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nations were known to Europeans by the names of Aracan, 

 Ava, Pegu, and Siam ; which fee refpedlively. Tiie empire 

 ot Ava, as it was called, is fituatcd caiKvard of Aracan, and 

 feparated from it by a ridge of lofty mountains. (S^e Ara- 

 can.) On the N.W. it is divided from the kinydom of 

 Caffay by the river Keen-duem ; on the nrrth it is bounded 

 by mountains, and petty independent principahties, that lie 

 contiguous to Afam ; on the north eall and. call it touches 

 on China and North Siatu ; and on the fouth its limits have 

 been fo variable, tiiat it is not eafy to define them. The 

 city of Prome, or Pee, leems to be the original and natural 

 boundary of the Birm^ i empire, though by conqueils it has 

 been extend.d much far'her to the fouth. Pegu is the 

 country fouthward of Ava, wiilch occupies the fcacoaft as 

 far as Martaban. (See Pegu.) The kingdom of Siam ex- 

 tended to the fouth as far as Juiikfeylon, call to Cambodia 

 and Laos, and north to Ozemce, probably the Chiamee of 

 Lioubere, and Yunan in Ciiiria. (See Siam.) Tlitfe 

 boundaries, however, may be conhdered more as the claim 

 than the aftual polTellion of each Uate ; whilll alternate 

 viclor)' and defeat have occafionally extended and contracted 

 their dominions. From the Portugnefe we learn, that the 

 Birmans, though formerly fubjecl to the king of Pegu, be- 

 came afterwards mailers of Ava, and cauf-ed a revolution in 

 Pegu about the middle of the i6th century ; extending their 

 kingdom from Mai-avi, probably Mergui, near Tenalferem, 

 to the province of Yunan in China, about Soo miles from 

 north to fouth, and 250 from eall to wed. The influence 

 of the Portuguefe, which was for feme time very confidcrable 

 m the Birman and Pegu countries, was fupplanted by the 

 Dutch ; and it appears that, in the beginning of the 17th 

 centur)', both the Enghfn and Dutch had obtained fettle- 

 ments in various parts ol the Birman dominions, which were 

 forfeited by the mifconducl of the latter ; fo that Europeans 

 of all nations were hanifhed from Ava. The Englilh, how- 

 ever, feveral years after this expulfion, were reinilated in 

 their fattories at Syriam and Ava, where they traded more 

 as piivate merchants tiian on the part of the India company, 

 in whofe fervice they were not regularly enrolled. The 

 fupremacy of the Birmans over the Peguers continued till 

 about the year 1740, when the latter, inhabiting the pro- 

 vinces of Dalla, Martaban, Tongo, and Prome, revolted, 

 and a civil v.ar enfued. In 1744, the Britifii fadory at 

 Syiiam was deilroyed by the contending parties. At length 

 the Peguers, by the affillance of fome Europeans, who traded 

 to their ports, gained feveral viclories over the Birmans, 

 particularly in the years 1750 and 1751 ; and in 1752 the ca- 

 pital of Ava was invefted, and tiie Birmans, after a (hort Cege, 

 compelled to furrenderat difcretion. The lall of a long line of 

 Birman kings was taken prifoner ; but two of his fons v/ere 

 fortunate enough to make their efcape to the Siamcfe, where 

 they were kindly received, and affured of fecurity and fuc- 

 cour. Upon this conqueil the principal inhabitants of the 

 country about Ava acknowledged themfelves vaffals to the 

 vielorious king of Pegu, and accepted the preicrlbed oath. 

 After fome time, Alompra, a Birman of low extraction, 

 wlio had been continued by the conqueror in the poflefSon 

 of a fmall village called Monchaboo, determined to emanci- 

 pate himfelf from the yoke of opprefiion. Accordingly, 

 having alTembltd iod followers, on whofc fidehty and courage 

 he could rely, he attacked a band of 50 Pegu foldiers, who had 

 been llationed in Moncliaboo, and put every one of them to 

 the fword ; and after feveral previous encounters with the 

 Pegu force difpatchcd againll him, he gained polfeflion of 

 Ava in 1753. The conteft was obftinate and bloody; but 

 Alompra, purfuing his conqueils, founded the town of Ran- 

 goon, or Dzangoon, fignifying " vicioi-y atchieved ;" and 

 fooa after chaftifed the people of Caffay, who had revolted 



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from the Biiman authority; In 1756 he blockaded the 

