Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-p566r Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-17T16:00:32.728Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The question of ‘China’ in Burmese chronicles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2009

Abstract

Historical studies of Burma–China relations have emphasised warfare, seen from the perspective of Chinese sources. One commonly studied event is the thirteenth-century Mongol invasion of Bagan. Burmese sources describe the flight of King Narathihapate (1257–87) from the Mongols, thus earning the Burmese epithet ‘Taruppye’. ‘Tarup’ now refers to the Chinese, but the identities of the people and region to which the term applies have not been constant. This paper discusses the question of the identity of ‘Tarup’ in the Burmese chronicles.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Exonym refers to a name given to an ethnic group by outsiders, so the members of that ethnic group may or may not accept the moniker as an accurate description of themselves.

2 See Theodore G.Th. Pigeaud, Java in the 14th century: A study in cultural history – The Nagara-Kertagama by Rakawi Prapanca of Majapahit, 1365 A.D. 3: Translations. Koninklijk Instituut Voor Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde Translation Series, 4, 3 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1960), p. 51.

3 See Coedès, George, The Indianized states of Southeast Asia (Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1968)Google Scholar; and Wheatley, Paul, Nagara and commandery: Origins of the Southeast Asian urban traditions (Chicago: University of Chicago, Department of Geography, 1983)Google Scholar.

4 Taylor, Keith W., The birth of Vietnam (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of Los Angeles, 1983), pp. 350–1Google Scholar.

5 For detailed discussions, see Aung-Thwin, Michael, Myth and history in the historiography of early Burma: Paradigms, primary sources, and prejudices (Ohio and Singapore: Ohio University Center for International Studies and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1998), pp. 3362Google Scholar; J. Paul Bennett, ‘The “fall of Pagan”: Continuity and change in 14th century Burma’, in Bennett, , Conference under the tamarind tree: Three essays in Burmese history (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971), pp. 353Google Scholar.

6 In the Chinese account of the pilgrim Puṅyodaya, in 656 the emperor asked the Indian pilgrim who was then in China to travel to Kunlun, which was Southeast Asia. The account is contained in the T. 486 Maṇḍāsta sūtra; see Li-kouang, Lin, ‘Puṇyodaya (Na-t'i), un propagateur du tantrisme en Chine et au Cambodge à l’époque de Hiuan-tsang’, Journal Asiatique, 227 (1935): 83100Google Scholar; Woodward, Hiram, ‘A review article: Esoteric Buddhism in Southeast Asia in the light of recent scholarship’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (henceforth JSEAS), 35, 2 (2004): 336CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Paul Wheatley also pointed out that just like ‘Suvarṇadvīpa’, ‘Kunlun’ was used by the Chinese as a regional toponym to refer to ‘a succession of peoples ranging from the Malays around the coasts of the Peninsula to Chams along the shores of Indo-China’; Wheatley, Paul, The golden Khersonese: Studies in the historical geography of the Malay peninsula before A.D. 1500 (Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press, 1961), pp. 283 and 285Google Scholar. For ‘Po-sse’ and ‘k'un-lun-po’, refer to Miller, J. Innes, The spice trade of the Roman empire: 29 B.C. to A.D. 641 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969), p. 52Google Scholar; and Wolters, O.W., Early Indonesian commerce: A study of the origins of Srivijaya (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1967)Google Scholar, ch. 6–10.

7 Jones, W.R., ‘The image of the barbarian in medieval Europe’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 13, 4 (1971): 398400CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The Tartar threat to Europe during the later medieval period was exemplified in the popular legend which described Alexander the Great's deliberate exclusion of the peoples of Gog and Magog from his civilised world. The Gog and Magog were identified with the steppe nomads who included the Scythians, Huns, Avars, Tartars and Turks. The Franciscan monk John of Plano de Carpine used the term ‘Tartar’ to describe Mongol society in his descriptions of his travels to China which was then under Mongol rule. The text he purportedly wrote was Yystoria Mongalorum or Mongol Mission which was the source for two later documents: Hystoria Tartarorum (mid-13th century) or Tartar relation and the Vinland map (mid-15th century). Refer to Szczesniak, B.B., ‘Notes and remarks on the newly discovered Tartar relation and the Vinland map’, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 86, 4 (1966): 373–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Tartary was used to signify the ‘territories occupied mostly by the Mongols or Turkic nomads between the lower Volga and Western borders of China’ (p. 373). Fourteenth-century Javanese poet Mpu Prapanca also used ‘Tartar’ to refer to the Mongol invaders in his work Desawarnana.

