In 1795, in consequence of the violation of British territory by a Burmese force in pursuit of certain rebels, troubles arose. which were, however, quieted for a time. Difficulties over trading privileges followed, and frontier disputes occurred, culminating, in IS24, in a collision be tween armed forces of the East India Govern ment and of Burma, on the Assam frontier. War was declared, and British forces at once in vaded Burma. The common error of British campaigns, that of despising an unknown foe, led to failures at the beginning, but ultimately the Burmese were pressed so hard that a treaty was made at Yandabo, February 24, 1S26, by which Burma renounced its claim on Assam and ceded to the British Government Arakan and the coast of Tenasserim, including Alartaban, east of the Salwin River. Their defeat was a great blow to the national pride of the Burmese. King Tharawaddy. who obtained the throne in 1837 by the deposition of his brother, declared the treaty of Yandabo void, and treated English envoys with studied contempt until, in 1840, re lations between the British and Burmese Gov ernments ceased altogether. The extreme devel opment in Tharawaddy and his son, Pagan Alen, of the homicidal mania, which was the curse of the line of Alompra, led to a revolt which, in 1853, seated the brother of Pagan Alen, Sliudohn Alin, on the throne. At the same time the in tolerable treatment of English citizens had brought on the second war between Great Brit ain :Ind Burma. in the spring of 1852 a British force captured Alartaban and Rangoon, and the Peguans took the part of the British against the Burmese. In January, 1853, Pegu was pro claimed a part of the British Empire, which thus obtained control of the Burmese coast and of the mouths of Burma's three navigable rivers. Alindohn Alin proved to be a wise and just ruler. Diplomatic relations were resumed in 1867 between Burma and Great Britain, and a commercial treaty was made. Two years before, a superstition had caused the abandonment of the capital, Amaurapoora, for the new city Mindohn Min died in 1S78, and the principal Queen. having no sons, married one
of her daughters, Supayah Lat, to Thcebaw, one of the youngest of the late King's sons. The other princes were seized and executed. Thee baw, arrogant. cruel, and weak, was a tool of his sanguinary Queen, who put all her rivals to death. The disorder resulting from the tyranny of their rule affected British trade, and led to new troubles with Great Britain; while an ef fort was made to establish a favorable connec tion with France. Trouble between the Bur mese Government and the Bombay-Burma Com pany, which held a concession in the teak for ests, presented an excuse for British interven tion, which seemed necessary to prevent French influence from becoming paramount. The Brit ish invaded Burma, and on November 28, 1885, occupied Mandalay. The King and Queen were made captive and taken to :Madras; all of Bur ma passed into British control, and in 1886 the annexation of Upper Burma to the dominions of the Queen-Empress Victoria was formally pro claimed. For several years there was much law lessness, chiefly in the form of brigandage by the dacoits, or robbers, but by 1895 the country was practically pacified, and entered upon a new era under British rule. It is incorporated as a province of the Indian Empire under a Lieuten ant - Governor. An agreement was concluded with France on January 15, 1896, making the River the boundary between the Shan States of Burma and French Indo-China. This boundary agreement gave France some territory east of the Upper Mekong, which formerly be longed to Buena. The development of railroads in Burma has now begun, and will open the re sources of the country. The connection of Shanghai with India by way of the Upper Yang tse Valley and Upper Burma is claimed by some students of the Far Eastern situation to be essential to the maintenance of Great Britain's position in the East. Sec FAR EASTERN QUES