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Amarapura to Mandalay, an over-zealous Burmese commander of artillery exercised the great guns on the plain near the Palace, but the thunderous noise so disturbed the King and worse, quite unnerved his many Queens and his numerous offspring that he immediately gave orders for the practice to end. All cannon were to be brought into the enclosure, aligned in front of the Palace and gilded, where they looked magnificent and served a merely decorative purpose. (''“Mandalay The Golden” by E.C.V. Foucar – pub. London 1963'')
[[Image:Royal Palace at Amarapura.jpg|300px|right|thumb| Royal Palace at Amarapura.<br>Note the pair of 32-pdrs in front of the palace entrance<br> From ''Europe and Burma'' by D.G.E. Hall. Pub.1943<br>Image by kind permission of the Royal Asiatic Society.]]King Bodawpaya (1782-1819) moved the capital from Ava to Amarapura for fear that evil spirits might cast their spell over that place in consequence of all the royal blood spilled in his struggle for the succession. There were always many contenders for kingship because of the royal family's habit of marrying plenty of half-sisters. Bodawpaya took possession of his new Palace on 10th May 1783 and having settled in he set out to conquer the Arakan, making that state a province of Burma in 1784, acquiring a motley collection of weapons in the process, many of them rusty, including the enormous locally made cannon pictured earlier(see mandalay Monster below). Next he determined to inflict a decisive blow on his neighbours the Siamese, Burma's traditional enemies, and for his campaign to succeed he would need all the arms he could get hold of. In consequence he wrote in 1786 to Mohammed Syah, Sultan of Achee, Sumatra, but without result, so he tried again in 1787 with a letter to the French Agent in Chandernagore, but their enclave was in the uncomfortable position of being too close to the British in Calcutta who regarded them with deep suspicion and had the most annoying policy of applying 'stop and search' in respect of every French ship passing Fort William and entering the Bay of Bengal, removing important letters and secret papers intended for French eyes only. Bodawpaya had also approached the Governor of Pondicherry in the hope of engaging in trade. He had even sent him 'un petit batiment' (in nautical terms 'a small vessel') laden with three elephants by way of inducement. One can only imagine the astonishment of many a passing ship's captain who must have doubted their look-out's eyesight and sobriety, and quite possibly their own as well. It is not related whether or not the gift was appreciated. (''From Les Relations entre la France et la Birmanie au XV111 siecle et au 1X siecle. - Pierre Preschez Paris 1967.'')
