The flower, then the sword: The militarisation of Burma's most beautiful book

Abstract

This article examines the highly ornamented Burmese manuscript known as the Kammavāca to understand what its luxurious materials and distinctive illustrations reveal about Buddhist practice and politics in Burma's last kingdom, the Konbaung dynasty (1752–1885). This article shows that the illustrations on Kammavāca manuscripts transformed during the Konbaung dynasty to feature new sword-wielding guardians. This article argues that this militarisation was part of the Burmese kingdom's increasing reliance on ritual practices and religious materials to fortify a kingdom at war with the British and threatened by ethnic divisions.