31 Toungoo dynasty [1486-1752](Myanmar)

Toungoo dynasty  [1486-1752](Myanmar)

King Minkyinyo (1486-1531) of Toungoo is considered the founder of the dynasty which conquered the Mohnyin Shan peoples in northern Myanmar, thus eliminating one element of the fragmentation that had existed in Myanmar since the demise of the Bagan dynasty in 1287. Consolidating his power in Toungoo, far up the Sittang River, Tabinshwehti pushed southward, overrunning the Irrawaddy delta region and crushing the Mon capital of Bago(Pegu). After defeating a Shan-led counterattack at Pyay(Prome)in 1544, Tabinshwehti was crowned as king of all Myanmar at the ancient capital of Bagan. He then began assembling an army for an attack on coastal Arakan to the west. The Myanmar forces were defeated at Arakan but Tabinshwehti led his retreating army eastward to Ayutthaya where he was defeated again by rebellious Thai forces. A period of unrest and rebellions among other conquered peoples followed and Tabinshwehti was assassinated in 1551.

Tabinshwehti's brother-in-law, Bayinnaung, ascended the throne in 1551 and reigned 30 years. An energetic leader and effective military commander, he made Toungoo Myanmar the most powerful state in Southeast Asia. After repeated campaigns, his conquests extended from Dawei, in the south, to Shwebo, in the north, and from Ava, eastward to Chiang Mai. Myanmar suzerainty even encompassed much of Laos and extended down the Chao Phraya valley to Ayutthaya, near Bangkok. Thailand remained under Myanmar domination for 15 years.

Bayinnaung was poised to deliver a final, decisive assault on the kingdom of Arakan when he died in 1581. His successors were forced to quell rebellions in other parts of the kingdom, and the victory over Arakan was never achieved. Instead, the Myanmar empire gradually disintegrated. The Toungoo dynasty survived for another century and a half, until the death of Mahadammayaza in 1752, but never again ruled all of Myanmar.