Selection of Articles
written 100 years ago by

Mr. Taw Sein Ko

Superintendent, Archaeological Survey, Burma


KINGS OF BURMA

 

ANURUDDHA OR ANAWRATAZAW,
KING OF PAGAN.

         ANURUDDHA and its Burmanized forms, Anawrata and Anawratazaw are the names of the hero-king, who reigned at Pagan about the beginning of the eleventh century A. D.

         His conquest of Thaton, in 1057 A.D., is thus described by Phayre, (History of Burma, page 37) :—"The king now desired to possess the Buddhist scriptures, the Tripitaka. knew that those precious volumes existed at Thahtun (Thaton).

         He sent an ambassador of high rank to Manuha, the King of that city, to ask for a copy of the Holy books. The King answered haughtily that he would give nothing. Anoarahta (Anawrata), with a sudden fierceness, altogether opposed to the spirit of the religion which he had embraced, determined to punish what he deemed an affront. He collected a large army and went down the Irrawaddy. The King of Thahtun had no means of meeting the invader in the field, but the city was well defended by a wall. After a long siege, the citizens were reduced by famine, and the city was surrendered. King Manuha, his wives and children, were carried away captives to Pagan. The city was utterly destroyed. Nobles and artificers, holy relics and sacred books, golden images and treasures of all kinds were carried off; and from that time the country of Pegu became for more than two centuries subject to Burma. As a fit sequence to such a war, the unhappy Manuha, his whole family, and the high-born captives were thrust down to the lowest depth of woe by being made pagoda slaves."

         During the three centuries that preceded the accession of Anawrata, Buddhism had been expelled from India, and its votaries had found a refuge in the neighbouring countries, namely, Tibet, China, the Malay Archipelago, Indo-China, and Ceylon. To this fact may, perhaps, be attributed the religious and architectural activity manifested at Pagan at the beginning of the eleventh century, and the preparedness of the Burmans to assimilate the civilization of the Talaings transplanted through Anawrata's conquest.

        However, it has hitherto been the fashion to represent Anawrata as the leader of a barbarian horde, who swept down.. upon Thaton, and from thence carried away captive its King, Manuha, together with "five elephant-loads of Buddhist scriptures and five hundred Buddhist monks," and that it was, during his reign, that the Burmans received their religion, letters, and other elements of civilization from the Talaings. Such statements do not appear to be warranted by the evidence afforded by the following facts relating to this period: (a) The tract of country extending from Toungoo to Mandalay was colonised under feudal tenure in order to prevent the recurrence of the constant raids from the neighbouring Shan Hills; and, with a view to attract population, the irrigation works, which have been a source of wealth and prosperity to later generations, were constructed. A similar cordon of towns and villages was also formed on the northern frontier to safeguard it against aggression from the Shan Kingdom of Pong. Coupled with these facts was that of the subjection of the Talaings to Burmese rule for over two centuries. These circumstances appear to indicate that the Burmans of that period were possessed of the elements of civilization, and were acquainted with statesmanship, the methods of good government, and the arts of settled life. (b) A debased form of Buddhism, which was probably introduced from Northern India, existed at Pagan. Its teachers, called Aris, were not strict observers of their vow of celibacy; and it is expressly recorded in native histories that they had written records of their doctrines, the basis of which was that sin could be expiated by the recitation of certain hymns. The sacred language of Buddhism at the time of its introduction was Sanskrit, and not Pali. This is abundantly clear from the terra cotta tablets bearing Sanskrit legends found at Tagaung, Pagan, and Prome, from the preference shown for the Sanskritic form of certain words, as noticed by Fausboll and Trenckner, in the Buddhist books from Burma, and from the existence, in the Burmese language, of words importing terms in religion, mythology, science, and social life, which are derived directly from Sanskrit. 'Compare Forchhammer's Jardine Prize Essay p 4:-" We shall, in vain, explore the reputed sites of ancient Burmese capitals for any architectural remains, antedating the rise of Anawrata, which can be traced to Burmans. The conquest of Anawrata inaugarated the career of the Mranmus or Burmans as a historica1 nation. Nor did they, prior to this event, possess an alphabet, much less a literature. Their most ancient inscription are not older than six centuries and display the art writing in its infancy.

