Brother Manrique gave us two glimpses of Thiri-thudhamma, the dignified figure at the window of the audience-hall at the Paragri, and the fond father joking with his children in the palace gardens of Mrauk-U, while the elephents squirted the crowd with water from the royal tank. But the native chroniclers relate the full story of his reign and the strange manner of his death.

First the y describe him as a public figure,—lord paramount of the eastern shores of the Bay of Bengal. His kingdom was the costal strip from the mouth of the Ganges to the river Salween, areas now know as Chittagaong, Akyab, Kyaukpyu, Sandoway, Syrim and Amherst, a territory one thousand miles long, with an average depth of fifty miles, essentially a maritime kingdom. His capital at Mrauk-U was the central pivot of the strip, the heart of the paddy lands, a position intricate with its curling creeks, protected by steep bluffs and huge stone walls of circumvallation, the constantly improved atrong place of his dynasty, now two hundred years old. The problem of his foreign relations can be summerized as the Great Mogul pressing him on the North, the Burmese King of Pegu on his south-eastern frontier, and the sea-power of the Portuguese, with their treaty-ports in Chittagong and their swords at the disposal of the king who gave them the most valuable trade concessions.

The palm leaf Mss describe how Thiri-thudhamma conducted himself in these given circumstances and in the face of these problems.

His first difficulty was with Chittagong and his northern frontier. That province was under an Arakanese governor and for administrative purposes was divided into twelve states under local rajahs, who had to pay tribute to Thiri-thudhamma through his representative, the Governor. In 1625, three year after the accession, these States rebelled, probably at the instigation of the Mogul, whose desire had long been to add Chittagong to his territories. Thiri-thudhamma acted with energy. He marched his army overland to meet the rebels. His fleet coasted up and joined him. Both army and fleet were stiffened by foreign mercenaries. The galleys were rowed by prisoners of war; the guns were served by Portuguese; his officers were drawn from ten nationalities. Moreover the Portuguese forces at the treaty ports of Chittagong were under promise to assist him. With this force he crushed the rebellion, set back the plans of the Great Mogul and secured the northern areas of his kingdom, [End Page 236] binding them truly to him as their acknowledged master. That Thiri-thudhamma held Chittagong under no nominal rule is proved by the fact that even the Portuguese, fearing for the safety of their treaty-ports if they played false, served him faithfully. Moreover Brother Manrique’s journey to Mrauk-U in 1630 is sure evidence that his compatriots looked on Thiri-thudhamma as more dangerous to them than the Great Mogul.

The King adopted an equally prompt and successful attitude towards his southern territories.[2]

Internally he continued the vigorous rule of his predecessors. He strengthened the defences of Mrauk-U, mounting cannon on the walls under advice from his Portuguese officers. His administration kept the peace, as Manrique noted in his description of the local governor’s police, the safety of the ways and the cheapness of provisions.

I have adduced these dull facts of history so as the better to throw into relief the strange fate that befell the King. Here was a monarch whose army had given battle in Chittagong and whose navy had acked Moulmein, a man known the whole length of the eastern shores of the Bay of Bengal as a ruler of importance, whom European eyes had looked upon, had seen at play with his children, laughing at their toys, here in short was a monarch who might have lived anywhere, at any time, minding his city, upholding his power, glorifying the religion. But this element of the ordinary in his public life and character did not preserve him from an extraordinary fate. He lived in a country washed by the common sea, where eggs sold for a hundred to the rupee and where the like sum would purchase a cow, an altogether familiar country, importing silk and munitions and velvet, and exporting rice and cotton fabrics. But there was something strange and fantastic at work within that country.

Thiri-thudhamma had two ministers, Lat Rone and Kuthala. The former was his chief adviser, the son of his father’s minister, a man whose family had long been associated with the royal house of Mrauk-U in the capacity of faithful and weighty councilors. The latter, who held one of the local governorships and was in rank a general, belonged to the upper aristocracy and traced his descent from Thazada, King of Arakan in 1525. Both these men had been closely connected with Thiri-thudhamma in his campaigns and in his orderly administrations. The [End Page 237] other personage in the drama about to be unfolded was Nat Shin Mè, the Chief Queen, one of the redoubtable women of whom history offer several examples.

