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Konbaung dynasty

Imperial dynasty of Burma (1752–1885)

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Through Manipur

Pretenders to the dynasty claim descent from Myat Phaya Lat, one of Thibaw's daughters.

An expansionist dynasty, the Konbaung kings waged campaigns against the Lushai Hills, Manipur, Assam, Arakan, the Mon kingdom of Pegu, Siam, and the Qing dynasty of China—thus establishing the Third Burmese Empire. Subject to later wars and treaties with the British, the modern state of Myanmar can trace its current borders to these events.

Throughout the Konbaung dynasty, the capital was relocated several times for religious, political, and strategic reasons.

History

Establishment

The dynasty was founded by a village chief, who later became known as Alaungpaya, in 1752 to challenge the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom which had just toppled the Taungoo dynasty. By 1759, Alaungpaya's forces had reunited all of Burma (and Manipur) and driven out the French and the British who had provided arms to Hanthawaddy.

Alaungpaya's second son, Hsinbyushin, came to the throne after a short reign by his elder brother, Naungdawgyi (1760–1763). He continued his father's expansionist policy and finally took Ayutthaya in 1767, after seven years of fighting.

Relations with Siam

In 1760, Burma began a series of wars with Siam that would last well into the middle of the 19th century. By 1770, Alaungpaya's heirs had destroyed Ayutthaya (1765–1767), subdued much of Luang Phrabang and Vientiane (both 1765) and defeated four invasions by Qing China (1765–1769). With the Burmese preoccupied for another two decades by another impending invasion by the Chinese, Siam reunified by 1771, and went on to capture Lan Na by 1776. The Burmese made additional invasions to the newly reconstituted Siam in 1785 and 1786 but failed. Burma and Siam went to war until 1855 but after decades of war, the two countries exchanged Tenasserim (to Burma) and Lan Na (to Siam).

Relations with China

In the defence of its realm, the dynasty fought four wars successfully against the Qing dynasty of China, which saw the threat of the expansion of Burmese power in the East. In 1770, despite his victory over the Chinese armies, King Hsinbyushin sued for peace with China and concluded a treaty to maintain bilateral trade with the Middle Kingdom, which was very important for the dynasty at that time. The Qing dynasty then opened up its markets and restored trading with Burma in 1788 after reconciliation.

Relations with Vietnam

In 1823, Burmese emissaries led by George Gibson, who was the son of an English mercenary, arrived in the Vietnamese city of Saigon. The Burmese king Bagyidaw was very keen to conquer Siam and hoped Vietnam might be a useful ally. Vietnam had then just annexed Cambodia. The Vietnamese emperor was Minh Mạng, who had just taken the throne after the death of his father, Gia Long (the founder of the Nguyen dynasty). A commercial delegation from Vietnam has recently been in Burma, eager to expand the trade in birds nests (tổ yến). Bagyidaw's interest in sending a return mission, however, was to secure a military alliance.

Western expansion, First and Second Anglo-Burmese Wars

Faced with a powerful China and a resurgent Siam in the east, the Konbaung dynasty had ambitions to expand the Konbaung Empire westwards.

Bodawpaya acquired the western kingdoms of Arakan (1784), Manipur (1814), and Assam (1817), leading to a long, ill-defined border with British India. The Konbaung court had set its sights on potentially conquering British Bengal by the outbreak of the First Anglo-Burmese War.

Europeans began to set up trading posts in the Irrawaddy delta region during this period. Konbaung tried to maintain its independence by balancing between the French and the British. In the end, it failed, the British severed diplomatic relations in 1811, and the dynasty fought and lost three wars against the British Empire, culminating in the total annexation of Burma by the British.

The British defeated the Burmese in the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826) after huge losses on both sides, both in terms of manpower and financial assets. Burma had to cede Arakan, Manipur, Assam and Tenasserim, and pay a large indemnity of one million pounds.

In 1837, King Bagyidaw's brother, Tharrawaddy, seized the throne, put Bagyidaw under house arrest and executed the chief queen Me Nu and her brother. Tharrawaddy made no attempt to improve relations with Britain.

His son Pagan, who became king in 1846, executed thousands—some sources say as many as 6,000—of his wealthier and more influential subjects on trumped-up charges. During his reign, relations with the British became increasingly strained. In 1852, the Second Anglo-Burmese War broke out. Pagan was succeeded by his younger brother, the progressive Mindon.

Reforms

Realising the need to modernise, the Konbaung rulers tried to enact various reforms with limited success. King Mindon with his able brother Crown Prince Kanaung established state-owned factories to produce modern weaponry and goods; in the end, these factories proved more costly than effective in staving off foreign invasion and conquest.

Konbaung kings extended the administrative reforms begun in the Restored Toungoo dynasty period (1599–1752), and achieved unprecedented levels of internal control and external expansion. They tightened control in the lowlands and reduced the hereditary privileges of Shan chiefs. They also instituted commercial reforms that increased government income and rendered it more predictable. The money economy continued to gain ground. In 1857, the crown inaugurated a full-fledged system of cash taxes and salaries, assisted by the country's first standardised silver coinage.

Mindon also tried to reduce the tax burden by lowering the heavy income tax and created a property tax, as well as duties on foreign exports. These policies had the reverse effect of increasing the tax burden, as the local elites used the opportunity to enact new taxes without lowering the old ones; they were able to do so as control from the centre was weak. In addition, the duties on foreign exports stifled the burgeoning trade and commerce.

Mindon attempted to bring Burma into greater contact with the outside world, and hosted the Fifth Great Buddhist Synod in 1872 at Mandalay, gaining the respect of the British and the admiration of his own people.

Mindon avoided annexation in 1875 by ceding the Karenni States.

Nonetheless, the extent and pace of reforms were uneven and ultimately proved insufficient to stem the advance of British colonialism.

Third Anglo-Burmese War and dethronement of the monarchy

He died before he could name a successor, and Thibaw, a lesser prince, was manoeuvred onto the throne by Hsinbyumashin, one of Mindon's queens, together with her daughter, Supayalat. (Rudyard Kipling mentions her as Thibaw's queen, and borrows her name, in his poem "Mandalay") The new King Thibaw proceeded, under Supayalat's direction, to massacre all likely contenders to the throne. This massacre was conducted by the queen.

The dynasty came to an end in 1885 with the forced abdication and exile of the king and the royal family to India. The British, alarmed by the consolidation of French Indochina, annexed the remainder of the country in the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885. The annexation was announced in the British parliament as a New Year gift to Queen Victoria on 1 January 1886.

Although the dynasty had conquered vast tracts of territory, its direct power was limited to its capital and the fertile plains of the Irrawaddy River valley. The Konbaung rulers enacted harsh levies and had a difficult time fighting internal rebellions. At various times, the Shan states paid tribute to the Konbaung dynasty, but unlike the Mon lands, they were never directly controlled by the Burmese.

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