        (c) It is expressly recorded in the Mahayazawin or "Chronicles of the Burmese Kings" that the Buddhist scriptures, which were in the Mun or Talaing character, were, by Anawrata's command, transcribed in the Burmese character at Pagan. Pali legends inscribed on terra cotta tablets belonging in the 11th century have been found at Pagan, whose paleographical development is clearly traceable to the Indo Pali alphabet of Kanishka (vide Cunningham's Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Plate XXVII) and not to the South Indian alphabet of the Eastern Chaluka dynasty of Talinga (vide Burnells's Elements of South India's Paleography, Plate IV) from which the Talaing alphabet was apparently derived.

         (d) The Shwezigon and several other pagodas were built by Anawrata, who enshrined in them the relics obtained by demolishing certain religious edifices in Arakan, Prome, and Pegu. The sudden outburst of architectural energy, which followed Anawrata's conquest of Thaton, and which covered the Upper valley of the Irrawaddy with pagodas and other religious buildings, could not have been possible unless the Burmans of that period had reached a certain stage in the scale of civilization.

         According to the Kalyani inscription, after the period extending from the establishment of Buddhism at Thaton to the reign of Manuha, a period extending over thirteen centuries, "the power of Ramannadesa declined, because civil dissensions arose and the extensive country was broken up into separate principalities, because the people suffered from famine and pestilence, and because, to the detriment of the propagation of the excellent Religion, the country was conquered by the armies of the seven kings."

         This very rapid resume, amounting practically to silence, is thus explained by Forchhammer, Jardine Prize Essay, page 25): "From the 6th to the 11th centuries, the political history of the Talaings is a blank. During this period, the ancient kingdom of Khmer or Camboja attained to its fullest power; it extended from the Gulf of Martaban to Tonquin. The kings, who ruled over Khmer, from the year 548 A.D. to the 11th century, favoured Brahmanism to the almost total exclusion and suppression of Buddhism. The splendid ruins of Khmer date from this period; the temples are dedicated to Siva and Vishnu; the inscriptions are written in Sanskrit. Camboja is the great kingdom of Zabej of the Arabian geographers, which, in the eighth and ninth centuries, extended also over the groups of islands south and west of Malacca, including Borneo, Java, and Sumatra; Kala (Golanagara), north of Thaton, was then an important sea harbour, and according to Abuzaid and Kazwini, an Indian town, subject at that time (9th century) to the king of Camboja. The country of the Talaings was then, no doubt, also a dependency of the same kingdom. and the silence of their records during that period is fully explained thereby. They mention, however, the struggle for ascendancy between Brahmanism and Buddhism ; the latter prevailed, chiefly because the maritime provinces of Burma became a place of refuge to a great number of Buddhist fugitives from India."


RAMADHIPATI OR DHAMMACHETI,
KING OF PEGU.

         The latter half of the 15th century A. D. is a brilliant epoch in the history of Burmese literature. The profound peace that was due to sheer exhaustion induced by foreign wars and internal dissensions, was eminently favourable to the cultivation of high literary culture. The frequent intercourse with Ceylon, and the liberality with which monastic institutions were endowed by Burmese Kings in the previous centuries, had made their capital the seat of learning and a stronghold of Buddhism. The long subjection of Ramannadesa to Burmese rule from the 11th to the 13th centuries had caused all political, religious, and intellectual life to centre at the Burmese capital (at that time Pagan), as is always the case in the East, and had accustomed Talaing monks, like Dhammavilasa, from the maritime provinces to repair to it for the completion of their education. Until Dhammacheti, who had received his education at Ava, came to the throne in 1469 A.D., the mental energies of the lower country appear to have been spent in squabbles and profitless religious controversies. Hence there were no great writers or renowned teachers in the Talaing Kingdom, at whose feet scholars could receive their instruction.

