The Four Paladins () are the four legendary generals in the fellowship of King

Anawrahta Anawrahta Minsaw ( my, အနော်ရထာ မင်းစော, ; 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 ...

during the

Bagan Dynasty The Kingdom of Pagan ( my, ပုဂံခေတ်, , ; also known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire; also the Bagan Dynasty or Bagan Empire) was the first Burmese kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-da ...

. They are one of the most famous

national heroes A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

and played significant roles in the early tales of the Bagan Empire's expansion. In Burmese legends, each of them is said to be equivalent to the combined might of a

legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army * Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...

Members

Kyansittha Kyansittha ( my, ကျန်စစ်သား, ; also spelt as Kyanzittha or Hti-Hlaing Shin; 1030 – 1112/13) was king of Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1084 to 1112/13, and is considered one of the greatest Burmese monarchs. He cont ...

(ကျန်စစ်သား) — Paragon of both physical and mental strength # Nga Htwe Yu (ငထွေရူး) — Paragon of agility # Nga Lon Letpe (ငလုံးလက်ဖယ်) — Paragon of might #

Nyaung-U Hpi Gen. Nyaung-U Hpi ( my, ညောင်ဦးဖီး, ; also spelt as Nyong Oo Phee or Nyaung U Bhi), also known as Nga Phee, was a leading general in King Anawrahta's Royal Army. He was well known as a great swimmer, and later became famous as ...

(ညောင်ဦးဖီး) — Paragon of stamina

Mission to Pegu

The mission to

Pegu Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon lang ...

is the most famous episode in the military career of the paladins. In the early 1070s, the king of

made a distress call to

Bagan Bagan (, ; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Bagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that wou ...

when his kingdom is invaded by the Yuan- Khmer raiders called Joom''' (ဂျွမ်း) from Norther Thailand. King Anawrahta promised that he would send a relief cavalry of four legions to defend

Lower Burma Lower Myanmar ( my, အောက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Lower Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta (Ayeyarwady Region, Ayeyarwady, Bago Region, Bago and Yangon Regions), as we ...

. The Peguan king waited hopefully for the mighty Bagan Imperial army, but disappointed with the arrival of only the Four Paladins and a few

platoons A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range f ...

. However, in front of all the people of Pegu, the warriors of Bagan easily repelled the invaders in just one day. They also took the four ''Joom'' generals( Aukbraran, Aukbrare, Aukbrabon, and Aukbrapike) captive, and presented them to the king of Pegu. The Peguan ruler, pleased by the legendary valor of the paladins, sent his young daughter Khin U, jewels and holy hair relics as tributes and gifts for Anawrahta. However, unknown to them, the return journey to Bagan will eventually lead to the dissolution of their friendships and the squad of the Paladins.Harvey 1925: 34

References

Asian mythology Burmese folklore