Saw Lu ( ; also spelled Sawlu; also known as Min Lulin ( ), ; 19 April 1049 – 21 April 1084) was king of Pagan dynasty of

Burma 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 ha ...

(Myanmar) from 1077 to 1084. He inherited from his father

Anawrahta Anawrahta Minsaw (, ; 11 May 1014 – 11 April 1077) was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone of Upper Burma into the first Burmese Empire that ...

the Pagan Empire, the first ever unified kingdom of

(Myanmar) but proved an inexperienced ruler. In 1082, he faced a rebellion in

Lower Burma Lower Myanmar (, also called Lower Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta ( Ayeyarwady, Bago and Yangon Regions), as well as coastal regions of the country ( Rakhine and Mon States and Tanintharyi ...

, and was captured c. April 1083. He was later killed in captivity about a year later.

Early life

Saw Lu was born to King Anawrahta and Queen Agga Mahethi, Queen of the Southern Palace. The

Burmese chronicles The royal chronicles of Myanmar ( ; also known as Burmese chronicles) are detailed and continuous chronicles of the Burmese monarchy, monarchy of Myanmar (Burma). The chronicles were written on different media such as parabaik paper, palm-leaf ...

do not agree on the dates regarding his life and reign. The table below lists the dates given by the four main chronicles,Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 348 and scholarship. Moreover, the chronicles do not agree whether or not Saw Lu was older than Kyansittha, Anawrahta's other son. According to early chronicles, Kyansittha was older (20 years per ''Zata'') and (two years per ''Maha Yazawin''). However, later chronicles ''Yazawin Thit'' and ''Hmannan'' say Saw Lu was older by about one and two years, respectively. At any rate, Anawrahta made Saw Lu the

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

even though Anawrahta already had a son,

Kyansittha Kyansittha (, ; also spelt as Kyanzittha or Hti-Hlaing Min; 21 July 1030 – 1112/13) was king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1084 to 1112/13, and is considered one of the greatest Burmese monarchs. He continued the social, econom ...

by a minor queen whom he had discarded. Saw Lu was brought up by a Mon lady of noble birth. He grew up with the wet nurse's son Yamankan, who became a close friend of his.Htin Aung 1967: 38–39 Saw Lu was not interested in running the kingdom, and never participated in any of his father's military campaigns. He viewed

, his half-brother and general in the Pagan army who was extremely popular with the people, with suspicion.

Reign

Saw Lu ascended to the Pagan throne on 11 April 1077 after his father Anawrahta had died under mysterious circumstances. When he became king, he married his father's Mon queen Manisanda (Khin U) and made her the chief queen.Hmannan Vol.1 2003: 274 His regnal title was Śrīvájrabharaṇatribupati (). To run the Mon-speaking territories in the south, he appointed his trusted childhood friend Yamankan, an ethnic Mon. To administer the upcountry, Saw Lu, at the urging of

Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

Shin Arahan, reluctantly brought back Kyansittha, who had been sent to exile by Anawrahta for his affair with Manisanda. However, Saw Lu soon had to banish Kyansittha again (this time to Dala near

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

) because the latter renewed his affair with Manisanda.Harvey 1925: 34–36Coedès 1968: 155

Mon rebellion

As governor of Pegu, Yamankan continued to visit Saw Lu at Pagan.(Htin Aung 1967: 38): the name Yamankan (literally, Blind Mon) was not the governor's true name. It was an insulting posthumous name given by the chroniclers. His true name is lost to history. Knowing the inexperience of his childhood friend well, Yamankan decided to rebel. The chronicles describe the final breach between Saw Lu and Yamankan in a dramatic way. The two were playing a game of

dice A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, ro ...

, and Yamankan won. As Yamankan romped about in joy at his victory, Saw Lu taunted him, "If you are so clever, why don't you rebel against me?" Yamankan went back to Pegu, and revolted. In late 1082, he sailed up the Irrawaddy river with his army, and took a position on an island a few miles below Pagan. Saw Lu recalled

from exile, and gave him the command of Pagan army. They marched south and halted near Myingun (near Magwe). Yamankan's army was stationed at Thayet. Saw Lu was impatient and against Kyansittha's warning, attacked. But Yamankan had expected such an attack and prepared his positions well. Saw Lu's army was routed and the king was taken prisoner. According to the chronicle ''Zatadawbon Yazawin'', the battle between Saw Lu and Yamankan took place in November 1082.(Zata 1960: 83): 9th month (Natdaw) of 444 ME = 23 October 1082 to 20 November 1082.

Death

Kyansittha tried to rescue but Saw Lu refused to be rescued. His last fatal miscalculation that Kyansittha would kill him to get the throne but his friend Yamankan would not. He was killed by Yamankan to prevent the further rescue attempts. According to scholarship, he likely died c. April 1084 before 21 April 1084. Yamankan himself was ambushed by the sniper bow-shot of Nga Sin the hunter and died. Later Kyansittha became the third king of the Pagan Empire. According to ''Zatadawbon Yazawin'', Kyansittha and Yamankan fought a battle c. April 1083 (Kason of 445 ME).(Zata 1960: 84): The battle took place in Kason 445 ME ( 21 March 1083 to 19 April 1083). But since the new year's day of 445 ME fell on 26 March 1083 (6th waxing of Kason 445), Kason 445 only began on 6th waxing of Kason. Thus, the battle took place between 26 March and 19 April 1083. The battle may not be the final battle in which Yamankan was slain since ''Zata'' says Saw Lu died in 1084 after having reigned seven years. However, other chronicles (''Hmannan'' and ''Yazawin Thit'') say he reigned only for five years, followed by an interregnum that lasted till 1084—implying that the king died in 1083. Saw Lu was so incompetent that it says much for the genius of the father that his kingdom survived the test.Hall 1960: 18

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{Burmese monarchs Pagan dynasty 1049 births 1084 deaths 11th-century Burmese monarchs