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158-465: Following the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 and subsequent Burmese withdrawal, the military leader Phraya Tak succeeded in reclaiming the cities of Ayutthaya and Thonburi (also known as Bangkok). He then established himself as king (later known as Taksin ) and made Thonburi his new capital. He had a royal palace built within the old city walls , near the Wichayen Fort (which was renamed Wichai Prasit) on

316-659: A Dutch ship to be exiled to Sri Lankan Kingdom of Kandy . Phraya Phrakhlang the Minister of Trade was also implicated. Phrakhlang managed to pay a large sum of money to the king to avoid punishments. Ekkathat not only spared Phrakhlang but also created him Chaophraya Phrakhlang the Samuha Nayok or Prime Minister. In early eighteenth century, the Tenasserim Coast was divided between Burma and Siam, with Tavoy belonging to Burma and Siam having Mergui and Tenasserim . In 1742, in

474-471: A blatant attempt to take over the throne, asking the top military command to support him. But he failed to receive sufficient support. Naungdawgyi forgave his brother at the queen mother's intercession because he needed to deal with an insurrection by Gen. Minkhaung Nawrahta , a highly decorated commander with whom Naungdawgyi had a long difficult relationship, and one who led the rearguard action in Siam, as well as

632-575: A great haul to Burmese armory. Alaungpaya then laid siege on Pegu, the Mon royal seat. The panicked Mon King Binnya Dala executed the former Burmese king Maha Damayaza Dipati, inadvertently giving Alaungpaya full legitimacy as the savior of Burmese nation. Alaungpaya seized Pegu in May 1757, thus unifying Upper and Lower Burma under him. Pegu was destroyed and the political administrative center of Lower Burma shifted from Pegu to Rangoon . Burmese armies had not reached

790-487: A group of 600 Mon refugees took up arms and rebelled against Siam, taking position at Khao Nangbuat Mountain in modern Sarika, Nakhon Nayok to the east of Ayutthaya. Ekkathat sent royal forces of 2,000 men under Phraya Siharaj Decho to deal with Mon rebels. The Mons, armed with only melee sharpened wooden sticks, managed to repel Siamese forces. Ekkathat had to send another regiment of 2,000 men under Phraya Yommaraj and Phraya Phetchaburi Rueang in order to successfully put down

948-655: A group of about 200 French soldiers who were captured in the Battle of Syriam in 1756 during the Burmese civil war of 1752–1757 . After sending off his armies to attack Ayutthaya, King Hsinbyushin himself led the Burmese forces to attack Manipur in January 1765. King Chingthang Khomba or King Jaisingh of Manipur marched out to face the Burmese king in the Battle of Kakching in February but

1106-479: A letter to King Hsinbyushin, urging the Burmese to invade his rival Luang Prabang. After sheltering for wet season at Nan in 1764, Nemyo Thihapate and his Burmese army set off to conquer Luang Prabang. The Burmese left Nan in November 1764 to reach Luang Prabang . King Sotikakumman of Luang Prabang and his brother Prince Surinyavong led Lao army of 50,000 men to face the Burmese on the banks of Mekong . However, in

1264-510: A long illness that would ultimately claim his life. In 1775, periphery vassals states of Lan Na and Manipur both revolted. He died in June 1776 while the Burmese forces were still engaged in Siam and Manipur. The Burmese armies withdrew from Siam right after his death, leaving Lan Na under Siamese control. His wars would eventually lead to the present-day Burmese control of the Taninthayi Region ,

1422-454: A month. Following their last invasion, the Chinese kept a heavy military lineup in the border areas of Yunnan for about one decade in an attempt to wage another war while imposing a ban on inter-border trade for two decades. The Burmese were thus preoccupied with its Northern border for much of the next few years. Hsinbyushin did not resume the war with Siam, which had now been reinvigorated under

1580-541: A new law book called Manusara Shwe Min Dhammathat , based on older law books, in Burmese and Pali . In 1774, he raised the Shwedagon Pagoda to its present height, gilding it with his own weight in gold and erecting a golden spire studded with gems to replace the one thrown down during the 1769 earthquake. Though mostly known for his wars, Hsinbyushin was deeply interested in poetry. One of his minor queens, Ma Htwe,

1738-466: A new leadership. By 1773, Hsinbyushin had waited long enough, and he again contemplated renewing the war with Siam. He sent Ne Myo Thihapate to Chiang Mai with a sizable army, and asked the governor of Martaban to raise an army. However, he had to hold off the invasion because the southern army in Martaban mainly made up of ethnic Mon troops mutinied. The cause of the mutiny was the repressive behavior by

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1896-629: A newly rebuilt capital of Ava in April 1765. As a first step toward a war with the Siamese, Hsinbyushin decided to secure the northern and eastern flanks of Siam. In January 1765, a 20,000-strong Burmese army led by Ne Myo Thihapate based in Chiang Mai invaded the Laotian states. The Kingdom of Vientiane agreed to become Burmese vassal without a fight. Luang Prabang resisted but Thihapate's forces easily captured

2054-557: A plethora of new military units into the Konbaung army, including the incorporation of Manipuri cavalry in the 1820s. Hyshinbyushin's most long-lasting achievement was the destruction of Ayutthaya. The city, argued by Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit, was the most cosmopolitan city in Southeast Asia at the time. Hyshinbyushin's invasion of Ayutthaya resulted in the complete transfer of wealth from Ayutthaya to Ava, from which Hyshinbyushin

2212-401: A rebellion by his uncle, Thado Theinkhathu , the viceroy of Toungoo . Hsinbyushin, now officially the heir-apparent per Alaungpaya's wish, watched his brother the king try to put down the rebellions, and offered no help. Naungdawgyi was able to put down the rebellions by January 1762, and even recaptured Lan Na in January 1763. By then Naungdawgyi's authority was unrivaled, and Hsinbyushin

2370-453: A rebellion in Lan Na. The new Burmese governor at Chiang Mai , Thado Mindin, was disrespectful to local chiefs (saophas) and the people, and became extremely unpopular. The governor's harsh rule repulsed even Gen. Ne Myo Thihapate who was stationed there in 1773. The general was disgusted with the governor's behavior, and actually provided shelter to one of the chiefs, Kawila , being hunted down by

2528-420: A ship to Mergui, asking for the surrender of Udaungza. When Siamese authorities did not comply, Maha Nawrahta then quickly took Mergui and Tenasserim on 11 January 1765, massacring the population who failed to escape. Ayutthaya received the news of Burmese conquest of Tenasserim with consternation as the royal court prepared for defense of the capital. In April 1765, King Hsinbyushin moved his royal seat to Ava,

2686-530: A small contingent under the Mon official Thugyi at Phosamton to oversee the short-lived Burmese occupation of Lower Central Siam, while the rest of the kingdom broke down into a number of competing regional regimes. Burma diverted most of Ayutthaya occupation forces to the Chinese front, giving Siam a golden opportunity to resurge. Phraya Tak, the Siamese leader of Teochew Chinese heritage, who had earlier taken position in Eastern Siam, raised troops there to expel

2844-477: A tactic to circumvent the Ayutthayan wall by digging underground tunnels into Ayutthaya. In early April 1767, the Burmese, through the tunnels, set fire to the roots of the wall, causing the northeastern portion of Ayutthayan wall to collapse, allowing the Burmese to eventually enter Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya, Siamese royal capital for four centuries, fell to the Burmese on 7 April 1767. What followed were violent scenes of

3002-652: A truly astonishing elan unmatched since Bayinnaung ." He also raised the Shwedagon Pagoda to its current height in April 1775. The deputy commander-in-chief during his father's reunification campaigns (1752–1759) , Hsinbyushin as king pursued an expansionist policy against his neighbors. By 1767, his armies had put down a rebellion in Manipur , captured the Laotian states , sacked and destroyed Ayutthaya, and driven back two invasions by China. However, his reckless decision to wage two simultaneous wars against China and Siam nearly cost

3160-566: The French and the British who had provided arms to Hanthawaddy. Hsinbyshin was second-in-command of the Burmese forces in Alaungpaya's invasion of Siam (1759–1760), which overran the Siamese defenses and reached the gates of Ayutthaya in April 1760. But the Burmese forces had to retreat hastily as Alaungpaya suddenly fell ill from scrofula . Hsinbyushin retreated back alongside his father's litter , and

3318-463: The French commander in his service that he sometimes asked de Milard to sleep in the same room as him in order to protect him against possible attacks linked to a succession dispute. So paranoid was he that in December 1774, he ordered the execution of the last Hanthawaddy king, Binnya Dala , who had been in captivity since May 1757 because the Mon rebels had tried to free the former king to put him on

