Bodawpaya

Bodawpaya ဘိုးတော်ဘုရား
Statute of Bodawpaya atMandalay Palace
King of Burma Prince of Badon
Reign	11 February 1782 – 5 June 1819
Predecessor	Phaungka
Successor	Bagyidaw
Born	MaungWaing မောင်ဝိုင်း (1745-03-11)11 March 1745 Moksobo
Died	5 June 1819(1819-06-05)(aged 74) Amarapura
Burial	Amarapura
Consort	Me Lun Me 207 queens in total
Issue	62 sons, 58 daughters including:Thado Minsaw
Regnal name Siripavaratilokapaṇdita Mahādhammarājadhirāja (သီရိပဝရ တိလောကပဏ္ဍိတ မဟာဓမ္မရာဇာဓိရာဇာ)
House	Konbaung
Father	Alaungpaya
Mother	Yun San
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Bodawpaya(Burmese:ဘိုးတော်ဘုရား,pronounced[bódɔ̀pʰəjá];Thai:ปดุง;11 March 1745 – 5 June 1819) was the sixth king of theKonbaung dynastyofBurma.BornMaung Shwe Waingand laterBadon Min,he was the fourth son ofAlaungpaya,founder of the dynasty and the Third Burmese Empire. He was proclaimed king after deposing his nephewPhaungkaza Maung Maung,son of his eldest brotherNaungdawgyi,atAva.Bodawpaya moved the royal capital back toAmarapurain 1782. He was titled Hsinbyumyashin (lit. 'Lord of the White Elephants'), not to be confused with his older brotherHsinbyushin.However, he became known to posterity as Bodawpaya (Grandsire) in relation to his successor, his grandsonBagyidaw(Royal Elder Uncle), who in turn was given this name in relation to his nephewMindon Min.He fathered 70 sons and 67 daughters by about 54 consorts.

Military expeditions

Depiction of King Bodawpaya at theAmarapurapalace in 1795 (British Embassy of Michael Symes).

Also known asBodaw U Waing,he invadedArakanin 1784 sending his royal armies led by his son, the Heir ApparentThado Minsaw,across the Western Yoma range of mountains. The capital of ArakanMrauk Uwas captured on the last of 1784. TheMahamuni Buddhaimage, among other treasures such as theKhmerbronze statues, were brought back to mainland Burma; these can still be seen inMandalay.Also taken were 20,000 captives as slaves to pagodas and temples, and the nobility at Amarapura. Once Arakan was annexed as a province of Burma, her borders became contiguous withBritish India.The Arakanese revolted in 1794, and the British Governor of IndiaSir John Shore(later Lord Teignmouth) sent CaptainMichael Symeson an embassy, fully equipped to gather as much information as possible about the country, to the Court of Ava as the kingdom was still known to the outside world.

Bodawpayainvaded Siam in 1785,and was defeated.The Governor ofTavoyrevolted in 1791 with the aid of theSiamese,but apunitive expeditionsent by Bodawpaya by sea laid siege ending in peace negotiations in 1793 and the ceding of theTenasserimcoast to the Burmese.Heinvaded Siam again in 1809,but was fended off byMaha Senanurak.The Burmese loss of Lan Na during the failed invasion proved to be the end of their 200-year rule.

In 1816, theAhomgovernor ofGuwahatiin Assam, Badan ChandraBorphukanvisited the court of Bodawpaya to seek help in order to defeat his political rival PurnanandaBurhagohain,the Prime Minister ofAhom Kingdomin Assam. A strong force of 16,000 under the command of Gen. Maha Minhla Minkhaung was sent with Badan ChandraBorphukan.The Burmese force entered Assam in January, 1817 and defeated the Assamese force in the battle of Ghiladhari. Meanwhile, Purnananda Burhagohain died, and RuchinathBurhagohain,the son of Purnananda Burahgohain fled to Guwahati. The reigningAhomkingChandrakanta Singhacame in terms with Badan ChandraBorphukanand his Burmese allies. The King appointed Badan Chandra Borphukan as Mantri Phukan (Prime Minister) and anAhomprincess Hemo Aideo was given for marriage to Burmese King Bodawpaya along with many gifts. The Burmese force retired fromAssamsoon after. A year later, Badan Chandra Borphukan was assassinated and theAhomkingChandrakanta Singhawas deposed by rival political faction led by Ruchinath Burhagohain, the son of Purnananda Burhagohain.Chandrakanta Singhaand the friends of Badan Chandra Borphukan appeal for help to Bodawpaya. In February 1819, the Burmese forces invaded Assam for second time and reinstalledChandrakanta Singhaon the throne of Assam.

