text: Toungoo Dynasty

text: Burma

text: largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia

text: Chinese Shan states

text: Lan Na

text: Lan Xang

text: Manipur

text: Siam

text: Shan states

text: saopha

text: Upper Burma

text: Cakkavatti

text: Toungoo Empire

text: kings of Burma

text: Anawrahta

text: Alaungpaya

text: Thailand

text: Mingyi Swe

text: Shin Myo Myat

text: Hanthawaddy Hsinbyushin Ayedawbon

text: Maha Yazawin

text: official chronicle

text: Toungoo

text: Ava Kingdom

text: Tarabya

text: Minkhaung I

text: Thihathu

text: Pinya

text: Mi Saw U

text: Pagan Dynasty

text: Mingyi Nyo

text: Tabinshwehti

text: Ava

text: Sagaing

text: Myinsaing

text: Pinya

text: Pagan dynasties

text: Pagan district

text: Toungoo district

text: toddy palm

text: British colonial period

text: Po Kya

text: Tabinshwehti

text: wet nurse

text: Khin Hpone Soe

text: Minye Sithu

text: Thado Dhamma Yaza II

text: Minkhaung II

text: Thado Minsaw

text: Thakin Gyi

text: Confederation of Shan States

text: Ava Kingdom

text: Prome Kingdom

text: Hanthawaddy Kingdom

text: Pagan

text: Shwemawdaw Pagoda

text: Pegu

text: Takayutpi

text: Thakin Gyi

text: Battle of Naungyo

text: Burmese military history

text: Saw Lagun Ein

text: Smim Payu

text: Battle of Padaung Pass

text: Arakan

text: Battle of Salin (1544)

text: Pagan

text: Arakan (1545–1547)

text: Siam (1547–1549)

