Talk:Anawrahta

"Burmese chronicles" What does this expression mean exactly?

Everywhere I look for some information about early Burmese civilization the authors often mention of some mysterious "Burmese Chronicles." But what does a "Burmese Chronicle" mean? What is the nature of such text? Are these texts historically reliable or of mythological nature? Do we know of any author(s)? How many chronicles preserved to this day? Where are the manuscripts? Are there any editions and (or ) translations available? What language (and script) they were written in? Burmese? Mon? Sanskrit? Pali? What was the writing material? From which period do they come - right from the Anawratha's reign or where they created after his death (if so then how long after his death?) Can anybody give some info please..? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.22.15.140 (talk) 05:28, 6 November 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the interest. A Wikipedia article on the Burmese Chronicles is one of many to-do's. There is a stub article on one of the chronicles, the Glass Palace Chronicle. The earliest chronicles (and indeed to a large degree the later ones) were simply royal records--when the kings were born, ascended the throne, went to war, built this pagoda, died, etc. First, there were many local chronicles in different languages (Burmese, Mon, Arakanese and Shan) with differing degrees of authority. Secondly, many more chronicles and royal property and taxation records (sittans) that existed were burned down/destroyed by war, be it in 1564 and 1600 when Pegu's royal palace was burned down both times, in 1784 when the Burmese burned down the royal Arakanese library at Mrauk-U or in 1885 when the British burned down the last royal library at Mandalay. (The Burmese also burned down the Siamese records in 1767.)

The earliest surviving Burmese language chronicle is called the Zatatawpon (Chronicle of Royal Horoscopes), compiled at the end of Pagan Dynasty (1287) or immediately before the Pinya period (1313). The next important chronicle was the Ava chronicles called Zambu Kungya, first compiled between 1364 and 1423. The first "national" (i.e. pan-Burma/not-regional) chronicle, one that attempted to bring all of the local chronicles, was the Yazawin Kyaw (Celebrated Chronicle) written in 1502. The most influential of all Burmese chronicles, the Maha Yazawin (The Great Chronicle) was written in the 1710s. It consulted various local histories from Arakan to Chiang Mai. The last one is the Glass Palace Chronicle written in 1829 and updated again in Mindon's regin (1853-1878). I haven't covered Mon, Shan and Arakanese chronicles yet. There are also more king-specific chronicles like the Yazadarit Ayedawbon (written in the 1560s) and Alaungpaya Ayedawbon (1770s).

Burma's many pagodas and their inscriptions act as a counter balance to the events reported in the chronicles.

Hope this helps. Hybernator (talk) 14:31, 7 November 2011 (UTC)

Many many many many thanks :) Looks like I've overlooked somehow the Burmese Palace article in the references. Now I have yet another question. Could you please give me - if possible - some bibliographical hints in western languages on the Early Burmese Literature/inscriptions/chronicles? Now I know about the Glass Palace Chronicle translation by G. Luce. Is this the only translation of Burmese source text which is available? Do you know of any general studies or essays on the matter? Btw thank you (and others) for detailed articles on Burmese history. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.22.5.4 (talk) 22:14, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

Well, the Luce/Pe Maung Tin translation covers only down to the end of Pagan Dynasty. Even that's a shorter version of the actual Burmese version. (I have both.) I don't know of any other formal peer-reviewed published translations of the subsequent volumes of the Glass Palace Chronicle (GPC), or any other chronicles. Of course, all Burmese history books and published articles lean heavily on the chronicles. The closest translation of the full chronicles is History of Burma by Phayre, first published in 1883. It is the closest (abridged) translation of GPC. One Burmese literature and culture, look for books by Htin Aung and Khin Myo Chit; they both wrote a lot of books in English. On early Burmese inscriptions and language, look for books by Luce as well as those by John Okell. Unlike some British colonial era historians, they both read Old Burmese. (Hall famously didn't read Burmese, and Harvey's translations are suspect.) On Burmese history based on inscriptions and archaeological evidence (not just the chronicles), look for publications/books by Luce, Than Tun, Michael Aung-Thwin, and Victor Lieberman. Also, Jon Fernquest has published a number of articles based on Mahayazawin and other sources. You can find them at the SOAS web site. HTH, Hybernator (talk) 17:43, 12 November 2011 (UTC)