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3476-573: The Gulf of Siam coastline, instead of the most obvious and shortest route via Kanchanaburi. The Siamese sources say that Maha Nawrahta's main invasion route came from southern Tenasserim, crossing the Tenasserim range at Chumphon and Phetchaburi . The path is totally different from the Kanchanaburi route reported by the Burmese chronicles . Historian Kyaw Thet specifically adds that the main attack route

3634-634: The Mon of Lower Burma broke away, and founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom . The central authority of the king had effectively disappeared, and a profound sense of helplessness pervaded and deepened. The Hanthawaddy armies finally toppled the Toungoo dynasty on 23 March 1752 when they captured Ava . On 29 February 1752, three weeks before the fall of Ava, Aung Zeya founded the Konbaung dynasty to resist

3792-457: The Salween River , in May 1760. Siam was thus saved from Burmese conquest for one last time. After the demise of Alaungpaya, his eldest son Naungdawgyi succeeded to the throne in 1760 as the new Burmese king but Burma descended into a short period of internal upheaval. Minkhaung Nawrahta, while returning from Siamese campaign as the rearguard, passed through Toungoo where Thado Theinkathu

3950-713: The Singkhon Pass and another army under Phraya Rattanathibet as rearguard at Kuiburi . However, Phraya Yommaraj was defeated as the Burmese entered Western Siam . Phraya Rattanathibet sent his subordinate Khun Rong Palat Chu ( ขุนรองปลัดชู ) to face the Burmese at Wakhao Bay on the shore of Gulf of Siam near modern Prachuap Khiri Khan but was defeated by the Burmese in the Battle of Wakhao. Siamese generals, who were apparently inept compared to their battle-hardened Burmese counterparts, completely fell back to Ayutthaya. The Burmese vanguard took Kuiburi, Pranburi , Phetchaburi , Ratchaburi and Suphanburi in rapid succession. As

4108-452: The (literal) Green House. 13°44′33″N 100°29′24″E  /  13.74250°N 100.49000°E  / 13.74250; 100.49000 Fall of Ayutthaya Burmese Victory [REDACTED] Royal Burmese Army Initial invasion force: 40,000 to 50,000 Initial defenses: The Burmese–Siamese War of 1765–1767 , also known as the war of the second fall of Ayutthaya ( Thai : สงครามคราวเสียกรุงศรีอยุธยาครั้งที่สอง )

4266-539: The Anglo-Burmese Wars. Another damaging, certainly more enduring, cost was the rise of warlord culture by the army commanders, especially after Hsinbyushin was struck down by illness. The indiscriminate rule of the army commanders and arrogant rule of governors pushed the people to the limit. The Mon rebellion in the south was ruthlessly put down; the rebellion in Chiang Mai succeeded. His constant warfare however left

4424-590: The Ayutthaya campaign. Ne Myo Thihapate was ordered to raise an army from the Shan States throughout 1764. By November, Ne Myo Thihapate commanded a 20,000-strong army at Kengtung , preparing to leave for Chiang Mai . As was customary, the Shan regiments were led by their own saophas (chiefs). (Not everyone was happy about the Burmese army's conscription drive, however. Some of the saophas of northern Shan states, which at

4582-530: The Battle of Mekong, the Lao were soundly defeated and had to retreat into the city. Nemyo Thihapate reminded his soldiers that the goal of this campaign was not only to conquer Lanna and Laos but also to conquer Ayutthaya so they should not waste much time and should take Luang Prabang with urgency. Luang Prabang fell to the Burmese in March 1765. Sotikakumman had to give away his daughter, other Lao noblewomen and servants to

4740-405: The Battle of Nonthaburi in December 1765 but the Burmese prevailed. Maha Nawrahta, with his Tavoy column coming from the west and Nemyo Thihapate with his Lanna column coming from the north, converged on Ayutthaya in January to February 1766, setting foot on the outskirts of Ayutthaya. Maha Nawrahta took position at Siguk to the west of Ayutthaya, while Nemyo Thihapate encamped at Paknam Prasop to

4898-460: The Burmese and reconquered Ayutthaya-Thonburi area in November 1767. Ayutthaya was too ruinous and untenable to serve as Siam's capital so Phraya Tak, newly enthroned as King Taksin in December 1767, moved the Siamese royal seat to Thonburi south of Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya continued to exist as a second-class provincial towns, with its structural bricks dismantled for construction of Bangkok and its wealth looted by treasure hunters. After finishing

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5056-455: The Burmese armies marched back with its large war booty, with a small number of prize garrisons being left in a number of Siamese outposts and cities, including near the former Siamese capital. By late 1767, Hsinbyushin was forced to recall even more of his Siamese garrison units back to Ava to deal with the Chinese invasions. A long-term effect of the sacking of Ayutthaya in Burma was the creation of

5214-419: The Burmese armies were marching towards Ayutthaya. Hsinbyushin refused to recall the main Burmese armies in Siam. At first, the strategy seemed to work well. The remaining Burmese armies handily defeated the first two Chinese invasions at the border. But the Burmese were caught flat-footed in November 1767, when a 50,000-strong force led by the elite Manchu Bannermen invaded again. The main Chinese army defeated

5372-461: The Burmese army commanders, who according to the Burmese historian Htin Aung were "drunk with victory", and were acting like warlords over the local populace. They showed their arrogance even towards their ethnic Mon officers in the Burmese army, provoking them to rebel. The conflict began when Gamani Sanda, the governor of Martaban in charge of raising the army, had a disagreement with Binnya Sein, chief of

5530-514: The Burmese army since Bayinnaung's 1568–1569 invasion .). Thai, French and Dutch sources state that the Burmese forces invaded Western Siam in early 1765. Udaungza the fugitive former governor of Tavoy fled from Tenasserim down south to Kra Isthmus to Kraburi . The Burmese were keen on chasing after Udaungza and then followed Udaungza to Kraburi, burning down the town. The Tavoy governor fled further to Phetchaburi, where Prince Thepphiphit also took refuge. The Burmese forces sacked and burnt down

5688-406: The Burmese army. Upon returning to Burma, Hsinbyushin realized that his royal capital of Shwebo , located at the northwestern corner of Burma, was unsuitable for governance so he moved the royal capital to Ava on 1 April 1765 (11th waxing of Tagu, 1127 ME). Burmese conquests of Lanna and Laos in 1762–1765 allowed Burma to access food and manpower resources that were later proven to be crucial to

5846-557: The Burmese besiegers did not intend to retreat. Learning from the previous invasion of 1760, King Hsinbyushin innovated and devised new strategy to overcome Siamese defenses. The Burmese would not leave during rainy season but would stand their grounds and endured wet swamps in order to pressure Ayutthaya into surrender. Burmese besiegers closed in and approached Ayutthaya in September 1766, with Nemyo Thihapate coming closer at Phosamton and Maha Nawrahta at Wat Phukhaothong temple . By late 1766,

6004-498: The Burmese court. His brother Surinyawong was also captured as prisoner-of-war and hostage. After Burmese victory at Luang Prabang, King Ong Boun of Vientiane submitted his kingdom to Burmese rule. Lao kingdoms of Luang Prabang and Vientiane (not including the Kingdom of Champasak) then became Burmese vassals in 1765 and would remain so until the Siamese conquest of Laos in 1778–1779. After

6162-534: The Burmese forces defeated the main Chinese army in March 1768 at the Battle of Maymyo . After the third invasions, both sides sent peace feelers but the Qianlong emperor ultimately made it clear that no compromise with the Burmese could be made. Ava now fully expected another major invasion. A Thai-Chinese nobleman, Phraya Tak , was in the process of reunifying Siam. Likewise, Manipur revolted yet again in mid-1768. But there

6320-507: The Burmese invaders. Ekkathat sent Chaophraya Phitsanulok Rueang the governor of Phitsanulok to bring Siamese forces to rescue Chiang Mai but he was too late as Chiang Mai had already fallen to the Burmese so the Siamese turned back. King Naungdawgyi died in December 1763 and was succeeded by his brother the Myedu Prince who became King Hsinbyushin . Abaya Kamani deported nearly the whole Northern Thai population of Chiang Mai, including

6478-444: The Burmese invaders. In January 1767, the city suffered a catastrophic fire, which burned 10,000 houses.In January 1767, the city suffered a catastrophic fire, which burned 10,000 houses. The Burmese armies finally breached the city's defenses on 7 April 1767, and subsequently sacked and burned the entire city. Gold, cannons, treatises on science and religion, people, royals, musicians, and artisans were all hauled back to Ava. Most of

