Narapati Sithu ( my, နရပတိ စည်သူ, ; also Narapatisithu, Sithu II or Cansu II; 1138–1211) was king of

Pagan 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 ...

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 ...

(Myanmar) from 1174 to 1211. He is considered the last important king of Pagan. His peaceful and prosperous reign gave rise to Burmese culture which finally emerged from the shadows of

Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * An ...

and

Pyu Pyu, also spelled Phyu or Phyuu, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. is a town in Taungoo District, Bago Region in Myanmar. It is the administrative seat of Phyu Township Pyu Township is a township in Taungoo District in the ...

cultures.Tarling 1993: 166–167 The

Burman Burman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anneli Burman (born 1963), Swedish curler *Barney Burman, American make-up artist * Barry Burman (1943–2001), English figurative artist * Ben Lucien Burman (1896–1984), American ...

leadership of the kingdom was now unquestioned. The Pagan Empire reached its peak during his reign, and would decline gradually after his death.Htin Aung 1967: 50–54 The reign saw many firsts 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 ...

. For the first time, the term ''Mranma'' (the Burmans) was openly used in

Burmese language Burmese ( my, မြန်မာဘာသာ, MLCTS: ''mranmabhasa'', IPA: ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar (also known as Burma), where it is an official language, lingua franca, and the native language of the Burmans, the count ...

inscriptions. Burmese became the primary written language of the kingdom, replacing

and

. The first Burmese customary law based on his grandfather

Alaungsithu Alaungsithu or Sithu I ( my, အလောင်းစည်သူ ; also Cansu I; 1090–1167) was king of Pagan Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1112/13 to 1167. Sithu's reign was a prosperous one in which Pagan was an integral part of in-land a ...

's judgments was compiled, and used as the common system of law for the entire kingdom. He founded the Royal Palace Guards, which later evolved to become the nucleus of the Burmese army in war time.Harvey 1925: 57–58 He encouraged further reforms of the

Burmese Buddhism Buddhism ( my, ဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ), specifically Theravāda Buddhism ( my, ထေရဝါဒဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ), is the State religion of Myanmar since 1961, and practiced by nearly 90% of the population. It is the most re ...

. By the efforts of his

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

Shin Uttarajiva The Venerable Shin Uttarajīva ( my, ရှင်ဥတ္တရဇီဝ ; died c. 5 October 1191) was Primate of Pagan Kingdom during the reigns of three kings Narathu, Naratheinkha and Narapatisithu from 1167 to 1191. The Theravada Buddhist ...

, the majority of the Burmese Buddhist monks realigned themselves with the

Mahavihara Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas. Mahaviharas of India A range of monasteries grew up in ancient Magadha (modern Bihar ...

school of

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 ...

Early life

The future king was born to Prince

Narathu , image = Dhammayangyi Temple at Bagan,Myanmar.jpg , caption = Dhammayangyi Temple built by Narathu , reign = 1167 – February 1171 , coronation = , succession = King of Burma ...

and his wife (later known as Myauk Pyinthe, "Queen of the Northern Palace") in

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. ...

(Bagan) on 8 October 1150.Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 124, footnote 2 The chronicles do not agree on his birth and reign dates. The table below lists the dates given by the four main chronicles.Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 348 Note that all the chronicles say he was born on a Tuesday but the king's date of birth by scholarship fell on Sunday.

Heir apparent

In 1171, his elder brother

Naratheinkha Naratheinkha ( my, နရသိင်္ခ, ; 1141–1174) was king of Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1171 to 1174. He appointed his brother Narapati Sithu heir apparent and commander-in-chief. It was the first recorded instance in the ...

succeeded the throne, the new king was greeted with multiple rebellions by the Kudus in the

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 ...

region in the north and the Mons of Tenasserim coast in the south. Naratheinkha appointed his younger brother Narapatisithu as the heir apparent and commander-in-chief to deal with the rebellions. In 1174, Naratheinkha seized Narapati's wife

Weluwaddy , image = , caption = , reign = 1174 – 1186 , coronation = , succession = Chief queen consort of Burma , predecessor = Min Aung Myat , successor = Taung P ...

(Veluvati) after he sent Narapati on a mission. Narapati retaliated by sending a group of 80 led by Aungzwa to assassinate his brother. After the assassination, he ascended the throne as Sithu II in honor of his grandfather

.Per (Than Tun 1964: 128) and (Coedès 1968: 167):

G.H. Luce Gordon Hannington Luce was a colonial scholar in Burma. He was born on 20 January 1889 and died on 3 May 1979. His outstanding library containing books, manuscripts, maps and photographs – The Luce Collection – was acquired by the National ...

does not recognize

, and proposes an interregnum of nine years between 1165 and 1174. But Luce's conjecture is vigorously disputed. See (Htin Aung 1970: 40–44) for

Htin Aung Htin Aung ( my, ထင်အောင် ; also Maung Htin Aung; 18 May 1909 – 10 May 1978) was a writer and scholar of Burmese culture and history. Educated at Oxford and Cambridge, Htin Aung wrote several books on Burmese history and culture ...

's response. (Aung-Thwin 1985) does not recognize Luce's theory at all. He came to power some time between 27 March 1174 and 10 August 1174, most probably between April or May 1174.Per (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 330), he died on or before (Thursday, 11th waxing of 573 ME / 18 August 1211), having reigned for 37 years. Because he came to power in 536 ME (1174 CE) per (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 315), it means he ascended the throne between the New Year's day of 536 ME (27 March 1174) and (11th waxing of 536 ME / 10 August 1174). Moreover, the accession date was most likely between April and May of that year. Per (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 314–315), he had just returned from the front. Since almost all the army campaigns were conducted during the dry season which ends in late May before the rainy season, he likely came to power some time between April and May. He assumed the regnal name "Śrī Tribhuvanāditya Pavaradhammarāja."

