Saya San Uprising

a Burmese peasant uprising of the years 1930–32 directed against landowners and colonialists. The uprising was named after its leader, Saya San, founder of a patriotic organization, the Galons (in Burmese mythology, galon is a bird that fights with a dragon, which it slays). In 1929 and 1930 this organization led peasants in a struggle to protest exploitative taxation by British colonial authorities.

The Saya San uprising began on Dec. 22, 1930, reaching its most violent stage in mid-1931. It spread to many regions of Lower and Upper Burma, as well as the Shan principalities. The insurgents demanded the abolition of taxes, free use of the forests, and the liberation of Burma from the British yoke. British troops were ordered to combat the rebels. Saya San and his comrades were arrested and were executed in November 1931. The rebellion was largely crushed in 1932, but guerrilla fighting continued in some regions until 1933.