Kuthala, as an intimate adviser of the King, had easy access to the palace at all hours. In his coming and going, he constantly met Nat Shin Mè, for she was not a woman to confine herself closely to her own apartments. She enjoyed the King’s full confidence and it must be supposed that she sat in the council chamber and made her will felt among the courtiers and high officials. As the King’s reign entered its fifteenth year, Kuthala, who had long entertained secret admiration for the Chief Queen, succeeded in rousing her interest. Soon they were involved in a mutual passion. She became his mistress; but for a character like hers, such was insufficient. Women of that mould desire power and glory for their lovers and death for those they have tricked. Kuthala, as already stated, was originally of the blood of royal and Nat Shin Mè urged him to seize the throne. Rebellion and assassination, however, were not likely to be successful, for the minister, Lat Rone, kept an incorruptible watch. Hence she induced her lover to adopt another and surer method, one difficult to detect, hard to combat and as fatal as the dagger.

Kuthala was master of a science called Ya-da-ya. This science, now forgotten or remembered only in some of its outward manifestations, was the application of the principles of astrology to black magic. It had long been practiced by its initiates at the Court of Mrauk-U, but was used chiefly as a defensive weapon. Take for instance the Ya-da-ya bell, which still hangs for every traveler to see in the shrine at Mahamuni. On that bell are written certain instructions. They indicates in a general manner that if the bell was struck under given circumstances of time, place and direction, results would occur disconcerting to those against whom the sound was directed. The full key however, is not the bell. Only a person initiated into the science of Ya-da-ya would know where and at what time and at what angle to strike it. But given the right measurements of time and space, the sound was devastating.

Again, there lies now outside one of the gates of ruined Mrauk-U a great broken slab. On it are inscribed certain measurements and calculations.

As I say, the key of the science is lost, but there is no doubt that this stone was regarded as having defensive value. One can only vaguely surmise the argued method of its operation. According to astrology, the cosmos is a mathematical formula in motion; each part, every permutation, all changes or actions are mathematically related and are determined by the composition of the original formula in its innumerable interactions. An invading army advancing towards the north gate of Mrauk-U would be an expression in the world of form of highest [End Page 238] mathematics. The most root way of dealing the invasion, therefore, would be by the interposition of a neutralizing equation. If the enemy was equal to + x, the interposition of – x would cause him to disappear. Here the science of Ya-da-ya came in. it indicated what was the neutralizing equation, under what circumstances of time and orientation it could be placed in position and how it could be, so to speak, let off against the advancing foe. This science sounds abstruse. People nowadays may declare it an illusion. But the historian is concerned with the important truths or illusions of the period he describes, and there is no doubt that the Government of Mrauk-U studied, practiced and believed in Ya-da-ya.

As the palm-leaves related, Kuthala was master of this science, and Nat Shin Mè persuaded him to employ it against the King. It was very safe, very sure and very secret, she argued, and when the obstacle was removed, Kuthala could ascend the throne without odium. There would be no proof, nothing more than a suspicion.

It must be remembered that the Mrauk-U dynasty was now of two hundred years standing and was more firmly set than any dynasty which ruled in Burma, for the direct line had been unbroken from its foundation. Moreover, the kings of the last fifty years had been the most brilliant, so that the family was now at the height of its reputation. To raise hands against the master of such a state was no light matter. But the King was mild, esay going and unsuspecting, a fit subject for an experiment in Ya-da-ya.