Reign

One of the first acts of Sithu II was to found the Royal Palace Guards, whose sole duty was to guard the palace and the king. ''(The Palace Guards later evolved to become the nucleus round which the Burmese army assembled in war time.)'' He then had to pacify the kingdom, which had seen much instability since the death of Alaungsithu in 1167, and had grown increasingly restless. He successfully persuaded the great-grandson of the

king

Manuha Manuha ( my, မနူဟာ; mnw, မကုတရာဇာ; Old Mon ), or Makuta, was the last king of Thaton Kingdom. Manuha ruled Thaton from 1030s until 1057 when he was defeated by King Anawrahta of Pagan Kingdom. According to the Mon trad ...

not to start a rebellion. The rest of the reign was free of rebellions.

Economy

By all accounts, his reign was peaceful and prosperous. Following

Anawratha 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 ...

's footsteps, Narapatisithu worked on increasing Upper Burma's economic and manpower advantages over the Irrawaddy valley. He continued to develop the Kyaukse region by building the Kyaukse weir, and expanded the irrigable areas by starting the Mu canals in the present-day

Shwebo District Shwebo District is a district in south-central Sagaing Division of Burma (Myanmar).Gawdawpalin and

Sulamani Sulamani (April 9, 1999 – February 18, 2017) was an Irish-bred thoroughbred race horse who competed and won in Dubai, Europe and North America. A great-grandson of English Triple Crown champion, Nijinsky, he made his racing debut in April 200 ...

temples in Pagan he built. The king also built the Minmalaung, Dhammayazika and Chaukpala nearby. His lesser pagodas, such as the Zetawun in

Myeik District Myeik District ( my, မြိတ်ခရိုင်) is a district in the Tanintharyi Region of Burma (Myanmar). The district covers an area of 18,121 km2, and had a population of 693,087 at the 2014 Census. Administrative divisions Townships T ...

, the

Shwe Indein Pagoda The Shwe Indein Pagoda ( my, ရွှေအင်းတိန်စေတီ) is a group of Burmese pagoda, Buddhist pagodas in the village of Indein, near Ywama and Inlay Lake in Shan State, Myanmar (formerly Burma). The pagodas were commission ...

Nyaungshwe Nyaungshwe Township (; ) is a township of Taunggyi District in Shan State, Myanmar. It is located south of Sakangyi and south-west of Taunggyi. The principal town is Nyaungshwe. Inle Lake, a popular tourist destination and an inland freshwater la ...

(

Shan State Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the Endonym and exonym, endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. ...

) shows the reach of his kingdom.

Rise of Burmese culture

His reign also saw the rise of Burmese culture which finally emerged from the shadows of

and

cultures. The Burmans, who had entered the Irrawaddy valley en masse only in the 9th and 10th centuries, had led the Pagan Kingdom under the name of the Pyu. But now, the Burman leadership of the kingdom was now unquestioned. For the first time, the term Mranma (the Burman people) was openly used in

inscriptions. ''(The earliest use of Mranma was found in a Mon inscription dedicated to Kyansittha dated 1102.)'' The

became the primary written language of the kingdom, replacing

and

Administration

Narapatisithu appointed Nadaungmya, great-grandson of

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 ...

(one of the great Paladins during Anawrahta's reign), chief justice. His chief minister was Ananda Thuriya, reportedly a man of valor who continually hunted down robbers and presented them alive to the king. He had the first Burmese customary law based on his grandfather

's judgments compiled, and used as the common system of law for the entire kingdom.

Religious reforms

He encouraged further reforms of the

. By the efforts of his

, the majority of the Burmese Buddhist monks realigned themselves with the

school of

away from the less orthodox Conjeveram-Thaton school.Harvey 1925: 56

Sinhalese raids

According to the Pali ''Culawamsa Chronicles'', the King of

Polonnaruwa Poḷonnaruwa, ( si, පොළොන්නරුව, translit=Poḷonnaruva; ta, பொலன்னறுவை, translit=Polaṉṉaṟuvai) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa Dis ...

(

Sri Lanka 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 ...

Parakramabahu I Parākramabāhu I ( Sinhala: මහා පරාක්‍රමබාහු, 1123–1186), or Parakramabahu the Great, was the king of Polonnaruwa from 1153 to 1186. He oversaw the expansion and beautification of his capital, constructed extensiv ...

, dispatched an expedition in 1180 to settle a trade dispute. It suffered from storms and several ships were wrecked. But one ship reached the Crow Island near

Mawlamyaing Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at th ...

and five reached

Pathein Pathein (, ; mnw, ဖာသီ, ), formerly called Bassein, is the largest city and the capital of the Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar (Burma). It is located 190 km (120 mi) west of Yangon within Pathein Township on the bank of the Pathei ...

, killing a governor, burning villages, massacring the inhabitants, and carrying off a number into slavery. As the Burmese chronicles do not mention these events, there is no check on the Sinhalese version. Nevertheless, the friendly relations were soon resumed. The historical cultural exchanges between the countries continued. The reformation of Burmese Buddhism through the Sinhalese Mahavihara school continued.Coedès 1968: 177–178

Death

Sithu II died at age 73 (in his 74th year) on 18 August 1211 (11th waxing of Tawthalin 573 ME). On his deathbed, he placed the hands of his five sons on his chest and enjoined them to rule with mercy and justice, and to live together in brotherly love.Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 330

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{Burmese monarchs Pagan dynasty 1138 births 1211 deaths 12th-century Burmese monarchs 13th-century Burmese monarchs