Third Anglo - Burmese War The Third Anglo - Burmese War was a conflict that took place during 7 – 29 November 1885 , with sporadic resistance and insurgency continuing into 1887 . It was the final of three wars fought in the 19th century between the Burmese and the British . The war saw the loss of sovereignty of an independent Burma under the Konbaung Dynasty , whose rule had already been reduced to the territory known as Upper Burma , the region of Lower Burma having been annexed by the British in 1853 , as a result of the Second Anglo - Burmese War . Following the war , Burma came under the rule of the British Raj as a province of India . From 1937 on , the British ruled Burma as a separate colony . Burma achieved independence just eleven years later as a republic in 1948 . Background . Following a succession crisis in Burma in 1878 , the British Resident in Burma was withdrawn , ending official diplomatic relations between the countries . The British considered a new war in response but other ongoing wars in Africa and Afghanistan led them to reject a war at that time . During the 1880s , the British became concerned about contacts between Burma and France . Wars in Indochina had brought the French to the borders of Burma . In May 1883 , a high - level Burmese delegation left for Europe . Officially it was to gather industrial knowledge , but it soon made its way to Paris where it began negotiations with the French Foreign Minister Jules Ferry . Ferry eventually admitted to the British ambassador that the Burmese were attempting to negotiate a political alliance along with a purchase of military equipment . The British were troubled by the Burmese action and relations worsened between the two countries . During the discussions between the French and Burmese in Paris , a boundary dispute on the frontier of India and Burma broke out . In 1881 , the British authorities in India appointed a commission to unilaterally mark out the border between the two countries . In the course of its work , the commission began demanding the Burmese authorities in villages determined by the British to be on their side of the line should withdraw . The Burmese objected continuously , but eventually backed down . In 1885 , the French consul M . Hass moved to Mandalay . He negotiated the establishment of a French Bank in Burma , a concession for a railway from Mandalay to the northern border of British Burma and a French role in running monopolies controlled by the Burmese government . The British reacted with diplomatic force and convinced the French government to recall Haas who was removed allegedly " for reasons of health " . While the French had backed down in Burma , the French actions as well as many other events convinced the British to take action against Burma . A fine was imposed on the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation for under - reporting its extractions of teak from Toungoo and not paying its employees . The company was fined by a Burmese court , and some of its timber was seized by the Burmese officials . The company and the British government claimed the charges were false and the Burmese courts were corrupt . The British demanded the Burmese government accept a British - appointed arbitrator to settle the dispute . When the Burmese refused , the British issued an ultimatum on 22 October 1885 . The ultimatum demanded that the Burmese accept a new British resident in Mandalay , that any legal action or fines against the Company be suspended until the arrival of the resident , that Burma submit to British control of its foreign relations and that Burma should provide the British with commercial facilities for the development of trade between northern Burma and China . The acceptance of the ultimatum would have ended any real Burmese independence and reduced the country to something similar to the nominally - autonomous ' princely ' puppet states of British India . By 9 November , a practical refusal of the terms having been received at Rangoon , the occupation of Mandalay and the dethronement of the Burmese king Thibaw Min were determined upon . It can also be assumed that the annexation of the Burmese kingdom had been decided . The war . At this time , beyond the fact that the country was one of dense jungle , and therefore most unfavourable for military operations , the British knew little of the interior of Upper Burma ; but British steamers had for years been running on the great river highway of the Irrawaddy River , from Rangoon to Mandalay , and it was obvious that the quickest and most satisfactory method of carrying out the British campaign was an advance by water direct on the capital . Further , a large number of light - draught river steamers and barges ( or flats ) , belonging to the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company , were available at Rangoon , and the local knowledge of the company ' s officers of the difficult river navigation was at the disposal of the British forces . Major - General , afterwards Sir , Harry Prendergast was placed in command of the invasion . As was only to be expected in an enterprise of this description , the navy as well as the army was called in requisition ; and as usual the services rendered by the seamen and guns were most important . The total effective force available was 3 , 029 British troops , 6 , 005 Indian sepoys and 67 guns , and for river service , 24 machine guns . The river fleet which conveyed the troops and stores was composed of more than 55 steamers , barges , and launches , etc . Thayetmyo was the British post on the river nearest to the frontier , and here , by 14 November , five days after Thibaw ' s answer had been received , practically the whole expedition was assembled . On the same day General Prendergast received instructions to commence operations . The Burmese king and his country were taken completely by surprise by the rapidity of the advance . There had been no time for them to collect and organize any resistance . They had not even been able to block the river by sinking steamers , etc . , across it , for , on the very day of the receipt of orders to advance , the armed steamers , the Irrawaddy and the Kathleen , engaged the nearest Burmese batteries , and brought out from under their guns the Burmese King ' s steamer and some barges which were lying in readiness for this very purpose . On the 16th the batteries themselves on both banks were taken by a land attack , the Burmese being evidently unprepared and making no resistance . On 17 November , however , at Minhla , on the right bank of the river , the Burmese in considerable force held successively a barricade , a pagoda and the redoubt of Minhla . The attack was pressed home by a brigade of British Indian infantry on shore , covered by a bombardment from the river , and the Burmese were defeated with a loss of 170 killed and 276 prisoners , besides many more drowned in the attempt to escape by river . The advance was continued next day and the following days , the naval brigade and heavy artillery leading and silencing in succession the Burmese river defences at Nyaung - U , Pakokku and