Kinwun Mingyi

   (1821-1908)

   Also known as U Kaung or U Kyin, a Konbaung Dynasty court official who served as a senior minister under Kings Mindon (r. 1853-1878) and Thibaw (r. 1878-1885). Widely described as a reformer, he led two delegations to Europe, in 1872 and 1874. Although he had an audience with Queen Victoria in 1872, he failed to impress upon the British government Burma's status as a fully independent state, but did conclude commercial treaties with France and Italy that subsequently aroused British suspicions about alliances with rival European states. With the accession of Thibaw and the growing power of his queen, Supayalat, the Kinwun Mingyi lost influence at court but served until the British capture of Mandalay in the Third Anglo-Burmese War. In 1897, he was appointed an advisor to the lieutenant governor of British Burma.