Taw Sein Ko (; ; 7 December 1864 – 29 May 1930) was

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

's first recorded archaeologist. He spent over 32 years in various government services, and ended his career in 1919 as the Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of Burma.

Personal life

He was born in Moulmein (present-day

Mawlamyine Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; ; , ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' southeast of Yangon and south of Thaton, at the mouth of Thanlwin (Salween) River. Mawlamyine was an ancient ...

, Mon State) in 1864. He was the son of a

Burmese Chinese Chinese Burmese, also Sino-Burmese or Tayoke (), are Burmese citizens of Han Chinese ethnicity. They are a group of overseas Chinese born or raised in Myanmar (Burma). Burmese Chinese are a well established ethnic group and are well represen ...

father with ancestry from

Amoy Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

, China, Taw Sein Sun (杜成孫) who worked in shipping operations along the Burmese coast in the 1840s. His mother Daw Nu () was probably a

Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * A ...

lady. Later, their family went north. Taw's father became a well-known merchant in

Bhamo Bhamo ( ''ban: mau mrui.'', also spelt Banmaw), historically known as Manmaw (; ) or Hsinkai () is a city in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, south of the state capital, (Myitkyina). It is on the Ayeyarwady River. It lies within of the border ...

. Taw married to the daughter of Tan Htun (who died in October 1910), a merchant in

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

. Taw studied in "Mandalay's Dr. Marks School" together with the princes of the Royal House of Konbaung, including Prince Thibaw in 1871. Taw graduated from

Rangoon College The University of Yangon (also Yangon University; , ; formerly Rangoon College, University of Rangoon and Rangoon Arts and Sciences University), located in Kamayut, Yangon, is the oldest university in Myanmar's modern education system and the b ...

in 1881 and read law at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...

in 1892. He also attended

Christ’s College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in ...

Career

Taw Sein Ko joined the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

in 1884. In 1886, he wrote ''Maung Po: A Product of Western Civilization''. Taw became an assistant to

Emanuel Forchhammer Emanuel Forchhammer (12 March 1851 - April 26, 1890) was a Swiss indologist, Pali, Pāli specialist, orientalist and the first professor of Pali in Rangoon University, Rangoon College. He was a pioneer in Burmese Archaeology. Life Forchhammer was ...

, the chief archeologist. In 1899, nine years after Forchhammer's death, Taw Sein Ko and Tun Nyein published an English language compilation of all the stone inscriptions collected by Forchhammer in the areas around Pagan, Pinya and Ava.Taw, Forchhammer, Tun Nyein 1899: 1–3 Throughout the 1880s to 1910s, Taw was a prominent advocate of university education and education of women in Burma and lobbied for prioritising Buddhist education in the British-led state curriculum. He was an advocate for modernising Burma's medical education system, and unsuccessfully lobbied for incorporating indigenous treatments and practices into school curriculum. He was also instrumental in re-instituting nationwide Buddhist scripture examinations in

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

for Buddhist monks in 1895 and the appointment and election of a Buddhist

Supreme Patriarch Sangharaja (Pāli: ''sangha'' religious community + ''raja'' ruler, king, or prince) is the title given in many Theravada Buddhist countries to a senior monk who is the titular head either of a monastic fraternity ( nikaya), or of the ''Sangha'' t ...

in 1903. In 1893, he became the Assistant Secretary to the Government of Burma. That year, after completing his first archaeological tour of

areas, he published his findings where he advocated for the preservation of the

Mon language The Mon language, formerly known as Peguan and Talaing, is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon people. Mon, like the related Khmer language, but unlike most languages in mainland Southeast Asia, is not tonal. The Mon language is a recogn ...

through conservation of manuscripts and relics at various museums in Burma (

Bernard Free Library The Bernard Free Library was the first free public library in Burma (now Myanmar), and a direct predecessor to the National Library of Myanmar. History The Bernard Free Library was established on 21 February 1883 when the Commissioner of Lower ...

and Phayre Museum) and England. In 1897, he was sent as part of a government delegation to

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

(now Beijing) and appointed Government Burmese Translator, concurrently with the positions of Archaeologist and Adviser on Chinese Affairs for two years. During the 1899–1900

Boxer uprising The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious ...

, he served as a Warden of the Frontier Areas, and helped to establish an Anglo-Chinese School. In 1902, he returned to his position as Assistant Secretary. From 1903–1905, he served his terms as Government Archaeologist and Adviser on Chinese Affairs. In 1906, the government re-designated the position of Government Archaeologist as Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey. In all, Taw spent over 32 years in various government services. He became the Assistant Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of Burma in August 1914, and in 1917 became the Superintendent. He retired on 7 December 1919, and was succeeded by Charles Duroiselle.Duroiselle 1920: 10 In 1903, Taw was awarded the Gold

Kaisar-i-Hind Medal The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (o ...

from Delhi Durbar. On 12 December 1911, King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

bestowed upon him the

Imperial Service Order The Imperial Service Order was established by King Edward VII in August 1902. It was awarded on retirement to the administration and clerical staff of the Civil Service throughout the British Empire for long and meritorious service. Normally a pe ...

. In 1917, he was appointed by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

(1865–1936) to the Most Eminent Order of the

Indian Empire Indian Empire may refer to: * Maurya Empire (322 BCE – 185 BCE) * Gupta Empire ( 240– 550) * Chola Empire (848–1279) * Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) * Mughal Empire (1526–1857) * Sur Empire (1538–1555) * Maratha Empire (1674–1818) * ...

. He died at the age of 66 years in

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

and left behind six sons and one daughter.

Legacy

Taw was the founder of Bagan Archeological Museum, Myanmar. In 1902, he founded a small museum near

Ananda Temple The Ananda Temple (, ), located in Bagan, Myanmar is a Buddhist temple built in 1105 AD during the reign (1084–1112/13) of King Kyansittha(Hti-Hlaing Min) of the Pagan Dynasty. The temple layout is cruciform with several terraces leading to a ...

Bagan Bagan ( ; ; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that w ...

, which became present-day Bagan Archeological Museum.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taw, Sein Ko 1864 births 1930 deaths Companions of the Imperial Service Order Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Recipients of the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal Burmese archaeologists Burmese people of Chinese descent University of Yangon alumni Burmese Theravada Buddhists People from Mawlamyine Burmese Shan people Academic staff of the University of Yangon Members of the Inner Temple Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge