meritorious works of his predecessors, and therefore having associated with himself his queen Kethanee and his chief noble and ministers, erected the Pagoda called Kyaik-depazan, to the service of which they dedicated Gua Tsaukha and seven families. The king also dedicated forty-seven families to the service of the Shwe Hmawdaw.

Ariendaraza reigned seven years, and died in 557. His son Hientharaza or Mahiengtharaza succeeded him. During his reign a particular storm occurred, which blew off the Htee of Shwe Hmawdaw, as well as the upper portion of the Pagoda itself. All were seized with fear. The king had the damages repaired and a new jewelled Htee constructed. The Pagoda was raised three cubits more, making its height 75 cubits. Four families of Htwonkalaing were dedicated to the Pagoda, and the village of Htwonkalaing given to them for their subsistence.

Hientharaza reigned 17 years, and died in 573. On his death there was an interregnum of 17 days, during which time the chief Hpoongyee managed the temporal affairs of the kingdom, until Giendraza ascended the throne. The chronicle does not state what relation this king bore to his predecessors. Three months after his accession to the throne, he repaired the west face surrounding wall of the Shwe Hmawdaw. This king was wise and powerful, well versed in the ten laws of kings, was possessed of the three kinds of strength, knew the four stratagems, and was full of the four laws of charity. He erected the Kyaikpadaing Pagoda, an elegant structure on the top of an eminence about 8 miles south of Pegu. Concerning the erection of this Pagoda the chronicle relates that when the king was making a progress through the country, he learnt from ancient records that three holy hairs had been deposited by the Hermit Gandawadee in the Thoowonna Hill, and cairn of stones was placed over them. Finding a heap of stones on the south-west extremity of this Hill, he concluded that this must be the very spot where the three hairs had been deposited, and accordingly he erected over it a Tsedee 87 cubits high, gilded the structure, and crowned it with a golden Htee. He appointed nine families of Htwonmai to be its servitors, and dedicated to it the land immediately around, within the following limits: on the east 400 "Tas," on the north 200 "Tas," on the west 300

Tas," on the south 400 "Tas." After this the king raised the Shwe Hmawdaw 5 cubits more, making it 80 cubits high, and dedicated to it three more famalies of Moonetkarie. The Pagodas, monasteries and other religious works erected by this monarch are innumerable, and all men are exhorted to follow his example.

In this style the chronicler goes on, giving a minute history of the additions to the repairs and embellishments of the Shwe Hmawdaw under each succeeding monarch, down to Badoon Meng, the Burman king who built the city of Amarapoora, 1143 B. E.=1781 A. D. He gives, likewise, a complete list of the other meritorious works, building of Pagodas, monasteries, &c. by which the reigns of these kings were distinguished.

As the recital of these works, however veracious it may be, is somewhat tedious and uninteresting, except to a pious Boodhist, it will be omitted in the present narrative. The names of the kings with the dates of their accession will be given in a tabular form, and the more remarkable events only, which are mentioned in the Thamaing, will be noticed in the text.

The ninth monarch, Kawarieka, is said to have been a more powerful monarch than his predecessors, and to have received on this account tribute, which may be interpreted presents, from the kings of Siam, Thatoon, Ceylon, China and Pagaw. The same is related of his son Pecutsalaraza. This king, Pecutsalaraza, established the Karanee monastery, about two miles west of Pegu, where there is still a "Thein" or Buddhist consistory built of masonry, some wooden monasteries, and a small stone-henge, an interesting relic of the original establishment. This consists of a number of granite pillars about eight feet high, planted on the ground, and covered with inscriptions in the square Pali character. Many of them, thick and massive as they are, have been broken and thrown down, and the inscription partially effaced. The copy of what remains, fills a small closely written volume, the contents of which I have not yet been able to go through. The 12th king, Anooramaraza, signalized his reign by procuring a holy tooth-relic from Theeree-dhamma-thawka, the prince of Thatoon. This he enshrined in the Shwe Hmawdaw.

