Rajadhirat was a
MonThe Mon are an ethnic group from Myanmar, living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, Irrawaddy Delta of present-day Burma, and along the southern Thai-Myanmar border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in...
king known for his military prowess.
Rajadhirat succeeded his father Binnya U as ruler of Pegu after a
successionAn order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...
struggle in 1383. He unified
Lower BurmaLower Burma is a historical region, referring to the part of Burma annexed by the British Empire after the Second Anglo-Burmese War, which took place in 1852, plus the former kingdom of Arakan and the territory of Tenasserim which the British had taken control of in 1826...
during the 1380s. From 1385 to his death around 1421, Rajadhirat's kingdom of Pegu and the kingdom of
AvaInnwa is a city in the Mandalay Division of Burma, situated just to the south of Amarapura on the Ayeyarwady River. Its formal title is Ratanapura , which means City of Gems in Pali. The name Innwa means mouth of the lake, which comes from in , meaning lake, and wa , which means mouth...
in
Upper BurmaUpper Burma was a term used by the British to refer to the central and northern area of what is now the country of Myanmar . After the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, Lower Burma was annexed by the British Empire, while Upper Burma remained independent under the Kingdom of Burma until the Third...
most notably during the reign of King Minhkaung were engaged in a continual state of warfare known as the Forty Year Mon-Burmese War described in the chronicle
Yazadiyit Ayeidawbon in
BurmeseThe Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most continue to refer to the language as Burmese. It is the native language of the Bamar and other related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar...
.
Rajadhirat was a
MonThe Mon are an ethnic group from Myanmar, living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, Irrawaddy Delta of present-day Burma, and along the southern Thai-Myanmar border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in...
king known for his military prowess.
Rajadhirat succeeded his father Binnya U as ruler of Pegu after a
successionAn order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...
struggle in 1383. He unified
Lower BurmaLower Burma is a historical region, referring to the part of Burma annexed by the British Empire after the Second Anglo-Burmese War, which took place in 1852, plus the former kingdom of Arakan and the territory of Tenasserim which the British had taken control of in 1826...
during the 1380s. From 1385 to his death around 1421, Rajadhirat's kingdom of Pegu and the kingdom of
AvaInnwa is a city in the Mandalay Division of Burma, situated just to the south of Amarapura on the Ayeyarwady River. Its formal title is Ratanapura , which means City of Gems in Pali. The name Innwa means mouth of the lake, which comes from in , meaning lake, and wa , which means mouth...
in
Upper BurmaUpper Burma was a term used by the British to refer to the central and northern area of what is now the country of Myanmar . After the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, Lower Burma was annexed by the British Empire, while Upper Burma remained independent under the Kingdom of Burma until the Third...
most notably during the reign of King Minhkaung were engaged in a continual state of warfare known as the Forty Year Mon-Burmese War described in the chronicle
Yazadiyit Ayeidawbon in
BurmeseThe Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most continue to refer to the language as Burmese. It is the native language of the Bamar and other related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar...
. The use of
scorched earthA scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
tactics by both sides was a prominent feature of this warfare.
Rajadhirat's daughter became the Mon Queen
Baña ThauBaña Thau, known as Shin Sawbu in Burmese, is the Mon name for the queen who ruled for seventeen peaceful years over a Mon kingdom in Lower Burma....
(Burmese: Shin Saw Bu) several years later and reigned in relative peace starting a revival in
Theravada BuddhismTheravada Theravada Theravada (Pāli: थेरवाद theravāda (cf Sanskrit: स्थविरवाद sthaviravāda); literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
.
The story of Rajadhirat's reign is recorded in a classic epic that exists in both
Mon languageThe Mon language is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon, who live in Burma and Thailand. Mon, unlike most languages in the Southeast Asian region, is not tonal. Mon is spoken by less than a million people today. In recent years, usage of Mon has declined rapidly, especially among the...
and
Burmese languageThe Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most continue to refer to the language as Burmese. It is the native language of the Bamar and other related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar...
forms. During the reign of the Thai king
Buddha Yodfa ChulalokePhra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chakri Borommanat Phra Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke , posthumously added "the Great", or Rama I , was the founder and the first monarch of the current-ruling House of Chakri of Siam in 1782, after subjugating a rebellion against King Taksin of Thonburi...
(1782-1809), this epic was translated into the
Thai languageThai is the national and official language of Thailand and the mother tongue of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Kradai language family. The Kradai languages are thought to have originated in what is now southern China, and are linked to...
by court minister and author Phra Khlang and is well-known in Thailand even today.
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