 town of Syriam, which yielded to his arms ; and having de- 

 prived the capital of any foreign aid by water, he advanced 

 againll the city of Pegu, invefted it in January 1757, and 

 in about three months took poffefiion of it. He then pro- 

 ceede-d to fubdne the countries to the call of the city, as far 

 as the Three Pagodas, which were the ancient boundary be- 

 tv.-een Pegu and Siam. Tavoy, which was once an inde- 

 pendent principality, and recognized as fuch by the Enghdi 

 in 1753, ''■'^ '^'^^" fince added to the Birman poiTeffions in 

 this qinrter. Alompra, triumphing in his fuccefs, deter- 

 mined to challife the Siamele, who had afforded an 

 afylum to his rebellious fubjf cts ; and for this purpofe he 

 ordered a fleet to fail to Mergui, a fea-port belonging to the 

 Siamefe, which foon furrendercd ; and the capture of Mergui 

 was followed by the conqueil of Tenalferem, The nest 

 objeft of Alompra was the reduction of the capital of Siam : 

 but whilll he was profecuting the fiege, he was feized with a 

 difo'der which proved fatal, and faved the Siamefe from dr- 

 llriiclion. Alompra, apprifed of his approaching end, gave 

 orders for a retreat ; when he had arrived within tv.-c days' 

 march of Martaban, on the 15th of May 1760, he expired, 

 very much to the regret and forrow of his fubjetts, who re- 

 garded him as their deliverer, and as a wife, powerful, and 

 vicfonous fovereign. By the prudence of his councils ii-: 

 fecured what hh valour had acquired ; he was not mora 

 eager for conqiieft than attentive to the improvement of his 

 territories, and the profperity of his people ; he iflued a 

 fevere edicl againll gambling, and prohibited the ufe of 

 fpirituous liquors throughout his dominions ; he reformed 

 the courts ofjullice; he abridged the power of magillrates 

 and forbade them to decide at their private houfes on criminal 

 caufes, or on property where the amount exceeded a fpecilied 

 fum ; every procefs of importance was decided in pubhc, and 

 everj- decree regiftered. His reign was Ihort but vigorous ; 

 and if his hfe had been prolonged, it is probable that his 

 countr)' "would at this day have been farther advanced in na- 

 tional refinement and the liberal arts. He did not lis-e to 

 complete his 50th year ; his perfon, flrong and well propor- 

 tioned, exceeded the middle lize ; and though his features were 

 coarfe, his complexion dark, and his countenance faturnine, 

 there was a dignity in his deportment that became his high 

 flation. Alompra, the founder of the Birman empire, was 

 fucceedcd by his fon Namdogee Praw, who, after fnpprefling 

 feveral infurreClions, died in 1764, and left an infant fon, 

 Momien ; whofe uncle Shen^buan, fccond fen of Alompra, 

 affuraed firft the regency, and afterwards the diaderr. Shem- 

 buan, having ufurped the roval power, diverted the national 

 attention from his conduct, by declaring war againll Siam ; 

 and two armies entered the country from the north and fouth, 

 which, being united, defeated the Siameie about feven or 

 eight days' journey from their capital. The confequencc of 

 this defeat was the immediate invefliture of Siam by the 

 Birmans ; and after a fiege of two months, the capitulation 

 of the city. The king having withdrawn during the progrefs 

 of the fiege, a Siamefe governor was appointed, who took an 

 oath of allegiance to the Birman monarchy, and engaged to 

 pay an annual tribute. The Chinefe, having planned the 

 lubjugation of the Birman empire, and concerted meafures 

 for adding the dominion of the Jcrawaddy and the fertile 

 plains of Ava to their empire, advanced in the beginning of 

 the year i 767, from the wellcrn frontiers of Yunan, with an 

 army of 50,000 men, to accomplilh their objedl ; but they 

 were met by the Birmans, and after a confiicl which lalled 

 three days, totally routed with very dreadful carnage. The 

 lives of the captives were fparcd for the benefit of the 

 country ; various employments were affigned them ; and they 

 were encouraged to marry Birican wives, and to coniJderthem- 



itlvcs 