8 Ethnic groups and boundaries: The social organization of culture difference, ed. Fredrik Barth (Oslo: Universitets-forlaget, 1969); Eriksen, Thomas H., Ethnicity and nationalism: Anthropological perspectives (Boulder, CO: Pluto Press, 1993)Google Scholar.

9 Leach, Edmund R., Political systems of highland Burma: A study of Kachin social structure (London: Athlone Press, 1970)Google Scholar.

10 The negotiability of boundary between Burmese and Shan on one hand and the non-negotiability of Burmese and Tarup on the other were likely determined by the nature of relationships between these groups. The Shan, unlike the Tarup, fell within the Burmese kingdoms' spheres of authority in the sense that the Shans were traditionally seen as tributaries of the Burmese states. ‘Tarup pyi’, on the other hand, was an independent political entity comparable in size or in fact larger than the Burmese kingdoms.

11 Thilawuntha, Shin Maha, Rājavaṅˋkyò (Yangon: Hanthawati, 1965)Google Scholar. I have utilised two different transliterations systems for the Burmese-language works. In the main text the titles are transliterated phonetically as they are pronounced in Burmese, whereas in the footnotes the Library of Congress Romanization system is used for the titles so as to allow readers to locate these sources more efficiently.

12 Mahasitthu, Twinthin Taikwun, Tvaṅˋ” Saṅˋ” e* Mranˋmā Rājavaṅˋsacˋ (Ranˋkuinˋ: Maṅgalā puṃnhipˋtuikˋ, 1968)Google Scholar. The first volume of Twinthin's chronicle published in 1968 bears the title Myanma Yazawinthit, but vols. 2 and 3 which were published later in 1998 and 1997 respectively both bear the title Mahayazawinthit. Palm-leaf manuscript copies of the same chronicle normally bear the title Mahayazawinthit or Yazawinthit.

13 Although there is some controversy over the date of the chronicle, most scholars such as U Tin Ohn, U Thaw Kaung and Victor Lieberman have concurred on ‘1798’ as the date of the completion of Twinthin's chronicle; see Ohn, Tin, ‘Modern historical writing in Burmese, 1724–1942’, in Historians of South East Asia, ed. Hall, D.G.E (London: Oxford University Press, 1961), p. 88Google Scholar; Thaw Kaung, ‘Two compilers of Myanmar history and their chronicles’, paper presented at the Universities Historical Research Centre Golden Jubilee Conference, Yangon, Jan. 2005, p. 9; and Victor Lieberman, Strange parallels: Southeast Asia in global context, c. 800–1830: Volume 1: Integration on the mainland (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 198.

14 Luce, G.H. and Tin, Pe Maung, The Glass Palace Chronicle of the kings of Burma (Rangoon: Rangoon University Press, 1960), p. xviiGoogle Scholar; see also Thaw Kaung, ‘Two compilers of Myanmar history and their chronicles’, and Yi, Dr Yi, ‘A bibliographical essay on the Burmese sources for the history of the Konbaung period, 1752–1885’, Bulletin of the Burma Historical Commission, 3 (1963): 143–70Google Scholar.

15 Mhanˋnanˋ” Mahārājavaṅˋto ˋkrī” (Hmannan Maha Yazawindawgyi) (Ranˋkuinˋ: Myui” Khyacˋ Sitˋdhātˋ Thakˋsanˋre”, 1992), 3 vols.

16 Legge, J.D., ‘The writing of Southeast Asian history’, in The Cambridge history of Southeast Asia, vol. 1, ed. Tarling, Nicholas (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. 2Google Scholar.

17 Cady, John F., A history of modern Burma (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1958), p. viGoogle Scholar.

18 See Reynaldo Ileto, ‘On the historiography of Southeast Asia and the Philippines: The “Golden Age” of Southeast Asian Studies — experiences and reflections’, paper presented at Workshop for the Academic Frontier Project: ‘Social change in Asia and the Pacific’, Meiji Gakuin University, 1–2 Mar. 2003, p. 12.

