ABSTRACT This article examines the history of railway development in British Burma between 1870 until 1900. In particular, it focuses on how railways and public works projects became a key site of contestation about Burma’s prospects, value, and future during the late nineteenth century, as well as how a litany of agents – both official and non-official – influenced the path of railway development in the colony. This article not only reveals the difficulties and disputes that impacted railway construction in Burma, but also how these debates led to the eventual privatisation of Burma’s railway system in the 1890s. In doing so, this article demonstrates how myriad agents with often competing aims affected the colony’s social and economic development, as well as how the results of these debates and the subsequent construction of railways produced a new geography of occupation in British Burma.

中文翻译：

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“在通往曼德勒的路上”：1870-1900 年英属缅甸的铁路发展

摘要 本文考察了 1870 年至 1900 年间英属缅甸的铁路发展历史。特别关注铁路和公共工程项目如何成为 19 世纪后期缅甸前景、价值和未来争论的关键场所，如以及一连串官方和非官方代理人如何影响殖民地铁路发展的道路。本文不仅揭示了影响缅甸铁路建设的困难和争议，还揭示了这些争论如何导致 1890 年代缅甸铁路系统最终私有化。在这样做的过程中，本文展示了无数具有经常相互竞争目标的代理人如何影响殖民地的社会和经济发展，