example, the Royal Orders of Burma listed as essential for the kingdom people who could act as sit na, or the “ear of the army (spy)”.[4] Spies are also mentioned (albeit in passing) in the Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma.[5] The hoard of official documents seized by the British army from the royal palace following the fall of Mandalay in 1885 includes one titled “Qualifications for Secret Agents”.

Before the British began their three-part annexation of Burma (as Myanmar was then known) in 1824, the Konbaung dynasty (1752–1885) employed an extensive system of spies and informants to keep abreast of developments around the country and to protect themselves from political rivals. Indeed, according to the historian C.A. Bayly, the Konbaung kings developed “powerful and sophisticated internal espionage systems”.[12] Most Burmese settlements and rural areas had officers appointed as “royal listeners” or “royal ears” (na hkan or nakandaw), whose job it was to keep the king and his senior courtiers well informed. The British envoy John Crawfurd called them “authorised spies”.[13] These officials, sometimes described misleadingly as royal scribes, had “sacrosanct powers of investigation”.[14]