The 17th king, Tietha, is notorious in Talaing history as having for a time abjured the Buddhist faith, and made great havoc among

its temples. The pious chronicler, however, says nothing about this, but enumerates the good works which he performed after his reconversion.

With this king, the chronicle states, "the race of Hanthawadie kings became extinct, and the king of Pagan appointed Akhamamwon to rule over Pegu. Three months after his arrival at Pegu, this Viceroy attempted to shake off the yoke of the Pagan king, and a general named Narapadie was sent to subdue him. In this he succeeded, and Akhamamwon was killed. Lekhaya was then appointed Governor of Pegu, but was recalled three months after his arrival. Talabya was appointed to succeed him. A month after his arrival in Pegu this Governor also revolted, and sent to ask assistance from Warooree, the powerful king of Martaban. Warooree came to assist him with an army of 40,000 men. The Pagan king sent down a General named Theehapade with an army of 50,000 men, 1,000 war boats, 1,000 elephants and 5,000 horses. A great battle was fought at Ma-00 in which the Pagan army was worsted, and fled back to Pagan. Talabya professed the utmost gratitude to his ally, but was secretly jealous of, and laid a plan to destroy, him. He invited Warooree to tarry for a few days at Pegu. Warooree's army dispersed to seek their subsistence in the neighbourhood, and Talabya was proceeding to carry out his nefarious design, when Warooree became acquainted with the danger of his position. Having prayed that the ten modes of punishment might fall on the head of the violator of the ten laws of friendship, Warooree mounted his elephant, and with 20 followers prepared to meet Talabya. The two monarchs attacked each other on their elephants. Warooree ran his spear throngh Talabya, who fell dead from his seat. Thus Hanthawadie became a conquered province of Martaban, and paid tribute to Warooree.*

In the A. S. Journal No. 76, April, 1838, I find a copy of an inscription on a bell found at Arakan (the translation by the way which is given in the Journal is very incorrect) which inscription appears to relate to the story of Warooree and Talabya, though their names are not mentioned. In this the date of Warooree's victory over the Pagan king is given as 1913 of the religious era, 1370 A. D., i. e. 16 years later than the date given in the Shwe Hmawdaw Thamaing. The translator in the Journal has cut off the first figure in the date, adding we suppose the 1 to be an accidental stroke," and has taken it to mean 913 of the present era A. D. 1645, which is a mistake. The inscription states that this bell was cast in 984 of the present era A. D. 1622, long after Warooree's time. The bell was probably cast in Arakan, and not brought thi ther from Pegu.

Warooree was succeeded by Pagnya-Oo, who transferred the seat of government from Martaban to Pegu. The chronicler has here again been guilty of a chronological mistake. He states that Pagnya-Oo reigned 16 years in Martaban and 19 in Pegu, altogether 35 years, and yet he makes the date of his accession 731 and of his death 743; thus allowing a period of 12 years only for his reign. This king appears to have done more to extend his dominions than any of his predecessors on the throne of Hanthawadie-vide the list of cities founded, already given.

Pagnya-Oo was succeeded by his son Razadhierit who was one of the most powerful monarchs who ever reigned in Pegu; Arakan and China are said to have paid him tribute, and the chronicle gives an interesting account of his relations with Ceylon.

Pandooya, the king of that island, sent him his daughter Thamoottadewee, with a fleet of seven ships and a holy tooth-relic. This was enshrined in the Shwe Imawdaw.

King Razadhierit reigned 40 years.

