Narathihapate ( my, နရသီဟပတေ့, ; also Sithu IV of Pagan; 23 April 1238 – 1 July 1287) was the last king of the
Pagan Empire
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 ...
who reigned from 1256 to 1287. The king is known in Burmese history as the "Taruk-Pyay Min" ("the King who fled from the
Taruks")
[Coedès 1968: 183] for his flight from
Pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...
(Bagan) to Lower Burma in 1285 during the
first Mongol invasion (1277–87) of the kingdom. He eventually submitted to
Kublai Khan
Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of ...
, founder of the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...
in January 1287 in exchange for a Mongol withdrawal from northern Burma. But when the king was assassinated six months later by his son
Thihathu, the
Viceroy of Prome, the 250-year-old Pagan Empire broke apart into multiple petty states. The political fragmentation of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery would last for another 250 years until the mid-16th century.
The king is unkindly remembered in the
royal chronicles, which in addition to calling a cowardly king who fled from the invaders, also call him "an ogre" and "glutton" who was "great in wrath, haughtiness and envy, exceeding covetous and ambitious." According to scholarship, he was certainly an ineffective ruler but unfairly scapegoated by the chronicles for the fall of the empire, whose decline predated his reign, and in fact had been "more prolonged and agonized".
Early life
The future king was born to Crown Prince
Uzana and a commoner concubine from
Myittha on 23 April 1238.
[Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 349][Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 334] For much of his early years, he was known at the palace as Min Khwe-Chi (lit. "Prince Dog's Dung") as a harmless royal.
[Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 337] Even when his father became king in 1251, Khwe-Chi was not in line for the throne; the position belonged to his half-brother
Thihathu, the eldest son of the chief queen
Thonlula.
[Than Tun 1964: 134–135]
Reign
Rise to power
But fate came calling. In early May 1256, Uzana died from a hunting accident, and Thihathu claimed the throne. The court led by the powerful chief minister
Yazathingyan
Yazathingyan ( my, ရာဇသင်္ကြန်, ; 1263 – 1312/13) was a co-founder of Myinsaing Kingdom in present-day Central Burma (Myanmar).Coedès 1968: 209 As a senior commander in the Royal Army of the Pagan Empire, he, along wi ...
did not accept a head-strong Thihathu, and placed their preferred candidate, Khwe Chi, whom they believed they could control, on the throne on 6 May 1256.
[Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 139, footnote 5] Thihathu was arrested and executed. Narathihapate held the coronation ceremony in November 1256.
[ He assumed the ]regnal name
A regnal name, or regnant name or reign name, is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and, subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they ...
"Śrī Tribhuvanādityapavara Dhammarāja" (ၐြီတြိဘုဝနာဒိတျပဝရဓမ္မရာဇ).
Governing style
The young king turned out be quick-tempered, arrogant, and ruthless. Soon after his accession, he sent Yazathingyan, the man who put him on the throne, into exile. But he soon had to recall Yazathingyan to quell the rebellions in Martaban
Mottama ( my, မုတ္တမမြို့, ; Muttama mnw, မုဟ်တၟံ, ; formerly Martaban) is a town in the Thaton District of Mon State, Myanmar. Located on the west bank of the Thanlwin river (Salween), on the opposite sid ...
(Mottama) (1258–1259) and Arakan (1258–1260).[The '']Maha Yazawin
The ''Maha Yazawin'', fully the ''Maha Yazawindawgyi'' ( my, မဟာ ရာဇဝင်တော်ကြီး, ) and formerly romanized as the ,. is the first national chronicle of Burma/Myanmar. Completed in 1724 by U Kala, a historian at ...
