Binnya Dala
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Binnya Dala ( my, ဗညားဒလ ; also spelled Banya Dala; died December 1774) was the last king of Restored Kingdom of Hanthawaddy, who reigned from 1747 to 1757. He was a key leader in the revival of the Mon-speaking kingdom in 1740, which successfully revolted against the rule of
Toungoo dynasty , conventional_long_name = Toungoo dynasty , common_name = Taungoo dynasty , era = , status = Empire , event_start = Independence from Ava , year_start ...
. Though Smim Htaw Buddhaketi was the king, it was Binnya Dala who was the prime minister that wielded power. After the nominal king abdicated in 1747, Binnya Dala, a local Mon nobleman with a
Burman Burman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anneli Burman (born 1963), Swedish curler *Barney Burman Barney Burman is an American makeup artist and character actor. He was part of the team that won an Academy Award in 2009 fo ...
given name of Aung Hla ( ), was elected king of the Mon-speaking kingdom. Binnya Dala continued the war against the
Toungoo dynasty , conventional_long_name = Toungoo dynasty , common_name = Taungoo dynasty , era = , status = Empire , event_start = Independence from Ava , year_start ...
, launching a full-scale invasion of
Upper Burma Upper Myanmar ( my, အထက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Upper Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar, traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery (modern Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway Regions), or more broadly speak ...
in 1750, and capturing the capital of Ava in April 1752. Binnya Dala mistakenly thought Upper Burma had been won, and withdrew two-thirds of the invasion force back to Pegu, leaving just a third for what he considered a mop-up operation. The remaining Hanthawaddy forces soon faced serious resistance put up by
Alaungpaya Alaungpaya ( my, အလောင်းဘုရား, ; also spelled Alaunghpaya or Alaung-Phra; 11 May 1760) was the founder of the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar). By the time of his death from illness during his campaign in Siam, this f ...
who had just founded a new dynasty called
Konbaung The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...
to challenge the invaders. By December 1753, all of Hanthawaddy forces had been driven out of Upper Burma. Binnya Dala launched another full-scale invasion in March 1754. The invasion went well at first, laying siege to Ava and advancing deep into upcountry but ultimately faltered, driven back with heavy losses. Following the defeat, the leadership of Hanthawaddy escalated its "self-defeating" policies of ethnic polarization in the south. It executed all Avan captives, including the last king of Toungoo, and began requiring all Burmans in the south to wear an earring with a stamp of the Pegu heir-apparent and to cut their hair in Mon fashion as a sign of loyalty. After the failed invasion, Binnya Dala and Hanthawaddy forces were on the defensive. Alaungpaya captured the
Irrawaddy delta The Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Irrawaddy Division, the lowest expanse of land in Myanmar that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, to the south at the mouth of the A ...
in May 1755, the French defended port of
Thanlyin Thanlyin (; or ; mnw, သေၚ်, ; formerly Syriam) is a major port city of Myanmar, located across Bago River from the city of Yangon. Thanlyin Township comprises 17 quarters and 28 village tracts. It is home to the largest port in the cou ...
in July 1756, and finally the capital Pegu in May 1757. Binnya Dala was captured and imprisoned. He lived under house arrest for over 17 years. In December 1774, King
Hsinbyushin Hsinbyushin ( my, ဆင်ဖြူရှင်, , ; th, พระเจ้ามังระ; 12 September 1736 – 10 June 1776) was king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1763 to 1776. The second son of the dynasty founder Al ...
, the second son of Alaungpaya, ordered the execution of the captive king after a Mon rebellion in 1773 had tried to restore the captive king.


