''taungnguumainn saat'' , conventional_long_name = Toungoo dynasty , common_name = Taungoo dynasty , status =

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

/ Kingdom , event_start = Independence from Ava Kingdom , year_start = 1510 , date_start = 16 October , event_end = Hanthawaddy conquest , year_end = 1752 , date_end = 23 March , event_pre = , date_pre = 1485 , event1 = , date_event1 = 1510–1599 , event2 = , date_event2 = 1599–1752 , p1 = Kingdom of Ava , p2 = Hanthawaddy Kingdom , p3 = Confederation of Shan States , p4 = Lan Na Kingdom , p5 = Ayutthaya Kingdom , p6 = Lan Xang , p7 = Manipur (kingdom) , s1 = Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom , s2 = Konbaung dynasty , s3 = Ayutthaya Kingdom , image_map = Map of Taungoo Empire (1580).png , image_map_caption = Toungoo Dynasty at its greatest extent (1580) , image_map2 = Restored Taungoo Dynasty.png , image_map2_caption = The restored Taungoo or Nyaungyan Dynasty c. 1650 , capital =

Toungoo Taungoo (, ''Tauñngu myoú''; ), also spelled Toungoo and formerly Toung-ngú, 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 an ...

(Taungoo) (1510–1539)
Pegu (Bago) (1539–1599)
Ava (Inwa) (1599–1613)
Pegu (Bago) (1613–1635)
Ava (Inwa) (1635–1752) , common_languages = Official
Burmese , religion = Official
Theravada Buddhism , government_type = Absolute monarchy , leader1 = Mingyi Nyo , year_leader1 = 1485–1530 , leader2 = Tabinshwehti , year_leader2 = 1530–1550 , leader3 =

Bayinnaung , title = King of Toungoo , image = 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 Taungoo, ...

, year_leader3 = 1550–1581 , leader4 =

Anaukpetlun Anaukbaklun ( ; 21 January 1578 – 9 July 1628) was the sixth king of Taungoo Burma and was largely responsible for restoring the kingdom after it collapsed at the end of 16th century. In his 22-year reign from 1606 to 1628, Anaukpetlun comple ...

, year_leader4 = 1605–1628 , leader5 =

Thalun Thalun (, ; 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 warfare for nearly a century since ...

, year_leader5 = 1629–1648 , leader6 = Mahadhammaraza Dipadi , year_leader6 = 1733–1752 , currency = Silver , legislature = None , population_census = 1,982,000 - 2,313,000 , today = The Toungoo dynasty (, ; also spelt Taungoo dynasty, and also known as the Nyaungyan dynasty, was the ruling dynasty of

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

(Myanmar) from the mid-16th century to 1752. At its peak, Toungoo "exercised suzerainty from present-day

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

to the Cambodian marches and from the borders of

Arakan Arakan ( or ; , ), formerly anglicised as Aracan, is the historical geographical name for the northeastern coastal region of the Bay of Bengal, covering present-day Bangladesh and Myanmar. The region was called "Arakan" for centuries. It is ...

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

" and was the largest empire and the only

great power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...

country in the history of Southeast Asia." The dynasty ruled in two periods: the First Toungoo Empire (1510–1599) and the Nyaungyan Restoration (1599–1752). Its early kings Tabinshwehti and

succeeded in reunifying the territories of the Pagan Kingdom for the first time since 1287 and in incorporating the

Shan States The Shan States were a collection of minor Shan people, Shan kingdoms called ''mueang, möng'' whose rulers bore the title ''saopha'' (''sawbwa''). In British rule in Burma, British Burma, they were analogous to the princely states of Britis ...

for the first time, in addition to including

, Chinese Shan States, Siam and Lan Xang. The empire collapsed in the 18 years following Bayinnaung's death in 1581. The dynasty quickly regrouped under the leadership of

Nyaungyan Min Nyaungyan Min ( ; 8 November 1555 – ) was king of the Toungoo dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1599 to 1605. He is also referred to as the founder of the restored Toungoo dynasty or Nyaungyan dynasty for starting the reunification process fol ...

and his son,

, who succeeded in restoring a smaller, more manageable kingdom, encompassing Lower Burma, Upper Burma, Shan States and Lan Na by 1622. The Restored Toungoo kings, now based in Ava (Inwa), created a legal and political system whose basic features would continue under the

Konbaung dynasty The Konbaung dynasty (), also known as the Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်), was the last dynasty that ruled Burma from 1752 to 1885. It created the second-largest empire in history of Mya ...

well into the 19th century. The crown completely replaced the hereditary chieftainships with appointed governorships in the entire Irrawaddy valley and greatly reduced the hereditary rights of Shan chiefs. Its trade and secular administrative reforms built a prosperous economy for more than 80 years. The kingdom entered a gradual decline due to the "palace rule" of its kings. Starting from the 1720s, the kingdom was beset with raids by the

Meitei people The Meitei people, also known as Meetei people,P.20: "historically, academically and conventionally Manipuri prominently refers to the Meetei people."P.24: "For the Meeteis, Manipuris comprise Meeteis, Lois, Kukis, Nagas and Pangal." are a Ti ...

of the

Chindwin River The Chindwin River (), also known as the Ningthi River (), is a river in Myanmar and is the largest tributary of the Irrawaddy River. Sources The Chindwin originates in the broad Hukawng Valley of Kachin State of Burma, roughly , where the Tanai, ...

, and a rebellion in

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, second largest city in Thailan ...

. Raids by the Meitei intensified in the 1730s, reaching increasingly deeper parts of central Burma. In 1740, the

Mon people The Mon (; Thai Mon: ဂကူမည်; , ; , ) are an ethnic group who inhabit Lower Myanmar's Mon State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Tanintharyi Region, Bago Region, the Irrawaddy Delta, and several areas in Thailand (mostly in Pathum Than ...

