List of Mon monarchs
Encyclopedia
Mon kingdoms were political establishments by the Mon
-speaking people that ruled large sections of present-day Myanmar
(Burma) at various times in the last 1200 years. The kingdoms in chronological order are the Thaton Kingdom
(9th. century–1057), the Hanthawaddy Kingdom
(1287–1539), and the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom
(1740–1757).
is Dvaravati
, which prospered until around 1000 AD when their capital was sacked by the Khmer Empire
and most of the inhabitants fled west to present-day Burma and eventually founded new kingdoms. These, too, eventually came under pressure from new ethnic groups arriving from the north.
established the Kingdom of Thaton based in the city of Thaton
in the middle of 9th century. About the same period, southward-migrating Burman
s took over lands in central Myanmar once dominated by Pyu city-states, and the Tai
started trickling into South-East Asia. The Burmans established the Kingdom of Pagan (Bagan) in 849 in Upper Burma.
Traditional Burmese and Mon reconstructions hold that Thaton was overrun by the Pagan Kingdom in 1057. The conquered kingdom's literary and religious traditions helped to mold early Pagan civilization. Between 1050 and about 1085, Mon craftsmen and artisans helped to build some two thousand monuments at Pagan, the remains of which today rival the splendors of Angkor Wat
. The Mon script is widely considered to be the source of the Burmese script, the earliest evidence of which is dated to 1058, a year after the Thaton conquest.
However, some modern research has argued that Mon influence on the interior after Anawrahta's conquest is a greatly exaggerated post-Pagan legend, and that Lower Burma in fact lacked a substantial independent polity prior to Pagan's expansion. Possibly in this period, the delta sedimentation--which now extends the coastline by three miles a century--remained insufficient, and the sea still reached too far inland, to support a population even as large as the modest population of the late precolonial era. Whatever the condition of the coast, all scholars accept that during the 11th century, Pagan established its authority in Lower Burma and this conquest facilitated growing cultural exchange, if not with local Mons, then with India and with Theravada stronghold Sri Lanka. From a geopolitical standpoint, Anawrahta's conquest of Thaton checked the Khmer advance in the Tenasserim coast.
, and all its vassal states became independent. In present-day Lower Burma, Wareru
established a kingdom for the Mon-speaking people called Ramannadesa by unifying three Mon-speaking regions of Lower Burma: Martaban (Mottama), Pegu (Bago), the Irrawaddy delta
. The kingdom's first capital was at Martaban but the capital was moved to Pegu in 1369.
For its first 100 years, the kingdom was merely a loose collection of three Mon-speaking regions. Its kings had little or no authority over the vassals. Martaban was in open rebellion from 1363 to 1388. King Razadarit firmly unified the three Mon-speaking regions together, and successfully fended off the northern Burmese
-speaking Kingdom of Ava in the Forty Years' War
(1385–1424). The war ended in a stalemate but it was a victory for Hanthawaddy as Ava finally gave up its dream of restoring the Pagan Empire. In the years following the war, Pegu occasionally aided Ava's southern vassal states of Prome and Toungoo in their rebellions but carefully avoided getting plunged into a full scale war.
After the war, Hanthawaddy entered its golden age whereas its rival Ava gradually went into decline. From the 1420s to the 1530s, Hanthawaddy was the most powerful and prosperous kingdom of all post-Pagan kingdoms. Under a string of especially gifted monarchs — Binnya Ran I
, Shin Sawbu
, Dhammazedi
and Binnya Ran II
— the kingdom enjoyed a long golden age, profiting from foreign commerce. Its merchants traded with traders from across the Indian Ocean, filling the king's treasury with gold and silver, silk and spices, and all the other stuff of early modern trade. The kingdom also became a famous center of Theravada Buddhism. It established strong ties with Ceylon, and encouraged reforms that later spread throughout the country.
The powerful kingdom's end came abruptly. Due to the inexperience of King Takayutpi
, the kingdom was captured by a smaller kingdom to the north, Kingdom of Toungoo in 1539 led by King Tabinshwehti
and his deputy Gen. Bayinnaung
. Toungoo captured the Irrawaddy delta in 1538, Pegu in 1539, and Martaban in 1541. The kingdom was briefly revived in 1550 after Tabinshwehti was assassinated. But Bayinnaung quickly defeated the rebellion in 1552.
