Bagyidaw

Bagyidaw (, ; also known as Sagaing Min, ; 23 July 1784 – 15 October 1846) was the seventh king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma from 1819 until his abdication in 1837. Prince of Sagaing, as he was commonly known in his day, was selected as crown prince by his grandfather King Bodawpaya in 1808, and became king in 1819 after Bodawpaya's death. Bagyidaw moved the capital from Amarapura back to Ava in 1823. Bagyidaw's reign saw the First Anglo Burmese War (1824–1826), which marked the beginning of the decline of the Konbaung dynasty. He inherited the largest Burmese empire, second only to King Bayinnaung's, but also one that shared ill defined borders with British India. In the years leading to the war, the king had been forced to suppress British supported rebellions in his grandfather's western acquisitions (Arakan, Manipur and Assam), but unable to stem cross border raids from British territories and protectorates. His ill advised decision to allow the Burmese army to pursue the rebels along the vaguely defined borders led to the war. The longest and most expensive war in British Indian history ended decisively in British favor, and the Burmese had to accept British terms without discussion. Bagyidaw was forced to cede all of his grandfather's western acquisitions, and Tenasserim to the British, and pay a large indemnity of one million pounds sterling, leaving the country crippled for years. Devastated, Bagyidaw held out hope for some years that Tenasserim would be returned to him, and paid the balance of indemnity in 1832 at great sacrifice. The British redrew the border with Manipur in 1830, but by 1833, it was clear the British would not return any of the former territories. The king became a recluse, and power devolved to his queen Nanmadaw Me Nu and her brother. His brother Crown Prince Tharrawaddy raised a rebellion in February 1837, and Bagyidaw was forced to abdicate the throne in April 1837. King Tharrawaddy executed Queen Me Nu and her brother but placed his brother under house arrest. Bagyidaw died in October 1846 at age 62. He took on five more queens as crown prince (of the eventual number of 23 queens). His third and later chief queen Nanmadaw Me Nu built the Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery in 1818, more commonly known as Me Nu Ok Kyaung (Me Nu's Brick Monastery), unusual in that Burmese monasteries traditionally are wooden structures. During his stay as crown prince, his grandfather Bodawpaya renewed his expansionism in the west. In February 1814, a Burmese expeditionary force invaded Manipur, placing Marjit Singh, who grew up in Ava, as vassal king. In 1816, the Ahom governor of Guwahati in Assam, Badan Chandra Borphukan visited the court of Bodawpaya to seek help in order to defeat his political rival Purnananda Burhagohain, the Prime Minister of Ahom Kingdom in Assam. A strong force of 16,000 under the command of Gen. Maha Minhla Minkhaung was sent with Badan Chandra Borphukan. The Burmese force entered Assam in January 1817 and defeated the Assamese force in the battle of Ghiladhari. Meanwhile, Purnananda Burhagohain died and Ruchinath Burhagohain, the son of Purnananda Burahgohain fled to Guwahati. The reigning Ahom king Chandrakanta Singha came in terms with Badan Chandra Borphukan and his Burmese allies. He appointed Badan Chandra Borphukan as Mantri Phukan (Prime Minister). An Ahom princess Hemo Aideo was given for marriage to Burmese King Bodawpaya along with many gifts to strengthen the ties with the Burmese monarch. The Burmese force returned to Burma soon after. A year later, Badan Chandra Borphukan was assassinated and the Ahom king Chandrakanta Singha was deposed by rival political faction led by Ruchinath Burhagohain, the son of Purnananda Burhagohain. Chandrakanta Singha and the friends of Badan Chandra Borphukan appeal for help to Bodawpaya. In February 1819, the Burmese forces invaded Assam for second time and reinstalled Chandrakanta Singha on the throne of Assam.