Lower Burma Lower Myanmar (, also called Lower Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta ( Ayeyarwady, Bago and Yangon Regions), as well as coastal regions of the country ( Rakhine and Mon States and Tanintharyi ...

began a rebellion, founding the

Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom The Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom (), 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 out of a rebellion by the Mon led population of Pegu, who then ra ...

. The Hanthawaddy armies captured Inwa in 1752 and ended the 266-year-old Toungoo dynasty.

History

King Mingyi Nyo founded the First Toungoo Empire (1510–1599) at

Taungoo Taungoo (, ''Tauñngu myoú''; ), also spelled Toungoo and formerly Toung-ngú, 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 a ...

far up the Sittaung River south of Inwa towards the end of the Ava Kingdom in 1510. After the conquest of Inwa by the

Mohnyin Mohnyin (, ; ) is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is the administrative center for both Mohnyin Township and Mohnyin District Mohnyin District () is a Districts of Burma, district of the Kachin State in northern Myanmar. The administrative c ...

-led Shan '' sawbwas'' in 1527, many Burmese-speakers migrated to Taungoo, which became a new centre. Mingyi Nyo's son, King Tabinshwehti, unified most of Burma, consolidating his power and pushing southward, over-running the Irrawaddy Delta and crushing the Hanthawaddy capital of Bago. In 1544, Tabinshwehti was crowned as king of all Burma at the ancient capital of Bagan. By that time, the geopolitical situation in Southeast Asia had changed dramatically. The Shan gained power in a new kingdom in the north, the

Ayutthaya Kingdom The Ayutthaya Kingdom or the Empire of Ayutthaya was a Thai people, Thai kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (city), Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. Europe ...

had established itself as a suzerain power around the Chao Phraya river basin, while the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

had arrived in the south and conquered Malacca. With the coming of European traders, Burma was once again an important trading centre, and Tabinshwehti moved his capital to Bago due to its strategic position for commerce. He then began assembling an army for an attack on coastal

Rakhine State Rakhine State ( ; , ; ), formerly known as Arakan State, is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Re ...

to the west. Tabinshwehti's forces were defeated at Arakan but he was able to gain control of

up to

Pyay Pyay, and formerly anglicised as Prome, is the 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 Ayeyarwady Delta, Centr ...

. He led his retreating army eastward to the

, where he was again defeated in the Burmese–Siamese War (1547–49). A period of unrest and rebellions among other conquered peoples followed and Tabinshwehti was assassinated in 1550.

Bayinnaung's Empire

Tabinshwehti's brother-in-law,

, succeeded to the throne in 1550 and reigned 30 years, launching a campaign of conquest invading several states, including

(1560) and Ayutthaya (1564). An energetic leader and effective military commander, he made Taungoo the most powerful state in Southeast Asia and extended his borders from

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

to Ayutthaya. Bayinnaung was poised to deliver a final, decisive assault on the western kingdom of Arakan when he died in 1581. His son

Nanda Bayin , image = , caption = , title = King of Toungoo , reign = 10 October 1581 – 19 December 1599 , coronation = 15 October 1581 , succession = , predecessor = Bayinnaung , successor ...

and his successors were forced to quell rebellions in other parts of the kingdom, and the conquest of Arakan was never achieved.

Restored Taungoo

Faced with rebellion by several cities and renewed Portuguese incursions, the Taungoo rulers withdrew from southern Burma and founded a second dynasty at Ava, the Nyaungyan or Restored Taungoo Dynasty (1597–1752). Bayinnaung's grandson,

(1605–1628), once again reunited Burma in 1613 and decisively defeated Portuguese attempts to take over Burma. Anaukpetlun's successor

(1629–1648) rebuilt the war torn country. Based on Thalun's revenue inquest in 1635, the Irrawaddy valley's population was estimated to be around 2 million. The dynasty survived for another century and a half until the death of Mahadhammayaza in 1752. Encouraged by the French in India, Bago finally rebelled against Inwa, further weakening the state, which fell in 1752. The downfall of the Taungoo dynasty has been more broadly ascribed to institutional weaknesses in the capital, which intensified factionalism and succession disputes, and the uneven impact of growing trade and potential price inflation, on the elite's income streams.

Family tree

Governance

During the Toungoo dynasty, the Burmese crown undertook a series of reforms that strengthened the stability and relative longevity of the dynasty. While the First Toungoo Empire had established the precedent of stitching together independent kingdoms under a single monarch, Restored Toungoo monarchs more successfully subordinated lowland principalities under the Burmese throne's direct control. Senior princes of these principalities were required to live at the Burmese capital under close supervision, and the ceremonial insignia of these provincial rulers was downgraded. Other reforms included direct central control of provincial deputies, more effective links with provincial village chiefs, and expansion of the ''ahmudan'' system around the capital. Beginning in 1635, the Burmese crown began to conduct comprehensive censuses, and consolidated access to provincial manpower and tax collections. The Burmese monkhood in Upper Burma was also subject to more effective personnel and financial regulations.

References

* Victor B. Lieberman, "Burmese Administrative Cycles: Anarchy and Conquest, c. 1580–1760", Princeton University Press, 1984. {{authority control Former countries in Burmese history Former kingdoms Dynasties of Burma 15th century in Burma First Toungoo Empire 17th century in Burma 18th century in Burma States and territories established in 1486 States and territories disestablished in 1752 1480s establishments in Asia 1750s disestablishments in Asia History of Chittagong Division Former monarchies of Southeast Asia