San, Saya

(born Oct. 24, 1876, East Thayetkan, Shewbo district, Burma—died Nov. 16, 1931, Tharrawaddy) Political leader of Burma (Myanmar). A Buddhist monk, physician, and astrologer in Siam (Thailand) and Burma, he joined an extreme nationalist group dedicated to organizing peasant discontent. Claiming the throne of Burma, he had himself crowned in 1930 and initiated an anti-British revolt in the Tharrawaddy district. Within two years the rebels, armed only with spears and swords and protected by charms they believed would make them invulnerable to bullets, were defeated by British troops with machine guns; Saya San was captured, tried, and hanged. The revolt exposed the precarious and unpopular position of the British in Burma.