ABSTRACT
In Burma as in other colonial territories in Asia religion provided the leaders, the techniques and the ideology by means of which the emerging nationalist movement sought to rid the country of alien rule. Both elements of Burmese Buddhism, the modernist and the traditional, the YMBA and the monks, developed into sources of energy for the nationalist struggle. In 1917 the British Government, through Edwin Montagu, the Secretary of State for India, issued a policy statement which acknowledged the need for developing self-governing institutions in India. One of the most famous examples of a blending of popular Burmese mythology, nationalism and traditional royalism was seen in the uprising known as the Saya San rebellion which began in 1930. Burmese nationalism can be seen to be negative as well as positive: the rejection of foreign interference in the life of the country, as well as the affirming of a sense of Burmese cultural identity.