Background

Pegu (Bago) had been in a wretched state of devastation after the relocation of the capital of the Restored Taungoo Dynasty from Pegu to Ava (
Inwa Inwa (, or ; also spelled Innwa; formerly known as Ava), located in Mandalay Region, Myanmar, is an ancient imperial capital of successive Burmese kingdoms from the 14th to 19th centuries. Throughout history, it was sacked and rebuilt numerou ...
) by
Thalun Thalun ( my, သာလွန်မင်း, ; 17 June 1584 – 27 August 1648) was the eighth king of Toungoo dynasty of Burma (Myanmar). During his 19-year reign, Thalun successfully rebuilt the war-torn country which had been under constant wa ...
in 1634. It was a pitiful shadow of its once magnificent bustling metropolis. Pegu lost its usefulness as a seaport through silting of the Pegu River. The choice then was between Syriam (
Thanlyin Thanlyin (; or ; mnw, သေၚ်, ; formerly Syriam) is a major port city of Myanmar, located across Bago River from the city of Yangon. Thanlyin Township comprises 17 quarters and 28 village tracts. It is home to the largest port in the cou ...
) and Ava as the capital. From the economic point of view, Syriam would have been a better choice where trading with the outside world could be effectively maintained. But Thalun chose Ava in favor of tradition and isolation. The united kingdom of Burmese and Mons which
Tabinshwehti Tabinshwehti ( my, တပင်‌ရွှေထီး, ; 16 April 1516 – 30 April 1550) was king of Burma (Myanmar) from 1530 to 1550, and the founder of the First Toungoo Empire. His military campaigns (1534–1549) created the largest kin ...
and
Bayinnaung , image = File:Bayinnaung.JPG , caption = Statue of Bayinnaung in front of the National Museum of Myanmar , reign = 30 April 1550 – 10 October 1581 , coronation = 11 January 1551 at Toung ...
cherished no longer existed, instead Hanthawaddy was treated as an occupied territory,


The Mon Revolt

In 1740, during the reign of
Mahadhammaraza Dipadi Maha Dhammaraza Dipati ( my, မဟာ ဓမ္မရာဇာ ဓိပတိ, ; pi, Mahādhammarājadhipati; 1714–1754), was the last king of Toungoo dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1733 to 1752. The young king inherited a kingdom already i ...
of the Restored Taungoo Dynasty, the Gwe Shan at Okpo together with Mon deportees drove the Burmese from Madaya taking advantage of the chaos created from the incessant ransacking by the Manipur horsemen which the Ava court seemed powerless to control. Also seizing the opportunity, the Burmese governor of Pegu, Maung Tha Aung, proclaimed himself king of Pegu, He marched up to Syriam, but his troops mutinied and killed him. The king in Ava sent his uncle, Minyae Aung Naing to Pegu to restore order but the citizens of Pegu rose up in arms and murdered him and his detachment. The people then elected a former Gwe Shan monk and proclaimed him king of the
Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom The Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom ( my, ဟံသာဝတီ နေပြည်တော်သစ်), also known as the Neo-Ramanic State () was the kingdom that ruled Lower Burma and parts of Upper Burma from 1740 to 1757. The kingdom grew ou ...
with a title of Smin Htaw Buddhaketi. He was popular but an ineffectual leader reluctant to take charge of the government or command of the army and spent most of his time searching for a white elephant in the jungles.


The Rise of Binnya Dala

Binnya Dala (Burmese given name: Aung Hla) was reported to have come from
Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...
with a herd of elephants. Smin Htaw Buddhaketi appointed him master of the elephants.Rajanubhab, D., 2001, Our Wars With the Burmese, Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd., He rose to the position of prime minister and was the power behind the puppet king. By 1745, Hanthawaddy had successfully established itself in
Lower Burma Lower Myanmar ( my, အောက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Lower Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta (Ayeyarwady Region, Ayeyarwady, Bago Region, Bago and Yangon Regions), as we ...
occupying the border towns,
Pyay Pyay (, ; mnw, ပြန် , ; also known as Prome and Pyè) is principal town of Pyay Township in the Bago Region in Myanmar. Pyay is located on the bank of the Irrawaddy River, north-west of Yangon. It is an important trade center for the Aye ...
and
Taungoo Taungoo (, ''Tauñngu myoú''; ; also spelled Toungoo) is a district-level city in the Bago Region of Myanmar, 220 km from Yangon, towards the north-eastern end of the division, with mountain ranges to the east and west. The main industry ...
. In 1746, Smin Htaw Buddhaketi abdicated the throne and the ministers proclaimed Binnya Dala as the king. His younger brother was made heir apparent with the title of Upayaza (
Uparaja Uparaja or Ouparath, also Ouparaja ( my, ဥပရာဇာ ; km, ឧបរាជ, ; th, อุปราช, ; lo, ອຸປຮາດ, ''Oupahat''), was a royal title reserved for the viceroy in the Buddhist dynasties in Burma, Cambodia, and ...
). Binnya Dala declared that the empire of Bayinnaung would again be restored with all its magnificence, prosperity and grandeur and vowed his intention to make the king of Ava and other neighboring kings subordinate to the sovereign of Hanthawaddy. He made Talaban as his commander-in-chief. Mon chronicles recorded that Smin Htaw Buddhaketi was a proficient astrologer and reading his own horoscope, he saw an omen of disaster. In a self-sacrificing spirit, he abdicated the throne, hoping that a leader with good fortune might be able to lead the Hanthawaddy people their destiny. Binnya Dala assembled a large army of sixty thousand men and a flotilla of war boats to protect the hundreds of boats carrying the provisions needed for the expedition. He procured firearms, cannons and ammunition from European traders and privateers. He brought into service renegade Dutch and native Portuguese. The full-scale invasion of
Upper Burma Upper Myanmar ( my, အထက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Upper Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar, traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery (modern Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway Regions), or more broadly speak ...
commenced in the rainy season of 1751. Early in 1752, Binnya Dala invested Ava. Gwe Shans came down from Madaya and joined the invading forces. Ava felled and Mahadhammaraza Dipadi, the last king of the Restored Taungoo Dynasty was captured with all his family, except two sons who managed to escape to Siam. After capturing Ava and thinking the conquest was completed, Binnya Dala returned to Pegu, taking with him the captured king and his family. He left Upayaza and Talaban to govern Ava and to exact an oath of allegiance from the Burmese officials, nobles and gentries. Many village headmen submitted and meekly accepted the proscribed oath. This was the high-water mark of the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom.