text: Mrauk-U

text: Ayutthaya

text: Smim Payu

text: Saw Lagun Ein

text: Smim Htaw

text: Smim Sawhtut

text: Minkhaung II

text: Dala

text: Minye Sithu

text: Thado Dhamma Yaza II

text: Binnya Dala

text: Diogo Soares de Mello

text: Siamese campaign

text: Mon

text: Hinthada

text: Bago Yoma

text: Smim Sawhtut

text: Nanda

text: Myede

text: Thado Dhamma Yaza I

text: Thado Dhamma Yaza II

text: Pagan

text: Mobye Narapati

text: Sithu Kyawhtin

text: Sagaing

text: Bassein

text: Mon

text: Minye Sithu

text: Mu valley

text: Kyaukse district

text: Kanbawzathadi

text: Thado Minsaw

text: Chindwin valley

text: Monywa

text: Mu valley

text: Myedu

text: Singu

text: Lan Na

text: Mone

text: Shan country

text: Patkai

text: Kachin State

text: Momeik

text: Thibaw

text: Mone

text: Mekuti

text: Dehong

text: Baoshan

text: Mengrai dynasty

text: Mekuti

text: Setthathirath

text: Lan Xang

text: Chiang Mai

text: lacquer

text: Phrae

text: Chiang Rai

text: Chiang Saen

text: Manipur

text: Tavoy

text: Kengtung

text: Taping valley

text: Kenghung

text: Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture

text: white elephant

text: Maha Chakkraphat

text: Kamphaeng Phet

text: Sukhothai

text: Phitsanulok

text: Sawankhalok

text: Phichit

text: Ayutthaya

text: Prince Ramesuan

text: Ramesuan

text: Lamphun

text: Visuddhadevi

text: Vientiane

text: Maha Ouparat

text: pyatthat

text: Mobye Narapati

text: Sithu Kyawhtin

text: Mekuti

text: Maha Chakkraphat

text: cakkavatti

text: Maha Chakkraphat

text: Maha Thammarachathirat

text: Chao Phraya valley

text: Mahinthrathirat

text: Sen Soulintha

text: guerrilla attacks

text: Vietnam

text: regnal name

text: Voravongsa I

text: Theravada Buddhism

text: Tooth of Kandy

text: kyat

text: Malacca

text: Constantino de Bragança

text: Gaspar de Leão Pereira

text: Inquisition

text: Colombo

text: Kandy

text: Dharmapala

text: Kotte

text: G.E. Harvey

text: Catholicism

text: Karaliyadde Bandara

text: Kandy

text: Nawrahta Minsaw

text: Maha Ouparat

text: Sen Soulintha

text: unsuccessfully tried to conquer in 1545–1547

text: Akbar

text: Mughal Empire

text: Bengal

text: Mrauk-U

text: Manipur

text: marches

text: Vietnam

text: Cambodia

text: Than Tun

text: Tun Aung Chain

text: administrative model of solar polities

text: Wareru

text: dhammathat

text: Burmese calendar

text: Dhammazedi

text: nat

text: Shwedagon

text: Shwemawdaw

text: Kyaiktiyo

text: Yaza Dewi

text: Syriam

text: Dala

text: Nanda

text: Suphankanlaya

text: Maha Thammarachathirat

text: Anawrahta

text: Alaungpaya

text: First

text: Third Burmese Empires

text: Thant Myint-U

text: Setthathirath

text: Burmese customary law

text: Burmese calendar

text: Bayinnaung Bridge

text: Yangon

text: Bayinnaung Market

text: Bayinnaung Road

text: Bayinnaung Statue

text: Naypyidaw

text: Cape Bayinnaung

text: Team Bayinnaung

text: UMS Bayinnaung

text: Myanmar Navy

text: Anawrahta-class corvette

text: Voyage to Pegu, and Observations There, Circa 1583

text: Account of Pegu (1586–1587)

text: The Flight of Lao War Captives from Burma back to Laos in 1596:A Comparison of Historical Sources

text: SOAS

text: The Changing Nature of Conflict between Burma and Siam as seen from the Growth and Development of Burmese States from the 16th to the 19th Centuries

categories: Burmese monarchs,Buddhist monarchs,1516 births,Rulers of Toungoo,1581 deaths

paragraph: Bayinnaung

paragraph: Bayinnaung Kyawhtin Nawrahta ( ; , ; 16 January 1516 – 10 October 1581) was king of the Toungoo Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1550 to 1581. During his 31-year reign, which has been called the "greatest explosion of human energy ever seen in Burma", Bayinnaung assembled what was probably the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, which included much of modern-day Burma, the Chinese Shan states, Lan Na, Lan Xang, Manipur and Siam.

paragraph: Although he is best remembered for his empire building, Bayinnaung's greatest legacy was his integration of the Shan states into the Irrawaddy-valley-based kingdoms. After the conquest of the Shan states in 1557–1563, the king put in an administrative system that reduced the power of hereditary Shan "saophas", and brought Shan customs in line with low-land norms. It eliminated the threat of Shan raids into Upper Burma, an overhanging concern to Upper Burma since the late 13th century. His Shan policy was followed by Burmese kings right up to the final fall of the kingdom to the British in 1885.

paragraph: Bayinnaung could not replicate this administrative policy everywhere in his far flung empire, however. His empire was a loose collection of former sovereign kingdoms, whose kings were loyal to "him" as the "Cakkavatti" (Universal Ruler), not the Kingdom of Toungoo. Indeed, Ava and Siam revolted just over two years after his death. By 1599, all the vassal states had revolted, and the Toungoo Empire completely collapsed.

paragraph: Bayinnaung is considered one of the three greatest kings of Burma, along with Anawrahta and Alaungpaya. Some of the most prominent places in modern Myanmar are named after him. He is also well known in Thailand as "Phra Chao Chana Sip Thit" (พระเจ้าชนะสิบทิศ, "Victor of the Ten Directions").

paragraph: Section::::Early life.

paragraph: Section::::Early life.:Ancestry.