Bodawpaya died on 5 June 1819, and Bagyidaw ascended to the throne without opposition. On 7 June 1819, he was crowned at Amarapura with the reign name of Sri Pawara Suriya Dharmaraja Maharajadhiraja. It was later expanded to Siri Tribhawanaditya Dhipati Pawara Pandita Mahadhammarajadhiraja. Bagyidaw inherited the second largest Burmese empire but also one that shared a long vaguely defined borders with British India. The British, disturbed by the Burmese control of Manipur and Assam which threatened their own influence on the eastern borders of British India, supported rebellions in the region. Bandula reconquered Manipur but the raja escaped to neighboring Cachar, which was ruled by his brother Chourjit Singh. The Singh brothers continued to raid Manipur using their bases from Cachar and Jaintia, which had been declared as British protectorates. The instabilities spread to Assam in 1821, when the Ahom king of Assam, Chandrakanta Singha tried to shake off Burmese influence. He hired mercenaries from Bengal and began to strengthen the army. He also began to construct fortification to prevent further Burmese invasion. Bagyidaw again turned to Bandula. It took Bandula's 20,000 strong army about a year a half, until July 1822, to finish off the Assamese army. Bagyidaw now scrapped the six century old Assamese monarchy and made Assam a province under a military governor general. This differs with the Assamese versions of history where it is written that Bagyidaw installed Jogeswar Singha, a brother of Hemo Aideo, the Ahom princess who was married to Bodawpaya as the new Ahom king of Assam and a military governor general was appointed to look after the administration. The defeated Assamese king fled to British territory of Bengal. The British ignored Burmese demands to surrender the fugitive king, and instead sent reinforcement units to frontier forts. Despite their success in the open battlefield, the Burmese continued to have trouble with cross border raids by rebels from British protectorates of Cachar and Jaintia into Manipur and Assam, and those from British Bengal into Arakan. At Bagyidaw's court, the war party which included Gen. Bandula, Queen Me Nu and her brother, the lord of Salin, made the case to Bagyidaw that a decisive victory could allow Ava to consolidate its gains in its new western empire in Arakan, Manipur, Assam, Cachar and Jaintia, as well as take over eastern Bengal. In January 1824, Bandula allowed one of his top lieutenants, Maha Uzana, into Cachar and Jaintia to chase away the rebels. The British sent in their own force to meet the Burmese in Cachar, resulting in the first clashes between the two. The war formally broke out on 5 March 1824, following border clashes in Arakan.

In the beginning of the war, battle hardened Burmese forces, who were more familiar with the terrain which represented "a formidable obstacle to the march of a European force", were able to push back better armed British forces made up of European and Indian soldiers. By May, Uzana's forces had overrun Cachar and Jaintia, and Lord of Myawaddy's forces had defeated the British inside Bengal, causing a great panic in Calcutta. Instead of fighting in harsh terrain, the British took the fight to the Burmese mainland. On 11 May, a British naval force of over 10,000 men, led by Archibald Campbell entered the port city of Yangon, taking the Burmese by surprise. For the Burmese, the treaty was a total humiliation and a long lasting financial burden. A whole generation of men had been wiped out in battlefield. The world the Burmese knew of conquest and martial pride, built on the back of impressive military success of prior 75 years, had come crashing down. An uninvited British Resident in Ava was a daily reminder of humiliation of defeat. Bagyidaw could not come to terms with the loss of the territories, and the British used Tenasserim as bait for the Burmese to pay the installments of indemnity. In 1830, the British agreed to redraw the Manipuri border with Burma, giving back Kabaw Valley to the Burmese. Bagyidaw delivered the balance of the indemnity at great sacrifice in November 1832. But by 1833, it was clear that the British had no intention of returning any of the territories. The king, who used to love theater and boat racing, grew increasingly reclusive, afflicted by bouts of depression. The palace power devolved to his chief queen Me Nu and her brother Maung O. In February 1837, Bagyidaw's crown prince and brother Tharrawaddy rebelled, and two months later in April, Bagyidaw was forced to abdicate. Tharrawaddy executed Me Nu and her brother, and kept his brother under house arrest. Bagyidaw died on 15 October 1846, at age 62. The former king had 23 queens, five sons and five daughters.