The Rise of Aluangpaya

The resistance came from a kyedaing, or hereditary chief, named Aung Zeya from Moksobo who persuaded 46 nearby villages to join him in resistance. One of the Hanthawaddy officer sent a detachment of fifty men to the vicinity of Moksobo and summoned Aung Zeya to appear and take the oath. He came with about twenty men but surprised the detachment and wiped them out. A stronger detachment was then sent and Aung Zeya ambushed them in the jungle and defeated them with a great loss. Aung Zeya then proclaimed himself king and took the name,
Alaungpaya Alaungpaya ( my, အလောင်းဘုရား, ; also spelled Alaunghpaya or Alaung-Phra; 11 May 1760) was the founder of the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar). By the time of his death from illness during his campaign in Siam, this f ...
(the Embryo Buddha) and founded the
Konbaung Dynasty The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...
. He renamed Moksobo to Shwebo and fortified the village with stockades and a moat. Upayaza underestimated the importance of the resistance headed by a petty village officer and made the biggest blunder of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom. He immaturely decided to return to Pegu taking with him twenty thousand men and greater part of the flotilla leaving Talaban to complete the pacification around Shwebo. The rationale for deploying the forces from Ava to Pegu was the perceived Siamese threat arising out of the recent annexation of Upper Tenasserim (
Tanintharyi Tanintharyi or Taninthayi (widely known during the British occupation and since as Tenasserim) is a small town in Taninthayi Township, Myeik District, in the Tanintharyi Region of south-western Myanmar. It is the administrative seat for the town ...
). The existential threat was Upper Burma, not Siam, who was only interested in an opportunistic land grab at that time. Talaban knew it was necessary to crush the incipient rebellion and led a strong party towards the stronghold but was unable to breach it without the cannons. He withdrew with great losses. Binnya Dala recalled Talaban and replaced him with Taungoo Ngwegunhmu. But the replacement did not change the situation and Hanthawaddy suffered one defeat after another. In the meantime, Alaungpaya was able to raise a large army and consolidated most of Upper Burma by driving the Habthawaddy forces and their ally Gwe Shan. In January 1754, Alaungpaya's seventeen-year-old second son,
Hsinbyushin Hsinbyushin ( my, ဆင်ဖြူရှင်, , ; th, พระเจ้ามังระ; 12 September 1736 – 10 June 1776) was king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1763 to 1776. The second son of the dynasty founder Al ...
, invested and captured Ava. The commander of Hanthawaddy forces and his men were, however, able to escape to Pegu during the night.