Religion and culture

Bodawpaya's tomb in Amarapura.

Statue ofShwedaung Min,son of Bodawpaya.

Bodawpaya proclaimed himself the next messianicBuddhaorMaitreya(Arimittya), but his claim was firmly rejected by theSangha.During his reign, scholarship flourished due to the discipline and stability achieved by establishing a chapter ofSangharajasor senior monks charged with the responsibility of safeguarding the purity of the Sangha. He had successfully arbitrated in favour of orthodoxy to cover both shoulders on the alms round in the controversy concerning the correct way of wearing the robes, and the Order of Monks was unified under theThudhamma order.Burma became the custodian of Buddhism in the region, and theupasampadaordination was re-introduced toSri Lankawhere it established the Amarapura Nikaya.

The unfinished Mantalagyi Stupa, intended to be the largest stupa in the world

In 1790 Bodawpaya began the construction of a giganticstupacalled Mantalagyi (Great Royal Stupa) atMingun,11 kilometres (6.8 mi) up the RiverIrrawaddyfrom Mandalay on the west bank. It was however never finished after a prophecy went round sayingPayagyi lè apyi that, moksoe thonnya kap– "Once the great pagoda has been wrought, the Moksoe dynasty will come to nought" (ဘုရားကြီးလည်းအပြီးသတ် မုဆိုးသုညကပ်။). It was meant to have stood 150 metres (490 ft), tall enough to be seen fromShweboin the west, the birthplace of the dynasty, towering above the Minwun Hills. An earthquake in 1838 left huge fissures in the structure, and also caused the heads of the two giganticchinthesto fall into the river. There was also a gigantic 90 ton bell dedicated to the stupa called theMingun Bell,cast between 1808 and 1810.It was the largest ringing bell in the world, when the larger bell inMoscow Kremlin,called theTsar bell,broke,until the largerBell of Good Luckwas cast and first rung for the new year in 2000. During his reign Bodawpaya also proved to be a great patron of the performing arts; he appointed a minister calledThabin Wun(သဘင်ဝန်), and established strict regulations by royal decree (အမိန့်တော်a meint daw).He also ordered a major economic survey of the kingdom in 1784.

Bodawpaya was succeeded after his death in 1819 by his grandson, Prince ofSagaing,who later became known asBagyidaw.The Heir Apparent, father of Bagyidaw, had died in 1808.

the Amarapura Royal Palace

Bibliography

• Charney, Michael W. (2006).Powerful Learning: Buddhist Literati and the Throne in Burma's Last Dynasty, 1752–1885.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.
• Koenig, William J. "The Burmese Polity, 1752–1819: Politics, Administration, and Social Organization in the early Kon-baung Period", Michigan Papers on South and Southeast Asia, Number 34, 1990.
• Lieberman, Victor B. "Political Consolidation in Burma Under the Early Konbaung Dynasty, 1752-c. 1820."Journal of Asia History30.2 (1996): 152–168.
• Hall, D.G.E. (1960).Burma(3rd ed.). Hutchinson University Library.ISBN978-1406735031.
• Harvey, G. E. (1925).History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824.London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
• Htin Aung, Maung (1967).A History of Burma.New York and London: Cambridge University Press.
• Letwe Nawrahta and Twinthin Taikwun (c. 1770). Hla Thamein (ed.).Alaungpaya Ayedawbon(in Burmese) (1961 ed.). Ministry of Culture, Union of Burma.
• Maung Maung Tin, U (1905).Konbaung Hset Maha Yazawin(in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2004 ed.). Yangon: Department of Universities History Research, University of Yangon.
• Myint-U, Thant (2006).The River of Lost Footsteps—Histories of Burma.Farrar, Straus and Giroux.ISBN978-0-374-16342-6.
• Phayre, Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur P. (1883).History of Burma(1967 ed.). London: Susil Gupta.

External links

• Wanderings in Burma by George W Bird, 1897F J Bright & Son, London, pp 316A, 318, 318A, 320A inc. old photos of Mingun by Signor Beaton of Mandalay