19 Aung, Htin, Burmese history before 1287: A defense of the chronicles (Oxford: Asoka Society, 1970)Google Scholar; Aung, Htin, A history of Burma (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967)Google Scholar; Tet Htoot, ‘The nature of Burmese chronicles’, in Hall ed., Historians of South East Asia, pp. 50–62.

20 Lieberman, Victor, ‘How reliable is U Kala's chronicle? Some new comparisons’, JSEAS, 17, 2 (1986): 253Google Scholar.

21 See Aung-Thwin, Michael, Mranma Pran: When context encounters notion’, JSEAS, 39, 2 (2008): 193217Google Scholar.

22 Burmese is used here to refer to the rulers of various kingdoms which existed at different periods in what is known today as Myanmar/Burma.

23 In the words of Marius the Epicure, polis can also refer to a commonwealth. ‘Ho kosmos hùsanei polis estin — the world is as it were a commonwealth, a city: and there are observances, customs, usages, actually current in it, things our friends and companions will expect of us, as the condition of our living there with them at all, as really their peers or fellow-citizens.’ Walter Pater, Marius the epicure, vol. 2, Etext of the Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4058 (last accessed on 2 Mar. 2009), p. 12.

24 Aung-Thwin, Myth and history, p. 162.

25 Luce, G.H., ‘Note on the peoples of Burma in the 12th–13th century A.D.’, Journal of the Burma Research Society [henceforth JBRS], 42, 1 (June 1959): 69Google Scholar.

26 Luce, G.H., Old Burma-early Pagan (Locust Valley, NY: J. J. Augustin Publisher, 1969), p. 28Google Scholar; and Luce, G.H., ‘The early Syam in Burma's history: A supplement’, Journal of the Siam Society [henceforth JSS], 47, 1 (June 1959): 136Google Scholar, 184.

27 For discussion of Tujue and China's relations with the Turks, see Yihong, Pan, Son of Heaven and Heavenly Qaghan: Sui-Tang China and its neighbors (Bellingham, WA: Center for East Asian Studies, Western Washington University, 1997)Google Scholar, and Xiong, Victor Cunrui's review of Pan's book in China Review International, 6, 2 (1999): 511–14CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

28 Kara, György, ‘Aramaic scripts for Altaic languages’, in The world's writing systems, ed. Daniels, Peter and Bright, William (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), pp. 536–58Google Scholar.

29 Luce, ‘Note on the peoples of Burma’, p. 69.

30 Ibid., pp. 69–70.

31 Macartney, C.A., ‘On the Greek sources for the history of the Turks in the sixth century’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 11, 2 (1944): 268CrossRefGoogle Scholar, quoting Specht, Édouard, ‘Études sur l'Asie centrale d'après les historiens chinois’, Journal Asiatique, Série 8, 2 (1883): 327–8Google Scholar.

32 According to Macartney's discussion of Németh's description of Mongol tribal names, the Avars, Huns (including the Kushan) and Toue-Kioue belong to the same linguistic branch of the Turkish family. The Kushan can thus be considered Turkic-speaking people or in many ways, Turks.

33 Macartney, ‘On the Greek sources for the history of the Turks in the sixth century’, p. 272.

34 Anthropologically ethnonyms have been used to refer exclusively to names which ethnic groups have given themselves as opposed to exonyms which refer to names given by outsiders.

35 Dunnell, Ruth W., The great state of White and High: Buddhism and state formation in eleventh-century Xia (Honolulu: University of Hawaìi Press, 1996), p. xiiiGoogle Scholar.

36 Sen, Tansen, Buddhism, diplomacy, and trade: The realignment of Sino-Indian relations, 600–1400 (Honolulu: Association for Asian Studies and University of Hawaiˋi Press, 2003), pp. 171–4Google Scholar.

37 Ibid., p. 191.

38 Ibid., p. 153.

39 For a detailed discussion on these issues, see Sein, Chen Yi, ‘The Chinese inscription at Pagan’, Bulletin of the Burma Historical Commission, 1, 2 (1960)Google Scholar; Sein, Chen Yi, ‘Rhan Disapamkha Nrim Khyam Re Mac Rhan Aphwai’ [Account of Shin Disapramok's peace mission], Nuiṅṅaṁ Samuiṅ Sutesana [Researches in Burmese History], 1 (1977): 4157Google Scholar; Luce, G.H.‘The early Syam in Burma's history’, JSS, 46, 2 (1958)Google Scholar; Luce, ‘The early Syam in Burma's history: A supplement’, pp. 59–101; Tun, Than, ‘History of Buddhism in Burma: A.D. 1000–1300’, JBRS, 61, 1-2 (1978): 1266Google Scholar; and Aung-Thwin, Myth and history, chs. 2 and 3.