The Fall of Binnya Dala

In March 1754, Binnya Dala, finally, sent his entire army headed by Upayaza and Talaban to Upper Burma. They defeated Konbaung forces led by Alaungpaya's sons,
Naungdawgyi Dabayin Min ( my, ဒီပဲယင်းမင်း), commonly known as Naungdawgyi ( my, နောင်တော်ကြီး ; 10 August 1734 – 28 November 1763) was the second king of Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar), from 1760 to 1 ...
and Hsinbyushin at
Myingyan Myingyan (, ) is a city and district in the Mandalay Division of central Myanmar, previously, it was a district in the Meiktila Division of Upper Burma. It is currently the capital of Myingyan Township and lies along the National Highway 2. ...
. One Hanthawaddy army chased Naungdawgyi to Kyaukmyaung near Shwebo. Another chased Hsinbyushin back into Ava. Alaungpaya then counterattacked Myingyan with a heavy force and the Hanthawaddy forces suffered many casualties. Hsinbyushin also broke the siege at Ava. Upayaza retreated towards Pyay and fled by boats to Pegu. Talaban was again left to rally the army and remain before Pyay. Binnya Dala decided to take Pyay and sent an army headed by his another brother and a son-in-law together with Talaban to besiege the city. Before the army marched out, the imprisoned king of Taungoo, Mahadhammaraza Dipadi, and other captives were put to death, on the pretense they were implicated in a conspiracy. This ill-conceived act was another policy blunder. It removed the one trump card Hanthawaddy had to put back a weaker king on a throne in rivalry to Alaungpaya. The action also pushed the deposed king's loyalists into Alaungpaya's camp. Also, the regional war was turning more and more into an ethnic conflict. Hanthawaddy forces besieged Pyay in January 1755. Alaungpaya personally led Konbaung army to relieve the city, capturing many firearms, cannons and ammunition and many prisoners of war. Alaugpaya then swept southward with his grand army receiving submission from Taungoo,
Hinthada Hinthada ( my, ဟင်္သာတမြို့; formerly Henzada) is a city located on the Irrawaddy River in Ayeyarwady Region, Burma (Myanmar). In the 1983 census the city itself had a population of 82,005. By 2010 it had grown to 170,312. ...
, Myaungmya,
Pathein Pathein (, ; mnw, ဖာသီ, ), formerly called Bassein, is the largest city and the capital of the Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar (Burma). It is located 190 km (120 mi) west of Yangon within Pathein Township on the bank of the Pathei ...
and
Thandwe Thandwe ("Thandway" in Arakanese; ; formerly Sandoway) is a town and major seaport in Rakhine State, the westernmost part of Myanmar. Thandwe is very ancient, and is said to have been at one time the capital of Rakhine State, then called Arakan. ...
. Then driving through Danubyu, he drove the Hanthawaddy forces out of Dagon, which he renamed it as Yangon (the End of Strife),


