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This is a list of orders of battle for the First Ava–Hanthawaddy War in which the Royal Ava Armed Forces and their allies Myaungmya armed forces fought the Royal Hanthawaddy Armed Forces between 1385 and 1391.

Background

Sources

The orders of battles for Ava in this article are sourced from the main royal chronicles—the Maha Yazawin, the Yazawin Thit and the Hmannan Yazawin, which primarily narrate the war from the Ava side, and provide a specific order of battle for each of the Ava campaigns; the chronicles also typically (but not always) provide the opposing forces' strength as part of their narratives.

The extant information for the orders of battles for Hanthawaddy Pegu is not as detailed. The Razadarit Ayedawbon chronicle, which narrates the war from the Hanthawaddy perspective, provides only occasional facts and figures on the Hanthawaddy forces, and even less on the opposing forces. Therefore, this article uses the limited orders of battle information on the Hanthawaddy side reported in the main chronicles.

Adjustment of strength figures

The military strength figures in this article have been reduced by an order of magnitude from those reported in the chronicles, following G.E. Harvey's and Victor Lieberman's analyses of Burmese chronicles' military strength figures in general. Specifically for this war, historians' estimates range from 12,000 to 30,000+ troops for Ava (as opposed to 130,000 to 290,000 infantry reported in the chronicles).

Composition of the opposing forces

In all the three invasions, Ava raised the vast majority of its regiments from districts around the capital (Ava, Pinle, Pinya, Myinsaing, Sagaing); central and southern districts along the Irrawaddy river (Pagan, Sagu, Salin, Pakhan Gyi, Myede and Prome); and south and southeastern districts (Nyaungyan, Yamethin, Taungdwin, Toungoo). Of its northern districts only Kale contributed a regiment in the first and second invasions while Dabayin, Amyint and two Shan regiments participated in the second invasion. However, after its war with the northern Maw kingdom (1387–1389/90), Ava did not include any northern regiments in its third invasion of Hanthawaddy Pegu in 1390–1391.

The Hanthawaddy army that withstood Ava's first two invasions consisted of troops from the central Hanthawaddy province (Dala, Dagon, Hlaing, Hmawbi and Pegu), the only province King Razadarit controlled. It was only in 1390 after Razadarit had conquered Martaban and Myaungmya provinces that the Hanthawaddy army was able to field its largest force, drawn from all three provinces.

First invasion (1385–1386)

Ava

Hanthawaddy Pegu

Second invasion (1386–1387)

Ava

Hanthawaddy Pegu

Hanthawaddy Pegu–Myaungmya (1389–1390)

Hanthawaddy Pegu

Myaungmya

Third invasion (1390–1391)

Ava

Hanthawaddy Pegu

Notes

1. See (Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 291, 295, 301), (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 196, 198, 202) and (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 417–418, 422, 429–430).
2. See (Pan Hla 2005) for the reporting in the Razadarit Ayedawbon chronicle of the Hanthawaddy army's formations. See (Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2003: 291–301), (Yazawin Thit Vol. 2012: 196–202), (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 417–430) for Ava's side reporting of Hanthawaddy formations throughout the war.
3. See (Harvey 1925: 333–335)'s "Numerical Note". (Lieberman 2014: 98) writing on the First Toungoo period concurs: "Military mobilizations were probably more of a boast than a realistic estimate. Modern industrial states have difficulty placing 10% of their people under arms."
4. (Harvey 1925: 82 and 82 footnote 1): G.E. Harvey estimated that "the total strength of the invaders would usually be about 12,000... partly because the Hmannan figure is usually 120,000 and the chronicles habitually over-estimate by ten". However, Harvey misquoted Hmannan since the chronicle does not report 120,000 anywhere for any of the campaigns of the war. Nor do any other main chronicles. All three main chronicles report 130,000 troops for the first invasion ((Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 291), (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 196) and (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 417–418)); 290,000 troops for the second invasion ((Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 295), (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 198) and (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 422)); and 290,000 troops for the third invasion ((Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 301), (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 202) and (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 429–430)).
   (Aung-Thwin 2017: 64, 66): Michael Aung-Thwin's estimates of Ava's total strength were 20,000 to 33,000 troops for the campaigns.
5. ^ Unless otherwise stated, the military mobilization figures in this article are reduced by an order of magnitude from those reported in the royal chronicles, per G.E. Harvey's analysis in his History of Burma (1925) in the section Numerical Note (pp. 333–335).
6. The Razadarit Ayedawbon (Pan Hla 2005: 185–190) does not mention the total strength of the Hanthawaddy forces for this campaign. Per (Pan Hla 2005: 185–186), Razadarit briefly left the front for Dala after the first battle of Bassein, and returned to the front before the battle of Myaungmya. During his absence, Dein commanded the remaining troops over 10,000 strong (which after adjusting down by an order of magnitude means over 1000 strong).
7. (Pan Hla 2005: 189) says over 10,000 troops surrendered after the battle of Myaungmya. This means Myangmya likely had more than 1000 troops, after adjusting by the chronicle figure by an order of magnitude. Furthermore, per (Pan Hla 2005: 187–188), Myaungmya defenses also included war elephants.

References

1. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 417–418, 422, 429–430
2. ^ Aung-Thwin 2017: 65
3. ^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 198
4. Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 199–201
5. ^ Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 301
6. ^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 202
7. ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 429–430
8. Pan Hla 2005: 165, 169–170
9. ^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 202–203
10. ^ Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 291
11. ^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 196
12. ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 417–418
13. ^ Pan Hla 2005: 166
14. ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 418
15. Pan Hla 2005: 167
16. ^ Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 295
17. ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 422
18. Maha Yazawin 2006: 296
19. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 423
20. Pan Hla 2005: 169–170
21. Pan Hla 2005: 185
22. Pan Hla 2005: 190
23. Pan Hla 2005: 184–185
24. Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 200–201
25. Pan Hla 2005: 186
26. Pan Hla 2005: 185–186
27. Pan Hla 2005: 178, 184
28. Pan Hla 2005: 198

Bibliography

• Aung-Thwin, Michael A. (2017). Myanmar in the Fifteenth Century. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-6783-6.
• Harvey, G. E. (1925). History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
• Kala, U (2006) . Maha Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Lieberman, Victor B. (2014) . Burmese Administrative Cycles: Anarchy and Conquest, c. 1580–1760. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-05407-0.
• Maha Sithu (2012) . Myint Swe; Kyaw Win; Thein Hlaing (eds.). Yazawin Thit (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2nd printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Pan Hla, Nai (2005) . Razadarit Ayedawbon (in Burmese) (8th printing ed.). Yangon: Armanthit Sarpay.
• Royal Historical Commission of Burma (2003) . Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3. Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.

• Forty Years' War orders of battle