Answer: The British wanted the forests, minerals and market of Burma (Myanmar) and wanted to secure the eastern border of their Indian empire. This led to three Anglo-Burmese wars.
(a) First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26):
- The Burmese kingdom had captured Arakan, Manipur and Assam and its expansion reached the borders of British Bengal.
- Lord Amherst declared war in 1824. After a long and costly war the Burmese were defeated and the Treaty of Yandabo was signed in 1826.
- Burma gave Assam, Arakan and Tenasserim to the British, recognised Manipur as independent and paid a war indemnity.
(b) Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852):
- A dispute arose over the treatment of British merchants at Rangoon; Lord Dalhousie used it as an excuse for war.
- The British captured Rangoon and Pegu, and Lower Burma was annexed to the British empire in 1852.
(c) Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885):
- King Thibaw of Upper Burma fined the British Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation and was negotiating with the French, which the British saw as a threat.
- Under Lord Dufferin the British attacked in 1885 and captured Mandalay; Upper Burma was annexed on 1 January 1886.
- King Thibaw was sent into exile at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. Burma was ruled as a province of British India until it was separated in 1937.
