The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s4.11

v4.c23.s4.11

Alaungpaya's advances in the delta involved heavy fighting not only on land but also on water; both sides had hundreds of great war-canoes, and these, driven by sixty paddles, would ram with terrific effect. On land his hardest task was yet to come, for his men were only a semi-armed mass levy, and so far he had not been confronted with a walled town. Moreover, Dupleix had regarded Syriam as his chief shipbuilding depot, and French ships lay in the river, defending the town. Alaungpaya invested it in 1755 but had to wait a year for starvation to do its work. In July, 1756, finding the defenders weak with hunger, he called for volunteers, fed them for days in his presence, and gave them leather helmets and lacquer armour. They numbered ninety-three and are known as the Golden Company. On the appointed night, the Burmese camp held a festival with drums and music. The sound, floating up to the Talaing city on the hill, induced the watchers to relax their vigilance. The Golden Company found their way over the walls, cut down the guards, and opened the gates. The Burmese poured in, and the town was theirs. To Alaungpaya's men from upper Burma it was a veritable Eldorado, and they glutted themselves with mirrors, candlesticks, lamps, chairs, clocks, and other European wonders. He made a heap of silver and let the survivors of the Golden Company take away as much as they could carry.