paragraph: The future king was born Ye Htut (, ) on 16 January 1516 to Mingyi Swe and Shin Myo Myat. His exact ancestry is unclear. No extant contemporary records, including "Hanthawaddy Hsinbyushin Ayedawbon", the extensive chronicle of the king's reign written two years before his death, mention his ancestry. It was only in 1724, some 143 years after the king's death that "Maha Yazawin", the official chronicle of the Toungoo Dynasty, first proclaimed his genealogy. According to "Maha Yazawin", he was born to a gentry family in Toungoo (Taungoo), then a former vassal state of the Ava Kingdom. He was descended from viceroys of Toungoo Tarabya (r. 1440–1446) and Minkhaung I (r. 1446–1451) on his father's side; and from King Thihathu of Pinya (r. 1310–1325) and his chief queen Mi Saw U of the Pagan Dynasty on his mother's side. Furthermore, Ye Htut was distantly related to then presiding ruler of Toungoo Mingyi Nyo and his son Tabinshwehti through their common ancestor, Tarabya of Pakhan. Later chronicles simply repeat "Maha Yazawin's" account. In all, the chronicles (perhaps too) neatly tie his ancestry to all the previous main dynasties that existed in Upper Burma: the Ava, Sagaing, Myinsaing–Pinya and Pagan dynasties.

paragraph: Despite the official version of royal descent, oral traditions speak of a decidedly less grandiose genealogy: That his parents were commoners from Ngathayauk in Pagan district or Htihlaing village in Toungoo district, and that his father was a toddy palm tree climber, then one of the lowest professions in Burmese society. The commoner origin narrative first gained prominence in the early 20th century during the British colonial period as nationalist writers like Po Kya promoted it as proof that even a son of a toddy tree climber could rise to become the great emperor in Burmese society. To be sure, the chronicle and oral traditions need not be mutually exclusive since being a toddy tree climber does not preclude his having royal ancestors.

paragraph: Section::::Early life.:Childhood and education.

paragraph: Whatever their origin and station in life may have been, both of his parents were chosen to be part of the seven-person staff to take care of the royal baby Tabinshwehti in April 1516. Ye Htut's mother was chosen to be the wet nurse of the prince and heir apparent. The family moved into the Toungoo Palace precincts where the couple had three more sons, the last of whom died young. Ye Htut had an elder sister Khin Hpone Soe, and three younger brothers: Minye Sithu, Thado Dhamma Yaza II, and the youngest who died young. He also had two half-brothers, Minkhaung II and Thado Minsaw who were born to his aunt (his mother's younger sister) and his father.

paragraph: Ye Htut grew up playing with the prince and the king's other children, including Princess Thakin Gyi, who would later become his chief queen. He was educated in the palace along with the prince and the other children. King Mingyi Nyo required his son to receive an education in military arts. Tabinshwehti along with Ye Htut and other young men at the palace received training in martial arts, horseback riding, elephant riding, and military strategy. Ye Htut became the prince's right-hand man.

paragraph: Section::::Deputy of Tabinshwehti.

paragraph: Section::::Deputy of Tabinshwehti.:Rise to power.

paragraph: On 24 November 1530, Mingyi Nyo died and Tabinshwehti ascended the throne. The 14-year-old new king took Ye Htut's elder sister Khin Hpone Soe as one of his two principal queens, and rewarded his childhood staff and friends with royal titles and positions. Ye Htut, already a close confidant of the new king, instantly became a powerful figure in the kingdom which was surrounded by increasingly hostile states. In the north, the Confederation of Shan States had conquered the Ava Kingdom just three and a half years earlier. To the west was the Confederation's ally the Prome Kingdom. To the south lay the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, the wealthiest and most powerful of all post-Pagan kingdoms. The impending threat became more urgent after the Confederation defeated its former ally Prome in 1532–1533. Tabinshwehti and the Toungoo leadership concluded that their kingdom "had to act quickly if it wished to avoid being swallowed up" by the Confederation.

paragraph: It was during the kingdom's mobilizations that Ye Htut made his mark, and was noticed for "his deeds of valor and strength of character." Ye Htut was by the king's side in 1532 when the king and his 500 most skillful horsemen made an uninvited foray into the Shwemawdaw Pagoda at the outskirts of Pegu, the capital of Hanthawaddy, ostensibly for the king's ear-piercing ceremony. The audacious intrusion went unpunished by Hanthawaddy's weak ruler, King Takayutpi. Ye Htut became the constant companion and adviser to the young king.

