and skills to Burmese society and enriched Burmese culture. They were encouraged to marry into the host community thus enriching the gene pool as well. Captives from Manipur formed the cavalry called Kathè myindat (Cassay Horse) and also Kathè a hmyauk tat (Cassay Artillery) in the royal Burmese army. Even captured French soldiers, led by Chevalier Milard, were forced into the Burmese army. The incorporated French troops with their guns and muskets played a key role in the later battles between the Burmese and the Mons. They became an elite corps, which was to play a role in the Burmese battles against the Siamese (attacks and capture of Ayutthaya from 1760 to 1765) and the Manchus (battles against the Chinese armies of the Qianlong Emperor from 1766 to 1769). Muslim eunuchs from Arakan also served in the Konbaung court. A small community of foreign scholars, missionaries and merchants also lived in Konbaung society. Besides mercenaries and adventurers who had offered their services since the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century, a few Europeans served as ladies-in-waiting to the last queen Supayalat in Mandalay, a missionary established a school attended by Mindon's several sons including the last king Thibaw, and an Armenian had served as a king's minister at Amarapura. Among the most visible non-Burmans of the royal court were Brahmins. They typically originated from one of four locales: Manipur – acquired with the conquest of Manipur; perhaps from Bengal, since Manipur was Hinduised by Bengali Brahmins in the 1700s Arakan – acquired with the conquest of Arakan in 1785 by King Bodawpaya's son, Thado Minsaw Sagaing – long-established lines of Brahmins at Burman and Mon royal courts, who traced their origins to ninth century Sri Ksetra or 14th century Sagaing Benares – Indian Brahmins from Benares who arrived in upper Burma between the late 1700s to early 1800s. Literature and arts The evolution and growth of Burmese literature and theatre continued, aided by an extremely high adult male literacy rate for the era (half of all males and 5% of females). Foreign observers such as Michael Symes remarked on widespread literacy among commoners, from peasants to watermen. The Siamese captives carried off from Ayutthaya as part of the Burmese–Siamese War (1765–67) went on to have an outsize influence on traditional Burmese theatre and dance. In 1789, a Burmese royal commission consisting of Princes and Ministers was charged with