Mon Yazawin
| Original title | မွန်ရာဇဝင် |
|---|---|
| Translator | unknown |
| Language | Burmese |
| Series | Burmese chronicles |
| Genre | Chronicle,History |
Publication date | c.1520s (in Mon) 17th or 18th century (in Burmese) |
| Publication place | Hanthawaddy Kingdom |
Mon Yazawin(Burmese:မွန်ရာဇဝင်,pronounced[mʊ̀ɴjàzəwɪ̀ɴ];also spelledMwan Rajawan[1]) is achroniclethat covers most of theMartaban–Pegu period.It is a 17th- or 18th-century Burmese translation of aMon-languagechronicle, commissioned by an unnamed early 16th-century crown prince. It is one of the two extant chronicles with the Burmese name "Mon Yazawin", with the other being a 19th-centurytranslated chronicle by Shwe Naw.
Brief[edit]
The subject chronicle of this article mainly covers theMartaban–Hanthawaddy perioddown to the reign of KingBinnya Ran II(r. 1492–1526), and devotes its longest section on KingDhammazedi(r. 1471–1492). Its early sections contain an origins story about the patron saint of the Lower Myanmar Mon namedGavampati.[2]
According to the only extant palm-leaf manuscript of the chronicle, now located in theNational Library of Myanmar,[note 1]it is a Burmese translation of a Mon manuscript, made by or for an unnamed crown prince, the eldest son of the current king.[2]The manuscript does not state who the crown prince was, who the king was, when the original text was written, who the translator was, or when it was translated.[2]Michael Aung-Thwin's analysis of the Burmese translation finds that the original Mon text was probably written in or around Binnya Ran II's death in 1526;[note 2]that the translation, based on its use of Burmese, was probably made after the 17th or 18th century;[note 3]and that the chronicle's narrative of King Dhmmazedi suggests its connections to the chronicleNidana Arambhakatha.[2]
It is one of the two extant chronicles with the Burmese name "Mon Yazawin", with the other so-named chronicle being a 19th-centurytranslation by Shwe Naw.[3]Furthermore, the 18th-century chronicleMaha Yazawinlists a "Mon Yazawin" as one of its sources; but there is no evidence to link thatMon Yazawinto any of the extantMon Yazawins.[4]
Notes[edit]
- ^(Aung-Thwin 2017: 221): Number 2290 at the National Library.Kagoshima Universityhas a microfilm copy of the manuscript, catalogued in reels 100–101.
- ^(Aung-Thwin 2017: 221): The chronicle ends with the reign of Binnya Ran II. If Aung-Thwin's conjecture is correct, the crown prince may have beenYazadipati,who per (Aung-Thwin 2017: 283) briefly succeeded Binnya Ran II for a few hours before dying from unknown causes.
- ^(Aung-Thwin 2017: 221): The extant Burmese translation uses "modern" tone markers that came into use mainly after the 17th and 18th centuries. However, the translation also contains some older spellings and usages found in both Pagan and Ava period inscriptions, which suggests an even earlier Burmese translation.
References[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
- Aung-Thwin, Michael A.(2017).Myanmar in the Fifteenth Century.Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.ISBN978-0-8248-6783-6.
