Toungoo (Taungoo) Dynasty

   (1486-1752)

   Sometimes called the "Second Burmese (Myanmar) Empire" because, like the Pagan (Bagan) and Konbaung Dynasties, it unified the country. Historians generally divide it into two periods. The first, spanning the reigns of Minkyinyo (r. 1486-1531), Tabinshwehti (r. 1531-1550), Bayinnaung (r. 1551-1581), and Nanda Bayin (r. 1581-1599), witnessed the Burman (Bamar) conquest of the Mons in Lower Burma and the Shans, who had occupied Ava (Inwa) in 1527, and the kingdom emerged as a major power in Mainland Southeast Asia, conquering Siam in the 1560s.

   Monarchs of the Toungoo Dynasty Year of Accession

   • Minkyinyo 1486

   • Tabinshwehti 1531

   • Bayinnaung 1551

   • Nandabayin 1581

   • interregnum 1599-1605

   • Anaukpetlun 1605

   • Minredeippa 1628

   • Thalun 1629

   • Pindale 1648

   • Pye 1661

   • Narawara 1672

   • Minrekyawdin 1673

   • Sane 1698

   • Taninganwe 1714

   • Mahadammayaza Dipati 1733 (to 1752)

   ◘ Source: D. G. E. Hall, A History of South-East Asia

   The second period, coming on the heels of an invasion of Lower Burma by Siam and Arakan and a chaotic interregnum (1599-1605), is commonly called the Restored Toungoo Dynasty or the Nyaungyan Dynasty. King Anaukpetlun (r. 1605-1628) reestablished order, with his capital at Pegu (Bago), but his brother Thalun (r. 1629-1648) moved the capital back to Ava (Inwa). This was a significant development because Pegu had been one of Southeast Asia's major seaports (though it suffered from silting), while Ava was located inland, in Upper Burma, isolated from the outside world. The capital remained in Upper Burma until 1885, and narrow ethnocentrism characterized Burmese rulers' views of the world, with the exception of King Mindon. Thalun's successors were ineffective, and the country suffered greatly from Chinese invasions in the mid-seventeenth century. The dynasty fell when Binnya Dala captured Ava in 1752.

   See also Alaungpaya; Brito, Felipe de; Syriam.