But The Triumph
Of The Remarkable Alompra, Who United Pegu And Burmah Into A Single State,
And Who Controlled An
Army with which he effected many triumphs, showed
that this state of things might not always continue, and that the
Day
would come when China might be exposed to a grave peril from this side.
The successors of Alompra inherited his pretensions if not his ability,
and when the Chinese called upon them to keep the borders in better order
or to punish some evildoers, they sent back a haughty and unsatisfactory
reply. Sembuen, the grandson of Alompra, was king when Keen Lung ordered,
in the year 1768, his generals to invade Burmah, and the conduct of the
war was intrusted to an officer in high favor at court, named Count
Alikouen, instead of to Fouta, the hero of the Central Asian war, who had
fallen under the emperor's grave displeasure for what, after all, appears
to have been a trifling offense. The course of the campaign is difficult
to follow, for both the Chinese and the Burmese claim the same battles as
victories, but this will not surprise those who remember that the Burmese
court chroniclers described all the encounters with the English forces in
the wars of 1829 and 1853 as having been victorious. The advance of the
Chinese army, estimated to exceed 200,000 men, from Bhamo to Ava shows
clearly enough the true course of the war, and that the Chinese were able
to carry all before them up to the gates of the capital. Count Alikouen
did not display any striking military capacity, but by retaining
possession of the country above Ava for three years he at last compelled
the Burmese to sue for peace on humiliating terms.
In previous chapters the growth of China's relations with Tibet has been
traced, and especially under the Manchu dynasty. The control established
by Kanghi after the retirement of the Jungarian army was maintained by
both his successors, and for fifty years Tibet had that perfect
tranquillity which is conveyed by the expression that it had no history.
The young Dalai Lama, who fled to Sining to escape from Latsan Khan, was
restored, and under the name of Lobsang Kalsang pursued a subservient
policy to China for half a century. In the year 1749 an unpleasant
incident took place through a collision between the Chinese ambans and the
Civil Regent or Gyalpo, who administered the secular affairs of the Dalai
Lama. The former acted in a high-handed and arbitrary manner, and put the
Gyalpo to death. But in this they went too far, for both the lamas and the
people strongly resented it, and revolted against the Chinese, whom they
massacred to the last man. For a time it looked as if the matter might
have a very serious ending, but Keen Lung contented himself with sending
fresh ambans and an escort to Tibet, and enjoining them to abstain from
undue interference with the Tibetans. But at the same time that they
showed this moderation the Chinese took a very astute measure to render
their position stronger than ever.
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