John James Snodgrass a military officer and writer. He was the son-in-law of Sir Archibald Campbell under whom he served as Assistant Political Agent during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-6). On his return from Burma (now Myanmar), Snodgrass wrote this history of the war, which was published in 1827.
The First Anglo-Burmese War was the result of tension between the East India Company and the Burmese Empire (then known in Europe as the Kingdom of Ava). By 1822, Burmese influence in Assam and Manipur in north-east India had resulted in Company support for the king of Assam, Sudingphaa, who had been deposed by the Burmese ruler, Bagyidaw, and had fled across the border.
These tensions, British claims to Burmese-controlled districts in the region, and a fear of increasing French influence at the Burmese court, saw armed conflict break out in March 1824, with British forces landing at Rangoon (now Yangon) that May. The war lasted for two years and ended with a British victory, the East India Company taking control of Assam, Manipur, Arakan (now Rakhine State) and Tenasserim (now Tanintharyi).
The peace treaty crippled Burma financially and the territorial losses and enforced access of British merchants had humiliated the country. British discontent with some of the treaty's terms led to a second war in 1852 (see RCIN 1026483), which saw further Burmese concessions. The capture of the city of Mandalay during a third war in 1885 marked the end of the Burmese Empire and the establishment of British rule over the whole country. Myanmar achieved its independence from Britain in 1948.