Burmese–Siamese War (1775–1776)
| Burmese–Siamese War (1775–1776) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Burmese–Siamese wars | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Konbaung Dynasty (Burma) |
 Thonburi Kingdom (Siam) | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Hsinbyushin # Singu Min Maha Thiha Thura Ne Myo Thihapate |
Taksin Chao Phraya Chakri Chao Phraya Surasih Phraya Phichai Phraya Kawila | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
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Royal Siamese Army | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| About 35,000[citation needed] | About 30,000[citation needed] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
The Burmese–Siamese War (1775–1776) was a major military conflict between the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) and the Thonburi Kingdom of Siam (Thailand). After the Fall of Ayutthaya 8 years prior, King Taksin and his followers had rebuilt Siam by reunifying the breakaway states following the fall of Ayutthaya. The Burmese invasion forces faced tough heavy resistance from the Siamese forces and ultimately withdrew from Siam following King Hsinbyushin's death on 10 June 1776. The war ultimately saw the loss of Lan Na (Chiang Mai) to Siam, which marked the end of 200-year Burmese rule of Lan Na.
Background[]
Following the Sack of Ayutthaya in 1767, a power vacuum emerged in Siam, which was filled by the establishment of five separate Siamese states—Phimai, Phitsanulok, Sawangburi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Thonburi. The Siamese state of Thonburi, led by King Taksin of Thonburi, would ultimately prevail out of the four, subjugating its four rival states and reunifying Siam by 1771. The Burmese, meanwhile, were preoccupied in having to contend with four major Qing invasions of Burma in 1765-69, thereby delaying an effective response to the new Siamese king. Taksin, from his capital of Thonburi, repelled a Burmese incursion in 1767 and launched campaigns to stabilize the northern frontier with Lanna, whose capital, Chiang Mai, of which was under Burmese rule, served as an entry point for Burmese incursions. A prerequisite for the maintenance of peace in that region would therefore be the complete expulsion of the Burmese from Chiang Mai.[1]
In 1770, Taksin commanded his first expedition to capture Chiang Mai, but was repulsed.[citation needed] In 1771, the Burmese governor of Chiang Mai had moved his army southward and laid siege to the city of Phichai, but was driven out and defeated in the . After the victory, Taksin pursued the Burmese army in order to test their strength in Lan Na. His army reached Chiang Mai, but wasn't prepared for a direct assault on its city walls. After meeting stubborn resistance from the garrison, he retreated, presumably believing in an ancient prophesy to the effect that two attempts were required for the capture of Chiang Mai.[2] King Narai of Ayutthaya had tried twice to seize it before it fell into his hands.[3]
In 1773, a Burmese army was sent to capture Phichai again but was ambushed and was routed in the . Phraya Phichai, the governor of Phichai, was said to have engaged the Burmese in hand-to-hand fighting until he broke his two longswords, winning him the epithet "Broken Sword."[4]
In 1774, after peace was officially concluded between Konbaung Burma and Qing China, the Burmese king sent another small army of 5,000 to attack Siam, where it was completely surrounded by Siamese forces at the Battle of Bangkaeo, at Ratchaburi, and eventually starvation compelled the small Burmese force to capitulate to Taksin. Taksin subsequently kept them alive to promote the morale of the Siamese people.[5] The Burmese reinforcements who had encamped themselves in the province of Kanchanaburi were then subsequently eliminated.
That same year, a rebellion flared up in Lan Na, mainly due to the repressive rule of the Burmese governor of Lan Na, Thado Mindin. His contemptuous treatment of the local chiefs earned him their indignation. When a Siamese army under the command of two Siamese sibling commanders, Chao Phraya Chakri and Chao Phraya Surasi, reached Lampang, , , and Phraya Kawila, three local chiefs who had deserted the Burmese, joined the two Siamese generals in laying siege to Chiang Mai, who were soon followed by Taksin himself, who took command of the siege. The city fell to Siamese forces in January 1775. King Hsinbyushin, who was suffering from a long illness that would eventually take his life, then ordered Maha Thiha Thura, known in Thai history as Azaewunky, to lead a fresh new invasion of Siam in October 1775.
Burmese preparations[]
The situation for the Burmese commanders had changed drastically since their last successful invasion of Siam ten years prior; King Hsinbyushin was on his death bed and the Burmese court was full of rumors and intrigue. None of the Burmese commanders, including Maha Thiha Thura, were really enthusiastic about the invasion. Maha Thiha Thura himself had a vested interest in the Burmese succession as the heir apparent, Singu Min, was also his son-in-law. Much more importantly, the Burmese military command started to fall apart. Dissention was rampant. Field commanders increasingly acted like warlords and behaved with arrogance towards civilians and even began to ignore orders given by King Hsinbyushin himself.[6] Maha Thiha Thura faced many difficulties in raising an invasion force, and had to wait until the end of rainy season in 1775 to begin the invasion of Siam.[7]
First invasion[]
Invasion analysis[]
A combined force of 35,000 was eventually raised for the Siamese theater. 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 was still under Burmese control). From the start, the invasion was fraught with multiple issues. First, the invasion force of 35,000 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, , disagreed with Maha Thiha Thura on the invasion route, withdrew with his troops, leaving Maha Thiha Thura with a portion of the troops.
