British Troops Take Mandalay and Exile Burma’s Last King

On November 28, 1885, British forces under Major-General Harry Prendergast entered the royal palace at Mandalay. About two weeks after the campaign began on November 14, the invading troops took King Thibaw Min into custody after his surrender and effectively ended the Konbaung dynasty, bringing centuries of Burmese royal rule to a close. The swift capitulation of the capital severed Upper Burma from sovereign governance and set the stage for its formal integration into the British Empire.

Relations between Britain and the Konbaung kingdom had deteriorated steadily since the earlier conflicts of the nineteenth century, which had already stripped Burma of its lower provinces. After Thibaw took the throne in 1878 amid a bloody succession, relations with Britain deteriorated and the British Resident was withdrawn from Mandalay in 1879. British officials grew increasingly alarmed during the 1880s as the royal court explored closer relations with France. French diplomatic overtures in Paris and Mandalay, which included discussions over banking, railway concessions, and arms purchases, prompted deep British concern over French influence along the borders of British India.