Mon Yazawin | |
Title Orig: | မွန်ရာဇဝင် |
Translator: | Shwe Naw |
Language: | Burmese |
Series: | Burmese chronicles |
Genre: | Chronicle, History |
Release Date: | 30 January 1785 (original manuscript) 1922 (machine published) |
Pages: | 111 |
Mon Yazawin (Burmese: မွန်ရာဇဝင်, in Burmese pronounced as /mʊ̀ɴ jàzəwɪ̀ɴ/; also spelled Mun Yazawin[1]), translated from Mon into Burmese by Shwe Naw, is a chronicle about the Hanthawaddy Kingdom as well as of earlier Mon polities. It is one of the two extant chronicles named "Mon Yazawin" (or "Mun Yazawin").
There are two known extant chronicles with the Burmese language name of မွန်ရာဇဝင် (Mon Yazawin). The subject of this article was first machine published in 1922.
According to J.A. Stewart, the source of the 1922 publication, whose title he transliterated as Mun Yazawin, was a 19th-century compilation (and translation into Burmese) of older Mon language manuscripts by one U Shwe Naw.[2] Stewart continued that the reference Mon manuscripts were actually those collected by Sir Arthur Purves Phayre from Siam; and that Shwe Naw's Burmese language manuscript was found at the Mingun Pitaka Taik (Mingun Library) at Sagaing.[3] According to Michael Aung-Thwin who followed up on Stewart's statement, the only Mon language history manuscript found in the Sir Arthur Phayre Collection in the British Library is a palm-leaf manuscript, cataloged as History of the Talaings.[4] Furthermore, the epilogue section of the 1922 publication states that the manuscript—presumably the Mon language manuscript Phayre collected—was completed on the 6th waning of Tabodwe 1146 ME (30 January 1785).[5]
The chronicle mainly covers the history of Martaban–Pegu monarchs from Wareru to Takayutpi. It also contains brief early histories of the Thuwunnabhumi and Hanthawaddy kingdoms.[3] The chronicle's chronology is highly unreliable. Not only are many of its dates wildly divergent from other chronicles' dates for the same events, but the dates in different sections of the chronicle do not agree with one another.[6]
The following table is a summary of the monarchs of the Wareru dynasty as reported in the chronicle.
Monarch | Age at accession | Reign duration | Age at death | Relationship with predecessor | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wareru | 24 (in 1064 ME) | 37 | 61 | founder | [7] | |
Hkun Law | 59 | 4 | 63 | younger brother | [8] | |
Saw O | 19 | 6 | 31 | son | ||
Saw Zein | 18 | 7 | 25 | younger brother | [9] | |
Zein Pun | not reported | 7 days | not reported | usurper | ||
Saw E | not reported | 49 days | not reported | son of Saw O | ||
Binnya E Law | 21 | 23 | 44 | son of Hkun Law | ||
Binnya U | 21 (in 1060 ME), and 24 | 35 | 59 | son of Saw Zein | [10] | |
Razadarit | not reported | 38 | not reported | son | [11] | |
Binnya Dhammaraza | 28 | 3 | 31 (in 1075 ME) | son | [12] | |
Binnya Ran I | 28 (in 1075 ME) | 32 | 60 | younger brother | ||
Thunekkhat Yaza | 21 | 5 | 26 | son of Binnya Dhammaraza [sic] | [13] | |
Binnya Kyan | 24 | 3 | 27 | younger brother | [14] | |
Leik Munhtaw | not reported | 7 months | not reported | son of Binnya Ran I | ||
Shin Sawbu | 49 | 25 | 74 (in 832 ME) | daughter of Razadarit | [15] | |
Dhammazedi | 47 | 27 | 74 | son-in-law | [16] | |
Binnya Ran II | 22 | 35 | 57 (in 888 ME) | son | [17] | |
Takayutpi | 15 | not reported | not reported | son | [18] |