Even with a full strength invasion force, an invasion of Siam was never easy for the Burmese. Without a full strength army, the effort appeared doomed from the start. Nonetheless, Maha Thiha Thura and Ne Myo Thihapate obeyed the orders, and marched on.
Capture of Chiang Mai (October 1775)[]
Thihapate's army managed to recapture Chiang Mai which was lost to Chao Phraya Surasi in 1774. After capturing Chiang Mai, the Burmese army marched south.
Central Thailand Campaigns (October 1775 – November 1775)[]
Maha Thiha Thura's army fought its way past Siamese defenses and managed to occupy the cities of Phichai and Sukhothai in northern Siam (present-day central Thailand).[7] In his interrogation of two Phichai officials, Maha Thiha Thura referred to Chao Phraya Surasi, the Governor of Phitsanulok, as "Phraya Suea" or "The Tiger", thus testifying to his boldness and decisiveness.
Siege of Phitsanulok (November 1775 – March 1776)[]
The Burmese then besieged Phitsanulok which was defended by the brother generals, Chao Phraya Chakri and Chao Phraya Surasi, and as the result of the stubborn resistance on the part of Siamese soldiers, they were checked outside the city ramparts for about 4 months.[8] Hearing about Chao Phraya Chakri's counterattacks which drove back the Burmese to their well fortified camp, Maha Thiha Thura arranged a meeting with him, in the course of which he extolled his generalship and advised him to take good care of himself. He prophesied that General Chakri would certainly become king. If Maha Thiha Thura's purpose was to sow discord between Taksin and Chao Phraya Chakri, he failed, as they collaborated closely in subsequent military expeditions.[9][10]
In spite of Taksin's endeavour to attack the Burmese from the rear, Chao Phraya Chakri and Chao Phraya Surasi could not hold Phitsanulok any longer, due to lack of provisions. Having collected most of the inhabitants, they successfully fought their way through enemy lines and made Phetchabun their headquarters. Maha Thiha Thura led his army into the deserted city at the end of March 1776, but was soon confronted with the same problem of the shortage of food.
Burmese retreat[]
By June 1776, at the start of the rainy season, the Burmese armies were bogged down in central Siam by determined Siamese resistance led by Taksin and Chao Phraya Chakri, the war was in a stalemate, and prospects of another conquest of Siam looked bleak.[7] When King Hsinbyushin finally died on 10 June 1776, Maha Thiha Thura decided to call off the invasion. He wanted to ensure that his son-in-law and heir-apparent Singu Min succeed the throne.[6] The long-term impacts of the withdrawal were that the Burmese would lose most of the old Lan Na Kingdom, which had been under Burmese suzerainty since 1558. The Burmese still retained Chiang Saen, a region in northern Lan Na but they would lose that in Bodawpaya's disastrous invasion of Siam (1785–1786).
Second invasion[]
Siege of Chiang Mai (1776)[]
After the death of the Burmese king Hsinbyushin, the Burmese were plunged into their own dynastic struggles. In 1776, the new monarch Singu Min sent Maha Thiha Thura to invade Lanna with a force of 6,000 that forced Lord Vichianprakarn of Chiang Mai to abandon the city. The Burmese were successful in capturing the city, but Maha Sura Singhanat managed to drive them out. Chiang Mai had suffered from the recent campaigns. Its population was greatly reduced and impoverished, and in the event of a new Burmese attack, it could not defend itself. Taksin abandoned the city and its remaining inhabitants were transplanted to Lampang. Chiang Mai thus became a deserted city and remained so for fifteen years.[11] No further Burmese invasions came as Singu staged his dynastic purges on the princes and Maha Thiha Thura himself.
See also[]
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- Burmese–Siamese wars
- Burma–Thailand relations
- Taksin the Great
- Thonburi Kingdom
- Konbaung Dynasty
Notes[]
- ^ Wood, pp. 259–260
- ^ Damrong Rajanubhab, p. 435
- ^ Wood, pp. 260–261
- ^ Damrong Rajanubhab, p. 444
- ^ Damrong Rajanubhab, p. 462
- ^ Jump up to: a b Htin Aung, pp. 184-185
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Phayre, pp. 207-208
- ^ Damrong Rajanubhab, pp. 491-492
- ^ Wood, pp. 265–266
- ^ Damrong Rajanubhab, pp. 493–495
- ^ Damrong Rajanubhab, p. 530
References[]
- Damrong Rajanubhab, Prince (1920). The Thais Fight the Burmese (in Thai). Matichon. ISBN 978-974-02-0177-9.
- Htin Aung, Maung (1967). A History of Burma. New York and London: Cambridge University Press.
- Phayre, Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur P. (1883). History of Burma (1967 ed.). London: Susil Gupta.
- Wood, W.A.R. (1924). A History of Siam. London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd.
- Conflicts in 1775
- Conflicts in 1776
- 1770s in Siam
- 1775 in Siam
- 1776 in Siam
- 18th century in Burma
- Wars involving the Thonburi Kingdom
- Burmese–Siamese wars
- Konbaung dynasty
- 1700s in Asia
- 1775 in Asia
- 1776 in Asia
- 1770s in Asia
- 1770s in Burma