''Maniket'' (, also spelt ''Manikhet''), from (), is considered to be the earliest extant

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

in modern-day

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

, complete with dialogue, song lyrics, and stage directions. The storyline of Manikhet is based on the Sattadhanu Jataka, the 20th story in the

Paññāsa Jātaka The ''Paññāsa Jātaka'' (; ) is a non-canonical collection of 50 stories of the Buddha's past lives, originating in mainland Southeast Asia. The stories were based on the style of the ''Jātakatthavaṇṇanā'', but are not from the Pāli Can ...

, a non-canonical collection of stories of the Buddha's past lives from

Lan Na The Lan Na kingdom or the Kingdom of Lanna (, , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; , , ), also known as Lannathai, was an Indianized state centered in present-day Northern Thailand from the 13th to the 18th centuries. The cultural developmen ...

Origins

The play is generally attributed to

Padethayaza Padethayaza (; –1754), also spelt Padesarājā, was a minister who served the last three monarchs at the Nyaungyan court, and was a prominent writer and poet. He is known for composing '' pyo'', lyrical poems based on the Jataka tales. While ...

, a minister during the

Nyaungyan period The history of Myanmar ( ) covers the period from the time of first-known human settlements 13,000 years ago to the present day. The earliest inhabitants of recorded history were a Tibeto-Burman languages, Tibeto-Burman-speaking people who esta ...

, who composed a ''

pyo ''Pyo'' () is a Burmese form of poetry and was a major Burmese verse form from the 1600s to 1700s. The earliest surviving poetic literature found in the Burmese language dates from between 1450 and 1550, and is largely in the form of ''pyo''. Fo ...

'' (a lyrical poem) in 1714. Other historians note that Manikhet may have originated during the reign of

Bodawpaya Bodawpaya (, ; ; 11 March 1745 – 5 June 1819) was the sixth king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma. Born Maung Shwe Waing and later Badon Min, he was the fourth son of Alaungpaya, founder of the dynasty and the Third Burmese Empire. He was procl ...

, whose crown prince appointed a literary committee in December 1789 to translate songs and plays acquired from Thailand after Burmese conquest.

Story

Manikhet is the name of a celestial horse with a precious stone eye. The story follows the life of Suthanu, a prince in the kingdom of

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

, and his accompanying horse, Manikhet.

References

{{Authority control Burmese literature Jataka tales Buddhist plays Burmese Buddhist texts