paragraph: However, the close relationship between the two was severely tested in 1534, as they prepared for war against Hanthawaddy. Ye Htut had become romantically involved with Thakin Gyi, the king's younger half-sister, and the affair was discovered around April 1534. The commoner's affair with the king's sister under Burmese law constituted an act of treason. Ye Htut spurned suggestions of mutiny and submitted to arrest. Tabinshwehti deliberated at length with his ministers, and finally came to the conclusion that Ye Htut should be given his sister in marriage, and a princely title of Kyawhtin Nawrahta. With this decision, Tabinshwehti won the loyalty of his brother-in-law "without parallel in Burmese history".

paragraph: Section::::Deputy of Tabinshwehti.:Military leadership.

paragraph: Tabinshwehti's decision would pay enormous dividends in the following years. Between 1534 and 1549, Toungoo would bring war to all its neighbors and in the process found the largest polity in Burma since the fall of Pagan in 1287. Ye Htut would win many key battles for his king, and help administer the growing kingdom.

paragraph: In late 1534, Toungoo attacked Hanthawaddy, the larger, wealthier but disunited kingdom to their south. It was Toungoo's gambit to break out of its narrow landlocked realm before the Confederation's attention turned to the last remaining holdout in Upper Burma. While Toungoo did not yet have any foreign firearms, due to receiving a constant flow of refugees from elsewhere in Upper Burma for the last three decades, Toungoo did have more manpower than it normally could have enlisted.

paragraph: Tabinshwehti and Ye Htut (now styled as Kyawhtin Nawrahta) were to cut their teeth in failure however. Their maiden annual dry-season campaigns (1534–1537) all failed against Pegu's well armed, heavily fortified defenses. But their performance got better with each successive campaign, penetrating deeper and deeper into Hanthawaddy territory. They finally broke through in their 1538–1539 campaign, and captured Pegu. Kyawhtin Nawrahta made his name in the Battle of Naungyo in which his light forces decisively defeated numerically superior Hanthawaddy forces in the Irrawaddy delta. The battle, one of the most famous in Burmese military history, has been called "the first characteristic touch" of the great Bayinnaung. After the battle, a grateful Tabinshwehti bestowed his brother-in-law the title of Bayinnaung ("King's Elder Brother"), the name by which he would be remembered.

paragraph: Toungoo went on to conquer all of Hanthawaddy by mid-1541, gaining complete control of Lower Burma's manpower, access to foreign firearms and maritime wealth to pay for them. And Tabinshwehti would use these new assets for further expansions. By incorporating Portuguese mercenaries, firearms and military tactics into the Toungoo armed forces, Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung continued to grow as military leaders. The duo also benefited from having experienced former Hanthawaddy military commanders like Saw Lagun Ein and Smim Payu serve as their top military advisers and generals. With their help, Bayinnaung delivered key decisive victories at the Battle of Padaung Pass (1542) against Prome's ally Arakan and the Battle of Salin (1544) against the Confederation, enabling Toungoo to take over central Burma as far north as Pagan (Bagan). After Bayinnaung crushed the Arakanese forces in April 1542, Tabinshwehti was so pleased with the victory that he made Bayinnaung the heir-apparent of the kingdom.

paragraph: The duo's later campaigns against Arakan (1545–1547) and Siam (1547–1549) however fell short. In both campaigns, Toungoo forces won all major open battles, and went on to lay siege to the capitals, Mrauk-U and Ayutthaya respectively. But they still had no answer to heavily fortified defenses equipped with Portuguese firearms, and had to retreat both times. Toungoo's own Portuguese supplied cannon had little impact on the walls of both capitals. Nor did they have enough manpower (19,000 and 12,000 troops respectively in the Arakanese and Siamese campaigns) for long-term sieges. Nonetheless, despite the setbacks, Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung had by 1549 built up the largest polity in Burma since the fall of the Pagan Empire in 1287, stretching from Pagan in the north to Tavoy in the south.

paragraph: Section::::Deputy of Tabinshwehti.:Administrative duties.

