L E GE N D A RY H IS T ORY B URMA AND ARAKAN t in . C ap a C '. F S F orb e s, LATE DEPUTY COMM SS ONER B RITI H B R I I , S U MA. 'P U B L I D B Y R IT Y S H E A U T H O O F G OV E R N M E N T . ' B A N G OON RINTED AT THE GOVERNME NT PRE P SS . C O N T E N T S Preface Legendary History of B urma an d Arak an Legendary Tal aing History B uddhi sm an d it s introduction into B urma - — S D B 0 . 543 444 econd T agmm g ynasty. — m st B . 444 : A. D . 10 Th e Pro s Dyna y C . 7 — — The D D . 10 841 old Pagan yn asty A. 7 d — — 1 h Ki . 8 T e Pegu ng om A D . 403 7 — A . D 84 The Dynasty of n ew Pagan . 1 1284 — 2 — Th e Martaban Kingdom . A . D . 1 81 1370 Th e h n D n st an d Found tion o Av —A 2 4 S a y a y a f a . D . 1 8 1 555 — — T Pe . D . 1 0 1542 he Kingdom of gu A. 37 P R E F A C E THE history of the Burm an and Talaing countries has been rawfurd u already narrated by several writers. C and B rney were the f s of u first to brin g be ore European reader the annals the B rmese , but these writers only incidentally deal with their neighbours the r a a Talaings, an d the e are gre t discrepancies in the chronologic l in hi s al u tables furn ished by each of them . Next Dr . Mason , v able t i urm h as n compendium of every hing relat ng to B a , give two ur hi . r ur abstracts , one of Talaing , the other of B mese story Sir A th Pha e m m so m u h as y r , to who British Bur a owes ch , published , in two the journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal , valuable essays on i the History of the Burm a Race and on the H story of Pegu . There are besides slight historical sketches in other works such as ’ ’ those in Father San germ an o s B urmese Empire and Yul e s Embassy t Ava B t t r m r n to the Cour of . u there is no shor histo y e b aci g in on e connected series a general and comprehen sive view of the events happening contemporaneously within the area of what was known n u as before the English occupatio of Peg the Burman Empire . ’ t u hi s r Dr. Mason s dates are of en conf sed and facts inco rect ’ rt ur Pha re i in the earlier parts of the history . Sir A h y s nteresting s m Ar a urm essay are inco plete and , moreover , treat of ak nese , B ese , an d Talaing hi story separately in scattered numbers of a scientific r journal not gene ally accessible . f m f w Whi In ra ing the ollo ing slight sketch , le advantage h as s of all u been taken of the labour the above a thors , and the opinions of Sir r ur Pha re l n r due w A th y especia ly have been give thei eight , the actual facts have been taken from the existing Talain g and m s i an d th d Bur e e histor es, e ates obtained by checking one with th e other . There exist a number of local chronicles of the petty dynasties which have at various tim es established themselves in different ii PREFACE . u is That n u . one r parts of the co ntry Th s there a histo y , a Martaba Prom s . history , a history , a Pagan history , and several others The ll is m ur of f comm encement of a these generally a ixt e able and fact , r of not always easy to separate , tending to glo ify the founder the m in city or dynasty , but each helps to confir or check the others points where they mutu ally converge . The writer has collated by means of translations from the original Talaing m anu scripts several of r th e a has m these epochal histo ies of Tal ing nation , and co piled the Burm an portion of the history from the works above m entioned s m fr m of Razawin oke corrected in o e cases o a copy the gy , or m um of b n Co pendi of the chronicles the Kings , elongi g to a n Mandalay po egy ee . With regard to the wonderful fables with which the earlier are u m r u parts of these records filled , sho ld any dee on thei acco nt rr u we u n th the whole na ative untr stworthy , wo ld ask whether o e same grou nds we shoul d also blot out several pages of early u f r English history , the a thorities o which are the equally fable ni mongering early chro cles . a n u r m No n tio al traditions are witho t thei eaning , if we could m find it , and because we cannot do so at once to dis iss them as u utterly seless and false is both unwise and unscholarly . C . '. F . F . S . LEGENDARY HISTORY OF B URMA AND ARAKAN . ALL Talaing an d Burm ese chronology depend s on the era of n t all uddhi are th e nirvana of Gaudam a. O his point B st nations C e an d ' n n ot agreed , the Tibetan , the hin se , the apa ese having each a date differing from the other and also from that adopted by th e n s al a Si ghale e , the Burmans , T ings , Shans , and other nations of - Indo China. di Europe an scholars have been equally vided , but the date n ow gene rall y accepted by them is that used by the Buddhists of hic 543 . Burma , w h will place this event in the year before Christ d i so s This is the year 1 of the sacred Bud h st era , that the pre ent 2421 f A. D 18 8 rs o year , . 7 , answe to the year the Burman sacred e ra. L o is ate re searches in India seem , h wever , to prove that there n an error of 65 years in thi s date . Among the rui s at the ancient famous Buddhist te mple of Buddha - Gays. has been discovered an inscription in the words in the year 1819 of the eman cipation of 1 st of o Bhagavata , on Wednesday , the day the waning m on of ” c hi a e Kartik . A cording to the Burman reckoning t s d t answers D f of A. 12 o 6 . to . 7 But the day the week and the day the moon b l a t t eing both given , it is by calcu tion easy to ell whe her in any has be m d given year they so coincide . This calculation en a e by a. m l st of th learned Hindu astrono er , and it is found that the day e n n m f D 12 6 d A. o A. D wa i g oon Kartik in 7 fell on a Fri ay , but in . 1341 d the 7th d it fell on Wednes ay , October , which woul place the n of ni f begi ning of the Buddhist era , that is , the date the rvana o d G n e 4 8 . a ama , in the y ar 7 B C in u se the m We shall , however, the following pages co monly e f m received date in order to pr vent con usion or istake . The cou ntries which by Europeans are often confused and comprehended under the general name of Burma consist of the s u three great division of Arakan , Pegu , and B rma , which formerly c e - onstituted thre distinct empires , even when at times su b divided into several petty States . Arakan comprised what now forms the British division of Ara k an N . u , and as far as Cape egrais Peg , or the Talaing Kingdom , 2 LEGENDARY STORY or M AND N HI BUR A ARAKA . seem s in ancient times to have extended from a little below the i u n c ty of Prome to the so th coast as far as the Martaba Point . u n of s m Burma comprehended the co ntry orth Pegu , and ea tward fro Mun i u r th e Arakan , Cathay or p , and Assam to e bord rs of China n d m It s r r a Northern Sia . no thern boundaries in ea ly times would ffi be di cult to define . This description is not of course intended as of an accurate geographical definition each of these countries . Ar Razawin s s The Burmese and akan , or History of King , goe of th e back to the origin present world , even alluding to those b as u .