Myingyan . However , some sources say that the Burmese resistance was not fierce because the defence minister of Thibaw , Kinwun Mingyi U Kaung , who wanted to negotiate peace with the British , issued an order to the Burmese troops not to attack the British . His order was obeyed by some , but not all Burmese brigades . In addition , the British deceived the Burmese ( including U Kaung ) by their propaganda that they did not intend to occupy the country for long , but only to depose the king Thibaw and enthrone Prince Nyaungyan ( an elder half - brother of Thibaw ) as the new king . At that time , most of the Burmese did not like Thibaw both because of the poor management of his government and because he and / or his king - makers had executed nearly a hundred royal princes and princesses when he ascended the throne in 1878 . Nyaungyan was a survivor of this royal massacre and was living in exile in British India although in fact he was already dead at the time of this war . However , the British concealed the fact , and according to some sources the British even brought a man impersonating Prince Nyaungyan along with them on their way to Mandalay so that the Burmese would believe their story of installing a new king . Thus , the Burmese who welcomed this purported new king did not attempt to resist the invading British forces . However , when it became obvious that the British had actually failed to install a new king and Burma in fact had lost its independence , fierce rebellions by various Burmese groups , including the troops of the former royal Burmese army , ensued for more than a decade . U Kaung ' s role in the initial collapse of Burmese resistance later gave rise to the popular mnemonic " U Kaung lein htouk , minzet pyouk " ( " U Kaung ' s treachery , end of dynasty " : U = 1 , Ka = 2 , La = 4 , Hta = 7 in Burmese numerology i . e . Burmese Era 1247 or 1885AD ) . On 26 November , when the flotilla was approaching the capital Ava , envoys from King Thibaw met General Prendergast with offers of surrender ; and on the 27th , when the ships were lying off that city and ready to commence hostilities , the order from the king to his troops to lay down their arms was received . There were three strong forts here , full at that moment with thousands of armed Burmese , and though a large number of these filed past and laid down their arms by the king ' s command , still many more were allowed to disperse with their weapons ; and these , in the time that followed , broke up into guerrilla bands and prolonged the war for years . Meanwhile , however , the surrender of the king of Burma was complete ; and on 28 November , in less than a fortnight from the declaration of war , Mandalay had fallen , and King Thibaw was taken prisoner , and every strong fort and town on the river , and all the kings ordnance ( 1861 pieces ) , and thousands of rifles , muskets and arms had been taken . The British organized the looting of the palace and city of Mandalay . The proceeds were sold off at a profit of 9 lakh s of rupees . From Mandalay , General Prendergast reached Bhamo on 28 December . This was a very important move , as it forestalled the Chinese , who had their own claims and border disputes with Burma . Though the king was dethroned and exiled with the royal family to India , and the capital and the whole of the river in the hands of the British , bands of insurgents took advantage of the situation to continue an armed resistance which proved very difficult to defeat . Annexation and resistance . Burma was annexed by the British on 1 January 1886 . Critics of the war consider the timing of the annexation to be strong proof of what the British motives really were . But the annexation was only the beginning of an insurgency which would last until 1896 . The final , and now completely successful , pacification of the country , under the direction of Sir Frederick ( later Earl ) Roberts , was only brought about by an extensive system of small military police protective posts scattered all over the country , and small lightly equipped columns moving out in response whenever a gathering of insurgents occurred . The British poured reinforcements into the country , and it was in this phase of the campaign , lasting several years that the most difficult and arduous work fell to the lot of the troops . The resistance was finally broken by meting out collective punishments on villages . Villages were burned and the property of villagers either confiscated or destroyed . The British policy of overwhelming reprisals against villages suspected of assisting the insurgency eventually brought the country under control . British colonialism was triumphant . The British also extended their control into the tribal areas of the Kachin Hills and Chin Hills . These territories , only nominally ruled even by the Burmese kingdom , were taken over by the British . Also taken were disputed territories in northern Burma claimed by the Chinese government . No account of the Third Burmese War would be complete without a reference to the first ( and perhaps for this reason , the most notable ) land advance into the country . This was carried out in November 1885 from Toungoo , the British frontier post in the east of the country . A small column of all arms carried it out under Colonel W . P . Dicken , 3rd Madras Light Infantry , the first objective being Ningyan ( Pyinmana ) . The operations were completely successful , in spite of a good deal of scattered resistance , and the force afterwards moved forward to Yamethin and Hlaingdet . As inland operations developed , the lack of mounted troops was badly felt , and several regiments of cavalry were brought over from India , while mounted infantry was raised locally . The British found that without mounted troops it was generally impossible to fight the Burmese successfully . Prize Committee . Following the annexation of Burma , valuable possessions of the Burmese Government were seized by the British . Many items that could be easily transported such as gold , jewellery , silk and ornamental objects were shipped back to Britain and presented as gifts to the royal family and notables of Britain , others were auctioned . An organisation , the " Prize Committee , Mandalay " , was instituted to divvy out the possessions of the former Burmese government . The majority of auctioned items were sold to Army and Navy officers and civil servants as well as the occasional European traveller . Items made of valuable metals which were damaged or deemed to be of little artistic value were melted down for bullion . Articles deemed to be of very high value were shipped to the Executive Engineer , Calcutta . Some items of high religious importance , including 11 gold idols of Lord Buddha , were retained by the Calcutta museum to be restored and if later requested returned to descendants of Burmese royalty . Machinery , steamers and items of practical value were usually transferred to the British government or purchased at well below market value . Ordnance including cast - iron guns , cannons and field guns were for the most part destroyed or disposed of in deep water .