First Anglo-Burmese War

First Anglo-Burmese War ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ် မြန်မာ စစ်
Part of Anglo-Burmese Wars
British forces launch an amphibious assault on Rangoon in May 1824.
Date 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826 (1 year, 11 months, and 19 days) Location Burma, East Bengal, Assam, Manipur, Cachar and Jaintia Result British victory[3] Treaty of Yandabo Beginning of British rule in Burma Territorial changes Burma cedes Assam, Manipur, Arakan and Tenasserim; loses influence in Cachar and Jaintia; pays one million pound sterling in indemnity
Belligerents
British Empire East India Company Co-belligerent: Rattanakosin Kingdom (Siam)[1][2]	Burmese Empire Burmese Shan States
Commanders and leaders
Lord Amherst Sir Edward Paget Sir Archibald Campbell Joseph Wanton Morrison (Died from disease) Co-belligerent: Rama III Chaophraya Mahayotha Phraya Surasena Phraya Chumphon	King Bagyidaw Maha Bandula † Maha Ne Myo † Minkyaw Zeya Thura
Units involved
Presidency armies Royal Regiments Co-belligerent: Royal Siamese Army	Royal Burmese Army Shan Levies
Strength
50,000[clarification needed]	40,000
Casualties and losses
72 percent of European casualties died from disease (25 percent killed in action)[4] Over 3,500 Indian and others Total: 15,000 dead[5]	Unknown but significantly higher than the British; Comandante Archibald Campbell declares an opposition casualty estimation of at the very least 20,000[citation needed]

This article contains Burmese script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Burmese script.

The First Anglo-Burmese War (Burmese: ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ်-မြန်မာ စစ်; [pətʰəma̰ ɪ́ɰ̃ɡəleiʔ-mjəmà sɪʔ]; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War in English language accounts and First English Invasion War (Burmese: ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ် ကျူးကျော် စစ်) in Burmese language accounts, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese empires in the 19th century. The war, which began primarily over the control of what is now Northeastern India, ended in a decisive British victory, giving the British total control of Assam, Manipur, Cachar and Jaintia as well as Arakan Province and Tenasserim. The Burmese submitted to a British demand to pay an indemnity of one million pounds sterling, and signed a commercial treaty.^[6][7]

The war was one of the most expensive in British Indian history. Fifteen thousand European and Indian soldiers died, together with an unknown number of Burmese military and civilian casualties. The high cost of the campaign to the British, 5–13 million pounds sterling (£500 million – £1.38 billion as of 2023)^[8][9] contributed to a severe economic crisis in British India which cost the East India Company its remaining privileges.^[10]

Although once strong enough to threaten the interests of the British East India Company (especially with respect to the eastern border regions of Assam, Manipur, and Arakan), the Burmese Empire now suffered "the beginning of the end" of its status as an independent nation.^[9] They would be economically burdened for years to come by the cost of the indemnity.^[7] The British, eventually waging the Second and Third Anglo-Burmese Wars against a much-weakened Burma, would assume control of the entire country by 1885.