Nai Pan Hla (, ; 1923 – 18 June 2010) was a Burmese historian and cultural anthropologist of Mon descent. Throughout his career, he published many works on Mon

ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

, including the best-seller ''The Struggle of Rajadhiraj''.

Early life and education

Pan Hla was born in March 1923 in

Kawkareik Township Kawkareik Township (; , ; ) is the only township of Kawkareik District in the Karen State of Myanmar (Burma). The principal town is Kawkareik. Kawkareik township is the second most populated township in Karen State and there are many small village ...

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

to Nai Jawt and Mi Cho. He earned bachelors, law, and doctorate degrees from

Pacific Western University The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

in Los Angeles.

Career

In 1953, he joined the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

's archaeological department, serving as an official of Mon literature and culture. He published the best-seller ''Struggle of Rajadhiraj'', about

Razadarit Razadarit (, ; , or ; also spelled Yazadarit, "king of kings"; 1368–1421) was king of Kingdom of Hanthawaddy, Hanthawaddy Pegu from 1384 to 1421. He successfully unified his Mon language, Mon-speaking kingdom, and fended off major assaults ...

, in 1977.'''' In 1992, he published ''Eleven Mon Dhammasattha Texts''. In 1994, he became a professor at Meio University in Okinawa, Japan, where he taught Southeast Asian literature and history, and returned to Myanmar in 1998. He published ''A Short Mon History'' in 2013.

Death

He died on 18 June 2010 in Yangon after suffering a paralytic stroke.

Publications

* ''A Short Mon History'' (2013) * ''Struggle of Rajadhiraj'' (1977)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nai Pan Hla Burmese writers 20th-century Burmese historians 21st-century Burmese historians People from Kayin State 1923 births 2010 deaths Historians of Southeast Asia Burmese studies scholars Burmese Mon people Burmese academics Burmese civil servants