The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s4.63

v4.c23.s4.63

By granting honourable terms the Burmese gave the Chinese emperor a loophole to withdraw from a costly adventure in a country the trade of which was, as he minuted on the file, negligible, and what little there was went round by sea. Although pride prevented him from acknowledging the treaty, his silence gave consent, and soon the caravans of 400 oxen or 2000 ponies started coming down from Yünnan as of old, and the Burmese once more found a market for their raw cotton, of which China always bought appreciable quantities. Burma remained in possession of Koshanpye, the nine Shan towns above Bhamo. The Chinese prisoners taken in the war, numbering 2500, were settled in the capital as gardeners, and were given Burmese wives. But the material was as nothing to the moral gain. Their other victories were won over states on their own level, such as Siam; this was won over an empire. Alaungpaya's crusade against the Talaings was stained with treachery; the great siege of Ayuthia (1766–67) was a magnificent dacoity; but in the Chinese war the Burmese were waging a righteous war of defence against the invader.