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6636-471: The Burmese massacring of the inhabitants, burning of Siamese royal palaces, temples and vernacular structures and looting for treasures. Ekkathat, the last king of Ayutthaya, was either killed by a random gunshot or by starvation. 30,000 Siamese people, along with members of the fallen dynasty, craftsmen and cultural artifacts were all taken back to Burma. Nemyo Thihapate occupied the ruins of Ayutthaya for two months until his departure in June 1767, leaving only

6794-587: The Burmese orbit. The initial goal of the Ayutthaya conquest was to end Siamese support of Mon rebels in the Tenasserim coast and Lower Burma. Yet, the new Siamese elites continued to assist Mon rebels and by sending armies to the Tenasserim region for decades, up to the First Anglo-Burmese War , bringing many Mon refugees, both willingly and forcibly, to settle at the new Siamese capital at Bangkok. Furthermore, Burma lost its long-standing vassal Lan Na to

6952-543: The Burmese prevailed, prompting the Manipur monarch to flee to Cachar , asking for aid from the Ahom kingdom . Hsinbyushin stayed in Manipur for about a month until his return to Burma as he appointed Prince Moirang, uncle and political enemy of Jaisingh, to be the puppet king of Manipur under Burmese domination. Hsinbyushin deported a great number of Meitei people back to Burma, recruiting Meitei horsemen as Cassay Horse units serving

7110-420: The Burmese siege. Ayutthaya invoked the traditional strategy of passive stand inside of the Ayutthaya citadel, relying on two main defenses; the supposedly impregnable city wall fortified by French architects during the reign of King Narai and the arrival of wet rainy season. The Ayutthayans initially flared well as the foods and provisions were plentiful and the Siamese simply waited for the Burmese to leave but

7268-567: The Burmese still could not catch the Manipuri raja. The nominal suzerainty of Cachar and Jaintia came at a heavy price: the Burmese army had suffered heavy casualties. Hsinbyushin was only 39 when he died. He left 20 queens and 41 children. Singu's right to succession was in direct conflict with Alaungpaya's edict that all of his sons become king in the order of seniority. Despite the fact that four of his brothers were still alive, Hsinbyushin had ignored his father's will, and made his eldest son Singu

7426-540: The Burmese to reassert Burmese authority in the Burmese-Chinese borderlands whose chiefs historically had paid tribute to both sides but had become solely Chinese tributaries since the mid-1730s. The Chinese at first decided to use local Tai-Shan militias to reassert their control but by 1765, the Qianlong Emperor decided to send in the regular Chinese troops. The Chinese began their invasion in December 1765, just as

7584-539: The Burmese took control and outflanked Siam's northern frontiers and also had access to vast manpower and other resources. In early 1765, Maha Nawrahta, from his base at Tavoy, sent his vanguard forces to invade and conquer Western Siamese provincial towns. Nemyo Thihapate, with his Burmese-Lanna contingents, descended onto Northern Siam in August 1765. Ayutthaya adopted hyper-centralized defensive strategy by calling provincial forces to defend Ayutthaya, focusing on protecting

7742-625: The Burmese vanguard at Kanchanaburi, led by Metkya Bo, attacked and repelled the Southern Siamese forces under the governor of Ligor at Bang Bamru. Suffering the defeat, the Ligor governor was then charged with incompetency, arrested and imprisoned in Ayutthaya. Metkya Bo and Teingya Minkhaung led their Burmese vanguard to proceed to attack Thonburi. The panicked Siamese commander Phraya Rattanathibet abandoned his position and retreated with his Khorat regiment technically dispersed. The Burmese vanguard seized

7900-512: The Burmese vanguard at Ratchaburi, leading to the Battle of Ratchaburi. The Siamese in Ratchaburi resisted for many days. Siamese elephant mahouts intoxicated their elephants with alcohol in order to make them more aggressive but one day this intoxication went too far as the elephants became uncontrollable, leading to Siamese defeat and Burmese capture of Ratchaburi. Western Siamese towns of Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Kanchanaburi and Chaiya all fell to

8058-563: The Burmese. Siamese people in these fallen cities fled into the jungles in large numbers as they were hunted down and captured by the invaders. After conquering Western Siam, the Burmese vanguard encamped at Kanchanaburi in modern Tha Maka district where the two rivers ( Khwae Yai and Khwae Noi ) met, while Maha Nawrahta himself was still in Tavoy. Maha Nawrahta also organized Western Siamese captives from Phetchaburi, Ratchaburi, Kanchanaburi, Suphanburi, Chaiya and Chumphon into regiments placed under

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8216-444: The Chinese front. Maha Nawrahta then escalated the siege by constructing twenty-seven forts surrounding Ayutthaya. In February to March 1767, Ayutthaya sent out volunteer Chinese and Portuguese Catholic fighters as the last line of defense, who were also defeated. Maha Nawrahta died from illness in March 1767, leaving his colleague Nemyo Thihapate to assume commands over the whole Burmese besieging forces. Nemyo Thihapate came up with

8374-584: The Chinese war in 1769, Hsinbyushin resumed the campaign to attack Siamese Thonburi kingdom in 1775–1776. However, Siam under the new regime was more resilient and competent at defense against Burmese invasions. Burmese invasion of Siam in 1785–1786 would be the last major large-scale Burmese invasion of Siam in history. Siam lost Tenaserim to Burma for perpetuity in 1765, becoming modern Tanintharyi region (Siam attempted to regain Tenasserim in 1792–1794 but failed.), in exchange for taking control of Lanna or modern Northern Thailand from Burma in 1775. With

8532-685: The Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 left Siam vulnerable and resulted from Siamese court being unable to adapt and reform in response to changes. Princely struggles began in 1755 when Prince Thammathibet , Borommakot's eldest son who had been the Wangna or Prince of the Front Palace and heir presumptive , arrested the servants of his half-brothers Chao Sam Krom or the Three Princes, who were sons of Borommakot born to secondary consorts rather than principal queens, for

8690-595: The French-constructed Wichaiyen Fort at Bangkok. French Catholic seminary and Dutch trade factory at Thonburi were also burnt down and destroyed. After successful capture of Thonburi, the Burmese vanguard then returned to the position at Kanchanaburi. Hsinbyushin Hsinbyushin ( Burmese : ဆင်ဖြူရှင် , IPA: [sʰɪ̀ɰ̃ pʰjú ʃɪ̀ɰ̃] , lit.   ' Lord of the white elephant ' ; Thai : พระเจ้ามังระ ; 12 September 1736 – 10 June 1776)

8848-621: The Grand Palace, Phra Racha Wang Derm is much smaller and simpler in its construction. Apart from the older Wichai Prasit Fort , the only original building from the Thonburi period is the Throne Hall, a Thai-style building consisting of two segments forming a T shape. Later additions include two Chinese-style residences, King Pinklao's residence, King Taksin's shrine, the Whale Head Shrine, and

9006-602: The Konbaung homeland, but were driven back. In April 1754, Hsinbyushin also broke the siege of Ava, and pursued the retreating Hanthawaddy armies down to Minbu . Alaungpaya granted Hsinbyushin the town of Myedu in fief, for the latter's successful defense of Ava. He would be known as the Prince of Myedu from then on. Indeed, throughout the rest of the 1750s, Hsinbyushin was a key top commander in Alaungpaya's campaigns which by 1759 had reunited all of Burma (and Manipur), and driven out

9164-525: The Konbaung-appointed Tavoy governor. Udaungza then proclaimed himself the governor of Tavoy and sent tributes to submit to Siam. Tavoy and Tenasserim Coast returned to Siamese rule again after this incident. After the Burmese conquest of Lanna in 1558, Lanna or modern Northern Thailand had been mostly under Burmese rule. At the time when the Burmese Toungoo dynasty became weak, Ong Kham ,

9322-478: The Luang Prabang campaign, Nemyo Thihapate and his army went to pacify Kengtung and then took the wet season shelter at Lampang, contemplating for the invasion of Siam by the end of that year. At his ascension in 1764, the new Burmese king Hsinbyushin was determined to accomplish the unfinished mission of his father King Alaungpaya to conquer Ayutthaya. Hsinbyushin had wanted to continue the war with Siam since

9480-432: The Mon officer corps. The governor ordered Binnya Sein's troops to the front, and when they left, he surrounded the families of Mon officers for money. When the Mon corps heard the news, they duly returned and mutinied. They drove back the ethnic Burmese troops back to Yangon. The army eventually put down the mutiny that they provoked, with "undue severity". About 3000 officers and their families escaped to Siam. The rest of

9638-469: The Mon rebellion. This showed how ineffective the Siamese military forces had become by 1761. Prince Thepphiphit, who had earlier been exiled to Sri Lanka after his failed rebellion in 1758, became involved in political conflicts in Sri Lanka. The Dutch conspired with native Sinhalese nobles, including the monks of Siam Nikaya sect, to assassinate King Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy and to replace him with

