under Siam's sphere of influence. Manipur (1775–1782) The only region in which Singu maintained military action was Manipur, where he inherited another war from his father. The former Manipuri king Jai Singh, whom the Burmese last drove out in 1770, made four more attempts to oust the Burmese nominee between 1775 and 1782 from his base in Cachar. The Burmese drove him back each time but were unable to capture him. The army gained "barren victories" in Cachar and Jaintia where the rajas of the two small states agreed to pay a token tribute. But the tribute came at a high cost: the army lost 20,000 men, partly by fever over the years. After Singu's dethronement in 1782, the new king, Bodawpaya stopped the invasions. Manipur was again independent. Arakan (1784–1785) By the 1770s, Arakan was a shadow of her former self. Central authority had not existed since 1731. Desperate Arakanese nobles asked King Singu to intervene but Singu refused. In 1784, the Arakanese nobles again asked the new king Bodawpaya, who agreed. An invasion force of over 20,000 men (2500 horses and 200 elephants) consisted of land and naval units invaded on 2 December 1784. The combined forces faced little opposition en route to Mrauk-U, and took the capital on 2 January 1785, ending five centuries of Arakanese independence. The army was originally welcomed by the populace who actually greeted them with music along the invasion route. But they soon discovered to their horror, the invasion army's wanton destruction, killings, and especially, the unconscionable removal of their national symbol, the Mahamuni Buddha. They soon organised a resistance movement that would eventually lead the Burmese to the first war with the British in 1824. Siam (1785–1812) The relative ease with which Arakan was taken whetted Bodawpaya's appetite for war. Only a few months after Arakan, in early 1785, he sent an expedition force to take Junkceylon (Phuket) to prevent foreign arms shipment to Siam but the invasion force was driven back. In mid-October 1785, he launched a four-pronged invasion towards Chiang Mai, Tak, Kanchanaburi and Junkceylon. The combined strength was about 50,000 men. The hastily planned invasion had not made proper arrangements for transportation or supplies, and was a total disaster. Aside from the northern army which took Chiang Mai and swept down to Lampang, the southern armies were driven back, or in one case, nearly annihilated. The invasion armies