Battle of Syriam

The Hanthawaddy forces retreated and concentrated in a well-fortified Syriam. They were assisted by a brilliant Frenchman, the Sieur de Bruno. Sieur de Bruno came to Pegu in 1751 as a resident agent of Joseph Francois Duplex, the governor-general of
Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...
(
French India French India, formally the ( en, French Settlements in India), was a French colony comprising five geographically separated enclaves on the Indian Subcontinent that had initially been factories of the French East India Company. They were ''de ...
) with an ambitious plan to extend French influence in Burma. Bruno succeeded in obtaining a treaty of friendship from Binnya Dala, promising French military aid in return for trade concessions. Alarmed, the English occupied Negrais Island. The chief of the Negrais settlement was Mr. Brooke. Both the French and English East India Companies had factories in Syriam. Both the French and English were equally keen to back the winning side and clandestine negotiations were held frequently between the respective company agents and the belligerents for supply of firearms, cannons, ammunition and active fire support. In the rainy season of 1755, Alaungpaya left Yangon to handle the northern Shan threats to the capital, leaving the bulk of his army in Yangoon fully entrenched. The Hanthawaddy forces consisting of two French ships, an armed sailing vessel belonging to Binnya Dala and 200 war-boats attacked Konbaung forces at Yangon. When the French ships came into cannon shot, they commenced firing and muskets were fired from Hanthawaddy war-boats on the Konbaung fleet. The Konbaung fleet took shelter in the creek protected by the fire from mangrove and a battery of a few pieces of ship cannons erected in the temporary works on the banks of the river. At the forceful urging of Upayaza to the captains, the private English ships, Hunter and Elizabeth and
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
ship Ascot commenced fire on the Konbaung fleet. Faced with the withering fire from unexpected foes, the Konbaung forces were obliged to abandon their boats and take shelter in the grove. Reluctant to face the close quarter fire from the grove, the Hanthawaddy forces declined to attempt to capture the Konbaung fleet and instead retreated to Syriam. Had the Hanthawaddy forces pursued the critical opportunity with a little more resolution they might have been able to tip the scale in their favor. In the meantime, Brooke was advancing his negotiations with Alaungpaya by delegating Captain Baker and Lieutenant North with presents and instructions to conclude a treaty of amity and alliance. Alaungpaya agreed for the English to stay at Negrais but instead of signing any treaty with East India Company, the king sent a letter on a gold leaf, ornamented with precious stones, directly to King George II. King George II completely ignored it. Hanthawaddy forces made another attempt on Yangon heights and the fortified mangrove. They were again assisted by the Ascot and two private English ships. The English claimed they were forced to participate. Hanthawaddy forces by water consisted of three English and one French ships and 300 war-boats. 10,000 men marched by land. The Konbaung forces concocted an ingenious maneuver: they fastened a number of boats, filled them with combustible materials and floated down these fire-boats down the spring-tide towards the enemy ships lying at anchor. The ships were obliged to weigh anchor and retreat. The French ship narrowly escaped destruction. That brilliant action effectively removed the European ships for that tide and prevented any cooperation with the land forces. The land forces were easily repulsed and they all retreated to Syriam. Alaungpaya arrived back in Yangon in the beginning of 1756 and immediately attacked Syriam employing a band of 93 specially chosen volunteers who scaled the walls at night and opened the strong wooden gates. Only 20 of the volunteers survived the assault. Most of the Mon officers managed to escape but the Europeans were made prisoners. A vast supply of war material was captured. Two days after the fall of Syriam, two French relief ships, Galetee and the Fleury, laden with troops, arms, ammunition and food arrived from
Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...
. A small boat sent by them to ask for a pilot was captured by Konbaung's men. Alaungpaya compelled the captured Bruno to write to the captains to proceed up the river. They did and ran aground and found themselves surrounded by Konbaung's war-boats. On board the ships were two hundred French officers and soldiers who were press-ganged into Konbaung army. The haul included thirty-five ship's guns, five field guns and over a thousand muskets. Bruno and his staff were executed.


Battle of Pegu

Konbaung army marched from Syriam to Pegu in September 1756 and another army marched south from Taungoo. The combined armies together with the flotilla laid siege to Pegu reducing the citizens by famine to unbearable misery. Binnya Dala decided to send his only unmarried daughter as a peace offering. Talaban, who was betrothed to the princess, protested vehemently and offered to lead a band of six hundred chosen warriors to either raise the siege and pressure an honorable peace or perish in the attempt. But the council and Upayaza supported Binnya Dala's preposition of submission. During the night, Talaban, his family and a devoted band of his followers on elephants and horses forced their way through the besieging lines and escaped to Sittaung. The princess was sent on a palanquin escorted by Upayaza and surrounded by a hundred maiden. Upayaza was detained as a hostage and the princess was consigned to the guardians of the female apartments. For several days, the hostilities were suspended. But Alaungpaya was infiltrating secret agents and arms into the city. They were discovered and were put to death. The hostilities resumed. In 1757, Konbaung forces made a night assault at one of the gates and the defenders fled allowing the besiegers to rush in. The city was given up for plunder and many leading men were put to death. Thousands of men, women and children were sold as slaves. The city walls and the twenty gates, built by Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung two hundred years ago, were razed to the ground.


Aftermath

Alaungpaya proceeded to bring into subjection eastward area between Pegu and the borders with Siam. He caught up with Talaban in Mottama. When Talaban learnt the approach of Konbaung forces, he fled into the woods, leaving behind his family and many of his devoted followers. Alaungpaya seized all his family and followers and threatened to execute them. Talaban voluntarily surrendered and when brought into the royal presence pleaded for the release of his family and friends in exchange for his life. Struck by such an instance of magnanimity, Alaungpaya generously forgave Talaban and ordered the captives freed. He afterwards assigned Talaban to a distinguished station in his own service. Talaban served the duties faithfully during the reign of Alaungpaya. In 1774, Alaungpaya's second son, Hsinbyushin (1763–1776), made a state procession down the Ayawaddy to Yangon. There, he ordered Binnya Dala, who had been in captivity for 17 years, to be charged with exciting the Mon people in their 1773 rebellion. Binnya Dalla was declared guilty and publicly executed.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{Burmese monarchs Restored Hanthawaddy dynasty 18th-century Burmese monarchs