ALAUNGPAYA DYNASTY

or Konbaung dynasty

(1752–1885) Last ruling dynasty of Myanmar.

In the face of the fragmentation of the Toungoo dynasty , Alaungpaya (1714–60), headman in a village near Mandalay, raised an army and subdued the separatist Mon people in southern Myanmar and then conquered the northeastern Shan states. He attacked the Siamese capital of Ayutthaya (now in Thailand) but was forced to retreat. His son Hsinbyushin, the third king of the dynasty (r. 1763–76), sent armies into neighbouring kingdoms and successfully rebuffed four retaliatory Chinese invasions. The sixth king, Bodawpaya (r. 1782–1819), mounted a number of unsuccessful campaigns against the Siamese and moved the capital to Amarapura. He also conquered the kingdom of Arakan. His incursions into Assam aroused the ire of the British, and under Bagyidaw (r. 1819–37) Myanmar (subsequently Burma) was defeated in the first Anglo-Burmese War. From then on the dynasty's hold on Myanmar gradually declined, ending in total annexation by the British in 1885.