The Mss. Describe in detail the procedure followed by Kuthala. He began work by making a calculation showing the astrological relationship between his horoscope and the King’s. That give him the datum for all his future operations. As has been explained, Ya-da-ya proceeds from an astrological basis and is a system of magic. The horoscopic comparison showed Kuthala in what, astrologically speaking, he fell short of the King in power. Ya-da-ya supplied the means of correcting the adverse measurements in his favour. He accordingly inscribed on certain stone squares the calculation which was necessary to alter his chart into one superior to the King’s, i.e., to change the measurements by which he was now controlled into other figures, which would give him the mastery over the ciphers which were the astrological expression of Thiri-thudamma. Taking the inscribed squares, he buried them at certain angles round the palace. Ya-da-ya determined the angles and the method by which the calculations on the slabs were caused to react against the King. In this way Thiri-thudhamma was invested in a mathematical net. His measurements were tampered with; the chart, which made him what he was, the King of a country, began to change, until became possible to calculate at what point of time he cease to exist at that place.

It appears from the palm-leaves that Kuthala, in order to assist the operation of the squares or possibly in connection with it, composed certain verses, written in such a rhythm and composed of such an [End Page 239] arrangement of letters, each of which represented a number, that when uttered at a calculated time, place and angle, they set to vibrations assistant to the calculations on the squares. There exists to this day one of these poems called Nga-swe. On the face of it, the meaning is obscure, but we know that Kuthala engaged troops of boys to sing it outside the palace and at certain places in the neighbourhood. There was, therefore, some publicity in this affair of Ya-da-ya, not sufficient to rouse the suspicions of anyone ignorant of the science, but enough to cause an initiate to perceive what was going forward. The King’s other minister, Lat Rone, was such an adept, and as soon as he heard the boys singing the Nga-swe incantation, he hurried to his master. Long aware of Kuthula’s intrigue with the Chief Queen, he deemed it his duty now to disclose the whole plot. “Owing to the combined influence of Yadaya and incantatory poems,” he said to Thiri-thudhamma, “your natal measurements are being deflected to the benefit of Kuthala’s. He has robbed you of your wife; it is his intention to rob you also of your throne. Unless you authorize me to take a counter measures in Ya-da-ya and block the influences now bearing on you, instead of the long life you might expect from your chart, you will be dead in seven months.”

The King, however, was not alarmed by this startling information. It seemed to him impossible that Kuthala, his intimate adviser, could harbour such designs. Nor could he suspect his Chief Queen, Nat Shin Mè. But Lat Rone pressed the matter with such earnestness, that at last he decided to check the minister’s statement by taking omens. If he was in danger of his life, he was involved in so strange a mesh, the situation would inevitably be reflected on the mirror into which he proposed to gaze. Omens were consulted in various ways in Arakan; the method adopted by the King was called ‘hearing taran.’ According to the theory of taran, if an event is on the way, its reverberation will first reach the minds of mediums. Such persons will aware of it before its arrival into the upper consciousness and they will inadvertently say something which will indicate its existence and nature. The method of hearing taran was, before, to send a reliable person to stroll in the streets and listen to the causal remarks made by the kind of people who might be mediums. Experience had shown that the most likely were children, lunatics and actors. The Arakanese of to-day still believe in this science, though none are now found competent to practise it.

An experienced man was accordingly sent to wander through the city. On his return he reported that he had heard three significant remarks. The first was ‘King Hari has made mistakes uselessly. Hari will die and the country will go to pieces!’: the second—‘An worthy slave, who seeks sovereign power, will surely become King in seven months’: the third—‘If an iguana is changed into a crocodile, creeks and rivers cannot bear it; if a slave becomes a strong and influential man, the country cannot prosper’. When Lat Rone received this report, he saw that matters were even worse than he had supposed. Not only [End Page 240] was the King’s death certain, but the ruin of the kingdom was also foretold. He laid the tarans and his explanation before Thiri-thudhamma. “You are the King Hari spoken of,” said he. “You were born in a palace at the foot of mount Hari and in your infancy you were given that name. You are doomed to die in seven months. The slave is Kuthala. His reign will end your dynasty and herald the dissolution of the kingdom of Arakan. The people of this country must pass through an agony as of burning fire.”