40 U Ngyein Maung (U Nrimˋ” Moṅˋ), Rhe”hoṅˋ” Mranˋmā Kyokˋsāmyā”. Tatiyatvai. Sakkarājˋ622 mha 699 (Ranˋkuinˋmrui': Rhe”hoṅˋ Sutesana Usī”ṭhāna, 1983), p. 141. An account of these events is discussed in Aung-Thwin, Myth and history, pp. 42–3; Aung-Thwin is the first scholar to mention and demonstrate that Hlaykya was the place to which Narathihapate fled.

41 The account can be found in Lian, Song, Yuanshi [History of the Yuan Dynasty] Shanghai: Zhonghua Book Image and Print, 1935), pp. 253–4Google Scholar. See also Zhongguo gujizhong youguan Miandian ziliao huibian [Compilation of research materials on Myanmar in ancient Chinese sources], ed. Yu Dingbang and Huang Zhongyan (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2002), p. 40.

42 Song Lian, Yuan shi, vol. 15, p. 311; Yu and Huang ed., Zhongguo gujizhong, p. 43.

43 U. Hla Tin, Jãtãtoˋpum. Rãjawaṅˋ (Zatadawpon Yazawin) (Ranˋkunˋ: Praññˋtoṅˋcu Yañˋkye“mhu vanˋkrī” ṭãna, Rhe“hoṅˋ” Sutesana Ññvhanˋkrã“ re”vanˋruṃ, Rhe“hoṅ” cãpe nhaṅ'ˋ yañˋkye” mhu ṭãna, 1960), p. 1.

44 Aung-Thwin, Michael, The mists of Rāmañña: The legend that was lower Burma (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005), p. 121Google Scholar.

45 Mhanˋnanˋ” Mahārājavaṅˋtoˋkrī”, vol. 1, p. 156; Pe and Luce, Glass Palace Chronicle, p. 3.

46 Walker, Benjamin, Hindu world: An encyclopedic survey of Hinduism, vol. 1 (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1983), pp. 581–2Google Scholar. Vincent Smith wrote that ‘a tribe of Turkī nomads, known to Chinese authors as the Hiung-nū [Xiongnu], succeeded in inflicting upon a neighbouring and rival horde of the same stock a decisive defeat before the middle of the second century B.C.’; Smith, Vincent A., The early history of India, 3rd edn (New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 1999), p. 248Google Scholar (emphasis added).

47 According to Department of the Myanmar Language Commission, Myanmar-English dictionary (Yangon: Department of the Myanmar Language Commission, Ministry of Education, 1993), p. 125Google Scholar.

48 Kala, U, Mahayazawingyi, vol. 1 (Yangon: Burma Research Society, 1960), 142Google Scholar; Twinthin, Tvaṅˋ” Saṅˋ” e* Mranˋmā Rājavaṅˋsacˋ, p. 55; Mhanˋnanˋ” Mahārājavaṅˋtoˋkrī”, vol. 1, p. 203; see also Pe and Luce, Glass Palace Chronicle, p. 41.

49 Pugaṃ Rājavaṅˋ, palm-leaf manuscript Accession no. 585 (Yangon: Universities Historical Research Centre, 1895), leaves to leaves to 1895 refers not to the original year of composition, but rather to the date on which this particular manuscript was copied.

50 Pe and Luce, Glass Palace Chronicle, p. xv.

51 U Bhe, Rāzavaṁsarālinī maññˋso Pugaṁ Rāzavaṅˋsacˋ, p. 106. This text contains no publication date.

52 Ibid., p. 115.

53 U Kala, Mahayazawingyi, vol. 1, pp. 184–5. This passage can be found in the fourth volume of the chronicle, published in the second book of the 1960 edition which contains three books altogether.

