The First Anglo-Burmese War (Burmese: ပထမအင်္ဂလိပ်-မြန်မာစစ်; [pətʰəma̰ ɪ́ɰ̃ɡəleiʔ-mjəmà sɪʔ]; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War in English language accounts and First English Invasion War (Burmese: ပထမအင်္ဂလိပ်ကျူးကျော်စစ်) in Burmese language accounts, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese empires in the 19th century. The war, which began primarily over the control of what is now Northeastern India, ended in a costly but decisive British victory, giving the British total control of Assam, Cachar, Manipur and Jaintia as well as Arakan Province and Tenasserim. The Burmese submitted to a British demand to pay an indemnity of one million pounds sterling, and signed a commercial treaty.
The war was one of the most expensive in British Indian history. 15,000 British soldiers died, together with an unknown number of Burmese military and civilian casualties. The high cost of the campaign to the British, 5–13 million pounds sterling (£400 million – £1.11 billion as of 2025) contributed to a severe economic crisis in British India which cost the East India Company its remaining privileges.
Although once strong enough to threaten the interests of the British East India Company (especially with respect to the eastern border regions of Assam, Manipur, and Arakan), the Burmese Empire now suffered "the beginning of the end" of its status as an independent nation. They would be economically burdened for years to come by the cost of the indemnity. The British, eventually waging the Second and Third Anglo-Burmese Wars against a much-weakened Burma, would assume control of the entire country by 1885.
Causes
Tension between the British and Burmese empires were growing since the British acquisition of Bengal and the Konbaung annexation of Arakan. By 1820s, Burmese expansion into Manipur and Assam and its "forward policy" of probing into the hill states of Jaintia and Cachar, had put pressure on British Bengal as defeated forces of these states often used British India as a base of operations against the Burmese and Burmese counter-attacks would lead to clashes between British border guards and Konbaung governors' forces. Calcutta feared Burmese expansion while Ava was worried that the Company would sponsored British friendly rebels in Manipur, Assam and Arakan against the Konbaung Dynasty. By 1822, Calcutta unilaterally declared Cachar and Jaintia British protectorates and sent in troops. Despite these early conflicts, both King Bayidaw and Governor-General Lord William Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst were hesitant about the escalation of hostilities but were pressured by pro-war factions on both sides. Amherst was a former diplomat to China and believed that British interference in the regional of balance of power would draw British India into a messy conflict in Southeast Asia, namely the deadlock between the kingdoms of Burma, Siam and Vietnam. On the other hand, Bagyidaw, while eager to gain glory, was more interested in non-martial activities and enjoying trade interactions with Europeans and were more militarily focused on their traditional rival Siam. Furthermore, the Burmese were aware of the military might the British had garnered from Mysorean and Maratha exiles who encouraged war against the British. He was eager to keep the peace with the British in India despite provocation from his other Ministers and Governors particularly led by Queen Me Nu, who held considerable influence.
The cross-border raids into these newly acquired territories from British territories and expanding spheres of influence began to vexed the Burmese. Convinced that war was inevitable, Burmese commander-in-chief Maha Bandula, described by the English resident in the Court as "the Wellington of the army" became the main proponent of an offensive policy against the British. Bandula was part of the war party at Bagyidaw's court, which also included Queen Me Nu and her brother, the Lord of Salin. Bandula believed 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 September 1823, the casus belli was British and Burmese forces clashing to claim Shalpuri Island near Chittagong. The Burmese considered the British sepoys raising their flag as a provocation and were warned by the Konbaung Governor of Arakan, Maha Mingyi Kyawswa that the British were on Burmese territory as part of Konbaung Arakan and refusual to leave would lead to war. When the British ignored him, Kyawswa's troops attacked and drove out the sepoys. The British considered the island as their as part of British Bengal and the attack as unprovoked and Burmese occupation as war.
In January 1824, Burma sent one of their top generals, Thado Thiri Maha Uzana, into Cachar and Jaintia to disperse 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.
The British reason for the war was, in addition to expanding British Bengal's sphere of influence, the desire for new markets for British manufacturing. The British were also anxious to deny the French the use of Burmese harbours and concerned about French influence at the Court of Ava, as the kingdom was still known to them. British Ambassador Michael Symes's mission was equipped to gain as much knowledge as possible of the country for future British plans whereas previous envoys were concerned principally with trade concessions.
Anglo-French rivalry had already played a role during Alaungpaya's endeavours of unifying the kingdom. The Burmese in these wars were advancing into smaller states not ruled by the British or the subject of expansionist goals by the British before the war began, and the British were not so much preoccupied by the refugee problem initially as by the threat posed by the French until further incidents forced their hand. Peers also stated that the British military establishment in India was simply eager to fight after several years of military victories in the last decade against Napoleon and the Marathas.
War
Western theatre
The commander in chief of the Burmese army, Maha Bandula, was supported by 12 of the country's best divisions, including one under his personal command, all totaling 10,000 men and 500 horses. His general staff included some of the country's most decorated soldiers, men such as the Lord of Salay and the governors of Danyawaddy, Wuntho, and Taungoo. Bandula's plan was to attack the British on two fronts: Chittagong from Arakan in the southeast, and Sylhet from Cachar and Jaintia in the north. Bandula personally commanded the Arakan theatre while Uzana commanded the Cachar and Jaintia theater.