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9796-401: The Mon rebels but Siamese authorities refused, saying that it was a mere French merchant ship. Burma then took this Siamese stance as being supportive of Mon insurrections against Burma. Realizing that Burmese eastern frontiers would never be pacified with Siam advocating the Mon cause, Alaungpaya decided to attack Siam. Tenasserim Coast then became Burmese–Siamese competing grounds. Alaungpaya

9954-551: The Mons in 1754. Alaungpaya mobilized his Burmese forces to invade Lower Burma in the same year, capturing Prome in 1755 and attacking Syriam , where British and French traders had been residing, in 1756. Alaungpaya took Syriam in 1756 and killed French officials there for he was informed that the French had supported the Mons. Alaungpaya also seized two French ships containing field guns , thousands of flintlock muskets and other ammunitions –

10112-455: The Mons. Aung Zeiya was enthroned as King Alaungpaya in 1752, founding the new Burmese Konbaung dynasty . Siam took hostile attitudes towards the Mon kingdom, leading to the Mons being preoccupied with possible Siamese threats from the east and allowing Alaungpaya to gather his Burmese forces and consolidate in Upper Burma. Alaungpaya's son Thado Minsaw (later Hsinbyushin ) retook Ava from

10270-548: The Mu valley for generations. His father came from a large family, and was related by blood and by marriage to many other gentry families throughout the valley. Aung Zeya claimed descent from a 15th-century cavalry commander and ultimately the Pagan royal line. Ywa grew up during the period in which the authority of King Mahadhammaraza Dipadi of the Toungoo dynasty had largely dissipated across

10428-771: The Myitta Pass to attack Kanchanaburi. Phra Phirenthorathep at Kanchanaburi, with his 3,000 men, was defeated and retreated. The Burmese vanguard then quickly conquered Western Siamese cities. By this point, the Ayutthayan royal government had lost any controls over its peripheral cities, which were left at the mercy of the Burmese. The Burmese invaders took reconciliatory approach to these outlying Siamese towns. Towns that brought no resistances were spared from destruction and surrendered Siamese leaders were made to swear loyalty. Any cities that resisted and took up arms against Burmese invaders would face military punishment and subjugation. The main Siamese forces of Chaophraya Phrakhlang met with

10586-598: The Northern and Eastern portions of Shan State , and Kachin State . The future king was born Maung Ywa ( မောင်ရွ ) to Aung Zeya and Yun San in Moksobo , a large village in the Mu river valley located about 60 miles northwest of Ava , on 12 September 1736. His father Aung Zeya was the chief of the village of a few hundred households, and was part of gentry families that had administered

10744-468: The Prince of Toungoo, who was a brother of Alaungpaya, attempted to arrest him by orders from the new king Naungdawgyi. Minkhaung Nawrahta then arose in rebellion and seized Ava, only to be defeated and killed. Thado Theinkathu also soon took up arms against his nephew Naungdawgyi but was also suppressed in 1762. After these events, Burma became ready again for another round of military expeditions. Ayutthaya

10902-521: The Siamese campaign. He still trusted the old general of the Chinese war fame because his eldest-son and heir-apparent Singu was married to the general's daughter. But the general faced a considerable difficulty in raising an army, especially in Lower Burma, which had just come off a major rebellion, and had to deal with the rampant insubordination in the Burmese high command. Adding to the turmoil, Manipur also revolted in 1775. The former king of Manipur who

11060-525: The Siamese court forcing the Dutch to pay Recognitiegelden or procession fees to Siamese trade officials. The Dutch outright closed their factories at Ayutthaya, Ligor and left Siam in 1741. However, the Dutch decided to return and resume their trading post in Siam in 1748 for fear that the British would arrive and take over. During this low ebb of Dutch–Siamese relations, the British stepped in. In 1762, George Pigot

11218-443: The Siamese prince Thepphiphit in 1760. However, Kirti Sri Rajasinha became aware of the plot and drove Thepphiphit out of Sri Lanka. Thepphiphit ended up returning to Siam, arriving at the port of Mergui in 1762. Ekkathat was shocked and enraged at the return of his fugitive half-brother and ordered his confinement in Tenasserim. Dutch–Siamese relations had been in deterioration state due to Dutch trade in Siam being unprofitable and

11376-619: The Siamese towns of Chumphon , Pathio , Kuiburi and Pranburi on the way and then returned to Tavoy via the Singkhon Pass. King Ekkathat arranged for Prince Thepphiphit to be grounded in Chanthaburi and Udaungza to reside in Chonburi on Eastern Siamese Coast. The Siamese king then sent out forces to halt Burmese advances; In May 1765, Maha Nawrahta at Tavoy sent his vanguard forces of 5,000 men under Metkya Bo and Teingya Minkhaung passing through

11534-483: The Southern Tenasserim ports of Mergui and Tenasserim. Since the Mon revolt of Lower Burma in the 1740s, Ayutthaya had been supporting the Mon rebels in fighting against Upper Burma and the Konbaung dynasts, even after the Konbaung conquest of Lower Burma in 1757. After a number of military incursions into Siam, Konbaung elites noticed that Ayutthaya's armies had not responded quickly to its own military movements on

11692-410: The Three Princes and had them executed. Uthumphon ascended the throne as the new king but faced political pressure from his elder brother Ekkathat, who defiantly stayed in royal palace not returning to his temple despite being a Buddhist monk. Uthumphon eventually gave in and abdicated in June 1758 after merely a month on the throne. Ekkathat then eagerly left monkhood to take the throne as King Ekkathat

11850-461: The Yodaya people. On the other hand, his seizing of Ayutthaya artisans from the Siamese capital also resulted in the spread of the Siamese arts and culture into Burma, which would significantly influence Burmese culture. According to Baker and Phongpaichit, the Ayutthaya elite taken to Burma settled in well without conflict. At the same time however, Hsinbyushin's decision to sack and destroy Ayutthaya

12008-497: The Yodia people, or the descendants of forcibly relocated Ayutthaya inhabitants to Burma. Ayutthayan musicians and artisans would hold significant roles within the Ava court and would significantly influence Burmese arts and culture. Generations of successive Ayutthaya nobles intermarried with Konbaung rulers and princes. The conflict with the Chinese had its beginnings in the 1758–59 campaign by

12166-536: The arrival of rainy season and sudden illness of Alaungpaya prompted the Burmese to retreat. Traditional Siamese strategy of passive stand in Ayutthaya citadel against Burmese besiegers worked for one last time, postponing the eventual fall of Ayutthaya for seven years. Alaungpaya died on May 1760 on his way from Siam back to Burma. Burmese invasion of Siam in 1760 , in which the Burmese, particularly Prince Myedu, had an opportunity to learn about Siamese geography, strategy and tactics and to reflect about their own flaws in

12324-427: The border with Siam. The invasion of Ayutthaya was, in the words of Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit, a "joint-stock expedition", designed for the reward of riches of capturing the wealthiest port in Southeast Asia due to the seeming lack of a significant Siamese Army to be able to stop a significant invasion force. After completing the conquest of Laotian states in 1765, Thihapate with his army returned to Lan Na. In

12482-825: The campaign, served as the foundation of the next Burmese invasion in 1765–1767. Prince Myedu ascended the Burmese throne as King Hsinbyushin in late 1763. Hsinbyushin inherited military energy and prowess from his father Alaungpaya and was determined to accomplish the unfinished mission of conquering Ayutthaya unattained by his father. Burma sent forces to successfully conquer Lanna Chiang Mai in 1762–1763. In 1764, new Burmese king Hsinbyushin sent Ne Myo Thihapate with Burmese forces of 20,000 men to subjugate petty rebellions in Lanna and to proceed to invade Ayutthaya. Hsinbyushin also sent another 20,000 men under Maha Nawrahta to attack Siam from Tavoy in another direction, inflicting two-pronged pincer attack onto Ayutthaya. Siam, centered on

12640-583: The capital city proper to the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya ( Rattanakosin ) and had a new royal palace, the Grand Palace , built there. Taksin's palace then became known as Phra Racha Wang Derm, or former palace , and the two royal temples were excluded from the palace grounds. As Thonburi was still strategically important, guarding Rattanakosin against invasions from the west, the king would place important royal family members, mostly their sons or brothers, at

12798-489: The capital. In January 1770, they marched to Manipur where a rebellion had begun, taking advantage of Burmese troubles with the Chinese. After a three days' battle near Langthabal, the Manipuris were defeated, and their raja fled to Assam. The Burmese raised their nominee to the throne, and returned. The king's anger had subsided; after all, they had won victories and preserved his throne. He exiled Maha Thiha Thura and generals for

