Nyaung-u Sawrahan ( my, ညောင်ဦး စောရဟန်း, ; also Taungthugyi Min c. 924–1001) was king of the

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 c. 956 to 1001. Although he is remembered as the Cucumber King in the

Burmese chronicles The royal chronicles of Myanmar ( my, မြန်မာ ရာဇဝင် ကျမ်းများ ; also known as Burmese chronicles) are detailed and continuous chronicles of the monarchy of Myanmar (Burma). The chronicles were written o ...

based on a legend, Sawrahan is the earliest king of Pagan whose existence has been verified by inscriptional evidence.Aung-Thwin 1985: 21 According to scholarship, it was during Sawrahan reign that Pagan, then one of several competing city-states in Upper Burma, "grew in authority and grandeur".Lieberman 2003: 90–91 The creation of Burmese alphabet as well as the fortification of Pagan may have begun in his reign.(Aung-Thwin 2005: 38): The earliest

radiocarbon Carbon-14, C-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and c ...

date of the Pagan walls (c. 980 CE) points to his reign although the more probable date is c. 1020 CE. (Aung-Thwin 2005: 167–178, 197–200): The earliest evidence of

Burmese script Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese ( ...

(984 CE) points to his reign if a recast 18th century copy of an original stone inscription is permissible as evidence. The earliest evidence of original Burmese script (the copper-gilt umbrella inscription of the Mahabodhi Temple) is dated to 1035.

Chronicle tradition

Despite the historical importance, the king's reign is recorded in the chronicles with what has been identified as a legend by scholarship. According to the legend, Sawrahan

usurped A usurper is an illegitimate or controversial claimant to power, often but not always in a monarchy. In other words, one who takes the power of a country, city, or established region for oneself, without any formal or legal right to claim it as ...

the throne from King

Theinhko Theinhko ( my, သိန်းခို; also Theinkho, ; c. 919 – 956) was king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from c. 934 to c. 956. According to the Burmese chronicles, Theinhko was a son of the previous king, Sale Ngahkwe. Theinhk ...

. Once a farmer, Nyaung-u killed Theinhko when he stole a cucumber from his field. Nyaung-u Sawrahan was accepted as king by the queen to prevent unrest in the kingdom and became known as Taungthugyi Min (Cucumber King or Farmer King; ).Harvey 1925: 19 The story is likely a fairy tale. There are at least three other versions—an exact parallel in the Burmese fairy tale "Princess Thudhammasari" and two variants in Cambodian history, one in the eighth and another in the 14th century. Kings of Cambodia claim descent from the gardener.Harvey 1925: 315–316 Nyaung-u Sawrahan was overthrown by

Kunhsaw Kyaunghpyu Kunhsaw Kyaunghpyu ( my, ကွမ်းဆော် ကြောင်းဖြူ ; c. 955–1048) was king of Pagan Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1001 to 1021. He was the father of Anawrahta, the founder of Pagan Empire. The principality of ...

, who in turn was overthrown by Nyaung-u's sons

Kyiso Kyiso ( my, ကျဉ်စိုး, ; c. 1000–1038) was king of Pagan dynasty from 1021 to 1038. According to the Burmese chronicles, Kyiso was a son of King Nyaung-u Sawrahan but raised by King Kunhsaw Kyaunghpyu. Kunhsaw married Nyuang-u's ...

and

Sokkate Sokkate ( my, စုက္ကတေး, ; 29 March 1001 – 11 August 1044) was king of Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1038 to 1044. The king lost his life in a single combat with Anawrahta, who succeeded him and went on to found the Pag ...

Dates

Various chronicles do not agree on the dates regarding his life and reign.Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 347 The oldest chronicle ''

Zatadawbon Yazawin ''Zatadawbon Yazawin'' ( my, ဇာတာတော်ပုံ ရာဇဝင်, ; also spelled ''Zatatawpon''; ) is the earliest extant chronicle of Burma. The chronicle mainly covers the regnal dates of kings as well as horoscopes of select ...

'' is considered to be the most accurate for the Pagan period.(Maha Yazawin 2006: 346–349): Among the four major chronicles, only ''Zatadawbon Yazawin's'' dates line up with Anawrahta's inscriptionally verified accession date of 1044 CE. (Aung-Thwin 2005: 121–123): In general, ''Zata'' is considered "the most accurate of all Burmese chronicles, particularly with regard to the best-known Pagan and Ava kings, many of whose dates have been corroborated by epigraphy." The table below lists the dates given by four main chronicles, as well as ''Hmannan's'' dates when anchored by the Anawrahta's inscriptionally verified accession date of 1044.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nyaung-U Sawrahan Pagan dynasty 920s births 1001 deaths 10th-century Burmese monarchs 11th-century Burmese monarchs