History
Tanintharyi Region historically included the entire Tanintharyi peninsula—today's Tanintharyi Region, Mon State and southern Kayin State. The northernmost peninsula region was part of the Thaton Kingdom before 1057, and the entire coastline became part of King Anawrahta's Pagan Empire after 1057. After the fall of Pagan in 1287, the area fell to the Siamese kingdom of Sukhothai, and later its successor Ayutthaya Kingdom. The region's northernmost border was around the Thanlwin (Salween) river near today's Mawlamyaing (Moulmein).
The region reverted back to Burmese fold in 1564 when King Bayinnaung of Toungoo Dynasty conquered all of Siam. Ayutthaya had regained independence by 1587, and reclaimed the southern half of Tanintharyi in 1593 and the entire peninsula in 1599. In 1614, King Anaukpetlun recovered the upper half of the coast to Dawei but failed to capture the rest. Tenasserim south of Dawei (Tavoy) remained under Siamese control. Myeik (Mergui) port was a principal center of trade between the Siamese and Europeans.
For nearly seven decades, from the middle of the 18th century to the early 19th century, Burma and Siam were involved in multiple wars for control of the coastline. Taking advantage of the Burmese civil war of 1740–1757, the Siamese cautiously moved up the coastline to the south of Mottama in 1751. The winner of the civil war, King Alaungpaya of Konbaung Dynasty recovered the coastline to Dawei from the Siamese in 1760. His son King Hsinbyushin conquered the entire coastline in 1765. In the following decades, both sides tried to extend the line of control to their advantage but they both failed. The Burmese used Tanintharyi as a forward base to launch several unsuccessful invasions of Siam (1775–1776; 1785–1786; 1809–1812); the Siamese too were unsuccessful in their attempts to retake Tanintharyi (1787 and 1792). (On the northern front, Burma and Siam were also locked in a struggle for the control of Kengtung and Lan Na.)
Burma ceded the region south of Salween river to the British after the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826) per the Treaty of Yandabo. The British and the Siamese signed a boundary demarcation treaty on 20 June 1826, and another one in 1868. Mawlamyaing (Moulmein) became the first capital of British Burma. The British seized all of Lower Burma after the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, and moved the capital to Yangon (Rangoon). After 1852, Tanintharyi Region consisted the entire southeastern Myanmar, including today's Mon State, Kayin State, and Taungoo District, in Bago Region. Mawlamyaing was the capital of Tanintharyi.
Upon independence from Britain in 1948, the northeastern districts of Tanintharyi were placed into the newly created Karen State. In 1974, the northern part of remaining Tanintharyi was carved out to create Mon State. With Mawlamyaing now inside Mon State, the capital of Tanintharyi Region was moved to Dawei. In 1989 the division's English spelling was officially changed to Tanintharyi.
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