[2] Binnya Dala continued the war against the Toungoo dynasty, launching a full-scale invasion of Upper Burma in 1750, and capturing the capital of Ava in April 1752.
Binnya Dala mistakenly thought Upper Burma had been won, and withdrew two-thirds of the invasion force back to Pegu, leaving just a third for what he considered a mop-up operation.
The remaining Hanthawaddy forces soon faced serious resistance put up by Alaungpaya who had just founded a new dynasty called Konbaung to challenge the invaders.
The invasion went well at first, laying siege to Ava and advancing deep into upcountry but ultimately faltered, driven back with heavy losses.
It executed all Avan captives, including the last king of Toungoo, and began requiring all Burmans in the south to wear an earring with a stamp of the Pegu heir-apparent and to cut their hair in Mon fashion as a sign of loyalty.
[5] The united kingdom of Burmese and Mons which Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung cherished no longer existed, instead Hanthawaddy was treated as an occupied territory, In 1740, during the reign of Mahadhammaraza Dipadi of the Restored Taungoo Dynasty, the Gwe Shan at Okpo together with Mon deportees drove the Burmese from Madaya taking advantage of the chaos created from the incessant ransacking by the Manipur horsemen which the Ava court seemed powerless to control.
The people then elected a former Gwe Shan monk and proclaimed him king of the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom with a title of Smin Htaw Buddhaketi.
He was popular but an ineffectual leader reluctant to take charge of the government or command of the army and spent most of his time searching for a white elephant in the jungles.
Mon chronicles recorded that Smin Htaw Buddhaketi was a proficient astrologer and reading his own horoscope, he saw an omen of disaster.
In a self-sacrificing spirit, he abdicated the throne, hoping that a leader with good fortune might be able to lead the Hanthawaddy people their destiny.
Ava felled and Mahadhammaraza Dipadi, the last king of the Restored Taungoo Dynasty was captured with all his family, except two sons who managed to escape to Siam.
Upayaza underestimated the importance of the resistance headed by a petty village officer and made the biggest blunder of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom.
He immaturely decided to return to Pegu taking with him twenty thousand men and greater part of the flotilla leaving Talaban to complete the pacification around Shwebo.
[14] The rationale for deploying the forces from Ava to Pegu was the perceived Siamese threat arising out of the recent annexation of Upper Tenasserim (Tanintharyi).
In the meantime, Alaungpaya was able to raise a large army and consolidated most of Upper Burma by driving the Habthawaddy forces and their ally Gwe Shan.
Binnya Dala decided to take Pyay and sent an army headed by his another brother and a son-in-law together with Talaban to besiege the city.
Before the army marched out, the imprisoned king of Taungoo, Mahadhammaraza Dipadi, and other captives were put to death, on the pretense they were implicated in a conspiracy.
Alaungpaya personally led Konbaung army to relieve the city, capturing many firearms, cannons and ammunition and many prisoners of war.
Bruno succeeded in obtaining a treaty of friendship from Binnya Dala, promising French military aid in return for trade concessions.
Both the French and English were equally keen to back the winning side and clandestine negotiations were held frequently between the respective company agents and the belligerents for supply of firearms, cannons, ammunition and active fire support.
[19] In the rainy season of 1755, Alaungpaya left Yangon to handle the northern Shan threats to the capital, leaving the bulk of his army in Yangoon fully entrenched.
The Konbaung fleet took shelter in the creek protected by the fire from mangrove and a battery of a few pieces of ship cannons erected in the temporary works on the banks of the river.
Faced with the withering fire from unexpected foes, the Konbaung forces were obliged to abandon their boats and take shelter in the grove.
Reluctant to face the close quarter fire from the grove, the Hanthawaddy forces declined to attempt to capture the Konbaung fleet and instead retreated to Syriam.
In the meantime, Brooke was advancing his negotiations with Alaungpaya by delegating Captain Baker and Lieutenant North with presents and instructions to conclude a treaty of amity and alliance.
The Konbaung forces concocted an ingenious maneuver: they fastened a number of boats, filled them with combustible materials and floated down these fire-boats down the spring-tide towards the enemy ships lying at anchor.
[21] Alaungpaya arrived back in Yangon in the beginning of 1756 and immediately attacked Syriam employing a band of 93 specially chosen volunteers who scaled the walls at night and opened the strong wooden gates.
Two days after the fall of Syriam, two French relief ships, Galetee and the Fleury, laden with troops, arms, ammunition and food arrived from Pondicherry.
Talaban, who was betrothed to the princess, protested vehemently and offered to lead a band of six hundred chosen warriors to either raise the siege and pressure an honorable peace or perish in the attempt.
During the night, Talaban, his family and a devoted band of his followers on elephants and horses forced their way through the besieging lines and escaped to Sittaung.