         The literature cultivated at that period was not only that of Pali and Sanskrit, but also that of Burmese. The exquisite, highly refined, and inimitable poetry of Silavamsa and Ratthasara, the great poets of Burma, who flourished in the latter half of the 15th century, and whose works are mentioned at page 66 of Forchhammer's Jardine Price Essay, does not appear to corroborate that writer's statement made at page 28 of the same work:- 'A critical study of the Burmese literature evolves the fact that the Burmese idiom reached the stage of a translatory language at the close of the 15th century, and that of an independent literary tongue not much more than a century ago". This learned scholar was apparently misled by the statements of Native writers, who, in their biographical notices of their literary countrymen, generally accord the first places to the two great poets named above. But the wealth of imagery and allusion, the pure diction and the terse, logical and masterly style of composition, evinced by the works referred to, afford strong and unassailable internal evidence as to the Burmese idiom having passed beyond the "stage of a translatory language at the close of the 15th century." Besides, the Tethnwegyaung Inscription at Pagans dated 804 B.E. (1442 A.D,.) that is to say, eleven years before the birth of Silavamsa, affords corroborative evidence of the high literary culture of the Burmese vernacular in that a portion of it is written in faultless Burmese metre, which has served as the model of later writers. The list, mentioned in it, of works belonging to the Buddhist Canon, of commentaries and scholia, of medical, astrological, grammatical, and poetical works translated from Sanskrit, shows also the keen literary activity of the Burmans of that period. The divergence between the actual fact and the statements of local writers may be reconciled by ascribing the cause to the unreliable historical memory of the Burmese people, the direct outcome of the ruthless and vandalic wars, to which their country was spasmodically subjected.

         In common with other Talaing monks of the period, Ramadhipati, whose monkish name was Dhammadhara, accompanied by his fellow-pupil, Dhammanana, who was subsequently known as Dhammapala, proceeded to Ava in his sixteenth year (1422 A.D.) and received his instruction under Ariyadhajathera, a learned monk of Sagaing.

         A few years previous to this, consequent on the death of the great Talaing monarch, Yazadarit (Rajadhiraja), the kingdom of Pegu had been convulsed by civil wars. The succession of Byinnya Dhammaraja, the eldest son of the deceased king, was disputed by his younger brothers, Byinnyayan and Byinnyakaing, who sought the assistance of Thihathu (Sihasura, King of Ava. It was during the second expedition of this Burmese King that Byinnyayan gave his sister, Shin Sawbu, in marriage to him, as a pledge of his good faith. Shin Sawbu, who was a widow and mother of three children,* accompanied her husband toAva (1425 A.D.), and there made the acquaintance of Dhammadhara and Dhammanana, whose intelligence and nationality induced her to become their supporter. After the death of Thihathu, Shin Sawbu, was not satisfied with her life in the Palace. The intrigues, political convulsions, and rapid changes of Kings, brought about through the intrumentality of her rival, Shin Bome, appear to have bewildered her and made her feel that her position was precarious in the extreme. She, therefore, longed to be once more in her native land, and secured the assistance of the two Talaing monks, Dhammadhara and Dhammanana, in the prosecution of her object. Amidst much danger and under great difficulties, the party left Ava in a country boat and arrived safely at Pegu in 1429 A.D., where Byinnyayan had become king under the title of Byinnyayankaik. Twenty-six years later, in the absence of male heirs of Yazadarit, Shin Sawbu became Sovereign of Pegu by popular choice under the title of Byinnya T'aw.

         Dhammadhara and Dhammanana were well provided for, in token of the Queen's appreciation and gratitude for the services rendered by them during her flight to Pegu. Subsequently, the former, who was a native of Martaban, of obscure parentage, and who was then known as the Leikpyingyaung-pongyi, but who had unfrocked himself at her request, was appointed to be her Heir Apparent, while the latter was put in prison for harbouring evil designs against his Sovereign.

         In her choice of a successor, and in excluding her own blood relations from the succession, Shin Sawbu was guided by her knowledge of human nature, and actuated by a noble desire to secure to the Kingdom of Ramannadesa firm and wise administration under an able and competent ruler; and Dhammadhara was eminently qualified for the task.

         The only opposition against which the Heir Apparent had to contend was that of Byinna Ein, Governor of Bassein, a son- in-law of Shin Sawbu. He headed a rebellion, but was shortly after slain in battle.