paragraph: Bayinnaung was also entrusted to administer the kingdom. Tabinshwehti appointed him chief minister in 1539. In the then prevailing administrative model, the role of the prime minister was limited to managing and coordinating semi-independent tributaries, autonomous viceroys, and governors who actually had control over day-to-day administration and manpower. Trusted local rulers like Smim Payu and Saw Lagun Ein were appointed by the king to assist Bayinnaung with central administration.

paragraph: In 1549, Tabinshwehti, who had developed a liking to wine, gave up all administrative duties to Bayinnaung, and spent much of his time on long hunting trips away from the capital. Concerned by the king's erratic behavior, ministers at the court urged Bayinnaung to take over the throne but he declined, saying he would try to "win back the king to his old sense of duty to his own kingdom". He was unsuccessful. Even when faced with a serious rebellion by Smim Htaw, the king asked Bayinnaung in January 1550 to suppress the rebellion, and went on another months-long hunting trip.

paragraph: Section::::Restoration of the Toungoo Empire.

paragraph: Section::::Restoration of the Toungoo Empire.:Interregnum.

paragraph: On 30 April 1550, Tabinshwehti was assassinated by his own bodyguards on the order of Smim Sawhtut, one of the king's close advisers. Smim Sawhtut naturally proclaimed himself king. But so did all other major governors and viceroys—including Bayinnaung's own brother Minkhaung II. Although Bayinnaung had been Tabinshwehti's chosen heir apparent since 1542, none of them acknowledged Bayinnaung as the rightful successor. When Bayinnaung received the news of the assassination, he was in Dala (modern Yangon) chasing after Smim Htaw's rebel forces. The Toungoo Empire, which he had helped found and expand for the last 16 years, lay in ruins. He, as a colonial era historian noted, was "a king without a kingdom".

paragraph: Bayinnaung would have to rebuild the kingdom all anew. At Dala, with "few but faithful" troops, he plotted his next moves. His two eldest younger brothers Minye Sithu and Thado Dhamma Yaza II were with him and remained loyal. Also in his service was an ethnic Mon commander named Binnya Dala who would become his most trusted adviser and "best commander". Because he did not yet have any foreign mercenaries who could handle firearms, he sent for his favorite Portuguese mercenary Diogo Soares de Mello who had greatly impressed him in the Siamese campaign. Soares, who was abroad, returned with his men (all 39 of them), and he was warmly received by Bayinnaung.

paragraph: Two months after the assassination, Bayinnaung was ready to start the restoration project. He faced the following adversaries:

paragraph: Section::::Restoration of the Toungoo Empire.:Central Burma (1550–1551).

paragraph: Section::::Restoration of the Toungoo Empire.:Central Burma (1550–1551).:Toungoo (1550–1551).

paragraph: After much deliberation, Bayinnaung and his advisers decided that their war of restoration would begin at Toungoo, the original home of the dynasty. It was a calculated gamble since they would have to pass through the heart of Pegu-controlled territory. But they decided to take the gamble because they felt Bayinnaung would find the best support in his native Toungoo rather than deep in the Mon country they found themselves in.

paragraph: In late June, Bayinnaung and his small but cohesive unit of fighting men left Dala for Toungoo. They marched north to Hinthada, and then crossed over to the eastern side of Bago Yoma, north of Pegu. Smim Sawhtut, now "king" of Pegu, came out with his army to stop them. Bayinnaung, as recounted by the chronicles, paid "no more heed than a lion does to jackals", and marched on. Discovering that Bayinnaung's target was not Pegu, Sawhtut did not engage them. Bayinnaung set up camp at Zeyawaddy (), 50 km (31 miles) outside of Toungoo. Once there, Bayinnaung received many of the ministers and soldiers of Tabinshwehti's old court, who fled Pegu and Martaban. The new arrivals were of all ethnic backgrounds, Burmans, Shans and Mons, demonstrating that in 16th-century Burma, "vertical patron-client structures often preempted horizontal ones, even those as strong as ethnic identity and cultures".

paragraph: By late August, he had collected a serious fighting force (9600 men, 200 horses, 20 elephants, 200 war boats). His land and naval forces began the attack on 2 September 1550, and laid siege to the city. Minkhaung resisted for four months but finally surrendered on 11 January 1551. Remarkably, Bayinnaung forgave his brother. On the same day, he was crowned king at the temporary palace. He rewarded his men with upgraded titles and positions. His eldest son Nanda was made the heir apparent.

