Tenasserim were ceded by the Burmese (1826). A quarter of a century later Burmese oppression of English traders occasioned the Second War (1852). The resistance offered by the Burmese was far less strenuous than in the First War; and General Godwin occupied Pegu and all the country as far as Myedè before the close of the year[1]. By proclamation of the Governor-General, all the territory south of a line drawn east and west, six miles north of Myedè was annexed. Stone pillars marking the boundary were erected, those on the banks of the Irrawaddy under the personal supervision of Lord Dalhousie. Mindôn Min declined to sign away any part of his kingdom and no treaty was concluded. But British occupation was not challenged.
Friendly relations were maintained throughout the reign of Mindôn Min, an astute and in some ways enlightened monarch, of whom Sir Henry Yule wrote[2]:
The King is, without doubt, a remarkable man for a Burman; but rather in moral than in intellectual character, though his intelligence, also, is above the average....The Sovereign of Burma is just and mild in temper, easy of access, hears or seeks to hear everything for himself, is heartily desirous that his subjects shall not be oppressed, and strives to secure their happiness....As long as he lives and reigns, peace will probably be maintained.
This prediction was fulfilled. But in the nerveless hands of Mindôn Min's successor authority slackened and anarchy supervened. After the massacre of many members of the Royal Family, for seven years King Thebaw and his Ministers allowed Upper Burma to become the prey of dacoits and corrupt officials. Finally misrule, oppression of British traders, and attempts at intrigues with European powers, forced on the Third War (1885). King Thebaw had no standing army, no munitions of war, no money in