But in spite of this grave warning, the King was not entirely convinced. It is stated by the chronicles that he sent for Nat Shin Mè and confronted her with what he had heard. She had an easy task in explaining it away. After all, he had nothing definite against her and Kuthala. The latter was reputed to have buried a few stone squares; boys were said to have sung songs; an idiot or a child had uttered some vague words. The Chief Queen quickly reassured him. She laughed away his fears. Aided by her beauty and the love he bore her, she soon banished his suspicions, exerting herself to please, so that in a short while he too laughed at Lat Rone and his forebodings.

When the minister saw that the Chief Queen’s influence was paramount, and that her lover, Kuthala, remained in office, he could no longer face the evils of the future. He had no desire to be involved in the crash of a dynasty. Moreover when the King’s murder was consummated, what would his chance of escape? Even were he spared, could he serve the usurper? Immediate retirement was his only course, a retirement which would take him out of the world of living men, beyond the grasp of the new king, into a region, where horrible echoes of a political catastrophe could not disturb him, where he could bathe his harassed mind in the calms of contemplation. He decided to assume the yellow robe abd retire into a monastery.

In a last strange interview he sought the King’s leave. His science told him that his master’s fate was certain and close. But as he looked at the mild face, the mildness which Brother Manrique had noted as Thiri-thudhamma’s chief characteristic, he knew that the King could never be roused to save himself by striking at the queen he loved and the friend he trusted. Without the royal support, Lat Rone could do nothing. Therefore with sorrowful respect, he bade his master farewell as one takes leave of dying, and donning the robe, turned his mind inward to the realities of his metaphysic. The few months passed; those malign influences which Kuthala had set in motion began to work out; the king fell ill and, as has been calculated, died in the seventh month. He left one son by Nat Shin Mè, a young boy and his legal successor. Kuthala and the Queen did not feel strong enough openly to brush the prince aside and seize the throne. The Arakanese would never have accepted them while a direct heir to the great Mrauk-U line was alive. But their difficulty was of short duration. The lad caught small-pox and it is alleged that his mother, Nat Shin Mè, deliberately made him drink medicines that increased his illness. On the twenty eight day of his reign he died. [End Page 241]

Nat Shin Mè then sent out a summons to the members of the Council. They assembled in the audience-chamber at the palace. When all had sat down, it was noticed that the doors and windows of the hall were shut and bolted. The ominous sign had one meaning; they were to vote the way the Queen instructed them or they would never leave the chamber. It was Nat Shin Mè’s desire that Kuthala should ascend the throne by vote of the Council. Like many political adventures before and since, she saw the necessity of giving a legal colour to what was really a coup d’etat. Without the vote of the Council it was doubtful whether Kuthala would get the support of the army and the officials. Hence her object in summoning the members, hence the strong hint she gave them by closing the doors, that she intended the voting to follow her ides. Addressing the gathering, she reminded them that Thiri-thudhamma was dead; his son was dead; the great dynasty of the Kings of Mrauk-U was without an heir; it was necessary that some one, versed in affairs of the state, know to the nation, should succeed or anarchy would supervene; Lat Rone had retired from the world; there remained no one but Kuthala; she suggested Kuthala; was he not descended from King Thazada? The members, being painfully aware of the closed doors, unanimously elected Kuthala as King of Arakan.

Tradition relates that Nat Shin Mè, not wholly satisfied with this packed vote, sought the support of the Church, for a few mornings later she went to visit the Shittaung Hpongyi, the acknowledged doyen of the Buddhist priesthood of Mrauk-U. The old monk was walking in the cool air, telling his beads. “You agree that the Council was wise in choosing Kuthala?” She asked.

But the Rahan was not inclined to keep up the farce. He replied bluntly that it was not the Council’s choice but her own. At that uncontrollably irritated, she struck her thigh and uttered an angry retort. The story goes that the mark of her fingers remained on her skin till, frightened by a stigma which did not yield to treatment, she apologized and was cured.