paragraph: Section::::Restoration of the Toungoo Empire.:Central Burma (1550–1551).:Prome (1551).

paragraph: The Toungoo command selected Prome as their next target. In March 1551, Bayinnaung's army (9000 troops, 300 horses, 25 elephants) attacked the city. But the city's musket and artillery fire kept them at bay for over three months. He retreated on 19 June 1551, and regrouped with men from central Burma (up to Myede and Sagu) whose rulers now submitted to the new rising power. Another 9000-strong army resumed the siege on 21 August 1551, and took the city on 30 August 1551. Bayinnaung ordered the execution of Prome's ruler Thado Dhamma Yaza I but regretted the decision immediately afterwards. He appointed his second eldest younger brother as viceroy of Prome with the style of Thado Dhamma Yaza II.

paragraph: Section::::Restoration of the Toungoo Empire.:Central Burma (1550–1551).:Pagan (1551).

paragraph: Bayinnaung then proceeded to complete the conquest of northernmost central Burma up to Pagan (Bagan) by mid-September 1551. He appointed his uncle Min Sithu governor. He then marched to Ava, hoping to take advantage of the civil war between King Mobye Narapati and Sithu Kyawhtin, governor of Sagaing. But he was forced to withdraw speedily as Pegu forces marched toward Toungoo.

paragraph: Section::::Restoration of the Toungoo Empire.:Lower Burma (1552).

paragraph: Pegu's forces withdrew from his territory but Bayinnaung now decided that Pegu must be eliminated first. Meanwhile, Mobye Narapati, who had been driven out of Ava, came to join Bayinnaung. After five months of preparation, Bayinnaung's army (11,000 men, 500 horses, 40 elephants) left Toungoo for Pegu on 28 February 1552 and arrived before the city on 12 March 1552. Smim Htaw, who had taken over Pegu in August 1550, came out and challenged Bayinnaung to single combat, which Bayinnaung accepted. The two men on their respective war elephants fought. Bayinnaung was victorious, driving Htaw and his elephant off the field. Htaw's men fled following their leader.

paragraph: Htaw and his small army fell back to the Irrawaddy delta. The Toungoo armies followed up, taking eastern delta towns by the end of March. Htaw's army briefly retook Dala in a daring attack but they were finally defeated near Bassein (Pathein) in mid-May. His entire army, including his chief queen and father-in-law, were captured. Htaw barely escaped. He would be on the run as a fugitive until he was captured and executed in March 1553. By mid-1552, Bayinnaung had gained control of all three Mon-speaking regions (Bassein, Pegu, and Martaban). He appointed his eldest younger brother Minye Sithu as viceroy of Martaban on 6 June 1552.

paragraph: Section::::Restoration of the Toungoo Empire.:Upper Burma (1553).

paragraph: Two years after Tabinshwehti's death, Bayinnaung had restored the late king's empire. But he considered his job unfinished because Siam, which according to him had been remiss in sending him, the rightful successor of Tabinshwehti, tribute. He seriously considered invading Siam but his advisers led by Binnya Law, governor of Bassein, recommended that he should attack Ava instead. Taking their advice, the king sent 14,000-strong combined land and naval forces led by his heir apparent Nanda on 14 June 1553. But Ava's new king Sithu Kyawhtin (of the House of Mohnyin) was ready. He had enlisted troops from five allied Shan states (Mohnyin, Mogaung, Momeit, Onbaung, and Bhamo) and from his own vassal states throughout the Mu valley and Kyaukse districts. Arrayed against overwhelming defenses, Nanda called off the invasion.

paragraph: Section::::Restoration of the Toungoo Empire.:Coronation.

paragraph: Bayinnaung decided to consolidate his gains instead. He commissioned a new palace, called Kanbawzathadi, in his capital Pegu on 17 November 1553. On 12 January 1554, he was formally crowned king with the reign name of Thiri Thudhamma Yaza (). His chief queen, Thakin Gyi, was crowned with the reign name of Agga Mahethi ().

