Maha Ne Myo

Last updated
Maha Ne Myo
မဟာနေမျိုး
Died 2 December 1825 [1]
Allegiance Konbaung Dynasty
Service/branch Royal Burmese Army
Years of service ?-1825
Rank Commander-in-chief (1825)
Battles/wars First Anglo-Burmese War
Awards Maha Ne Myo

Maha Ne Myo (Burmese : မဟာနေမျိုး, pronounced  [məhà nè mjó] ) was a Burmese general in the royal service of King Bagyidaw of Konbaung dynasty. In the First Anglo-Burmese War, Maha Ne Myo led the Burmese forces after the death of Gen. Maha Bandula in April 1825 until his own death in the battle of Prome on 2 December 1825. His death effectively ended any expectations the Burmese had of driving out the British, and was followed by the Treaty of Yandabo in February 1826 that ended the war strictly on British terms.

Burmese language language spoken in Myanmar

The Burmese language is the Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar where it is an official language and the language of the Bamar people, the country's principal ethnic group. Although the Constitution of Myanmar officially recognizes the English name of the language as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese, after Burma, the older name for Myanmar. In 2007, it was spoken as a first language by 33 million, primarily the Bamar (Burman) people and related ethnic groups, and as a second language by 10 million, particularly ethnic minorities in Myanmar and neighboring countries.

Bagyidaw was the seventh king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma from 1819 until his abdication in 1837. Prince of Sagaing, as he was commonly known in his day, was selected as crown prince by his grandfather King Bodawpaya in 1808, and became king in 1819 after Bodawpaya's death. Bagyidaw moved the capital from Amarapura back to Ava in 1823.

Konbaung dynasty last dynasty that ruled Burma/Myanmar from 1752 to 1885

The Konbaung dynasty, formerly known as the Alompra dynasty, or Alaungpaya dynasty, was the last dynasty that ruled Burma/Myanmar from 1752 to 1885. It created the second-largest empire in Burmese history and continued the administrative reforms begun by the Toungoo dynasty, laying the foundations of the modern state of Burma. The reforms, however, proved insufficient to stem the advance of the British, who defeated the Burmese in all three Anglo-Burmese wars over a six-decade span (1824–1885) and ended the millennium-old Burmese monarchy in 1885.

Battle of Prome

After Maha Bandula's death on 1 April 1825 in the battle of Danubyu, the remaining Burmese forces retreated to Upper Burma. The British, led by Gen. Archibald Campbell, took Prome (Pyay), the traditional border town between Upper Burma and Lower Burma, on 4 April 1825. [1] The British decided to consolidate their gains in Lower Burma throughout the monsoon season.

Sir Archibald Campbell, 1st Baronet British Army general

General Sir Archibald Campbell, 1st Baronet was a Scottish soldier who served as an officer in the British Army. From 1824 to 1826, Gen. Campbell commanded the British forces in the First Anglo-Burmese War, the longest and most expensive war in British Indian history, that gave the British control of Assam, Manipur, Cachar, Jaintia, Arakan and Tenasserim. He became known as the "Hero of Ava". From 1831 to 1837, he was the administrator of the colony of New Brunswick, Canada. The Canadian city of Campbellton in the province of New Brunswick was named in his honour.

Peace negotiations that began in September broke down by early October after the Burmese would not agree to British terms. The British had demanded no less than the complete dismemberment of the Burmese western territories in Arakan, Assam, Manipur and the Tenasserim coast as well as two million pounds sterling of indemnity. The Burmese would not agree to give up Arakan and the large sum of indemnity. [2]

Rakhine State State in West coastal, Myanmar

Rakhine State is a state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Region to the east, the Bay of Bengal to the west, and the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh to the northwest. It is located approximately between latitudes 17°30' north and 21°30' north and longitudes 92°10' east and 94°50' east. The Arakan Mountains, rising to 3,063 metres (10,049 ft) at Victoria Peak, separate Rakhine State from central Burma. Off the coast of Rakhine State there are some fairly large islands such as Cheduba and Myingun Island. Rakhine State has an area of 36,762 square kilometres (14,194 sq mi) and its capital is Sittwe.

Assam State in northeast India

Assam is a state in India, situated south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of 78,438 km2 (30,285 sq mi). The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur to the east; Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and Bangladesh to the south; and West Bengal to the west via the Siliguri Corridor, a 22 kilometres (14 mi) strip of land that connects the state to the rest of India. Myanmar lies in about 1 hour distance connected to the easternmost part of Assam through the Ledo Road.

Manipur State in North-east India

Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south, and Assam to the west; Burma (Myanmar) lies to its east. The state covers an area of 22,327 square kilometres (8,621 sq mi) and has a population of almost 3 million, including the Meitei, who are the majority group in the state, the Pangals or the Pangans, Kuki, and Naga people, who speak a variety of Sino-Tibetan languages. Manipur has been at the crossroads of Asian economic and cultural exchange for more than 2,500 years. It has long connected the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia, China, Siberia, Micronesia and Polynesia, enabling migration of people, cultures, and religions.

In November 1825, the Burmese decided to throw everything they had in a one last-ditch effort. Starting in mid-November, the Burmese forces, consisted mainly of Shan regiments led by their sawbwas, threatened Prome in a daring circular movement that almost surrounded the town and cut off communications lines to Yangon. In the end, the superior firepower of the British guns and missiles won out. [2] On 1 December, Gen. Campbell, with 2500 European and 1500 Indian sepoys, supported by a flotilla of gun boats, attacked the main Burmese position outside Prome. On 2 December, Maha Ne Myo was killed by a shell launched from the flotilla. After Maha Ne Myo's death, the British dislodged the Burmese by 5 December. [1]

Shan people ethnic group

The Shan are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan live primarily in the Shan State of Burma (Myanmar), but also inhabit parts of Mandalay Region, Kachin State, and Kayin State, and in adjacent regions of China, Laos, Assam and Thailand. Though no reliable census has been taken in Burma since 1935, the Shan are estimated to number 4–6 million, with CIA Factbook giving an estimate of five million spread throughout Myanmar.

The defeat in Prome effectively left the Burmese army in disarray. The Burmese army was in constant retreat from then on. By February 1826, the Burmese were forced to accept the British terms to end the war.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur P. Phayre (1967). History of Burma (2 ed.). London: Susil Gupta. pp. 252–254.
  2. 1 2 Thant Myint-U (2006). The River of Lost Footsteps--Histories of Burma. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp. 123–124. ISBN   978-0-374-16342-6.



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