While the legal economies of Burma soared, so did the illicit ones. Opium was first introduced to Burma as a commodity for consumption by the British, shortly after the second Anglo-Burmese war. Ancient kings in the northern hill regions of the country had used opium for medicinal purposes, but it quickly became a symbol of oppression and inequality. The Opium Wars between the British and Chinese began just a few years before the annexation of Upper Burma. Four years after the British fully acquired Burma, the second Opium War began and ended with the legalization of opium importation in China. The British began importing opium from India and sold it through a “governmentcontrolled opium monopoly” (Booth, 1996). In 1878 the British passed the Opium Act which restricted opium consumption only to registered Chinese or Indian consumers. The Burmese were banned from smoking opium under any circumstances in an attempt to increase distribution outside of the country. Despite seeing success in the incorporation of Burma into the India colony, in 1937 Britain officially designated Burma a separate administrative state. Borders were drawn along territorial lines established after the first Anglo-Burmese war, which meant integrating Arakan. Many Bamars resented the British presence in Burma. The British also encouraged Indians and Bengalis, many of whom were Hindu or Muslim, to immigrate to Burma in hopes of increasing the British empire’s influence over its new colony (Adas, 2011). They were also more inclined to employ the migrant population rather than the Bamars because they had more experience with the colonial British administrative system. As a result, the new immigrants were viewed with distain by the Bamars who thought they were taking jobs from more deserving Bamars. Sentiment 5