First Anglo-Burmese War

The First Anglo-Burmese War developed from disputes along the expanding frontier between the Burmese Empire and territories claimed or protected by the East India Company. Burmese advances into Assam, Manipur and neighbouring regions created a contested border, while clashes near Chittagong, Cachar and Arakan escalated into open war in 1824.

British and Company forces attacked by sea and overland, occupying Rangoon and campaigning through terrain in which monsoon weather, transport failures and disease caused severe losses. The Treaty of Yandabo ended the war in 1826 and forced the Burmese court to accept territorial concessions and a large indemnity.

This context supports fiction about East India Company expansion, the Anglo-Burmese frontier, jungle campaigning and the practical difficulties of moving European troops and cavalry in South and Southeast Asia. A Call to Arms uses a fictional Chittagong crisis in 1819 as a precursor to the border tensions that later produced the war.