Early in the war, battle-hardened Burmese forces were able to push back the British forces because the Burmese, who had been fighting in the jungles of Manipur and Assam for nearly a decade, were more familiar with the terrain, which represented "a formidable obstacle to the march of a European force". The heavily wooded and hilly terrain prevented British troops from utilising their superior firepower as they do in pitched battles and were forced to engage Burmese forces either in terrain they could not past or against fortified stockades that were garrisoned with waiting Burmese troops. Uzana had already defeated the British units in Cachar and Jaintia in January 1824. The British sent reinforcements but they were largely indecisive. Most of the fighting on these fronts bogged down to small unit actions throughout the war until both withdrew.
In May, a Burmese column of some 4,000 men led by Maha Thiha Thura, the future Myawaddy Mingyi U Sa, fought their way into Bengal, defeating British troops at the Battle of Ramu, 10 miles (16 km) east of Cox's Bazar, on 17 May 1824. Thiha Thura's column then joined Bandula's column on the march to defeat British forces at Gadawpalin, and went on to capture Cox's Bazar. The Burmese success caused extreme panic in Chittagong and in Calcutta. Across the eastern Bengal, the European inhabitants formed themselves into militia forces. A large portion of the crews of the East India Company's ships was landed to assist in the defense of Calcutta.
But Bandula, not wanting to overstretch, stopped U Sa from proceeding to Chittagong. Had Bandula marched on to Chittagong, which unbeknown to him was lightly held, he could have taken it and the way to Calcutta would have opened. Had they been able to threaten Calcutta, the Burmese could have obtained more favourable terms in the subsequent peace negotiations.
Inside Burma
Battle of Yangon (May–December 1824)
Instead of fighting in hard terrain, the British took the fight to the Burmese mainland. On 11 May 1824, a British naval force of over 10,000 men (5,000 British soldiers and over 5,000 Indian sepoys) in 62 ships entered the harbour of Yangon (Rangoon), taking the Burmese by surprise. The Burmese, pursuing a scorched earth policy, left an empty city behind and chose to fortify positions along an east–west 10-mile (16 km) arc outside the city. This boxed the British from gathering supplies and foraging. The trapped expedition led by General Archibald Campbell took positions inside the Shwedagon Pagoda compound, which was fortified. The British launched attacks on Burmese lines and, by July 1824, had successfully pushed the Burmese towards Kamayut, five miles (8 km) from Shwedagon. Local Burmese efforts to retake Shwedagon in September failed.
King Bagyidaw ordered a near-complete withdrawal from the western front—Bandula from Arakan and Bengal, and Uzana from Assam, Cachar, and Jaintia to meet the British in Yangon. In August, in the midst of monsoon season, Bandula and his army crossed the Arakan Yoma. Moving tens of thousands of men over the 3,000-foot-high Arakan hills, or 10,000-foot-high Assamese ranges, heavily forested with only narrow footpaths and open to attack by tigers and leopards, would have been difficult even in mild weather conditions. The King later granted both Bandula and Uzana the title Agga Maha Thenapati (Sanskrit: Aggramahāsenāpati) equivalent to Field Marshal, the highest possible military rank. Bandula was also made the governor of Sittaung.
By November, Bandula commanded a large army outside Yangon. There is great discrepancy of the numbers ranging from 30,000 to 60,000 (mostly from British sources). Terrance Blackburn discuss the numbers and felt that Campbell had exaggerated the Burmese numbers in his reports to imply that the British only needed a few to vanquish a vast horde sent against them. According to the Burmese royal chronicles, the number was around 16,000. Regardless, the size of the Burmese host and the quickness in which Bandula had arrived impressed the British, whose rank and file called him "Sable Bonaparte".
Bandula believed that he could take on a well-armed British force of 10,000 head-on. Although the Burmese were numerically superior, only around half the army were musketeers, with the rest armed with spears and swords. The Burmese cannons fired only balls whereas the British cannons fired exploding shells. Unbeknown to him, the British had just received the first shipment of Congreve rockets, a new weapon in the war that the Burmese had never seen. More ominously for the Burmese, the speedy march through the hilly regions of Rakhine Yoma and Assamese ranges had left their troops exhausted.
On 30 November, in what turned out be the biggest mistake of his career, Bandula ordered a frontal attack on British positions. They attacked in a force of three columns each around 3,000 strong but they were all quickly separated as the British, with superior weaponry, withstood several Burmese charges at the Shwedagon forts, cutting down men by the thousands and defeating each column in detail. The heaviest losses the Burmese likely suffered was at Kemmendine where the British repurposed the formidable Burmese defenses they once struggled with and refitted with their own firepower. By 7th December, the British troops, supported by rocket fire, had begun to gain the upper hand, attacking the separated columns with naval artillery support. On 15 December, the Burmese were driven out of their last remaining stronghold at Kokine.
In the end, only 7,000 of the 16,000 Burmese soldiers returned to the royal army. The rest of the Burmese army, most of them conscripts fled and returned to their homes. Campbell's dispatches stated the Burmese suffered some 6,000 casualties over the 15 day battle. While this may be an exaggeration, Burmese chronicles conceded that their own losses were heavy. The British losses were considered heavy in proportion as well: 40 officers and 500 other ranks were killed or wounded in combat with a much larger number ill from disease considering that less than 3,000 men were engaged.
Battle of Danubyu (March–April 1825)
Bandula fell back to his rear base at Danubyu, a small town not far from Yangon, in the Irrawaddy delta. Having lost experienced men in Yangon, the Burmese forces now numbered about 10,000, of mixed quality, including some of the king's best soldiers but also many untrained and barely armed conscripts. The stockade itself stretched one mile (1.6 km) along the riverbank, and was made up of solid teak beams no less than 15 feet (4.6 m) high.