In the reign of Byeenya-rau-khaik, who flourished A. D. 1427 about, the Shwe Dagoon Pagoda of Rangoon is mentioned for the first time in the historical period by the chronicler of the Shwe Hmawdaw. It is said that having been damaged by a storm, the Pagoda was

*This name cannot be identified with any of the names of the kings of Ceylon as given in Turnour's Mahawanso. The only name at all like it is that of the 139th king, Pandita Prakrama, who flourished about 1319 A. D. In Turnour's Epitome, the following instances of communication between Burmah and Ceylon are mentioned. A. D. 1071, Anurudha, king of Arakan, sent learned priests to Ceylon. A. D. 1592, Wemala Dharm, king of Ceylon, brought learned priests from Arakan. In 1153 A. D. the Ceylon king is said to have sent an expedition to "Arramana" to chastise the king of that country for having committed acts of violence on Singhalese subjects, and having intercepted ships conveying some princesses from Ceylon to the continent. In 1186 also a Pali letter was written to the king of Arramana soliciting him to send learned priests to Ceylon. Is not this Arramana the same as Ramagnya, the Pali name of a portion of Pegu? In Tennent's Ceylon it is stated that when the Holy Tooth Relic of Ceylon was seized by the Portuguese, in 1560, "the sovereign of Pegu, who had previously "dispatched annual embassies to offer homage at its shrine, sent in anxious "haste to redeem it by exchange of treasures and political services," an offer which, through the influence of the priests, was declined. Again in 1566, the king of Pegu having been told by the astronomers that he was to wed a Singhalese princess, sent to demand her. The king unfortunately happened to have no daughter, but the daughter of one of his ministers was palmed off upon the Pegu monarch as a princess, and at the same time a counterfeit tooth was sent to Pegu as the genuine tooth-relic, which had in fact been destroyed by the Portuguese.

repaired by king Byeenya-rau-khaik. This king reigned 30 years.* His son and successor Byeenya-kharo is said to have been a very just monarch, and several instances are given of the inflexibly strict manner in which he administered justice. In A. D. 1388 a female sovereign, queen Beengnya-daw or Byeengnya-daw Shengtsawboo reigned in Pegu. She was 58 years old when she came to the throne. After residing seven years in Hanthawadie, she left her son in charge of that town, and removed her court to Dagoon (Rangoon). She built a place to the south-west of the Shwe Tshaudaw (Shwe Dagoon), and dedicated lands within the following limits to the service of the Pagoda. On the east Kyaik-kanet, on the south Kyaik-kanoot, on the west Kyaik-myoungmya, and on the north Kyaik-mo-rap.†

The queen was succeeded by her son-in-law Dhamma-tsedee who built another capital to the west of the original town of Hanthawadie. This king received a present of 100,000 paving-stones from Ceylon. With half of these he paved the court of the Shwe Dagoon, and used the other half for a similar purpose at the Shwe Hmawdaw.

The twelfth king of the Martaban dynasty was conquered by the great Toungnoo king Tabeng-shwe-htee, of whom the chronicler records. nothing, except that he kept the Shwe Hmawdaw in good order, and performed other meritorious works.

He was succeeded by Thamaing-daw-rwot-kalie whose lineage is not specified, but he was probably a descendant of the Martaban race of kings. His reign is memorable, from his having been the last monarch who added to the height of the Shwe Hmawdaw. Subsequent monarchs repaired it and gave new Htees, but none of them added to the building itself. Thamangdaw raised it six cubits, making its height altogether 205 cubits=324 feet about. At this height it has remained ever since, being a few feet higher than the Shwe Dagoon of Rangoon.

Thamangdaw was dethroned by another celebrated Toungnoo monarch, known as Tsheng-hbyoo-mya-sheng (Lord of many white elephants). This king removed his capital to Pegu, and built the

* In the A. S. Journal No. 5 of 1859, Col. A. P. Phayre, in his account of the Shwe Dagoon Pagoda, states: "It was not until the reign af Ban-gya-rau, in 808, that anything was done to restore the Shwe Dagoon.' Ban-gya" should have been written Bangya or Bangnya, pronounced "Beenga." Kyaik is the Burmanized form of a Talaing word Pagoda.

kyat," meaning a