The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s4.35

v4.c23.s4.35

Many Talaings had taken refuge in Siam; there were endemic slave raids on the border; and the Siamese had detained the captain of a Burma-owned ship which had been driven by weather into their port of Tenasserim. Moreover, seeing that after the conquest of the Delta he reigned over nothing but ruins, Alaungpaya wished to populate his realm with prisoners obtained in Siam. Early in 1760 he advanced with 40,000 men through Martaban and Tavoy. Capturing Tenasserim (which thereafter remained a Burmese possession) with the aid of some small ships managed by European captives, he went east over the hills to the shore of the Gulf of Siam and turned north. The Siamese came out to meet him but were driven back. Approaching Ayuthia, he burnt some Dutch ships, massacred the defenceless population regardless of sex or age, and covered the surface of the rivers with their corpses.¹ Under the walls of Ayuthia he released prominent prisoners with this message to the king of Siam: "His Burman Majesty comes as a divine incarnation to spread true religion in your country. Come forth with respect and present him with elephants and a daughter."² But the Siamese had among them Talaing refugees who knew the story of Pegū (p. 508). Their feringhis and Muslims manned the war-canoes with cannon in the maze of canals which surrounded the city; the glacis and fords were strewn with caltrops; cannon frowned from the battlements, with thousands of resolute men behind. Alaungpaya had started much too late in the cold weather. The rains were at hand, when the whole country would be several feet under water. Half his men were down with dysentery, and he himself was far from well. It looked as if the ever victorious army was not going to be victorious. He sent another message to the king of Siam that he had no wish to dethrone him if only he would submit to religious reform. There was no reply, and Alaungpaya saw that the play was over; within a week of arrival the hosts were in full retreat, abandoning forty guns of three-inch calibre.