Maung Pauk Kyaing (, ), also known as Naga-Naing Minn (; ), was a legendary powerful king of

Tagaung Tagaung is a town in Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region, Myanmar. It is situated on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River, 127 miles north of Mandalay. Colloquially, Tagaung is thought to be the origin of the Burmese people, remembered by ...

. He is a subject of

Burmese folklore Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (horse), a ...

and ancient tales closely related to those of

Sri Ksetra Sri Ksetra (, , ; Sanskrit: श्री क्षेत्र, Htin Aung, Maung (1970). ''Burmese History before 1287: A Defence of the Chronicles.'' Oxford: The Asoka Society, 8 - 10. or 'Field of Glory'), located along the Irrawaddy River at p ...

and the

Beikthano Beikthano (, , also known as Panhtwa city), is situated in the irrigated Magway Region, near present-day Taungdwingyi. In the era of the Pyu city-states it was a city of considerable significance, possibly a local capital replacing Sri Ksetra. Toda ...

cities. He is also said to be the last king of the second Tagaung dynasty. Maung Pauk Kyaing was a commoner who became king after killing a draconic serpent.

Names

He is most famous in

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 ...

by his common birth name 'Pauk Kyaing' (ပေါက်ကျိုင်း)''. ''His popular title 'Naga-Naing Minn' (နဂါးနိုင်မင်း) can be rendered as 'the dragon slayer king', reflecting on his victory over the dragon. His latest name Shambhu (သမ္ဘု,

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

: Sambhu, meaning 'Progenitor' ), is a

teknonym Teknonymy (from 'child' and 'name') is the practice of referring to parents by the names of their children. This practice can be found in many different cultures around the world. The term was coined by anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor in an ...

related to his twin sons, the Sambava brothers, while also indicating that he is the ancestor of the main Burmese dynasties. As for his

regnal title A regnal title is the title held by a monarch while in office. Monarchs can have various titles, including king or queen, prince or princess (Sovereign Prince of Monaco), emperor or empress (Emperor of Japan, Emperor of India), or even duke or grand ...

, ''Thado Maha-Raja'' (သတိုးမဟာရာဇာ, ) was the title given during his reign. Some identify him with the ninth king of the second Tagaung dynasty, ''Thado Naga-Naing'' (သတိုးနဂါးနိုင်, ), but this theory lacks legitimacy.

Legends

The Legends of Maung Pauk Kyaing is an important piece of history in the mythical foundation of Myanmar and the Chronicle of Taguang. Legend has it that the Tagaung Kingdom was looking for a new king to take over along with the Queen Vacharni (ဝါစဏ္ဏီ), who had a

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

for a lover. However, all of the new kings would die the night before coronation in unexplained circumstances. One day, Maung Pauk Kyaing was elected as the new king after the end of his education under the teachers of

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila () is a city in the Pothohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is just south of the ...

. But he somehow discovered that the queen had been married to several kings, and every king had mysterious deaths in bed on the wedding night. On his wedding night, he did not sleep. Eventually, a dragon appeared, and he knew the dragon was the cause of the deaths of all the past kings. He then managed to kill the dragon and became the legend he is today. He continued to be with Queen Vacharni, who later gave birth to twins. Both sons were born blind and were called Maha Thanbawa (မဟာသမ္ဘ၀) and Sula Thanbanwa (စူဠသမ္ဘ၀). The king sought treatment for his sons from various doctors until they become adults, but there was no cure. The king grew ashamed of his blind sons and ordered the queen to put them to death in secret. The queen could not kill the sons out of sympathy and decided to adrift them off on a raft down the

Ayeyarwady River The Irrawaddy River (, , Ayeyarwady) is the principal river of Myanmar, running through the centre of the country. Myanmar’s most important commercial waterway, it is about 1,350 miles (2,170 km) long. Originating from the confluence of the ...

. The two blind princes were found by a

yakshini Yakshinis or Yakshis (, , Prakrit languages, Prakrit: ) are a class of female nature spirits in Hinduism, Hindu, Buddhism, Buddhist, and Jainism, Jain religious mythologies that are different from Hindu deities, Devas and Asuras and Gandharva ...

who healed their sights. The brothers then resided at

Pyay Pyay, and formerly anglicised as Prome, is the principal town of Pyay Township in the Bago Region in Myanmar. Pyay is located on the bank of the Irrawaddy River, north-west of Yangon. It is an important trade center for the Ayeyarwady Delta, Centr ...

(Prome) and later found the Kingdom of

Legacy

The history of Maung Pauk Kyaing is well-described in Myanmar's former 10th-grade history book by the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. There is a Buddhist temple called Pauk Kyaing Pagoda in

Tagaung, Mandalay Tagaung is a town in Thabeikkyin Township, Mandalay Region, Myanmar. It is situated on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River, 127 miles north of Mandalay. Colloquially, Tagaung is thought to be the origin of the Burmese people, remembered by ...

. Many believe that this temple was built by Maung Pauk Kyaing himself.

References

{{Reflist Burmese monarchs Mythological kings Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown