Mahadhammaraza Dipadi

Mahadhammaraza Dipadi မဟာဓမ္မရာဇာဓိပတိ
King of Burma
Reign	23 November 1733 – 15 April 1752 (18 years, 144 days)
Predecessor	Taninganway
Successor	Alaungpaya
House	Toungoo
Father	Taninganway
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Mahadhammaraza Dipati (Burmese: မဟာဓမ္မရာဇာဓိပတိ, pronounced [məhà dəma̯jàzà di̯pədi̯]; c. 1717 – 13 October 1754), was the 15th and last king of Toungoo dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1733 to 1752. He was only 16 when a group of nobles selected him over more experienced princes after his father Taninganway's death in November 1733. The young king inherited a kingdom already in severe decline, and his inexperience only made the decline faster, finally resulting in the end of House of Toungoo and the collapse of the kingdom over his 18-year reign.

In 1733, the armies of Manipur invaded and plundered the Burmese territories and again in 1735. The invaders, however, were unable to cross the Irrawaddy. Since the move of capital from Pegu to Ava by King Thalun in 1635, Pegu had become the rallying point for the Mon revival and insurgency. The Burmese governors were readily hatred due to heavy corrupted taxation. Taking the advantage of weak royal authority after the Manipur invasions, a Burmese governor rebelled and proclaimed himself the King of Pegu in 1740. The Mons, unwilling to have a Burmese king in Pegu, rioted and murdered the new king. Mahadhammaraza Dipati then installed his uncle as the new governor of Pegu.

Yet the Mons were still unsatisfied and went on to kill Burmese officials in Pegu. Mahadhammaraza Dipati was then enraged at the Mons and ordered a massacre of the Mons at Pegu. The Gwe Shans (the Shans who were taken as captives from their northern homelands to Pegu by King Bayinnaung in the 16th century) took this opportunity to stage their own rebellion. The Shan armies with supports from the Mons took Pegu in 1740. A popular monk of Shan origin was proclaimed Gwe Min the King of Pegu.

As Ava was largely distracted by another Manipur invasion, the new Shan king reigned at Pegu but was under the influence of the Mons who forced the king to pursue an expansionist policy. The Peguan armies invaded Prome and Ava but failed yet were able to take Toungoo. Thatominkaung the King of Prome and Mahadhammaraza Dipati’s brother hurried south and took Syriam but was soon repelled. Prome eventually fell to the Mons in 1745. The Mons tried to take Ava again without success.

The same year, another Shan noble named Binnya Dala was proclaimed the King of Pegu. In 1750, the Qing sent auxiliary troops to support the Burmese king but was defeated by the Mons. The two sides were unable to overcome each other until 1751 when the crown prince of Pegu (Binnya Tala’s brother) marched the Mon and Shan armies into Upper Irawaddy and laid siege on Sagaing and Ava. Ava fell to the Mons in 1752 and Mahadhammaraza Dipati was taken as captive down to Pegu. Mahadhammaraza Dipati had survived for another two years before being executed in 1754 due to a suspected rebellion.