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Office of Supdt. Archaeological Survey
Dated Camp Hmawza the 1st. Feb:1910
Dear Sir,
As I have been travelling about in the country,I must
apologise for the delay in answering your letter dated the 20th
November 1909.
2. The two stone pillars of the Shwezigon Talaing in-
scription are placed at the sides of a Tazaung or Chapel,and
are about 20 feet from each other.They appear to form one recoi^-
- - A - TA
3. King Sri Tribhuwanadityadhj£nmaraja of Pagan may
undoubtedly be identified with King Kyanzittha,who is said by
Phayre to have reigned for 23 years,from 1057 to 1085.These
dates are certainly wrong,because,according to the Burmese
and Talaing versions of the Myazedi Inscription,Kyanzittha,
bearing the above title,because King in 1623 Anno BudhjJ#,that
is,1085 A.D. He reigned for 23 years,and died in 1113 A.P.
4. Sisit and Tattadesa cannot be identified with
Burmese place-names with any degree of certainty.One of
the palace-sites of Arimaddahapur^hTich"was rounded by Thin-
ligyaung (Ko. 7 of Phayre1s list ),who reigned from 345 to 388
A.D. The prominent Kings of Pagan are supposed tooths re-incar-
nations of their predecessors.In the present instance,Kyanzi t~
tha was a re-incarnation of Rishi Bisnu and not of a proceeding
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ruler;and the identification of Sisit with Siripaccaya cannot
be satisfactory .But there is a place in Lower Burma, whi<£fwas h=s
built by a Rishi,whose name is not given in the Burmese chroni-
cles. It is ancient Prome,where I am now excavating.Its classi-
/
cal name is Sirikhetta,in Pali,Sri Khsetra,in Sanskrit,Sarekhet
-tara,in Burmese, and Kidaram,in Tamil .'When he built the city
in 442 B.C.,for his grandson,Duttabaung,he was helped by six
?7R _
others,namely,Gawampati Indra,Wga,Garuda,Candi ,Paramesvara.
A
Gawampati is the patron Saint of the Talaings.Indra is the
Jw*.
es
rain-god^is worshipped by agriculturists.Haga,the Serpent, was
an object of worship in pre-Buddhist days.The Garuda is the
vehicle of the god Vishnu.Paramesvara and Candi are Siva and hisl
his wife,Kali.So,in this category we have a hotch-potch of a
number of primitive faiths.I am inclined to think that ancient
Prome was occupied by the Talaings;and that,in borrowing from /
Talaing history,the Burns chroniclers retained only the Rishi
and dropped his name,Bisnu,in describing the foundation of
zv
S^r skhettara.The locality is redolent of the name Bisnu,which
is ascribed to various personalities:the Hindu god,Vishnu,a prin
-cess,a female Spirit.
5. As regards Tat tad e sa,1 am inclined to read it
as Satta-desa,the"region of the Seven Kings."If you refer to my
translation of the Kalyani Inscripbions at Pegu,you will find
that,before Anawrata conquered Thaton,that tract of country
was wlad by "Seven Kings,and th^t a civ?i brok^ out amonj
them.Most probably,the region round Thato;n,and not Pagan,was
called "Sattadesa".Porchhammer says,Notes on the Early History
' - - 1 -------
oi' British Buama,HL.page 10 yl have little doubt that by the Sa^
ttarajasenaya of the Kalyani Inscriptions,the seven clan chiefs
of tne Taungthus are meant,who harassed the Talaings by their
constant inroads.This must have happened in the 9th. o£ 10th.
century after Christ,prior to the conquest of T-haton by the
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Burmese King Anawrata-il hope you will kindly let me know whether
my identification of "Sisit" and "Sattadesa",in the light of
Burmese history,is acceptable to you.
6. In Burmese histories and inscriptions,accom-
plished facts are embodied in prophecies,with a certain amount
of oriental hyperbole.Perhaps,the same thing has happened in
this Talaing inscription .
7. Please do send me a list of the gaps that
require to be filled.I shall do my best to be of assistance to
you.The inscription appears to belong to the same period as
the Myazedi:it may be a/little earlier .by a few years.lt must
nave been put up oy the Talaing atoi ears, of Kyanzittha.On the
'whole,both on account of its histories,! vocabulary and its
hxstoi ical and mythological allusions,I look upon the Shwezigon
inscription as being more important than the Myazedi.
8.
8. Prom time to time,I shall he only too glad to
send you copies of Talaing inscriptions that I may come across
T
in the course of my travels.At present,they are a sealed hook
to the Archaeological Department;and your researches have been
of great assistance to us.
9. I am much obliged for the extract copies of
your article on the Myazedi inscription,which I have read with
great interest.I think you have made a slight mistake in foot
note^ at page 1050.The Prince,who put up the Myazedi inscription
was a son of Kyanzifctha,and not the queens son by a former
marriage.He was kept out of the succession,because the King want
&./
-ed to beqiiath his Crown to his grandson,Alaungsithu,the child
of his daughter,by an Indian Prince.This incident is fully des-
cribed in paragraph 2,page 38,of Phayres History of Burma.
C.O.Blagden Esqr
Yours sincerely
Villa Emilia,Davos-Platz
Switzerland.
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