12956-492: The city in March 1765, giving the Burmese complete control of Siam's entire northern border. The Ayutthaya Kingdom was one of Southeast Asia's most wealthiest and most cosmopolitan polities in the 18th century. Siamese and Burmese interests in the Tenasserim have clashed on and off since the 16th century. For the past 150 years, Burma controlled the Northern Tenasserim ports of Mawlamyine and Tavoy while Siam controlled

13114-445: The end of the last war. The Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767) was the continuation of the war of 1759–1760 , the casus belli of which was a dispute over the control of the Tenasserim coast and its trade, and Siamese support for ethnic Mon rebels of the fallen restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom of Lower Burma. The 1760 war, which claimed the life of the dynasty founder King Alaungpaya , was inconclusive. Although Burma regained control of

13272-430: The face of Mon insurrection, the Burmese governors of Martaban and Tavoy took refuge in Siam. Siam then took over the whole Tenasserim Coast. With Alaungpaya's conquest of Lower Burma in 1757, Tavoy returned to Burma. In 1758, Mon dissidents attacked Rangoon and Syriam but were repelled by the Burmese. The Mons rebels took a French vessel to flee and ended up in the Siamese port of Mergui. Burma demanded that Siam hand over

13430-601: The fifty-seven towns of Lanna used to be under Burmese suzerainty and sought to bring Lanna back under Burmese control. Naungdawgyi sent Burmese army under Abaya Kamani, with Minhla Thiri (later Maha Nawrahta ) as second-in-command, with the forces of 7,500 men to conquer Chiang Mai in October 1762. Abaya Kamani reached Chiang Mai in December, taking position at Wat Kutao and laying siege on Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai requested supports from King Ekkathat of Ayutthaya. Chiang Mai persisted many months until August 1763 when Chiang Mai fell to

13588-543: The former Tai Lue king of Luang Prabang , expelled the Burmese from Chiang Mai in 1727 and made himself the King of Chiang Mai as an independent sovereign. Burma lost control over the region but Lanna became fragmented into individual princedoms. Upon victory of Alaungpaya over the Mons in 1757, Northern Thai Lanna rulers of Chiang Saen , Kengtung , Phrae and Nan sent congratulatory tributes to Alaungpaya at Pegu but Chiang Mai remained defiant, not sending tributes and Burma

13746-615: The former king Ong Chan and Smim Htaw the former king of Pegu, to Burma in 1764. The new king Hsinbyushin appointed Abaya Kamani to be the Myowun or Burmese governor of Chiang Mai and elevated Minhla Thiri to become Maha Nawrahta the Myinwun or Commander of Cavalry. However, Lanna soon broke out in rebellion against Burma in 1764 under leaderships of Saen Khwang in Phayao and Nwe Mano in Lamphun . Hsinbyushin

13904-515: The governor of Madras and President of East India Company sent a British merchant William Powney (known in Thai chronicles as "Alangkapuni") to Ayutthaya in order to renew relation with Siam. Powney presented King Ekkathat with a lion, an Arabian horse, an ostrich and proposed to establish a British outpost in Mergui. In late 1763, a Burmese governor named Udaungza rose up and seized power in Tavoy, killing

14062-549: The governor of Ava, (which had been totally sacked by the retreating Hanthawaddy forces). Just three months later, the Hanthawaddy invasion forces were back, this time in their full might. Konbaung forces led by Hsinbyushin and his elder brother Naungdawgyi were badly defeated at present-day Myingyan District . Hsinbyushin fell back to Ava, and had to defend the city against a siege by the invaders. Hsinbyushin's defenses held. Other Hanthawaddy armies also advanced up to Mu valley,

14220-438: The governor. After Thihapate's army was recalled, Kawila and other chiefs fled to the Siamese territory and raised a rebellion. Kawila and Siamese forces attacked Chiang Mai, and captured the city on 15 January 1775, ending the 200-year Burmese rule of Chiang Mai. Following the fall of Chiang Mai, Hshinbyushin was forced to respond. The king on his deathbed ordered a fresh invasion of Siam, appointing Maha Thiha Thura as head of

14378-463: The heir apparent. With Maha Thiha Thura's backing, Singu ascended the throne without incident. The new king killed off potential rivals to the throne as soon as he came to power. Yet Hsinbyushin's penchant for unmitigated warfare everywhere had a heavy cost to the kingdom. His reckless decision to wage simultaneous wars with Siam and China nearly cost the kingdom its independence, allowing Chinese armies to advance within 30 miles of Ava. He did learn from

14536-638: The invasion at the height of the rainy season. By starting the invasion early, the Burmese hoped, their armies would be within a striking distance from Ayutthaya at the beginning of the dry season. After sending Nemyo Thihapate to Lanna in late 1764, Hsinbyushin dispatched another army of 20,000 men led by Maha Nawrahta the Myinwun or Commander of Cavalry to Tavoy in December 1764 (8th waxing of Nadaw 1126 ME), with Nemyo Gonnarat and Tuyin Yanaunggyaw as seconds-in-command and with Metkya Bo and Teingya Minkhaung as vanguard. The Burmese artillery corps were led by

14694-552: The invasion route, withdrew with his troops, leaving Maha Thiha Thura with a portion of the troops. (This kind of insubordination would have been unimaginable only a couple years back when the king was in full control. Amazingly, Zeya Kyaw was never punished after the war.) The remaining Burmese armies fought their way into Siam, facing fierce Siamese resistance along the way. Thihapate's army managed to capture Chiang Mai and Maha Thiha Thura's army fought its way down to Phitsanulok and Sukhothai provinces in central Siam, destroying

14852-419: The king to make Prince Uthumphon the new heir. Uthumphon initially refused the position due to the fact that he had an older brother Prince Ekkathat . However, Borommakot intentionally passed over Ekkathat, citing that Ekkathat was incompetent and sure to bring disaster to the kingdom. Borommakot forced his son Ekkathat to become a Buddhist monk to keep him away from politics and made his other son Uthumphon as

15010-518: The kingdom its independence. The third Chinese invasion forced Hsinbyushin to hastily withdraw from Siam, until an uneasy truce in 1769. The specter of war kept the state heavily militarized, setting the stage for army commanders to mistreat the population. In 1773, the army command provoked a rebellion by ethnic Mon troops, only to suppress the mutiny with "undue severity". The warlord behavior by local governors and army commanders only increased in 1774 when Hsinbyushin suffered from what turned out to be

15168-506: The kingdom utterly exhausted. People were weary of constant war, and were relieved when his son Singu did not pursue an aggressive warfare policy. Hsinbyushin is one of the most famous kings in Burmese history, known for his victories over the Chinese and the Siamese. Historian Victor Lieberman writes: "These near simultaneous victories over Siam (1767) and China (1765–1769) testified to a truly astonishing elan unmatched since Bayinnaung ." Historian Harvey writes that Alaungpaya's "tradition

15326-487: The kingdom. The Manipuris had been raiding increasingly deeper parts of Upper Burma between the Chindwin and Irrawaddy rivers since the mid-1720s. Ywa's home region was directly on the path of the raids, and took the brunt of the raids. With the Burmese court unable to deal with the small kingdom of Manipur, the Burmese watched helplessly as the raiders torched villages, ransacked pagodas , and taking away captives. In 1740,

15484-512: The last king of Ayutthaya in 1758. Uthumphon became a monk at Wat Pradu Songtham Temple, earning him the epithet Khun Luang Hawat ('The King who seeks Temple'). In December 1758, Prince Thepphiphit, joined by other high-ranking ministers, came up with a conspiracy to overthrow Ekkathat in favor of Uthumphon. However, Uthumphon, not wanting the throne, chose to leak the seditious plot to Ekkathat himself. Ekkathat then had those conspiring ministers imprisoned and had his half-brother Thepphiphit board on

15642-496: The last king of Toungoo dynasty, had authorities only in Upper Burma . Binnya Dala sent his brother Upayaza to lead Mon armies to conquer Upper Burma in 1751. Upayaza was able to seize Ava , the Burmese royal capital, in 1752, capturing Maha Damayaza Dipati to Pegu and ending the Toungoo dynasty. When Ava was falling to the Mon invaders, a local village chief of Moksobo named U Aung Zeiya rallied Burmese patriots to rise against

15800-408: The main Burmese army in December 1767 at the Battle of Goteik Gorge , prompting Hsinbyushin to finally recall his remaining garrison forces from Siam. The main Chinese army overran Burmese defenses and reached Singu , 30 miles north of Ava around late January 1768. Hsinbyushin to his credit never lost composure, and personally organized the defenses. Bolstered by the reinforcements returning from Siam,

