The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s3.25

v4.c23.s3.25

Having thus regained the position from which he should have started, Bayinnaung set out on his career of conquest. The size of his armies varied with the area of his kingdom for the time being. At its maximum, when it included upper Burma, the Shan States, and Siam, it supplied him with a mass levy approaching possibly one hundred thousand.² His efforts were on a bigger scale than had hitherto been known to Burma. Long records of faithful service, and the ties of ancient friendship, were pleaded in vain by officers who failed; the least they had to fear was deprivation of all titles and property, and exile to some fever-stricken spot. As for the rank and file, the severity they suffered was provoked by the fact that many of the levies were like herds of driven cattle, and the only way of keeping them together and bringing them to action was to use methods of frightfulness.