Ava–Hanthawaddy War (1408–1418)
| Ava–Hanthawaddy War (1408–1418) | |||||||||
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| Part of the Forty Years' War | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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China and its client states (1412–1415) | ||||||||
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Ava–Pegu Theater
Arakan Theater
Shan States Theater
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Ava–Pegu Theater
Arakan Theater
Shan States Theater
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Total unknown | Total unknown | ||||||||
| See Ava–Hanthawaddy War (1408–1410) orders of battle, (1410–1412), (1412–1414), (1414–1415), and (1416–1418) for more information. | |||||||||
The Ava–Hanthawaddy War (1408–1418) (Burmese: အင်းဝ–ဟံသာဝတီ စစ် (၁၄၀၈–၁၄၁၈)) was the third major conflict of the Forty Years' War, fought between Ava and Hanthawaddy Pegu, both located in present-day Myanmar. The decade-long war escalated into a multi-front, multi-sided conflict that also involved China and Siam. Hanthawaddy and China successfully checked Ava's expansion drive.
The casus belli stemmed from Ava's expansion under King Minkhaung I, who after the Ava–Hanthawaddy War (1401–1403) annexed the nearer Shan states and Launggyet Arakan (1404–1406). While the Ming court warned Ava to end its "aggression", King Razadarit of Hanthawaddy feared he was next, and seized Arakan in March 1408. A furious Minkhaung hastily invaded the southern kingdom but his forces were decimated during the punishing rainy season. His subsequent 1409–1410 invasion also failed, leading a dejected Minkhaung to cede command to his eldest son, Crown Prince Minye Kyawswa.
Minye Kyawswa brought a new, flexible strategy, focusing on the Irrawaddy delta rather than the difficult Sittaung front. When his inaugural delta invasion stalled in late 1410, he swiftly redirected his forces to Arakan, capturing the region in March 1411. However, he was soon forced to leave the front due to the imminent Chinese threat—the Yongle Emperor had authorized military action against Ava—which allowed Hanthawaddy to retake Arakan by early 1412.
Both kingdoms were soon forced to fight on multiple fronts. In April 1412, the Chinese vassal Hsenwi invaded Ava's northeast, advancing to Wetwin—just 80 kilometers from Ava (Inwa). Minye Kyawswa successfully repulsed the invasion, besieged Hsenwi throughout the rainy season, and defeated a 20,000-strong Chinese relief army in October. In November, Razadarit opened Ava's southern front to relieve pressure on Hsenwi by laying siege to Prome (Pyay). One month into the siege, Siamese forces opportunistically invaded Hanthawaddy's southernmost districts, forcing Razadarit to lead the majority of his forces to drive them out. This allowed Ava forces to launch a counter-invasion, and occupy the delta by May 1413.
However, Ava's momentum was again stalled as China and its vassals continued to attack Ava's northern districts throughout 1413–1415. In 1413, Minkhaung had to recall Minye Kyawswa to chase Maw (Mong Mao) forces to the Chinese border. In his final invasion, Minye Kyawswa recaptured the entire delta in 1414, but could not breach the formidable defensive line of Dala, Dagon and Syriam, en route to Pegu (Bago). Minkhaung refused to send reinforcements as the Chinese threat remained. The war's climax came during a Hanthawaddy counterattack on 13 March 1415 when Minye Kyawswa fell in action outside Dala.
The war lost its intensity afterwards. China stopped its invasions after 1415. A grief-stricken Minkhaung stopped all military action until Razadarit sent a minor probe in 1416. Minkhaung ordered a final retaliatory campaign in 1417–1418, after which he declared the two kingdoms "even." This resulted in an unofficial peace that held until both rival kings died in 1421. Hanthawaddy had succeeded in maintaining its independence, while Ava had lost Arakan but secured its nearer Shan states. The peace broke down in 1422 when Minkhaung's successor, King Thihathu, intervened in a Pegu succession crisis, starting the Ava–Hanthawaddy War (1422–1423).