15958-510: The mistake. With the Chinese keeping a heavy Chinese military lineup in the China-Burma border for about one decade to wage another war. Moreover, although his armies achieved many battlefield victories, the victories were short-lived. The Burmese had little administrative control over the newly acquired territories. Likewise, his repeated wars in Manipur, Cachar and Jaintia produced only temporary "barren victories". The rule of Cachar and Jaintia

16116-549: The most militaristic of all Konbaung kings). Ywa, now styled as Thado Minsaw , quickly proved a capable military commander—certainly, the most capable of Alaungpaya's sons, and became a top commander in his own right. By December 1753, the Konbaung forces had driven back Hanthawaddy invasion forces back to Ava, the fallen capital. The 17-year-old prince was given the overall command to recapture Ava. The prince's assault on 3 January 1754 succeeded, forcing Hanthawaddy troops to withdraw in disarray. Pleased, Alaungpaya made his second son

16274-412: The new Wangna in 1757. Borommakot died in May 1758. The Three Princes laid their claims to the throne against Uthumphon and had their armies break into royal palace to seize the guns. Five senior Buddhist prelates then beseeched the Three Princes to cease their belligerent actions. The Three Princes complied and went to visit Uthumphon to pay obeisance. However, Ekkathat secretly sent policemen to arrest

16432-486: The new Siamese capital at Thonburi. At Manipur, the Burmese expedition force again managed to drive out the pesky Manipuri raja, who again fled into neighboring Cachar and Jaintia . This time, Hsinbyushin ordered the army to chase into these tiny kingdoms to capture the raja. Hsinbyushin died soon after. Even after the king's death, the Burmese continued to operate in Cachar and Jaintia. The raja of Cachar finally submitted but

16590-531: The north of Ayutthaya. Siamese king Ekkathat sent Siamese defense forces in attempts to dislodge Burmese invaders from those places but failed. Siamese resistance group known as Bang Rachan emerged in February 1766 and ended in June, though not significantly impacting the course of the war but showcasing a side story of Siamese patriotic deeds that was later emphasized and celebrated by modern nationalistic Thai historiography of later centuries. For fourteen months, from February 1766 to April 1767, Ayutthaya endured

16748-555: The north, Tenasserim and Yodaya (Siam). He officially moved to Ava in April 1765, after his return from the Manipuri campaign. In 1765, Hsinbyushin commissioned the translation of the Vyakarana , the Sanskrit works on grammar, medicine, astrology, erotic lore, etc. The Maungdaung Sayadaw translated with the help of nine Brahmin scholars Hsinbyushin had invited to his court from Varanasi , India . In 1771, an official at his court compiled

16906-417: The numerically superior Siamese defenses. Secondly, they would start the invasion early to maximize the dry-season campaign period. In the previous war, Alaungpaya started the invasion too late (in late December 1759/early January 1760). When the Burmese finally reached Ayutthaya in mid April, they only had a little over a month left before the rainy season to take the city. This time, they elected to begin

17064-459: The other in Martaban in the south) stationed, planning the invasion. While Hsinbyushin was busy preparing, Manipur, which had been a tributary state since 1758, revolted. Hsinbyushin did not recall his armies. In December 1764, the king himself led the expedition to Manipur. The Burmese army easily defeated the Manipuri army, taking Imphal . The raja of Manipur fled. Hsinbyushin brought back hundreds of Manipuris. The king and his armies arrived back to

17222-785: The outskirts of Ayutthaya since 1586 and, after King Naresuan 's victory over the Battle of Nong Sarai in 1593, there had not been serious threatening Burmese invasions since then. In the aftermath of Siamese Revolution of 1688 , Phetracha ascended the throne and founded his Ban Phlu Luang dynasty of the Late Ayutthaya Period, which was known for internal conflicts, including those in 1689, 1699, 1703 and 1733, owing to increasing powers of royal princes and nobility. Phetracha faced undaunting rebellions at regional centers of Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat) and Nakhon Si Thammarat (Ligor) in 1699–1700, which took great efforts to quell. Siamese court of Late Ayutthaya, therefore, sought to decrease

17380-648: The palace. This tradition continued until the death of Prince Chaturonrasmi in 1900. King Chulalongkorn subsequently granted ownership of the palace to the Royal Thai Navy, and the palace became the site of the Royal Thai Naval Academy until its relocation in 1944. The palace is now within the grounds of the Royal Thai Navy headquarters and is jointly managed by the Phra Racha Wang Derm Restoration Foundation. In contrast with

17538-456: The populace could not leave, and took the brunt of the army's repression. If Hsinbyushin was beginning to lose control of his commanders in the field, it only got worse in 1774. The king suffered from what turned out to be a debilitating long illness that would ultimately claim his life two years later. The illness is believed to be scrofula . (According to historian Helen James, his brother Naungdawgyi and possibly his father Alaungpaya died from

17696-1037: The powers of provincial governors. However, this reform became a failure and Ayutthayan court eventually lost effective control over its periphery. In pre-modern Siam, the military relied on conscripted levies as the backbone rather than professionally-trained personnel. In Late Ayutthaya Period, in early eighteenth century, Siam's rice export to Qing China grew. Siam became a prominent rice exporter into China through Teochew Chinese merchants. Siamese Phrai commonners of Central Siam , who cleared more lands and cultivated more rice for exports, became enriched through this economic prosperity and they became less willing to participate in military conscription and corvée levies. The Phrai evaded conscription through capitation taxes or commodity taxes and outright absence in order to partake in other more-profitable commercial activities. This led to overall decline of effective manpower control of Siamese Ayutthayan royal court over its own subjects. When Dowager Queen Yothathep died in 1735, there

17854-505: The princes' violation of ranks and honors. One of the Three Princes retaliated by informing Borommakot that Thammathibet had been in romantic relationships with two of the king's consorts. Borommakot punished Thammathibet by whipping with one hundred and eighty lashes of rattan blows, according to Siamese law. Thammathibet eventually succumbed to the wounds and died in 1756. In 1757, Prince Thepphiphit , other son of Borommakot, in concert with high ministers of Chatusadom , proposed his father

18012-421: The quick fall of Kanchanaburi could be that the Burmese were battle-hardened. But it could also be that the Siamese command miscalculated where the Burmese main attack would come from, and had not sufficiently reinforced the fort to withstand a major attack. Judging by the Siamese chronicles' reporting of the main attack route, the Siamese command appeared to have believed that the main Burmese attack would come from

18170-484: The rearguard of Mingyi Kamani Sanda the Wun of Pakhan. French and Dutch sources stated that all cities to the west of Ayutthaya had fallen under Burmese control by early 1765. Abraham Werndlij, the new Dutch opperhoofd of Ayutthaya, expressed his concerns that Siam was unable to do anything and left the Burmese to occupy Western Siam, which was the sources of Dutch commodities including sappanwood and tin. The main reason for

18328-434: The resolve of the Chinese government. Without Hsinbyushin's knowledge, they agreed to a truce, and allowed the Chinese to withdraw without their arms. The uneasy truce was not recognized by either side. Qianlong did not accept the agreement. Hsinbyushin was furious that his generals had acted without his knowledge, and tore up his copy of the treaty. Knowing that the king was angry, the Burmese armies were afraid to return to

18486-448: The river. Only when the main royal forces of Alaungpaya arrived in time to save the vanguard. Kalahom Khlongklaeb and other Siamese commanders were killed in battle. The Burmese reached the northwestern outskirts of Ayutthaya in April 1760 and took position at Bangban . Siamese boat people and foreign merchants moved to take refuge in the southern parts of the city moat. However, Burmese forces went to attack and massacre those refugees in

18644-415: The royal capital of Ayutthaya , was relatively defenseless against the militaristic Burmese. Due to long absence of external threats, Siamese defense system had been largely in disuse since the late seventeenth century. Chronic manpower shortage also crippled Siamese defense. Nemyo Thihapate conquered Lao kingdoms of Luang Prabang and Vientiane in March 1765. With the Burmese conquests of Lanna and Laos,

18802-445: The royal city itself, leaving peripheral provincial cities less defended at the mercy of Burmese invaders. Within the conquered Siamese provincial cities, Burmese commanders recruited local Siamese men to join their ranks. In October 1765, Maha Nawrahta, with his main Tavoy column, invaded Siamese Chao Phraya heartland. William Powney the British merchant, at the request of Ayutthayan court, engaged with Maha Nawrahta's Burmese forces in

