period. Major John Butler who came to Assam in 1837 and met many survivors of the Burmese rule recorded the story of a massacre committed in 1819-20 on the bank of the Kalang river. "After having decapitated 50 persons in one day, the Burmese placed a large number of men, women, and children on a, bamboo platform inside a house erected of bamboo and thatch. They then set fire to the fuel placed round the building. In a few minutes 200 persons were consumed in the flames. “ All who were suspected of being inimical to the reign of terror, were seized and bound by Burmese executioners, who cut off the lobes of the poor victims’ ears and choice portions of the body, such as the points of the shoulders, and actually ate the raw flesh before the living sufferers. They then inhumanly inflicted, with a sword, deep but not mortal gashes on the body, that the mutilated might die slowly, and finally closed the tragedy by disembowelling the wretched victims." Assam was left with 7 lakh people as estimated by the British after the Burmese rule. This event so weakened and disorganized the Ahom state that by 1839 the kingdom was completely annexed by the British. Before that from 1228 - 1839, they maintained their sovereignty for nearly 600 years. The Burmese incursions in Manipur are said to have depopulated the country and removed all traces of Manipuri civilization. The ravages of Bodawpaya and his predecessors had reduced parts of Siam into a desert, for years the fields round Tavoy were white with human bones. To escape from Burmese oppressions the greater part of the population of Arakan had deserted their country and taken shelter in British territory “ where taxation was reasonable, and a man could go to bed at night without wondering whether his throat would be cut in the morning by order of some official“ The Muslim Pangal of Manipur too were devastated and taken as slaves by the invading Burmese armies. Notes References 19th-century conflicts History of Assam Military history of Myanmar 19th century in Burma First Anglo-Burmese War 1810s in Asia 1820s in Asia 1810s in Burma 1820s in Burma Military history of India 1810s in India 1820s in India 1817 in Burma 1825 in Burma 1826 in Burma