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The First Attack on Hanthawaddy, 1595
Ten years after the declaration of independence, the roles of the two kingdoms had been completely reversed. In early 1595 Naresuan led an army to besiege Hanthawaddy, King Nanda Bayin's capital, for about three months. Although he could not yet take the city, the siege showed how weak Hanthawaddy had become.
The ≈ sign marks an approximate location. Borders on the map are modern and shown for orientation only. Campaign routes are approximate lines drawn from the chronicles and modern studies, not the exact path taken. Dashed lines are enemy armies.
The Mon towns change sides
In 1594 the governor of Moulmein, suspected by the governor of Martaban of plotting with Siam, rebelled against Hanthawaddy and asked Ayutthaya for help. Naresuan sent about 3,000 men, and the small Burmese garrison at Martaban abandoned the town and fled.
King Nanda Bayin ordered the King of Toungoo to put down the revolt, but his army was routed by the Thai and Mon forces. The southern Mon towns then came under Ayutthaya, which threw the road to Hanthawaddy wide open. According to the encyclopedia, Moulmein remained under Siamese rule continuously until 1614.
The march on Hanthawaddy
In January 1595 Naresuan set out from Ayutthaya with an army that some encyclopedias put at about 120,000 men. It passed through Martaban, which had only recently submitted, and gathered Mon troops to join it before laying siege to Hanthawaddy. The picture was the reverse of about ten years earlier, when it had been Hanthawaddy's army that crossed the mountains to besiege Ayutthaya.
A three-month siege
The siege lasted about three months, from around January to April 1595. When Naresuan learned that armies from Prome, Toungoo and Ava were coming to Hanthawaddy's aid, he withdrew, because being attacked from several directions at once would have put him at a serious disadvantage.
During the retreat the Thai side carried off large numbers of people, a way of adding manpower that both sides used in that era.
Lan Na turns to Ayutthaya
In the same year (1595) the ruler of Chiang Mai submitted to Siam, and Naresuan sent troops north to block a Lan Xang army that was about to pass through Lan Na territory. This made Ayutthaya's northern flank much safer, after it had served many times as the route by which Hanthawaddy's armies came south.
What this campaign meant
This was the first time in Naresuan's reign that Ayutthaya's army reached the gates of the Burmese capital. A few years later turmoil broke out inside the kingdom of Hanthawaddy, as Toungoo and Arakan rose against it. That split was the backdrop to the second campaign in 1599.
Reading the route on the map
The line on the map runs from Ayutthaya to Martaban and then on to Hanthawaddy, following the order of towns mentioned in the sources. The sources used do not name the pass taken across the Tenasserim Hills, so the first stretch shows only the general direction.
Waypoints along the route
| Waypoint | Coordinates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ayutthaya | 14.348, 100.561 | |
| 2. Martaban (Mon troops join) | 16.530, 97.602 | |
| 3. Hanthawaddy (Pegu) | 17.337, 96.480 |
Where historians still disagree
- Year of the campaign: English-language works give January–April 1595, which is BE 2138 by today's reckoning. Under the old system, in which the new year began around April, it would still be late BE 2137, which is why some Thai sources write it as BE 2138–2139.
- The armies that came to Hanthawaddy's aid: the English-language encyclopedia says they were sent by the lords of Prome, Ava and Toungoo, while some Thai documents say Chiang Mai, Toungoo and Prome.
Frequently asked questions
Did Naresuan ever capture Hanthawaddy?
On the first attempt, in 1595, he besieged it for about three months but could not take it. On the second, in 1599, the city was sacked and burned by Toungoo and Arakan before the Thai army arrived.
Why did the Thai army go by way of Martaban?
Because it was an important Mon town that had just come over to Ayutthaya's side, so the Thai army used it as a place to gather Mon troops before attacking Hanthawaddy.
Last updated 10 November 2026