18960-435: The ruler of Lampang. After pacifying Lanna, as the rainy season arrived, Nemyo Thihapate and his Burmese forces rested and sheltered at Nan . Since early eighteenth century, the Lao kingdom of Lanxang had fragmented into three separate kingdoms of Luang Prabang , Vientiane and Champasak . Lao kingdoms of Luang Prabang and Vientiane had been engaging in political rivalry. In October 1764, King Ong Boun of Vientiane wrote

19118-411: The same disease.) The palace was full of rumors and intrigues about the succession. The army commanders, who were already acting like warlords even before the king's illness, were sure that the king would die soon, and now routinely ignored the king's orders to tone down their behavior, unimaginable only a few years back. The once self-assured king also became paranoid. He trusted only Pierre de Milard ,

19276-542: The situation became critical, the panicked Ayutthayan court and people pleaded for the more-capable King Uthumphon to left monkhood to assume commands. Uthumphon sent Chaophraya Kalahom Khlongklaeb the Samuha Kalahom or Minister of Military with Siamese army to take position at Phakhai on the Talan River to the northwest of Ayutthaya. In the Battle of Talan, the Burmese vanguard was shelled by Siamese gunmen while crossing

19434-410: The situation became dire and desperate for Ayutthayan inhabitants as they ran out of food and resources, many simply surrendering themselves to the Burmese. Desperate, a Siamese military man of Teochew Chinese descent known as Phraya Tak gathered his Chinese–Siamese forces to break through the Burmese line to Eastern Siam in early January 1767, seeking for new position. Developing simultaneously

19592-728: The snowy Himalaya passes to conquer the Brahmaputra Valley and waging a near-successful offensive campaign in British Bengal that caused a panic within Calcutta , the capital of British Bengal= Despite the Burmese loss in that war, the First Anglo-Burmese War became the British East India Company's most costly war and led to the company's dissolution. The military campaigns of the Konbaung rulers would also bring in

19750-541: The south, Maha Nawrahta 's army had also been massing at Tavoy (Dawei), then the border town between Burma and Siam. Thihapate's northern army began the invasion via the Chao Phraya valley in August 1765 during the rainy season. In the middle of October 1765, towards the end of the rainy season, Maha Nawrahta's southern army joined in via Tenasserim for a two-pronged assault. With a policy of total war, Burmese armies captured and sacked most of Ayutthaya's major cities along

19908-477: The southern moat and plundering the area. Nicolaas Bang, the Dutch opperhoofd of Ayutthaya, died from drowning while trying to escape the Burmese. The Burmese mounted their cannons onto constructed towers to inflict fires onto Ayutthaya. The fires hit the Suriyat Amarin Palace, the royal residence of King Ekkathat, causing the palace spire to collapse. However, the time for the Burmese was running out as

20066-411: The throne. This was despite the fact that Hsinbyushin's father Alaungpaya had pardoned the former king's life. In April 1775, he raised the Shwedagon Pagoda to its present height, gilding it with his own weight in gold and erecting a golden spire studded with gems to replace the one thrown down during the 1769 earthquake. The same arrogant repressive behavior by the local Burmese government caused

20224-618: The time paid dual tribute to Burma and China , fled to China, and complained to the Chinese emperor). Nemyo Thihapate rested his armies in Lampang for the rainy season of 1765, preparing for the upcoming invasion of Siam. Tenasserim Coast came under Siamese domination again in late 1763 due to defection of Udaungza the self-proclaimed governor of Tavoy. Maha Nawrahta and his armies left Burma in December 1764, reaching Martaban. Maha Nawrahta sent his vanguard of 5,000 men to take Tavoy in January 1765. Udaungza took refuge in Mergui. Maha Nawrahta sent

20382-411: The traditional Burmese capital. He also reinforced Maha Nawrahta with additional forces of 10,000 men including; including the newly-recruited forces from Tenasserim; This, combined with the original number of 20,000 men, made the total forces of 30,000 men under Maha Nawrahta. The Burmese army now had mobilized 50,000 men, including those in Lanna. (This likely represented the largest mobilization of

20540-627: The two cities similar to Ayutthaya in 1767. But the invasion force was unable to continue down the Chao Phraya Plain due to a food shortage. Then, Hsinbyushin died on 10 June 1776 at age 39. Maha Thiha Thura decided to call off the invasion, and rushed back to Ava to ensure that his son-in-law Singu could ascend to the throne without incident. Ne Myo Thihapate also withdrew from Chiang Mai back to safer Chiang Saen. Had Hsinbyushin lived longer, it's possible that Maha Thiha Thura's army could have successfully marched down through central Siam and destroyed

20698-465: The upcoming Hanthawaddy rule, styling himself King Alaungpaya . The Konbaung resistance was just one of many resistance forces that had sprung up across Upper Burma (mostly by panicked ethnic Burmans but also by ethnic Shans ). Many young men from 46 villages in the Mu valley, who longed to redress the humiliations of the previous decades, answered Alaungpaya's call. The 15-year-old Ywa enthusiastically joined his father's call. (He would later prove to be

20856-426: The upper Tenasserim coast to Tavoy , it achieved none of its other objectives. In the Burmese south, the Siamese readily provided shelter to the defeated ethnic Mon rebels. As the deputy commander-in-chief in the 1760 war, Hsinbyushin used his first hand experience to plan the next invasion. His general plan called for a pincer movement on the Siamese capital from the north and the south. The Burmese battle plan

21014-453: The way, while most Siamese fled into the jungles. A large number of Siamese soldiers also joined the Burmese armies within Siam, in a time where loyalties were to tied to monarchs rather than to ethnicities. The Burmese forces reached the outskirts of Ayutthaya on 20 January 1766. The Burmese then began what turned out to be a grueling 14-month siege. Burmese chronicles note that the inhabitants of Ayutthaya fought fiercely and bravely against

21172-540: The weakening of centuries-old Burmese Toungoo dynasty by mid-eighteenth century, the Mons in Lower Burma were able to break free and form their own kingdom. The Mons elected the monk Smim Htaw Buddhaketi to be their king of their Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom in 1740. Smim Htaw, however, was deposed by a coup and replaced by his prime minister Binnya Dala in 1747 with Smim Htaw fleeing to Ayutthaya. Maha Damayaza Dipati ,

21330-466: The western bank of the Chao Phraya River . The palace lay to the south of Wat Chaeng (now Wat Arun ) and northeast of Wat Thai Talat ( Wat Molilokkayaram ), both Buddhist temples which were included within the palace grounds. Taksin's reign ended in 1782 when he was overthrown by the general Chao Phraya Chakri, who became king (later known as Phutthayotfa Chulalok ). Phutthayotfa Chulalok relocated

21488-501: The wet rainy season approached that would turn Ayutthaya's suburbs into hostile swamps bred with diseases and discomfort. Thai chronicles stated that Alaungpaya was injured from an accidental cannon explosion, while Burmese chronicles stated that Alaungpaya fell ill with dysentery. Nevertheless, Alaungpaya had to turn back, retreating through the Maesot Pass and eventually died from illness at Kinwya village, halfway between Myawaddy and

21646-452: Was a long-term strategic failure. While he was immensely successful in acquiring Ayutthaya's wealth and people and in destroying of the Ayutthaya polity, the sacking of Ayutthaya unified and reinvigorated many Siamese elites to pursue a militaristic trajectory that would expand Siam's orbit to its greatest military extent. The resurgent Siam proved to be a formidable competitor to Burma- eventually seizing Lan Na, Vientiane, and Luang Prabang from

21804-636: Was a noted poet. Letwe Thondara , a secretary to the Hluttaw council, whom Hsinbyushin had exiled to Meza Hill (in present-day Katha District ), earned his recall two months later by writing the well known Meza Taung-Che poem, bewailing his grief and loneliness. Hsinbyushin was determined to renew the war against Siam, and began making preparations as soon as he became king. A year later, in November 1764, Hsinbyushin had two armies (one in Kengtung in Shan States, and

21962-483: Was able to partake in a number of projects to commemorate his reign, such as the raising of the height of the Shwedagon Pagoda in 1775. The 50 year period of near-constant warfare between Burma and Siam (1759-1812) resulted in the depopulation of large areas of Siam, whereupon some Siamese provinces would remain deserted up to the 1870s. The descendants of Ayutthaya captives taken to Burma in 1767 are sometimes called

22120-578: Was also determined to conquer Siam as a part of Chakravartin concept of universal ruler to bring forth the new epoch of Maitreya Future Buddha. Alaungpaya and his armies left Shwebo in mid-1759 to Rangoon, where he was informed that the Siamese attacked Tavoy and Burmese trade ships were seized by the Siamese in Tavoy. Burmese vanguard, led by Minkhaung Nawrahta and the Prince of Myedu (Hsinbyushin) quickly took Mergui and Tenasserim in January 1760. King Ekathat sent an army under Phraya Yommaraj, with Phraya Phetchaburi Rueang as vanguard, to take position at