, the upstart kingdom quickly carved out a space for itself in Lower Burma, and continued its push northward. On 23 March 1752, its forces captured Ava, and ended the 266-year-old Toungoo dynasty.
A new dynasty called Konbaung
led by King Alaungpaya
rose in Upper Burma to challenge the southern forces, and went on to conquer all of Upper Burma by the end of 1753. After Hanthawaddy's invasion of Upper Burma failed in 1754, the kingdom's leadership in self-defeating measures killed off the Toungoo royal family, and persecuted ethnic Burmans in the south, both of which only strengthened Alaungpaya's hand. In 1755, Alaungpaya invaded Lower Burma. Konbaung forces captured the Irrawaddy delta
in May 1755, the French defended port of Thanlyin
in July 1756, and finally the capital Pegu in May 1757.
The fall of Restored Hanthawaddy was the beginning of the end of Mon people's centuries-old dominance of Lower Burma. Konbaung armies' reprisals forced thousands of Mons to flee to Siam
. By the early 19th century, assimilation, inter-marriage, and mass migration of Burman families from the north had reduced the Mon population to a small minority.
Mon language
The Mon language is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon, who live in Burma and Thailand. Mon, like the related language Cambodian—but unlike most languages in Mainland Southeast Asia—is not tonal. Mon is spoken by more than a million people today. In recent years, usage of Mon has...
-speaking people that ruled large sections of present-day Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
(Burma) at various times in the last 1200 years. The kingdoms in chronological order are the Thaton Kingdom
Thaton Kingdom
The Thaton Kingdom or Thuwunnabumi was a Mon kingdom, believed to have existed in Lower Burma from at least the 9th century to the middle of the 11th century. One of many Mon kingdoms that existed in modern-day Lower Burma and Thailand, the kingdom was essentially a city-state centered around the...
(9th. century–1057), the Hanthawaddy Kingdom
Hanthawaddy Kingdom
The Hanthawaddy Kingdom was the dominant kingdom that ruled lower Burma from 1287 to 1539. The Mon-speaking kingdom was founded as Ramannadesa by King Wareru following the collapse of the Pagan Empire in 1287 as a nominal vassal state of Sukhothai Kingdom, and of the Mongol Yuan dynasty...
(1287–1539), and the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom
Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom
The Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom was the kingdom that ruled Lower Burma and parts of Upper Burma from 1740 to 1757. The kingdom grew out of a rebellion by the Mon people, who then formed the majority in Lower Burma, against the Burman Toungoo Dynasty of Ava in Upper Burma...
(1740–1757).
Brief history
The first recorded kingdom attributed to the Mon peopleMon people
The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...
is Dvaravati
Dvaravati
The Dvaravati period lasted from the 6th to the 13th centuries. Dvaravati refers to both a culture and a disparate conglomerate of principalities.- History :...
, which prospered until around 1000 AD when their capital was sacked by the Khmer Empire
Khmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia. The empire, which grew out of the former kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalized parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Malaysia. Its greatest legacy is Angkor, the site of the capital city...
and most of the inhabitants fled west to present-day Burma and eventually founded new kingdoms. These, too, eventually came under pressure from new ethnic groups arriving from the north.
Thaton (9th century–1057)
The MonMon people
The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...
established the Kingdom of Thaton based in the city of Thaton
Thaton
Thaton is a town in Mon State, in southern Myanmar on the Tenasserim plains. Thaton lies along the National Highway 8 and is also connected by the National Road 85.-Etymology:...
in the middle of 9th century. About the same period, southward-migrating Burman
Bamar
The Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...
s took over lands in central Myanmar once dominated by Pyu city-states, and the Tai
Tai peoples
The Tai ethnicity refers collectively to the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia, stretching from Hainan to eastern India and from southern Sichuan to Laos, Thailand, and parts of Vietnam, which speak languages in the Tai family and share similar traditions and festivals, including...
started trickling into South-East Asia. The Burmans established the Kingdom of Pagan (Bagan) in 849 in Upper Burma.
Traditional Burmese and Mon reconstructions hold that Thaton was overrun by the Pagan Kingdom in 1057. The conquered kingdom's literary and religious traditions helped to mold early Pagan civilization. Between 1050 and about 1085, Mon craftsmen and artisans helped to build some two thousand monuments at Pagan, the remains of which today rival the splendors of Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation – first Hindu,...
