Myanmar: First Burma War with Britain
January 29, 2026
by William P. Meyers

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Civil war precedents

Myanmar, which I still call Burma (and so do most history books), is in the midst of a civil war. [See Myanmar civil war] By coincidence I was browsing books at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park a few days ago and came across a copy of Britain's Forgotten Wars by Ian Hernon. The subtitle is Colonial Campaigns of the 19th Century. Colonialism is one of my areas of interest, but I am also doing research for the second book of my Detective Darwin series, which is set in 1825-1827. Glancing through the book I saw Britain had two colonial wars during these years, one in Burma and one in Tasmania.

So I bought the book (a used paperback). So far I have only read the chapter on the First Burma War. In light of the current Myanmar situation, it is worth a short summary with commentary.

I will begin closer to the present. Burma/Myanmar became part of the British Empire in 1886, following a long period of nibbling at the region. The nation did not become independent until 1948.

The British Empire had annexed much of India by 1800 [The Anarchy by William Dalrymple is a good account of how that happened]. This was done by a corporate entity, the East India Company. Burma had its own long history of civilization, turmoil, and civil war.

It made sense to the East India Company and to the Empire's government (king and Parliament) to expand east from India into Burma. By 1800 the British held Chittagong [in modern Bangladesh], Assam and Manipur [on the Myanmar border]. King Bagyidaw of Burma conquered Manipur and Assam in 1820. The British believed he ad designs on Calcutta (modern Kolkata). In 1824 the Governor-General of the East India Company had a dispute with Bagyidaw over the island of Shapuri. When negotiations failed the British declared war.

The First Burma War would last into 1826. Apparently King Bagyidaw had little understanding of the greater world and the ultimate power of the British Empire. Sure, over time the Brits might have nibbled at his kingdom, but home court advantage was not enough when fighting the British. They could recruit soldiers from India. Their long-guns (not yet rifles) were comparable, but the British soldiers were trained to reload and shoot much faster than the Burmese. The Burmese had some cannon, but the Brits had more modern, larger ones.

The war began with the Burmese trying to capture the neighboring British-protected states of Cachar and Sylhet. In the first battle with the British the Burmese built a strong fortification that the British and their cannons were unable to take. The British were impressed by the military skill of the Burmese. They prepares for a longer war requiring more troops and cannon.

In May 1824 the British assembled 11,500 British and India troops along with 63 ships. Included was the first British paddle-steamer used by the British in war, the Diana. This expeditionary force easily took the town of Rangoon, which had been largely abandoned.

Fighting further from the ocean, the Burmese invaded Bengal (part of India). There the British lost the battle of Chittagong. Then their troops in Rangoon were surrounded by a larger Burmese army. Over time, using better strategy, the British forced the Burmese to retreat. But the King of Burma refused to surrender. A long war of attrition followed.

While the Burmese were good at fighting a modern war, the vast majority of British deaths and casualties came from tropical diseases. It is notable too that the Burmese won some more battles, though they lost the war, in the sense that the British did no succeed in conquering Burma. Also notable is that some of the Indian troops mutinied and well over 100 were killed by the British. Perhaps 15,000 soldiers under Britain (including Indians) died during the war, but most of the deaths were from disease. Hernon states: "There was no great public outcry in England. The largest numbers deployed, and therefore those with the highest casualties, were sepoys whose deaths were not even counted in the British press."

The parties signed the Treaty of Yandabo. The British got Assam and Tenasserim. The Burmese promised not to interfere in Manipur, Cachar, and Jainta. The British received the right to trade in Burmese ports. And one million pounds sterling.

The Burmese renounced the treaty in 1835. The British came back and conquered Burma in 1885. Thus it became one of the last additions to the British Empire.

Today Burma likes to be called Myanmar, and is ruled by generals. They tried democracy and, surprise, people did not vote the way the general wanted. There is a civil war today.

It is fair to speculate on how Burma would have done, had the British not invaded. Would it be a kingdom today? A democracy? Fascist? Communist? A better question is: what is to be done? Is there a traditional Myanmar model that needs to be reborn, or is there some clear march to the future? What will happen as the Slow Motion Apocalypse progresses?

In whatever case, I hope the people of Myanmar see peace and prosperity in the near future.