Tanintharyi Region historically included the entire Tanintharyi
salient–today's Tanintharyi Region, Mon State, and southern
Kayin State. In the first millennium, its southern coastline formed part of the ancient
emporium named
Takkola in the
Geōgraphikē Hyphēgēsis of
Ptolemy. and in the Buddhist texts,
Mahāniddesa and
Milinda Panha.
Takkola itself was also one of the five kingdoms in the confederative polity of
Tun Sun. Meanwhile, the northernmost region was part of the
Thaton Kingdom before 1057. The entire coastline later became part of
King Anawrahta's
Pagan Empire after 1057. After the fall of Bagan 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
Moulmein. The region reverted to Burmese rule 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 northern 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 centre 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 along the coast 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.
(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) under the
Treaty of Yandabo. The British and the Siamese signed a boundary demarcation treaty on 20 June 1826, and another one in 1868. 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 Mawlamyine now inside Mon State, the capital of Tanintharyi Region was moved to Dawei. ==Administrative divisions==