So Kuthala succeeded to the throne of Mrauk-U, taking the title of Narapati. As soon as he was secure, his first act was to banish Nat Shin Mè. She was expelled from her apartments and given a hose in the city outside the triple wall of the palace-citadel. He felt there could be no safety as long as she was his partner. If she had killed her husband, the King, if she had not shrunk even from hastening the death of her only son, was there any guarantee that he would escape? The violence of her love might change into as violent a hate. There would be no ease and freedom till the walls of his palace and the swords of his guard stood between him and her.

Narapati’s next act was to take his own bearings astrologically. His natal chart was carefully progressed and calculated. The figures left no room for doubt that he would die in seven year after a reign of that length. As he had killed the late King by Ya-da-ya, so now he [End Page 242] proposed to prolong his own life by the same means. He took measurements, worked out the angle, and built two pagodas close to the palace. (These two buildings, the Thet-daw-she and Thet-dae-saung, may still be seen among the ruins of Mrauk-U, their walls covered with Ya-da-ya ciphers.) Specialists assured him that his calculations were correct and that the arrangement of the pagodas was as to wrap the operation of his original position in accordance with his wish. But there was an error somewhere. Perhaps in the course of tampering with Thiri-thudhamma’s chart, elements had been had been introduced into his own which made the present problem in soluble. Suffice it to say that he failed to prolong his life and died in seven years, as indicated by his measurements.

The murder of Thiri-thudhamma was a capital event in the history of Arakan. It profoundly shocked contemporary opinion, so much so that many persons, it is said, rater than acknowledge Narapati as their King, left the country. But not only was Narapati disliked as a usurper who had gained the throne by ill means; it was discovered that he was of slave origin. Though descended on the male side from Thazada, his female ancestor had been only a palace concubine and serf. So was exactly fulfilled the taran—‘an unworthy slave will become King.’

The shock to public opinion caused by these events had, however, more than a contemporary effect. As has been stated, Thiri-thudhamma was the direct descendant of the King who had founded the Mrauk-U dynasty two hundred years before. His removal was a blow to the principle authority in Arakan, form which the kingdom never recovered. For two hundred years the rulers of Mrauk-U had wielded an unquestioned power. Their Government had been strong because it had received the support of the people, high and low. But now the old family was gone; the new did not succeed in winning the same critical allegiance; men questioned its right to rule; there was no assailable principle of authority. As a result the year 1638 to 1784 were unhappy with rebellions, assassinations, usurpations, the central government becoming weaker, falling a prey to adventurers, unable to give the people the good peace of the old days. In 1784 came the final catastrophe. The Burmese invaded Arakan, sacked the capital and remained in occupation of the country. Their rule was one of robbery and massacre. Great numbers of the Arakanese fled into exile. The countryside was depopulated. So were fulfilled the words of the taran—‘if a slave become a strong and influential man, the country cannot prosper,’ and so was Lat Rone justified in his interpretation of the same—‘all living things in this country will go through the agony of burning fire.’


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This account is derived from notes supplied by Mr. San Shwe Bu, with his usual single-mindedness. He consulted the following palm-leaf MS. S. in his possession, -the Maharazawon by Do We, the Danyawaddy Aredawbon and the Ng Lat Rone Razawon.


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Extent of the Kingdom of Arakan. The statement in the text is a general one and indicates the maximum extent of the kingdom. The facts relating to the southern areas are as follows. Thiri-thudamma's grandfather, Razagri, had combined with the Burmese king of Ava and had taken Pegu. Razagri's share of the spoil was Syrim and Moulmein. In Syrim he placed his slave, the Portuguese nobleman de Brito, as Governor. The latter offended the Burmese, the king of Ava (and now Pegu) Maha-damma-raza defeated and impaled him. The S yri-Amherst area then lapsed to the Burmese. During the reign of Maha-damma-raza's two successors, the Burmese again lost their hold in these localities and its was the point that Thiri-thudhamma was able to revive his grandfather's pretensions, send his fleet, sack Moulmein and declare that his kingdom reached to the Salween.