Anawrahta Minsaw (, ; 11 May 1014 – 11 April 1077) was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone of Upper Burma into the first Burmese Empire that formed the basis of modern-day Burma (Myanmar).Harvey 1925: 34Htin Aung 1967: 38 Historically verifiable Burmese history begins with his accession to the Pagan throne in 1044.Coedès 1968: 133, 148–149, 155
Anawrahta unified the entire Irrawaddy valley for the first time in history, and placed peripheral regions such as the Shan States and Arakan (Rakhine) under Pagan's suzerainty. He successfully stopped the advance of the Khmer Empire into the Tenasserim coastline and into the Upper Menam valley, making Pagan one of the two great kingdoms in mainland Southeast Asia.
A strict disciplinarian, Anawrahta implemented a series of key social, religious and economic reforms that would have a lasting impact in Burmese history. His social and religious reforms later developed into the modern-day Burmese culture. By building a series of weirs, he turned parched, arid regions around Pagan into the main rice granaries of Upper Burma, giving Upper Burma an enduring economic base from which to dominate the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery in the following centuries. He bequeathed a strong administrative system that all later Pagan kings followed until the dynasty's fall in 1287. The success and longevity of Pagan's dominance over the Irrawaddy valley laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma.
Anawrahta's legacy went far beyond the borders of modern Burma. His embrace of Theravada Buddhism and his success in stopping the advance of Khmer Empire, a Mahayana state, provided the Buddhist school, which had been in retreat elsewhere in South and Southeast Asia, a much needed reprieve and a safe shelter. The success of Pagan dynasty made Theravada Buddhism's later growth in Lan Na (northern Thailand), Siam (central Thailand), Lan Xang (Laos), and Khmer Empire (Cambodia) in the 13th and 14th centuries possible.
Anawrahta is one of the most famous kings in Burmese history. His life stories (legends) are a staple of Burmese folklore and retold in popular literature and theater.
Early life
Anawrahta was born Min Saw (, ) to King Kunhsaw Kyaunghpyu and Queen Myauk Pyinthe on 11 May 1044.(Yazawin Thit 2012: 95, footnote #2) which cites (Bo Lay 1990: 25–28) states that Anawrahta was born on 11 May 1014. The Burmese chronicles do not agree on the dates regarding his life and reign.Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 347 The table below lists the dates given by the four main chronicles. Among the chronicles, scholarship usually accepts Zata's dates, which are considered to be the most accurate for the Pagan period.(Maha Yazawin 2006: 346–349): Among the four major chronicles, only Zatadawbon Yazawin's dates line up with Anawrahta's inscriptionally verified accession date of 1044 CE. (Aung-Thwin 2005: 121–123): In general, Zata is considered "the most accurate of all Burmese chronicles, particularly with regard to the best-known Pagan and Ava kings, many of whose dates have been corroborated by epigraphy." Scholarship's dates for Anawrahta's birth, death and reign dates are closest to Zata's dates.
Chronicles Birth–Death Age Reign Length of reign Zatadawbon Yazawin 1014/15–1077/78The Burmese calendar straddles the Western calendar year. In Anawrahta's time, each Burmese year began and ended in late March of the Julian calendar. For example, the Burmese year 376 spanned from 25 March 1014 to 25 March 1015. Scholarship usually simplifies by reporting just the leading year, e.g., 376 ME as 1014. 62 1044/45–1077/78 33 Maha Yazawin 970/71–1035/36 65 1002/03–1035/36 33 Yazawin Thit and Hmannan Yazawin 985/86–March 1060 74 13 January 1018 – March 1060(Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 230) on Monday, 8th waning of Pyatho, 379 ME (13 January 1018). (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 274) says Anawrahta died in 421 ME (1059–1060 CE) right before the Burmese new year (March 1060). 42 Scholarship 11 May 1014 – 11 April 1077 62 11 August 1044 – 11 April 1077 32
In 1021, when Min Saw was about six years old, his father was deposed by his step-sons Kyiso and Sokkate.(Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 347): The overthrow of Kunhsaw took place in 1021 per Zata, 971 per Maha Yazawin and 986 per Hmannan and Yazawin Thit. His father had been a usurper of the Pagan throne, who overthrew King Nyaung-u Sawrahan two decades earlier.(Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 347): The overthrow of Nyaung-u Sawrahan took place in 1001 per Zata, 950 per Maha Yazawin and 964 per Hmannan and Yazawin Thit. Kunhsaw then married three of Nyaung-u's chief queens, two of whom were pregnant at the time, and subsequently gave birth to Kyiso and Sokkate. Kunhsaw had raised Sokkate and Kyiso as his own sons. After the putsch, Kyiso became king and Sokkate became heir-apparent. They forced their step-father to a local monastery, where Kunhsaw would live as a monk for the remainder of his life.Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 227–228
Min Saw grew up in the shadow of his two step-brothers, who viewed Min Saw as their youngest brother and allowed him to retain his princely status at the court. Min Saw and his mother attended Kunhsaw, and lived nearby the monastery. In 1038, Kyiso died, and was succeeded by Sokkate.(Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 347): Kyiso died in 1038 per Zata, 977 per Maha Yazawin and 992 per Hmannan and Yazawin Thit. Min Saw was loyal to the new king. He took wives, and had at least two sons (Saw Lu and Kyansittha) by the early 1040s.
