Page 365 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

History CONTEXTS 363
character and military prowess in rising through the ranks. Following the assassination
of the former king, he succeeded in beating off a series of rivals, laying siege to Taungoo
and ultimately claiming the throne.
Having quelled dissension at home, Bayinnaung set out on a series of ambitious
campaigns that brought a swathe of far-flung regions under the rule of Taungoo. Ava
and the Shan States were conquered, along with further-flung territories including
Ayutthaya, Manipur (in what is now northeastern India) and the Lao state of Lan Xang
– establishing the largest and most powerful kingdom in Southeast Asia of its time.
Not surprisingly, the kingdom struggled to outlast the death of Bayinnaung, and by
1597 all the Taungoo dynasty’s former possessions (including, ironically, their former
home city of Taungoo itself) had rebelled, while in 1599 Arakanese soldiers sacked Bago.

Back in Arakan: the rise of Mrauk U
Meanwhile, back in the west, Arakan had remained subordinate to Bengal until 1531
and the arrival of Mrauk U’s greatest king, Minbin (aka Min Pa Gyi; ruled 1531–54).
After seizing the throne, Minbin took advantage of a weakened Bengal Sultanate,
sending an army of 12,000 to claim large swathes of what is now Bangladesh and
celebrating his victory with the construction of the landmark Shittaung Paya, the first
of Mrauk U’s great temples.
Even after recovering their independence, Arakanese Buddhist rulers continued to
style themselves as “sultan”, and court fashions were widely modelled on those at the
Islamic Sultanate of Bengal. Mrauk U’s uniquely multicultural kingdom was also the
first part of Myanmar to experience the full impact of Western traders and invaders,
suffering repeated attacks from Portuguese mercenaries as well as hosting a large
community of Arab and European merchants.
Threats from the Portuguese and from the emerging Kingdom of Taungoo remained
an ever-present danger during the reigns of Minbin’s successors. Min Phalaung (ruled
1572–93) was obliged to fight off a major invasion by Taungoo in 1580–81, while his
successor Min Razagyi (ruled 1593–1612) managed to defeat Taungoo forces in 1599
and even succeeded in sacking the Taungoo capital of Bago itself.

The empire strikes back
Reports of the demise of the Taungoo dynasty turned out to be somewhat premature.
Following Arakan’s sack of Bago in 1599, the empire revived dramatically under
Bayinnaung’s son, Nyaungyan (ruled 1599–1606), who by the end of his reign had
regained control of much of northern Myanmar and the Shan States, ushering in the
so-called Restored Taungoo Dynasty (aka the Nyaungyan dynasty). His son and
successor, Anaukpetlun (ruled 1606–28), further reasserted Taungoo’s control over large
parts of Myanmar as well as defeating the army of Filipe de Brito e Nicote, the rogue
Portuguese ruler of Thanylin (see p.84), in 1613. The old city of Ava became the capital
of the kingdom from 1599 to 1613, after which it was returned to Bago until 1635
before once again returning to Ava, where it remained.
Almost a century of relative peace and stability followed until the 1720s and 1730s,
during which period growing external pressures led to the empire’s slow disintegration.

1535–41 1550–81
Taungoo forces overrun the Mon territory during the The Taungoo Empire reaches its apogee during the
Taungoo–Hanthawaddy War, moving their capital reign of King Bayinnaung
to Bago in 1539

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