54 Pugaṃ Rājavaṅˋ, leaves to .

55 Twinthin, Tvaṅˋ” Saṅˋ” e* Mranˋmā Rājavaṅˋsacˋ, pp. 86–7.

56 Mhanˋnanˋ” Mahārājavaṅˋtoˋkrī”, vol. 1, p. 250.

57 Sawbhwa is the Burmese transliteration of the Shan title, saopha (), which is often defined as ‘king’ or ‘prince’ in Shan language, and refers to the Shan chieftains of olden days. Saw in Shan language refers to ‘lord or master’ (Cushing's Shan-English dictionary: A phonetic version, ed. Thomas J. Hudak (Tempe: Arizona State University, Program for Southeast Asian Studies, Monograph Series Press, 2000), p. 205.

58 Luce, Old Burma-early Pagan, p. 28.

59 Ibid.

60 Aung, Kyaw Zaw, Pugaṃ Mratˋsvayˋtò Le”chū Samuiṅˋ (Ranˋkuinˋmrui': Yuṃ Kraññˋ Khyakˋ Sāpe, 2004), pp. 1721Google Scholar.

61 Ibid., pp. 19–20.

62 Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist records of the western world, by Hiuen Tsiang, trans. Samuel Beal, 2 vols. (London. Reprint: Delhi. Oriental Books Reprint Corporation, 1969).

63 Hussain, J., An illustrated history of Pakistan (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1983)Google Scholar.

64 U Bhe, Rāzavaṁsarālinī maññˋso Pugaṁ Rāzavaṅˋsacˋ, p. 116.

65 Lieberman, Strange parallels: Southeast Asia in global context, c. 800–1830, p. 90; Luce, ‘The early Syam in Burma's history: A supplement’; Luce, Old Burma-early Pagan; Wyatt, David. K., Thailand: A short history (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984), pp. 1314Google Scholar.

66 Wyatt, Thailand: A short history, pp. 13–14.

67 Ibid., p. 42.

68 U Kala, Mahayazawingyi, vol. 1, p. 186.

69 It is important to make a distinction between government with complete authority and government with some limitations such as in the case of Nanzhao, which being a vassal of China at this time, was not able to conduct foreign relations freely. There is a possibility that by using the title ‘Utibhwa’ rather than ‘Mingyi’ (as in the case of the Dissapramok inscription) and by stating that he was ‘governing’ Tarup, the Burmese may have been trying to make a distinction between a sovereign and a vassal ruler.

70 U Kala, Mahayazawingyi, vol. 1, pp. 188–9.

71 Sen, Buddhism, diplomacy, and trade, p. 191.

72 Ruppert, Brian, Jewel in the ashes: Buddha relics and power in early medieval Japan (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2000), p. 36CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

73 Angela Howard, ‘The Dhāraṇī pillar of Kunming, Yunnan. A legacy of esoteric Buddhism and burial rites of the Bai people in the kingdom of Dali (937–1253)’, Artibus Asiae, 57, 1/2 (1997): 43.

74 Ibid., pp. 43–4.

75 Zhou Qufei, Ling wai dai da, 10 vols. (Taipei: Xinwenfeng Publishing Co., 1984), p. 142.

76 Backus, Charles, The Nan-chao kingdom and T'ang China's southwestern frontier (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), pp. 4652Google Scholar.

77 Ibid., p. 51.

78 Ibid., p. 164.

79 Zhao Rugua, ‘Zhufanzhi’, Zhongguo shixue xongshu xubian [Chinese historical works], vol. 35 (Taipei: Student Book Bureau, 1979), p. 176.

80 Zhou, Ling wai dai da, p. 142; Zhao, ‘Zhufanzhi’, p. 176; Tuo, Tuo, Song shi [History of the Song] (Taipei: Chinese Book Bureau, 1977), pp. 376 and 14087Google Scholar.

81 Tuo, Song shi, p. 14087.

82 Songji, Xu, Song huiyao jigao (Beijing: Chinese Book Bureau, 1957), p. 7682Google Scholar.

83 Wang Yinglin, Yuhai (Zhejiang Province: Zhejiang Publisher, 1883), p. 33.

84 Zhang Zhifu, Ke shu (Taipei: Xinwenfeng Publishing Company, 1984), p. 681.

85 Twinthin, Tvaṅˋ” Saṅˋ” e* Mranˋmā Rājavaṅˋsacˋ, p. 155.

86 Rossabi, Morris, ‘The Muslims in the early Yüan dynasty’, in China under Mongol rule, ed. Langlois, John D. Jr. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981), p. 274Google Scholar.