. The Mon script is widely considered to be the source of the Burmese script, the earliest evidence of which is dated to 1058, a year after the Thaton conquest.
However, some modern research has argued that Mon influence on the interior after Anawrahta's conquest is a greatly exaggerated post-Pagan legend, and that Lower Burma in fact lacked a substantial independent polity prior to Pagan's expansion. Possibly in this period, the delta sedimentation--which now extends the coastline by three miles a century--remained insufficient, and the sea still reached too far inland, to support a population even as large as the modest population of the late precolonial era. Whatever the condition of the coast, all scholars accept that during the 11th century, Pagan established its authority in Lower Burma and this conquest facilitated growing cultural exchange, if not with local Mons, then with India and with Theravada stronghold Sri Lanka. From a geopolitical standpoint, Anawrahta's conquest of Thaton checked the Khmer advance in the Tenasserim coast.
Hanthawaddy (1287–1539)
In 1287, the Pagan Empire collapsed due to Mongol invasionsMongol invasion of Burma
After the conquest of China, Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty and the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, invaded the Pagan Kingdom of Burma in 1277 and 1283. However, the Yuan armies later again invaded Burma several times in order to assert supremacy over the territory.- Initial...
, and all its vassal states became independent. In present-day Lower Burma, Wareru
Wareru
Wareru was the founder of the Ramanya Kingdom located in today's Lower Burma . The kingdom is more commonly known as Kingdom of Hanthawady Pegu , or simply Pegu although the kingdom's first capital was Martaban...
established a kingdom for the Mon-speaking people called Ramannadesa by unifying three Mon-speaking regions of Lower Burma: Martaban (Mottama), Pegu (Bago), the Irrawaddy delta
Irrawaddy Delta
The Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Ayeyarwady Region , the lowest expanse of land in Burma that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, 290 km to the south at the mouth of the Ayeyarwady River...
. The kingdom's first capital was at Martaban but the capital was moved to Pegu in 1369.
For its first 100 years, the kingdom was merely a loose collection of three Mon-speaking regions. Its kings had little or no authority over the vassals. Martaban was in open rebellion from 1363 to 1388. King Razadarit firmly unified the three Mon-speaking regions together, and successfully fended off the northern Burmese
Burmese language
The Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
-speaking Kingdom of Ava in the Forty Years' War
Forty Years' War
The Forty Years' War was a military conflict fought between the Burmese-speaking Kingdom of Ava and the Mon-speaking Kingdom of Hanthawaddy Pegu. The war was fought during two separate periods: 1385 to 1391 and 1404 to 1424, interrupted by two truces of 1391–1404 and 1406–1407...
(1385–1424). The war ended in a stalemate but it was a victory for Hanthawaddy as Ava finally gave up its dream of restoring the Pagan Empire. In the years following the war, Pegu occasionally aided Ava's southern vassal states of Prome and Toungoo in their rebellions but carefully avoided getting plunged into a full scale war.
After the war, Hanthawaddy entered its golden age whereas its rival Ava gradually went into decline. From the 1420s to the 1530s, Hanthawaddy was the most powerful and prosperous kingdom of all post-Pagan kingdoms. Under a string of especially gifted monarchs — Binnya Ran I
Binnya Ran I
Binnya Ran I was the eleventh king of Hanthawaddy Pegu who reigned from 1426 to 1446. As crown prince, he ended the Forty Years' War with the rival Ava Kingdom in 1423. He came to the throne after poisoning his brother King Binnya Dhammaraza in 1426...
, Shin Sawbu
Shin Sawbu
Shin Sawbu was the queen of Hanthawaddy from 1453 to 1472. Queen Shin Sawbu was also known as Binnya Thau or Old Queen in Mon. Queen Shin Sawbu and Queen Jamadevi of Haripunjaya are the two most famous queens among the small number of queens who ruled in mainland Southeast Asia...
, Dhammazedi
Dhammazedi
Dhammazedi was the 16th king of Hanthawaddy, who reigned from 1472 to 1492, and is considered one of the most enlightened rulers in Burmese history, and by some accounts "the greatest" of all Hanthawaddy kings. The former Buddhist monk, educated in the rival kingdom of Ava in his youth, was a...
and Binnya Ran II
Binnya Ran II
Binnya Ran II was the 17th king of Hanthawaddy for 34 years from 1492 to 1526. He was revered for his gentleness although his first act as king was to enforce the massacre of the kinsmen, putting all the royal offspring to death....