         Shin Sawbu entrusted Dhammadhara with the affairs of the Government, while she retired to Dagon (Rangoon) to pass her remaining days in doing religious works and in peaceful

        * A son and two daughters. The son, Byinnya Taru, succeded his uncle and adoptive father, Byinnyayan-kaik, in 1416 A.D.). The elder daughter was married to Byinnya Ein, Governor of Bassein, and the younger to Dhammacheti.

meditation. The site of her residence is still known to this day as Shin Sawbumyo. She died in 1469 A.D., at the age of 76, and was succeeded by Dhammdhara, who had married her younger daughter. The Talaing clergy and nobility conferred the title of Dhammacheti on the new king because of his wide and varied learning and of his thorough knowledge of the Buddhist scriptures. He subsequently assumed the titles of Ramadhipati, Sinbyuyin (Seta-gaja-pati) and Siri-pavara-maha-dhamma-rajadhiraja. He was, however, best known among the people of Burma as Dhammacheti. Dhammacheti held friendly intercourse wth the rulers of Ceylon, Northern India, Siam, and Cambodia. He sent two religious missions: one to Bodh Gaya in 1472 A.D., to report on the sacred shrines commemorative of the life of its Founder; and the other to Ceylon, in 1475 AD., to establish, beyond doubt, the apostolical succession of the monks of Ramannadesa, by deputing twenty-two theras and as many younger monks to receive their upasampada ordination at the hands of the Mahavihara sect founded by Mahindamahathera in the 3rd century B. C. The result of the first mission was the construction at Pegu of religious edifices in imitation of those of Bodh Gaya, and that of the second was the consecration of the Kalyani sima by the monks, who had returned from Ceylon.

        Dhammacheti fully justified the choice of his mother-in-law and "though brought up from early youth in the seclusion of a Buddhist monastery until he was more than 40 years of age"* proved to be a wise, able, and beneficent ruler. He was a man of great energy and capacity, and throughout his long reign of thirty years, consolidated his power and extended the boundaries of his Kingdom eastward without any bloodshed. More over, he tried his best to secure the welfare and prosperity of his people and to recoup the strength and resources of the country, which had well-nigh been exhausted during the wars with Burma and the rebellions headed by Talaing princes. He was a good judge and legislator. A compilation of his decisions is extant, and the Dhammacheti dhammasattham was compiled under his direction. He died in 1492 A.D. at the age of 86. The funeral honours of a chakravartin or universal monarch paid to him after his death, and the building of a

        * Phayre's ,History of Burma page 85. As a matter of fact, Dhammmacheti was 56 years old when he became Regent, and 63 when he became King. During the interval of seven years, he ruled Ramannadesa in the name of Shin Sawbu, who had retired to Dagon (Rangoon.)

         pagoda over his bones, bear testimony to the great esteem, love and admiration with which he was regarded by his subjects.

         The dynasty, to which Dhammacheti may by said to belong, was that founded by Wagaru, a Talaing adventurer from Siam, who, during the dismemberment of the Burmese Empire, consequent on a Chinese invasion near the close of the 13th century A.D., seized the Government of Martaban, and defeated the Burmese forces sent against him. This dynastry gradually increased in importance till its highest pitch of power was reached under Yazadarit (1385 - 1423 A.D.). Previous to Wagaru's rebellion, the maritime provinces had been under Burmese rule since the conquest of Thaton by Anawratazaw in the 11th century A.D.


BRANGINOCO OR HANTHAWADI SINBYUYIN.

         IN Burma, traditional history is somewhat different from recorded history, because historiographers are anxious to hide the humble origin of their royal patrons. The following is the traditional history of Hanthawaddi Sinbyuyin, the Branginoco of the Portuguese writers, who flourished in the, 16th century A.D :—There was a toddy-climber at Ngathayauk, a village in the Pagan Township. He had a son born to him, and the child was named Maung Cha Det because a number of white ants swarmed round him during the early days of his birth. As Pagan was, as it is now, an arid locality, often subject to drought and scarcity, the family migrated south to Taung dwingyi, where both food and work were plentiful. One day, while the father was climbing a toddy tree in order to tap its juice, the mother laid the infant on the ground and went elsewhere. During her absence, a big serpent came and coiled itself round the child without doing any harm to it. When the mother returned to the spot, she saw the reptile gently gliding away. The father and mother put their heads together, and as they were unable to interpret the omen, they appealed to a learned Buddhist monk, who was well versed in astrological and other mystic lore. They handed the child's horoscope to the recluse and explained to him their own poor circumstances, where they came from originally, and the incidents connected with the white ants and the harmless snake. On learning the direction, in which the serpent had glided away, the monk said; " Go to Toungoo ,where a monarchy has been established under Mingyi Nyo. The child certainly possesses signs of


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