Sir Archibald Campbell

The First Anglo-Burmese War (Part 1)

On 5 March 1824 Lord Amherst, then Governor-General of India (later the first Earl Amherst of Arracan), declared war on the kingdom of Burma from Fort William, Calcutta. The war would last more than two years and was one of the most expensive in British imperial history (costing approximately $30 billion in today's money). It led to the deaths of tens of thousands of European, Indian, and Burmese soldiers and civilians, and ended with the annexation of Assam, Manipur, Arakan...

The First Anglo-Burmese War (Part 2)

Read part 1 here The arrival of Bandula and the armies from Arakan and Assam must have cheered the demoralized Rangoon front line. Bandula immediately prepared for confrontation. To the east, at Pazundaung, he placed the governor of Myolat with three thousand men. To the north he placed his brother Mindin Minkaung with another three thousand men. To the west, he placed a captain of the royal guards, Mingyi Maha Minhla Zeyyathu, with four thousand men, and in the forests...

The Treaty of Yandabo

The Treaty of Yandabo was signed on 24 February 1826 by Sir Archibald Campbell, representing the East India Company and Maha Minhla Kyawhtin, the Myoza of Legaing. The treaty ended the First Anglo-Burmese War and marked a dark day in Burmese history. The war had begun with aggression on both sides. By 1826, however, the Burmese king's forces had been utterly defeated. Some 15,000 British and Indian troops and tens of thousands of Burmese were dead. Hundreds of Burmese and...