While he was living in seclusion in his country, the enemy carried fear and destruction to the gates of the capital.
The King, who knew nothing of statecraft or of war, was powerless to avert the storm. The Princes and nobles went in a body to the temple of Chaoual Padou and begged him to take up the reins of the stricken Empire. He acceded to their wishes and his brother, laying aside his pride as there was no time for concealing his weakness and incapacity, handed over the sceptre that he could wield no longer and invited him to re-ascend the throne. He yielded to the pressure brought to bear on him from so many quarters and sacrificed his own inclinations for a quiet life.
But before entering into the details of the revolution we ought to give some account of the strength and situation of the people who were to be their adversaries.
In 1754 the Burmese, the inhabitants of the kingdom of Ava had been in subjection to the Peguans for five years. They had seen the death of their King, their Queen and the majority of the Royal family. The memory of their past misfortunes and the present reality of their servitude, and degradation caused them to yearn for a deliverer. They did not seek one among those enervated by the luxury of court life or those who in the pride of their usurped titles measured their capabilities by their ambition.
Their eyes were turned to one of their fellow-countrymen Manlong by name, a gardener by profession who though physically compelled to labour of a humble description, had the bravery and heart of a hero. With one voice all united in begging him to accept the crown so as to free them from the yoke of their tyrants. "Yes" replied this extraordinary man! "I agree to become your King, but first of all I wish to find out whether you are worthy of having such a leader as I! I command you to go and cut off the heads of all those petty oppressors whom the Peguans have set over you."
All answered, "If that is all you want us to do, you shall be obeyed speedily," and forthwith they departed to slay all the military and judicial officers whom their tyrants had placed in authority over them. Soon they returned to their hero, their hands streaming with the gore of their oppressors and proclaimed him King without a dissentient voice.
The new King distributed arms to his subjects. He taught them to ride and to shoot as he himself was a good horseman and a dead shot. His musketeers were ordered to fire on any one who had the cowardice to retreat either in siege operations or in actual battle. This new discipline was rigorously observed. The Burmese became invincible and dominated Pegu. A Peguan commander who had retreated with his army into a forest, on learning that the Burmese army had returned to Ava, took advantage of their absence to recapture Siriam, a seaport town of Pegu. He captured a ship which he at once fitted out and departed early in 1759 for Pondicherry on the Coromandel coast.
At the same time he wrote to the governor of the French stations in the East Indies to whom he sent valuable gifts in the hope of obtaining guns and military stores.
The ship was unable to reach the Coromandel coast; contrary winds rendered it necessary to anchor at Mergui a seaport of Siam. The Burmese army returned to Siriam three days after the departure of the ship. The King, who was in command wished to give an example of severity to the people. The town was utterly sacked and at the mere sound of their approach the Peguans and their leader fled to the forests.
The Governor of Tavoy, a Peguan city close at hand had established himself as an independent ruler. The Burmese King advanced to Martaban, a town close to Tavoy, and demanded the governor to surrender. The governor was too weak to offer any resistance and therefore complied. But his submission availed him nothing, for as soon as the King arrived, his head was cut off. It was here, that the King hearing about the richness of Siam conceived the idea of attempting its conquest, but wishing to have a valid excuse for his greed, he demanded that they should restore the ship that had been seized at Siriam from whence it had been brought to Mergui. The Siamese court having been informed that the ship was bound for Pondicherry ordered that the ship should continue the voyage in order to maintain the friendly relations existing between the Siamese court and the French stations.