87 Ibid., p. 277; Geoff Wade, ‘An annotated translation of the Yuan shi account of Mian (Burma)’, conference paper presented at the Burma Studies Conference 2006, ‘Communities of Interpretation’, 13–15 July 2006, Singapore, p. 4.

88 Rossabi asserts that most of the prominent Muslims of the early Yuan period were from Central Asia or the Middle East (Rossabi, ‘Muslims in the early Yüan dynasty’, p. 260). There were also Chinese Muslims from the northern Chinese region and of course other Muslim groups who were already in Yunnan. But following Kubilai Khan's successful conquest of the Yunnan region, the Mongol court encouraged further migration of Muslim groups into the Yunnan area, some of which were in fact forced migrations.

89 Song Lian, Yuan shi, vol. 210, pp. 1423–4. For English translation of the folio, see appendix of Wade, ‘Annotated translation of the Yuan shi account of Mian (Burma)’.

90 The term in Chinese is ‘Dali Shanchan Denglu Xuanwei Sidu Yuanshua'i 大理鄯闡等路宣慰司都元帥府。 Wade, ‘Annotated translation’, states that Shanchan is the name of polity which was derived from the earlier Dali kingdom.

91 See appendix of Wade, ‘An annotated translation of the Yuan shi account of Mian (Burma)’.

92 See Wade, Geoff, ‘Ming China and Southeast Asia in the 15th century: A reappraisal’, ARI Working Paper 28 (Singapore: ARI, 2004)Google Scholar.

93 The date provided in the Hmannan differs from U Kala's chronicle by a year: Sakkaraj 774 (1412 CE). The same date appears in Twinthin's Mahayazawinthit, corroborating the date given in the Hmannan.

94 U Kala, Mahayazawingyi, vol. 2, p. 10; Mhanˋnanˋ” Mahārājavaṅˋtoˋkrī”, vol. 2, pp. 8–9; a variant description of the same event can be found in Twinthin, Tvaṅˋ” Saṅˋ” e* Mranˋmā Rājavaṅˋsacˋ, pp. 288–9.

95 Wade, ‘Ming China and Southeast Asia in the 15th century: A reappraisal’, p. 14.

96 Ibid., pp. 23–4.

97 There is a discrepancy between the dates in U Kala's chronicle and the Hmannan: the Hmannan gives Sakkaraj 775 (1413 CE) as the date of the Shans’ attack on Mye Tu. Twinthin's account again bears the same date as the Hmannan and very likely was the source for the Hmannan compilers.

98 U Kala, Mahayazawingyi, vol. 2, pp. 15–18; Mhanˋnanˋ” Mahārājavaṅˋtoˋkrī”, vol. 2, pp. 21–8, a variant version is found in Twinthin, Tvaṅˋ” Saṅˋ” e* Mranˋmā Rājavaṅˋsacˋ, pp. 301–8.

99 Interestingly the date first cited in Twinthin's chronicle is the same one given in U Kala's Mahayazawingyi. The date given in the Hmannan is Sakkaraj 807 (1445 CE).

100 U Kala, Mahayazawingyi, vol. 2, pp. 80–s2; Mhanˋnanˋ” Mahārājavaṅˋtoˋkrī”, vol. 2, pp. 86–8; see a variant account in Twinthin, Tvaṅˋ” Saṅˋ” e* Mranˋmā Rājavaṅˋsacˋ, pp. 360–2.

101 Wade, ‘Ming China and Southeast Asia in the 15th century: A reappraisal’, p. 16.

102 Backus, Nan-chao kingdom and T'ang China's southwestern frontier, pp. 51–2.

103 Song Lian, Yuan shi, vol. 210, p. 1423; see also appendix of Wade, ‘An annotated translation of the Yuan shi account of Mian (Burma)’.

104 Par excellence not in terms of territorial expanse, but rather with relation to the importance of the Buddha's religion epitomised in the monuments and by association with the genealogy of kingship. Presumably later Burmese kingdoms such as the second Hanthawati of Bayinnaung and Konbaung Burma amassed greater areas for their empires.

105 Other than in areas such as religion and politics, research in Burma, particularly on subjects pertaining to the early periods of Burmese history, remains scant compared to most other Southeast Asian countries, except perhaps Laos.