Anglo-Burmese Wars

(1824–26, 1852, 1885) Conflicts between the British and the Burmans (Burmese) in present-day Myanmar. King Bodawpaya's conquest of Arakan, which bordered on British-controlled territory in India, led to border conflicts between Arakan freedom fighters and the Burmans.

When the Burmans crossed the border into Bengal, the British responded in force, taking Rangoon (now Yangôn). The resulting two-year conflict ended with a treaty that gave Britain Arakan and Assam and required the Burmans to pay an indemnity. Another war erupted 25 years later when a British naval officer seized a ship that belonged to the Burman king; the British advanced into and soon occupied all of Lower Burma. A third war was sparked by threats to the British teak monopolies in Lower Burma and Burman overtures to the French; as a result, the British annexed Upper Burma (formalized in 1886), thus ending Burman independence.