'' chronicle (Kala Vol. 1 2006: 238–240) says the king, having reigned for two years, sent two armies to both fronts on Thursday, 6th waxing of Pyatho 604 ME, which translates to Monday, 29 December 1242. But since the king actually came to power only in 1256, the date should be Thursday, 9th waxing of Pyatho 620 ME, which translates to Thursday, 5 December 1258. The chronicle continues that he had to send another expedition the following year on Thursday, 10th waxing of Natdaw 605 ME (Wednesday, 23 November 1243), which should be Thursday, 10th waxing of Natdaw 621 ME (Thursday, 25 December 1259). Yazathingyan put down the rebellions but died on the return journey. With the old minister's death removed the only person that could have controlled the ruthless, inexperienced king.[Htin Aung 1967: 65–71]
Narathihapate was incompetent in both domestic and foreign affairs. Like his father and grandfather before him, he too failed to fix the depleted royal treasury, which had been deteriorating for years because the continued growth of tax-free religious landholdings. But unlike his grandfather Kyaswa, who would rather build a small temple than to resort to forced labor, Narathihapate built a lavish temple, the Mingalazedi Pagoda
Mingalazedi Pagoda ( my, မင်္ဂလာစေတီ, ; also spelt Mingalar Zedi Pagoda) is a Buddhist stupa located in Bagan, Burma. Construction started in 1274 during the reign of King Narathihapate. The pagoda is one of few temples in ...
with forced labor. The people, sinking under his rule, whispered: "When the pagoda is finished, the king shall die".[
]
Mongol invasions
Border war (1277–78)
The existential threat to the Burmese kingdom came from the north. The Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
, who conquered the Dali Kingdom (later renamed as Yunnan in 1274) in 1253–57, first demanded tribute from Pagan in 1271–72. When the Burmese king refused, Emperor Kublai Khan
Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of ...
himself sent a mission in 1273 to demand tribute once again. The king refused again. The Mongol army of the Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...
in 1275–76 consolidated the Pagan–Yunnan borderlands as part of their drive to close off escape routes of the Song refugees, and in the process went on to occupy a Burmese vassal state in present-day Dehong Prefecture). Narathihapate sent the army to reclaim the region but the army was driven back in April 1277 at the battle of Ngasaunggyan (modern Yingjiang). The Mongol troops reached as far south as Kaungsin, which guarded the Bhamo Pass, the gateway into the Irrawaddy, before retreating in 1278 due to excessive heat. Later in 1278, the army reestablished its forts at Kaungsin and Ngasaunggyan.[Than Tun 1964: 136–137]
Invasion (1283–85)
Narathihapate's troubles were not over. In 1281, the Mongol emperor again demanded tribute. When the king refused, the emperor ordered an invasion of northern Burma. In September 1283, the Mongol forces again attacked the Burmese fort at Ngasaunggyan, which fell on 3 December 1283. Kaungsin fell six days later, and the Mongols took Tagaung
Tagaung is a town in Mandalay Region of Myanmar (Burma). It is situated on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River, 127 miles north of Mandalay.
Etymology
"Tagaung" derives from the Shan language term "Takawng" ( shn, တႃႈၵွင်; ), whic ...
on 5 February 1284.[Luce in MSK 1961: 263] But the Mongols found the heat excessive and retreated from Tagaung. The Burmese forces retook Tagaung on 10 May 1284.[Aung-Thwin 1985: 195–196] The Mongol resumed their drive southward in the following dry season (1284–85), and reached as far south as Hanlin by February 1285.[(Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 148, footnote 7): 5th waning of Tabodwe 646 ME = 26 January 1285][Than Tun 2002: 66] Although the Mongols did not have the order to attack Pagan, the king nonetheless fled south to Lower Burma.[Harvey 1925: 68][Coedès 1968: 194]
Exile in Lower Burma (1285–87)
At Lower Burma, Narathihapate found himself isolated. Although his three sons controlled three key ports ( Bassein (Pathein), Dala and Prome (Pyay)) there, he could not gain their support. He did not trust them in any case, and settled at Hlegya, west of Prome, at the border between Central Burma and Lower Burma.[Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 148, footnote 10] The presence of the king and his small army impressed no one. 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 langua ...
(Bago) revolted soon after, and drove back the king's small army twice. With Martaban
Mottama ( my, မုတ္တမမြို့, ; Muttama mnw, မုဟ်တၟံ, ; formerly Martaban) is a town in the Thaton District of Mon State, Myanmar. Located on the west bank of the Thanlwin river (Salween), on the opposite sid ...
(Mottama) also in rebellion, the breakaway of Pegu meant the entire eastern half of Lower Burma was now in revolt.[Pan Hla 2005: 28–29] His three sons remained in control of the western half of Lower Burma but he could not count on them for their support. At Hlegya, the king was literally at the periphery of Lower Burma.
