and given the inglorious nature of death by illness it is unlikely they were trying to hide the truth. His ailment has been stated as "dysentery" or "scrofula" The Burmese began their retreat on 17 April 1760 (3rd waxing of Kason 1122 ME). Only Minkhaung Nawrahta's 6000 men and 500 Cassay cavalrymen remained as the rearguard, successfully fending off Siamese attacks along the route of retreat. Although the Burmese did not achieve the ultimate objective of toppling Ayutthaya, they formally annexed the upper Tenasserim coast and shifted the border down the coast at least to the Dawei-Myeik corridor. Death Alaungpaya died on Sunday, 11 May 1760 (12th waning of Kason 1122 ME) at the dawn, at Kinywa, near Martaban, after being rushed back from the Siamese front by the advance guard. He had longed for the sights and sounds of home, Shwebo for one last time but it was not to be. His death was made public at Yangon, and his body was taken upstream on a state barge. At Kyaukmyaung landing stage near Shwebo, the whole court came out to meet it, and bore it solemnly through the Hlaingtha Gate of Shwebo. He was buried with the ritual of the kings in the palace city, which once had been his lowly village, amid the mourning of an entire people. He had reigned only eight years, and was not yet 46 when he died. Historian Harvey writes that "men are remembered by the years they use, not by the years they last". Alaungpaya was succeeded by his eldest son, Naungdawgyi, despite his second son Hsinbyushin's attempt to take over the throne. Administration Government Alaungpaya spent most of his reign in the military campaigns. For the administration of his newly acquired territories, he largely continued the policies of the Restored Taungoo kings—the most important aspect of which was to reduce the number of hereditary viceroyships. Aware that hereditary viceroyships were a constant cause of instability, the king appointed governors in most of his newly conquered territories throughout the Irrawaddy valley. By and large, he reappointed existing governors if they submitted to him without a fight. In fact, most ethnic Mon governors of the south retained their position. He appointed only three viceroys: one at the Seven Hill Districts (present-day Magway Region centered around Mindon), another at Taungoo and the other at Bago, and none of them was hereditary. He made the