— the kingdom enjoyed a long golden age, profiting from foreign commerce. Its merchants traded with traders from across the Indian Ocean, filling the king's treasury with gold and silver, silk and spices, and all the other stuff of early modern trade. The kingdom also became a famous center of Theravada Buddhism. It established strong ties with Ceylon, and encouraged reforms that later spread throughout the country.
The powerful kingdom's end came abruptly. Due to the inexperience of King Takayutpi
Takayutpi
Thushin Takayutpi was the last sovereign king of Hanthawaddy Pegu who reigned from 1526 to 1539. At his ascension, the 15-year-old king inherited the most prosperous and powerful kingdom of all post-Pagan kingdoms...
, the kingdom was captured by a smaller kingdom to the north, Kingdom of Toungoo in 1539 led by King Tabinshwehti
Tabinshwehti
Tabinshwehti was a king who unified Burma in 1539 and known as the founder of the Second Burmese Empire.Tabinshwehti succeeded his father Mingyinyo as ruler of the Toungoo dynasty in 1530...
and his deputy Gen. Bayinnaung
Bayinnaung
Bayinnaung Kyawhtin Nawrahta was the third king of the Toungoo dynasty of Burma . During his 30-year reign, which has been called the "greatest explosion of human energy ever seen in Burma", Bayinnaung assembled the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, which included much of modern day...
. Toungoo captured the Irrawaddy delta in 1538, Pegu in 1539, and Martaban in 1541. The kingdom was briefly revived in 1550 after Tabinshwehti was assassinated. But Bayinnaung quickly defeated the rebellion in 1552.
Restored Hanthawaddy (1740–1757)
Though Toungoo kings would rule all of Lower Burma well into the mid-18th century, the golden age of Hanthawaddy was fondly remembered by the Mon people of Lower Burma. In 1740, they rose up against a weak Toungoo Dynasty on its last legs, and succeeded in restoring the fallen Hanthawaddy Kingdom. Supported by the FrenchFrench colonial empire
The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
, the upstart kingdom quickly carved out a space for itself in Lower Burma, and continued its push northward. On 23 March 1752, its forces captured Ava, and ended the 266-year-old Toungoo dynasty.
A new dynasty called Konbaung
Konbaung dynasty
The Konbaung Dynasty was the last dynasty that ruled Burma from 1752 to 1885. The dynasty created the second largest empire in Burmese history, and continued the administrative reforms begun by the Toungoo dynasty, laying the foundations of modern state of Burma...
led by King Alaungpaya
Alaungpaya
Alaungpaya was king of Burma from 1752 to 1760, and the founder of the Konbaung Dynasty. By his death in 1760, the former chief of a small village in Upper Burma had reunified all of Burma, subdued Manipur, recovered Lan Na, and driven out the French and the English who had given help to the...
rose in Upper Burma to challenge the southern forces, and went on to conquer all of Upper Burma by the end of 1753. After Hanthawaddy's invasion of Upper Burma failed in 1754, the kingdom's leadership in self-defeating measures killed off the Toungoo royal family, and persecuted ethnic Burmans in the south, both of which only strengthened Alaungpaya's hand. In 1755, Alaungpaya invaded Lower Burma. Konbaung forces captured the Irrawaddy delta
Irrawaddy Delta
The Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Ayeyarwady Region , the lowest expanse of land in Burma that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, 290 km to the south at the mouth of the Ayeyarwady River...
in May 1755, the French defended port of Thanlyin
Thanlyin
Thanlyin is a major port city of Myanmar, located across Bago River from the city of Yangon. Thanlyin Township comprises 17 quarters and 28 village tracts. It is home to the largest port in the country, Thilawa port.-History:...
in July 1756, and finally the capital Pegu in May 1757.
The fall of Restored Hanthawaddy was the beginning of the end of Mon people's centuries-old dominance of Lower Burma. Konbaung armies' reprisals forced thousands of Mons to flee to Siam
Ayutthaya kingdom
Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese , Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the walls of the...
. By the early 19th century, assimilation, inter-marriage, and mass migration of Burman families from the north had reduced the Mon population to a small minority.
See also
- List of Burmese monarchs
- List of heirs to the Burmese thrones
- History of Burma