First Toungoo Empire

First Toungoo Empire တောင်ငူခေတ်
1510–1599
Toungoo Empire at its greatest extent (1580)
Capital	Toungoo (Taungoo) (1510–1539) Pegu (Bago) (1539–1599)
Common languages	Official Burmese Regional Siamese, Mon, Khmer (Siam) Mon (Lower Burma) Shan (Shan states) Yuan (Lan Na) Lao (Lan Xang) Meithei (Manipur)
Religion	Official Theravada Buddhism Minority Animism Christianity Hinduism Islam
Government	Monarchy
• 1510–30	Mingyi Nyo
• 1530–50	Tabinshwehti
• 1550–81	Bayinnaung
• 1581–99	Nanda Bayin
Legislature	Hluttaw
History
• Toungoo Dynasty founded	1485
• Independence from Ava	16 October 1510
• Rise	1534–49
• Expansion	1550–65
• Defense	1568–76
• Decline	1584–99
• Fall of Pegu	19 December 1599
Currency	ganza kyat and silver kyat
Preceded by Succeeded by Ava Kingdom Hanthawaddy Kingdom Shan states Lan Na Ayutthaya Kingdom Lan Xang Manipur Kingdom Restored Taungoo dynasty Ayutthaya Kingdom Lan Xang Manipur Kingdom

History of Myanmar
Prehistory of Myanmar 11,000–200 BCE Pyu city-states 200 BCE – 1050 CE (Sri Ksetra Kingdom, Tagaung Kingdom) Mon kingdoms 825?–1057? CE (Thaton Kingdom) Arakanese kingdoms 788?–1406
Pagan Kingdom 849–1297 Early Pagan Kingdom 849–1044 Warring states period Upper Myanmar 1297–1555 Myinsaing and Pinya Kingdoms 1297–1365 Sagaing Kingdom 1315–1365 Kingdom of Ava 1365–1555 Prome Kingdom 1482–1542 Hanthawaddy Kingdom 1287–1539, 1550–1552 Shan States 1215–1563 Kingdom of Mrauk U 1429–1785 Toungoo dynasty 1510–1752 First Toungoo Empire 1510–1599 Nyaungyan Restoration 1599–1752 Restored Hanthawaddy 1740–1757 Konbaung dynasty 1752–1885
British colonial period 1824–1948 Anglo-Burmese Wars 1824–1885 Resistance movement 1885–1895 Nationalist movement 1900–1948 Japanese occupation 1942–1945
Modern era 1948–present AFPFL government 1948–1962 Ne Win dictatorship 1962–1988 SLORC / SPDC junta 1988–2010 Political reforms 2011–2015 SAC junta 2021–present
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The First Toungoo Empire (Burmese: တောင်ငူ ခေတ်, [tàʊɴŋù kʰɪʔ]; also known as the First Toungoo Dynasty, the Second Burmese Empire or simply the Toungoo Empire) was the dominant power in mainland Southeast Asia in the second half of the 16th century. At its peak, Toungoo "exercised suzerainty from Manipur to the Cambodian marches and from the borders of Arakan to Yunnan" and was "probably the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia."^[1] The "most adventurous and militarily successful" dynasty in Burmese history was also the "shortest-lived."^[2]

The empire grew out of the principality of Toungoo, a minor vassal state of Ava until 1510. The landlocked petty state began its rise in the 1530s under Tabinshwehti who went on to found the largest polity in Myanmar since the Pagan Empire by 1550. His more celebrated successor Bayinnaung then greatly expanded the empire, conquering much of mainland Southeast Asia by 1565. He spent the next decade keeping the empire intact, putting down rebellions in Siam, Lan Xang and the northernmost Shan states. From 1576 onwards, he declared a large sphere of influence in westerly lands—trans-Manipur states, Arakan and Ceylon. The empire, held together by patron-client relationships, declined soon after his death in 1581. His successor Nanda never gained the full support of the vassal rulers, and presided over the empire's precipitous collapse in the next 18 years.

The First Toungoo Empire marked the end of the period of petty kingdoms in mainland Southeast Asia. Although the overextended empire proved ephemeral, the forces that underpinned its rise were not. Its two main successor states—Restored Toungoo Burma and Ayutthaya Siam—went on to dominate western and central mainland Southeast Asia, respectively, down to the mid-18th century.