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    Saradaw U Ottama

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    Rakhine Students' Education Fund
    U Ottama was a prominent Burmese Buddhist monk and leader in the independence movement against British colonial rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in 1879 in Arakan Division, British Burma and studied in India, Japan, and several other Asian countries before returning to advocate for independence. U Ottama was imprisoned multiple times for his nationalist speeches and anti-colonial activism. He promoted non-violent protest and represented the Indian National Congress at important events. U Ottama died in 1939 and is considered one of the early martyrs and founding fathers of the modern Burmese nationalist movement.

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    Saradaw U Ottama

    Uploaded by

    Rakhine Students' Education Fund
    195 views2 pages
    U Ottama was a prominent Burmese Buddhist monk and leader in the independence movement against British colonial rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in 1879 in Arakan Division, British Burma and studied in India, Japan, and several other Asian countries before returning to advocate for independence. U Ottama was imprisoned multiple times for his nationalist speeches and anti-colonial activism. He promoted non-violent protest and represented the Indian National Congress at important events. U Ottama died in 1939 and is considered one of the early martyrs and founding fathers of the modern Burmese nationalist movement.

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    Martyre and Father of modern Rakhine Nationalist Movement

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    U Ottama was a prominent Burmese Buddhist monk and leader in the independence movement against British colonial rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in 1879 in Arakan Division, British Burma and studied in India, Japan, and several other Asian countries before returning to advocate for independence. U Ottama was imprisoned multiple times for his nationalist speeches and anti-colonial activism. He promoted non-violent protest and represented the Indian National Congress at important events. U Ottama died in 1939 and is considered one of the early martyrs and founding fathers of the modern Burmese nationalist movement.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    195 views2 pages

    Saradaw U Ottama

    Uploaded by

    Rakhine Students' Education Fund
    U Ottama was a prominent Burmese Buddhist monk and leader in the independence movement against British colonial rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in 1879 in Arakan Division, British Burma and studied in India, Japan, and several other Asian countries before returning to advocate for independence. U Ottama was imprisoned multiple times for his nationalist speeches and anti-colonial activism. He promoted non-violent protest and represented the Indian National Congress at important events. U Ottama died in 1939 and is considered one of the early martyrs and founding fathers of the modern Burmese nationalist movement.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Saradaw U Ottama

    Religion
    School
    Nationality
    Born

    Died

    Based in

    Buddhism
    Theravada
    Arakanese
    28 December 1879
    1st waning of Pyatho 1241 ME
    Rupa Village, Sittwe District,
    Arakan Division, British Burma
    9 September 1939 (aged 59)
    11th waning of Wagaung 1301 ME
    Yangon, Pegu Division, British
    Burma
    Shwezedi Monastery, Sittwe

    U Uttama; 28 December 1879 9 September 1939) was a Burmese Theravada Buddhist


    monk, author and a leader of the Burmese independence movement during British
    colonial rule. The ethnic Rakhine (Arakanese) monk was imprisoned several times by the
    British colonial government for his anti-colonialist political activities.[1] He is considered
    one of the national heroes of modern Myanmar.

    Early life
    He was born Paw Tun Aung, son of U Mra and Daw Aung Kwa Pyu, in Rupa, Sittwe
    District,[2] in western Burma on 28 December 1879. Paw Tun Aung assumed the religious
    name Ottama when he entered the Buddhist monkhood.

    Education
    Ashin Ottama studied in Calcutta for three years, until he passed the vernacular. He then
    travelled around India, and to France and Egypt.

    In January, 1907 he went to Japan, where he taught Pali and Sanskrit at the Academy of
    Buddhist Science in Tokyo. He then travelled to Korea, Manchuria, Port Arthur, China,
    Annam, Cambodia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. In Saigon, he met with an exiled
    former Burmese prince, Myin Kun (who led a rebellion along with Prince Myin
    Khondaing in 1866, and assassinated the heir to the Burmese Crown, Crown Prince
    Kanaung).

    Anti-colonial and political activities


    Upon his return to British Burma, U Ottama started his political activities, toured the
    country, lecturing for YMBA (Young Men's Buddhist Association) and giving anticolonial speeches. In 1921, he was arrested for his infamous "Craddock, Get Out!"
    speech against the Craddock Scheme by Sir Reginald Craddock, then Governor of British
    Burma. Repeatedly imprisoned on charges of sedition, he carried on. Ottama was one of
    the first monks to enter political arena and the first person in British Burma to be
    imprisoned as a result of making a political speech, followed by a long line of nationalists
    such as Aung San and U Nu. According to academics; between 1921 and 1927, U Ottama
    spent more time in prison than outside.
    While Ashin Ottama did not hold any post in any organization, he encouraged and
    participated in many peaceful demonstrations and strikes against British rule. An admirer
    of Mahatma Gandhi, he did not advocate use of violence.
    He represented the Indian National Congress at the funeral of Dr Sun Yat-Sen in June
    1929. The only time he held a post was as leader of the All India Hindu Mahasabhas in
    1935.

    Demise
    U Ottama died in Rangoon Hospital on 9 September 1939.

    Legacy
    U Ottama is seen as both the first true martyr of Burmese nationalism and father of the
    modern Arakanese nationalist movement. U Ottama is seen as the first of Myanmar's
    long list of political monks, who had stood up for the Burmese people in times of strife,
    either under colonial, democratic, socialist or military rule. His monastery in Sittwe, the
    Shwe Zedi Kyaung, continues to be an important focal point in the Burmese political
    movementthe 2007 riots were sparked when monks at the Shwe Zedi monastery began
    to march to the Sittwe Prison demanding the release of an activist.

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