Accession
In 1044 however, Min Saw raised a rebellion at nearby Mount Popa, and challenged Sokkate to single combat. According to the chronicles, the reason for his uprising was that Sokkate had just raised Min Saw's mother as queen. Sokkate is said to have addressed Min Saw as brother-son, which the latter took great offense. Sokkate accepted the challenge to single combat on horseback. On 11 August 1044, Min Saw slew Sokkate at Myinkaba, near Pagan.Per Zata's horoscope section (Zata 1960: 83) as translated by the editors of (Yazawin Thit 2012: 95, footnote #1). The king and his horse both fell into the river nearby.Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 228–229
Min Saw first offered the throne to his father. The former king, who had long been a monk, refused. On 16 December 1044, Min Saw ascended the throne with the title of Anawrahta, a Burmanized form of Sanskrit name Aniruddha (अनिरुद्ध).(Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 230) says he came to power on Monday, 8th waning of Pyatho, 379 ME (13 January 1018). But the Myazedi inscription and Zatadawbon Yazawin both say Anawrahta came to power in 406 ME (1044/1045 CE). Assuming that 8th waning of Pyatho is correct, he ascended the throne on 16 December 1044 (8th waning of Pyatho 406 ME). His full royal style was Maha Yaza Thiri Aniruddha Dewa (; ). Burmese history now begins to be less conjectural.Harvey 1925: 19Htin Aung 1967: 31
Early reign: Consolidation of Central Burma
In the beginning, Anawrahta's principality was a small area—barely 200 miles north to south and about 80 miles from east to west, comprising roughly the present districts of Mandalay, Meiktila, Myingyan, Kyaukse, Yamethin, Magwe, Sagaing and Katha east of the Irrawaddy, and the riverine portions of Minbu and Pakkoku. To the north lay Nanzhao Kingdom, and to the east still largely uninhibited Shan Hills, to the south and the west the Pyus, and farther south still, the Mons.Harvey 1925: 24–25
Economic reforms Anawrahta's first acts as king were to organize his kingdom. He graded every town and village according to the levy it could raise. He made great efforts to turn the arid parched lands of central Burma into a rice granary. He constructed the irrigation system,Coedès 1968: 149 which is still used in Upper Burma today. He repaired the Meiktila Lake, and successfully built four weirs and canals (Kinda, Nga Laingzin, Pyaungbya, Kume) on the Panlaung river, and three weirs (Nwadet, Kunhse, Nga Pyaung) on the Zawgyi. (He also tried to control the Myitnge river but failed despite all his efforts. The work lasted three years and there were many casualties from fever.) He peopled the newly developed areas with villages, which under royal officers served the canals. The region, known as Ledwin (lit. the rice country) became the granary, the economic key of the north country. History shows that one who gained control of Kyaukse became kingmaker in Upper Burma.
Military organization Anawrahta organized Pagan's military. His key men—known as the Four Great Paladins in Burmese history—were:Harvey 1925: 24 Kyansittha, his son and lead general Nyaung-U Hpi, known as the great swimmer from Nyaung-U Nga Htwe Yu, former toddy tree climber from Myinmu (near Sagaing) Nga Lon Letpe, former farmer from near Mount Popa
Also at his service were Byatta (), a Muslim (likely an Arab seaman) shipwrecked at Thaton, and his sons Shwe Hpyin Gyi and Shwe Hpyin Nge, (who later entered the pantheon of Burmese folk deities as Shwe Hpyin Brothers ).
Founding of Pagan Empire
By the mid-1050s, Anawrahta's reforms had turned Pagan into a regional power, and he looked to expand. Over the next ten years, he founded the Pagan Empire, the Irrawaddy valley at the core, surrounded by tributary kingdoms.Htin Aung 1967: 34
Shan Hills His first efforts were in then lightly inhabited Shan Hills in the east and the north. He acquired allegiance of Shan Hills in two waves. In the early to mid-1050s, Anawrahta first visited the nearer Shan Hills in the east, and received tribute. He founded the Bawrithat Pagoda in Nyaungshwe. The second wave came in the late 1050s and early 1060s after his march to Dali Kingdom (Successor to Nanzhao). After his return from Nanzhao expedition, Shan chiefs along the route presented Anawrahta with tributes. Still, their allegiance was nominal and he had to establish 43 forts along the eastern foothills of which the following 33 still exist as villages.Harvey 1925: 26–31
BhamoKathaKyaukseMeiktilaMogokMandalayToungooYamethin Kaungton Kaungsin Shwegu Yinkhe Moda Katha Htigyaing Mekkhaya Ta On Myinsaing Myittha Hlaingdet Thagaya Nyaungyan Myadaung Tagaung Hinthamaw Kyanhnyat Sampanago Singu Konthaya Magwe Taya Yenantha Sonmyo Madaya Thakegyin Wayindok Taungbyon Myodin Myohla Kelin Swa Shwemyo
The 43 forts were established per the royal order issued 7 February 1061 (12th waxing of Tabaung 422 ME).Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 269–270
Lower Burma After his first Shan campaign, Anawrahta turned to the Mon-speaking kingdoms in the south, which like Pagan were merely large city-states in reality. He first received submission of the ruler of Pegu (Bago). But the Thaton Kingdom refused to submit. Anawrahta's armies, led by the "Four Paladins", invaded the southern kingdom in early 1057. After a 3-months' siege of the city of Thaton, on 17 May 1057, (11th waxing of Nayon, 419 ME), the Pagan forces conquered the city.Kyaw Thet 1962: 45
According to Burmese and Mon traditions, Anawrahta's main reason for the invasion was Thaton king Manuha's refusal to give him a copy of the Theravada Buddhist Canon. (Anawrahta had been converted to Theravada Buddhism from his native Ari Buddhism by Shin Arahan, a monk originally from Thaton.) In reality, it was merely a demand for submission couched in diplomatic language,Htin Aung 1967: 33 and the real aim of his conquest of Thaton was to check the Khmer Empire's conquests in the Chao Phraya basin and encroachment into the Tenasserim coast.Lieberman 2003: 91Tarling 1999: 165