Mongol vassal (1287)
He decided to return to central Burma even if it meant making peace with the Mongols.[Stuart-Fox 2001: 88–90] In December 1285, he sent the chief minister and general Ananda Pyissi and Gen. Maha Bo to negotiate a ceasefire.[Aung-Thwin 1985: 197] The Mongol commanders at Hanlin, who had organized northern Burma as a protectorate named Zhengmian () agreed to a ceasefire but insisted on a full submission. They repeated their 1281 demand that the Burmese king send a formal delegation to the emperor.[ A tentative agreement was reached among the negotiators on 3 March 1286; Central Burma would now be organized as a sub-province of Mianzhong (), and the Burmese king would send a formal embassy to the emperor.][Wade 2009: 45] After a long deliberation, in June 1286, the Burmese king decided to agree to the terms, and sent an embassy led by Shin Ditha Pamauk, the chief primate, to the emperor's court.[
In January 1287, the embassy arrived at Beijing, and was received by the emperor. The Burmese delegation formally acknowledged Mongol suzerainty of their kingdom, and agreed to pay annual tribute tied to the agricultural output of the country.][ Northern Burma would continue to be organized as Zhengmian (Cheng-Mien) while central Burma would be organized as Mianzhong (Mien-Chung). In exchange, the emperor agreed to withdraw his troops.][ The Burmese embassy arrived back at Hlegya in May 1287, and reported the terms to the king.][
]
Death
About a month later, the king and his small retinue left Hlegya for Pagan. But he was captured en route by his son Thihathu, the Viceroy of Prome. On 1 July 1287,[Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 149, footnote 3, citing (Dagon 1992: 17)] the king was forced to take poison. To refuse would have meant death by the sword, and with a prayer on his lips that in all his future existences "may no male-child be ever born to him again", the king swallowed the poison and died.[Htin Aung 1967: 71]
Aftermath
Narathihapate's death was promptly followed by the breakup of the kingdom. Nearly 250 years of Pagan's rule over the Irrawaddy basin and its periphery was over. In Lower Burma, 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 ...
of the Mons
Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...
emerged in 1287.[Per scholarship (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 148, footnote 8): Thursday, Full moon of Tabodwe 648 ME = 30 January 1287] In the west, Arakan was now ''de jure'' independent. In the north, the Shans who came down with the Mongols came to dominate Kachin hills and Shan hills, and went on dominate much of western and central mainland Southeast Asia.
The Mongols deemed the treaty void and invaded south toward Pagan. But the invaders suffered heavy casualties, and retreated back to Tagaung.[Aung-Thwin and Hall 2011: 34–35][Lieberman 2003: 121] It would be nearly two years until 30 May 1289 when one of his sons Kyawswa emerged as the king of Pagan.[ By then, the Pagan Empire had ceased to exist. The Mongols had occupied down to Tagaung, and the occupation would last until April 1303.][ Even in central Burma, Kyawswa controlled only around the capital. The real power now rested with the three brothers from Myinsaing who would later found the ]Myinsaing Kingdom
, conventional_long_name = Myinsaing Kingdom
, common_name = Myinsaing Kingdom
, era = Warring states
, status = Regency
, event_pre =
, date_pre = 1277–87
, event_start =
, year_start ...
in 1297, replacing over four centuries of Pagan Kingdom.[Harvey 1925: 75–78]
Legacy
The king is unkindly remembered in Burmese history as the "Taruk-Pyay Min" ("the King who Fled from the Taruk hinese) for his flight to the south, instead of defending the country. The royal chronicles paint an especially harsh description of the king, portraying him as "an ogre" and "glutton" who was "great in wrath, haughtiness and envy, exceeding covetous and ambitious."[Pe, Luce 1960: 167] According to scholarship, he was certainly an ineffective ruler but unfairly scapegoated by the chronicles for the fall of the empire, whose descent predated his reign and in fact had been "more prolonged and agonized."[Lieberman 2003: 119]
Historiography
Various royal chronicles report different dates about his life.
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External sources
Pagan Period (Part One)
{{Burmese monarchs
Pagan dynasty
1238 births
1287 deaths
Deaths by poisoning
13th-century Burmese monarchs