22278-449: Was by his father's bedside when the king died near a small village in Martaban (Mottama). Alaungpaya was succeeded by his eldest son Naungdawgyi. Alaungpaya had pronounced that all of his six sons by his first wife would become king in the order of seniority. At Alaungpaya's deathbed, Hsinbyushin had promised his father to uphold his wish. But right after his father's death, Hsinbyushin made

22436-585: Was determined to complete the unfinished mission of his father Alaungpaya in the conquest of Siam so initiated a grand campaign to accomplish his goal in 1764. He sent 20,000-men-strong army, under the command of Nemyo Thihapate , the Burmese commander who had a Lao (Lanna) mother according to a Thai chronicle composed in 1795, to conquer Lanna, Laos and then went on to conquer Siam. Nemyo Thihapate left for Lanna in February 1764, defeating Saen Khwang near Chiang Saen and Nwe Mano at Lamphun. Nemyo Thihapate also took Lampang , installing Chaikaew (father of Kawila ) as

22594-500: Was driven out in 1770 by the Burmese, returned and overthrew the Burmese puppet ruler. Hsinbyushin, instead of focusing on the Siamese war, now diverted a portion of the army for a Manipuri expedition. The Siamese invasion was held off until after the rainy season of 1775. A combined force of 35000 was raised for the Siamese theater. In November, Maha Thiha Thura's main army invaded by the southern route from Martaban, and Ne Myo Thihapate's army from Chiang Saen in northern Lan Na, (which

22752-437: Was greatly shaped by their experience in the 1759–1760 war. First, they would avoid a single pronged attack route along the narrow Gulf of Siam coastline, which they discovered, could easily be clogged up by more numerous Siamese forces. In 1760, the Burmese were forced to spend nearly three months (January–March) to fight their way out of the coastline. This time, they planned a multi-pronged attack from all sides to stretch out

22910-552: Was king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1763 to 1776. The second son of the dynasty founder Alaungpaya is best known for his wars with Qing China and Siam , and is considered the most militaristic king of the dynasty. His successful defense against four Qing invasions preserved Burmese independence. His 1765 invasion of Ayutthaya brought an end to the Ayutthaya Kingdom . The near simultaneous victories over Qing and Siam has been referred to as testimony "to

23068-558: Was little they could do. The survival of their kingdom was now at stake. When the next Chinese invasion came in October 1769, the Burmese were well prepared. They succeeded in containing the 60,000 strong invasion force at the border, and by early December had all the Chinese forces encircled inside the Kaungton - Shwenyaungbin corridor in northern Burma. The Chinese command asked for terms. The Burmese command, led by Gen. Maha Thiha Thura , were concerned that another defeat would merely stiffen

23226-532: Was nominal. Manipuri rebellions continued after Hsinbyushin and Manipur would become independent in 1782. Moreover, the Burmese army penetrated deep into Siam again in 1775–1776 but could not defeat the new Thonburi regime. A long-lasting side-effect of Hsinbyushin's successful destruction of Ayutthaya was a resurgent and reinvigorated Siamese regime from Thonburi and Bangkok which would become a more ardent competitor to Burma than Ayutthaya, whose rivalry will continue for another 70 years until Burma's later destruction in

23384-779: Was not enough men to parade her funeral so King Borommakot had to relegate his own palace guards to join the procession. In 1742, the royal court managed to round up ten thousands of conscription evaders. Suppression of local governors means that they were less-armed and unable to provide frontline defenses against external invaders. Chronic manpower shortage undermined Siam's defense system. Government structure of Late Ayutthaya served to ensure internal stability and to prevent insurrections rather than to defend against invasions. Internal rebellions were more of realistic and immediate threats than Burmese incursions, which had become something of distant past, to Siam. Decline of manpower control and compromised defense system that would eventually lead to

23542-412: Was not only maintained, it was eclipsed." The long-term legacy of the wars Hsinbyushin pursued comes in terms of a new militaristic Burmese aristocracy, the cultural and economic capital from sacking of Ayutthaya, the military resurgence of Siam, the territorial changes vis-a-vis China and Siam/Thailand, and modern Burmese-Thai relations. A medium-term consequence of Hsinbyushin and his father's campaigns

23700-596: Was prepared to stay as the heir-apparent for the long haul. Then in November 1763, Naungdawgyi, only 29, suddenly died. The ambitious Hsinbyushin, now 27 years old, ascended to the throne. On 28 November 1763, Hsinbyushin ascended to the throne. His full royal style at the coronation ceremony on 16 May 1764 was Thiri Thuriya Dhamma Razadhipati Hsinbyushin . He later assumed the new reign name of Thiri Thuriya Dhamma Mahadhammaraza Razadhipati ( သီရိသူရိယဓမ္မမဟာဓမ္မရာဇရာဇဓိပတိ ; Pali : Sirisūriyadhamma Mahadhammarāja Rājadhipati ) on 3 January 1768. The first order of business

23858-574: Was saved from Burmese conquest for one last time after the retreat of Alaungpaya in May 1760 and political conflicts resumed. The more-capable Uthumphon, the former king, had left monkhood to lead commands against the Burmese invasion of 1760. In June 1760, Uthumphon visited his brother Ekkathat on one day but found Ekkathat having bare sword laying on his laps – a gesture of political aggression and enmity. Uthumphon then decided to leave royal palace and politics to become Buddhist monk at Wat Pradu temple again in mid-1760, this time permanently. In February 1761,

24016-459: Was still under Burmese control). From the start, the invasion was fraught with multiple issues. First, the invasion force of 35000 was too small to be effective whereas the 1765 invasion force consisted of at least 50,000 troops. More importantly, the Burmese command was in disarray. With the king on his deathbed, insubordination became increasingly rampant. Indeed, the second-in-command of the southern army, Zeya Kyaw, disagreed with Maha Thiha Thura on

24174-459: Was the Sino-Burmese War . Conflicts between Burma and Qing China over the frontier Shan States led to Yang Yingju the viceroy of Yungui sending Chinese Green Banner forces to directly invade Burma in October 1766. This prompted Burmese king Hsinbyushin, in January 1767, to command the Burmese besiegers in Ayutthaya to finish up the conquest of Ayutthaya in order to divert their forces to

24332-462: Was the repeopling of Burma following the internal crisis of the 1740s and 1750s. His and his father's campaigns of endless warfare would also create a military aristocracy that would turn Burma into a great military kingdom, whose feats included the defense of Burma against the Qing Empire, the sacking of Ayutthaya. The Konbaung dynasty would go on to continue its militarism by marching an army through

24490-617: Was the second military conflict between Burma under the Konbaung dynasty and Ayutthaya Kingdom under the Siamese Ban Phlu Luang dynasty that lasted from 1765 until 1767, and the war that ended the 417-year-old Ayutthaya Kingdom. Burma under the new Konbaung dynasty emerged powerful in mid-eighteenth century. King Alaungpaya the dynastic founder led his Burmese forces of 40,000 men, with his son Prince of Myedu as vanguard commander, invaded Siam in late 1759 to early 1760. The Burmese reached and attacked Ayutthaya in April 1760 but

24648-437: Was to rebuild the ruined city of Ava , which he wished to make his capital. By the royal order issued on 27 November 1764, the relocation of the kingdom's capital to Ava from Sagaing was announced. The gates of restored Ava were named after the conquered states: on the east side, Chiang Mai, Martaban, Mogaung; on the south, Kaingma, Hanthawaddy, Myede, Onbaung (Thibaw); on the west, Gandalarit, Sandapuri (Viengchang), Kenghung; on

24806-524: Was via the Myitta Pass . As the Burmese had occupied all of Western Siam by early 1765 encamping at Kanchanaburi, King Ekkathat organized Siamese forces of 15,000 to 16,000 men to spread out to defend against Burmese invaders in June 1765; By mid-1765, Maha Nawrahta the commander of the Burmese Tavoy column had still been in Tavoy, while his vanguard had already encamping at Kanchanaburi. In August 1765,

24964-415: Was yet to take actual control over Lanna. Alaungpaya still had to declare his intention to conquer Chiang Mai in September 1759 because Chiang Mai was not yet under Burmese control by then. Ong Kham of Chiang Mai died 1759, to be succeeded by his son Ong Chan. However, Ong Chan was deposed by his brother in 1761 who gave the throne to a Buddhist monk instead. In 1762, King Naungdawgyi of Burma recalled that

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