Editing Mindon Min (section)

==Early life==
Mindon was born ''Maung Lwin''{{sfn|Myint-U|2001|p=105}} in 1808,{{sfn|Saler|2014|p=605}} a son of [[Tharrawaddy Min]] and Chandra Mata Mahay, Queen of the south Royal Chamber. He studied at the Maha Zawtika monastic college in [[Amarapura]] until the age of 23, and he held deep respect for religion and religious scholarship throughout his entire life.{{sfn|Myint-U|2001|p=107}}

Mindon grew up in the shadow of British control – by 1853, the year of his coronation, Burma had gone through radical changes. The British annexations of [[Arakan]], the Himalayan kingdoms of the north of India, and the [[Irrawaddy Delta]] and their blockade of Burma caused a tightening of the food supply, the loss of trade through ports,{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=63}} an erosion of Burma as an imperial power, and the incorporation of Burma into the world market as a result. There was an atmosphere of reform due to translated works and better knowledge about the outside world. At the same time, migrations of people from the national core to [[Lower Burma]], controlled by the British, were sapping Burma of its labor and taxes.{{sfn|Myint-U|2001|pp=106–107}}