Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767)
The Burmese–Siamese War also known as the War of the second fall (Thai: สงครามคราวเสียกรุงครั้งที่สอง, Burmese: ယိုးဒယား-မြန်မာစစ် (၁၇၆၅–၁၇၆၇)) was the second military conflict between Burma under Konbaung dynasty and Ayutthaya Kingdom under Siamese Ban Phlu Luang dynasty that lasted from 1765 until 1767, and the war that ended the 417-year-old Ayutthaya Kingdom. Nonetheless, the Burmese were soon forced to give up their hard-won gains when the Chinese invasions of their homeland forced a complete withdrawal by the end of 1767. A new Siamese dynasty, to which the current Thai monarchy traces its origins, emerged to reunify Siam by 1771.
| War of the second fall of Ayutthaya | |||||||||
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| Part of Burmese–Siamese wars | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Konbaung dynasty (Burma) |
Ayutthaya Kingdom (Siam) Co-belligerents: Qing Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Hsinbyushin Tavoy column: Maha Nawrahta Nemyo Gonnarat Mingyi Kamani Sanda Mingyi Zeyathu Metkya Bo Teingya Minkhaung Chiang Mai column: Ne Myo Thihapate Satpagyon Bo Thado Mindin Thiri Yazathingyan Nanda Udein Kyawdin |
Ekkathat † Chaophraya Phrakhlang (POW) Chaophraya Phitsanulok Rueang Chaophraya Nakhon Si Thammarat Phraya Rattanathibet Phraya Yommaraj (POW) Phraya Phollathep (POW) Phraya Phetchaburi Rueang † Phraya Tak Qianlong Emperor William Powney | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
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Royal Siamese Army Royal Siamese Navy Including: 1 British sloop-of-war | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
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Initial invasion force:
Outer Ayutthaya: 50,000 Siege of Ayutthaya: 40,000+ |
Initial defenses:
1 British sloop-of-war Outer Ayutthaya: 50,000 Siege of Ayutthaya: unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Approximately 200,000 soldiers and civilians killed | ||||||||
This war was the continuation of the 1759–60 war. The casus belli of this war was also the control of the Tenasserim coast and its trade, and Siamese support for rebels in the Burmese border regions. The war began in August 1765 when a 20,000-strong northern Burmese army invaded northern Siam, and was joined by three southern armies of over 20,000 in October, in a pincer movement on Ayutthaya. By late-January 1766, the Burmese armies had overcome numerically superior but poorly coordinated Siamese defenses, and converged before the Siamese capital.
The siege of Ayutthaya began during the first Chinese invasion of Burma. The Siamese believed that if they could hold out until the rainy season, the seasonal flooding of the Siamese central plain would force a retreat. But King Hsinbyushin of Burma believed that the Chinese war was a minor border dispute, and continued the siege. During the rainy season of 1766 (June–October), the battle moved to the waters of the flooded plain but failed to change the status quo. When the dry season came, the Chinese launched a much larger invasion but Hsinbyushin still refused to recall the troops. In March 1767, King Ekkathat of Siam offered to become a tributary but the Burmese demanded unconditional surrender. On 7 April 1767, the Burmese sacked the starving city for the second time in its history, committing atrocities that have left a major black mark on Burmese-Thai relations to the present day. Thousands of Siamese captives were relocated to Burma.
The Burmese occupation was short-lived. In November 1767, the Chinese again invaded with their largest force yet, finally convincing Hsinbyushin to withdraw his forces from Siam. In the ensuing civil war in Siam, the Siamese state of Thonburi, led by Taksin, had emerged victorious, defeating all other breakaway Siamese states and eliminating all threats to his new rule by 1771. The Burmese, all the while, were preoccupied defeating a fourth Chinese invasion of Burma by December 1769.
By then, a new stalemate had taken hold. Burma had annexed the lower Tenasserim coast but again failed to eliminate Siam as the sponsor of rebellions in her eastern and southern borderlands. In the following years, Hsinbyushin was preoccupied by the Chinese threat, and did not renew the Siamese war until 1775—only after Lan Na had revolted again with Siamese support. The post-Ayutthaya Siamese leadership, in Thonburi and later Rattanakosin (Bangkok), proved more than capable; they defeated the next two Burmese invasions (1775–1776 and 1785–1786), and vassalized Lan Na in the process.