Dhammazedi ( my, ဓမ္မစေတီ, ; c. 1409–1492) was the 16th king of the
Hanthawaddy Kingdom
( Mon) ( Burmese)
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Hongsarwatoi (Hanthawaddy) Pegu
, common_name = Hongsarwatoi (Hanthawaddy) Kingdom / Ramannya (Ramam)
, era = Warring states
, status = Kingdom
, event_pre ...
in Burma from 1471 to 1492. Considered one of the most enlightened rulers in
Burmese history
The history of Myanmar (also known as Burma; my, မြန်မာ့သမိုင်း) covers the period from the time of first-known human settlements 13,000 years ago to the present day. The earliest inhabitants of recorded history wer ...
, by some accounts call him "the greatest" of all Hanthawaddy kings.
[Hall 1960: 36–37] The former
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
, educated in the rival
kingdom of Ava
The Kingdom of Ava ( my, အင်းဝခေတ်, ) was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagaing th ...
in his youth, was a trusted adviser and son-in-law of Queen
Shin Sawbu
Shin Sawbu ( my, ရှင်စောပု, ; mnw, မိစဴဗု; 1394–1471) was queen regnant of Hanthawaddy from 1454 to 1471. Queen Shin Sawbu is also known as Binnya Thau ( mnw, ဗညားထောဝ်; mnw, ဨကရာဇ ...
. At age 48, he left the monkhood after he was selected by Shin Sawbu as the
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
, and was married to one of the queen's daughters. He immediately became the de facto ruler of the kingdom as Shin Sawbu handed over all administrative duties to him.
During Dhammazedi's long reign, the
Mon-speaking kingdom reached the peak of its golden age. Under his wise rule, the kingdom, unlike the rival Ava Kingdom, was peaceful, and profited greatly from foreign commerce. His reign was a time of peace and he himself was a mild ruler, famous for his wisdom.
[ A collection of his rulings, ''Dhammazedi Pyatton'', survives.][Harvey 1925: 117–120] The kingdom also became a famous center of Theravada Buddhism
''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...
, with strong ties to Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, and resumed the practice of sending missions to Buddhagaya
Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment ( pi, ...
. His religious reforms later spread throughout the country.[Myint-U 2006: 64–65; Pranke, 2004] He maintained friendly relations with Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
.
According to DGE Hall, "''He was a Buddhist ruler of the best type, deeply solicitous for the purification of religion. Under him civilization flourished, and the condition of the Mon country stands out in sharp contrast with the disorder and savagery which characterized the Ava kingdom.''"[
He died in 1492. He was honored as a saint and a pagoda was erected over his bones. He was succeeded by his eldest son ]Binnya Ran II
Binnya Ran II ( my, ဒုတိယ ဗညားရံ, ; Mon: ဗညားရာံ; 1469–1526) the 17th king of the Kingdom of Hanthawaddy in Burma from 1492 to 1526. He was revered for his gentleness although his first act as king was to e ...
.
Historiography
Various Burmese chronicles report different dates for the key events of his life.
Commemorations
*Dhammazedi Road
Dhammazedi ( my, ဓမ္မစေတီ, ; c. 1409–1492) was the 16th king of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in Burma from 1471 to 1492. Considered one of the most enlightened rulers in Burmese history, by some accounts call him "the greatest" of al ...
, a road in Yangon.
See also
* Great Bell of Dhammazedi
The Great Bell of Dhammazedi ( my, ဓမ္မစေတီခေါင်းလောင်းကြီး ) was a bronze bell, believed to be the largest bell ever cast. It was cast on 5 February 1484 by order of King Dhammazedi of Hanthawad ...
* Kalyani Inscriptions
The ''Kalyani Inscriptions'' ( my, ကလျာဏီကျောက်စာ), located in Bago, Burma (Myanmar), are the stone inscriptions erected by King Dhammazedi of Hanthawaddy Pegu between 1476 and 1479. Located at the Kalyani Ordinatio ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Hanthawaddy dynasty
1492 deaths
1409 births
15th-century Burmese monarchs