paragraph: Section::::Expansion of the Toungoo Empire.

paragraph: The reconquest of Lower Burma gave him complete control of much needed access to foreign firearms and maritime wealth to pay for them. In the next two decades, he would use these assets for further expansions, and by pyramiding manpower and resources from newly conquered lands, he would found the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia.

paragraph: Section::::Expansion of the Toungoo Empire.:Upper Burma (1554–1555).

paragraph: By late 1554, Bayinnaung had assembled a large invasion force (18,000 men, 900 horses, 80 elephants, 140 war boats), the largest mobilization to date. Precautions were taken on the frontiers to guard against attacks from Lan Na, Siam and Arakan. In November 1554, Toungoo forces launched a two-pronged invasion, one up the Sittaung valley and the other up the Irrawaddy valley. Avan defenses, supported by nine Confederation armies (from Bhamo, Kale, Mogaung, Mohnyin, Momeik, Mone, Nyaungshwe, Theinni and Thibaw-Onbaung), could not stop the advance, and the capital Ava fell to the southern forces on 22 January 1555. King Sithu Kyawhtin was sent to Pegu. Bayinnaung appointed his younger brother Thado Minsaw viceroy of Ava. Toungoo forces then drove out the remaining Confederation armies from the Chindwin valley up to Monywa, the Mu valley up to Myedu and the Kyaukse valley up to Singu by late March.

paragraph: Bayinnaung now controlled both the Irrawaddy and Sittaung river valleys, the corridors to and from the "heartland" where most of the food of the country was produced and its population lived. Still, his hold on Upper Burma was small—his northernmost outpost Myedu was only about 160 km (100 miles) from Ava—and tenuous since he had not secured the allegiance of the surrounding Shan states, which had been the source of constant raids into the upcountry since the 14th century, and indeed dominated much of it since the early 16th century. He needed to bring the surrounding unruly states under control if his hold on Upper Burma was to last.

paragraph: Section::::Expansion of the Toungoo Empire.:Cis-Salween Shan states (1557).

paragraph: By 1556, the king and his court had decided that all the Shan states immediately surrounding the Irrawaddy valley needed to be reduced in one shot. They also recognized that they may need to take on Lan Na (Chiang Mai), which was an ally of the powerful state of Mone. The Toungoo command spent the year assembling the largest army yet (36,000 men, 1200 horses, 60 elephants, 180 war boats, and 100 cargo boats) for the invasion.

paragraph: The invasion of the Shan country began in January 1557. (The armies left their Ava base between 24 December 1556 and 8 January 1557.) The massive show of force worked. States submitted one after another with minimal resistance. By March 1557, Bayinnaung in one stroke controlled most of the cis-Salween Shan states from the Patkai range at the Assamese border in the northwest to Mohnyin (Mong Yang), Mogaung (Mong Kawng) in present-day Kachin State to Momeik (Mong Mit), and Thibaw (Hsipaw) in the northeast. But order broke down right after the army left. The powerful state of Mone (Mong Nai), which sent in tribute in 1556 and thus did not face the invasion, revolted with the support of Lan Na, which was ruled by Mekuti, a brother of Mone's ruler. Mone forces went on to occupy Thibaw, and executed the new saopha appointed by Bayinnaung. In November 1557, five Toungoo armies (33,000 men, 1800 horses, 170 elephants) led by the king himself invaded, and easily occupied Mone and Thibaw.

paragraph: By the end of 1557, of the cis-Salween states, only the Chinese vassals—Theinni (Hsenwi; present-day northern Shan State), Mowun, Kaingma, Sanda, and Latha (present-day Dehong and Baoshan prefectures in Yunnan, China)—remained outside Bayinnaung's grasp. The Toungoo command seriously considered attacking Theinni as Thado Minsaw's army was already in neighboring Thibaw. But they decided not to open another front while Lan Na remained a threat to the southern Shan states.

paragraph: Section::::Expansion of the Toungoo Empire.:Lan Na (1558).

paragraph: Bayinnaung now eyed the once powerful Kingdom of Lan Na, which had been involved in dynastic struggles between two branches of the Mengrai dynasty. The rule of King Mekuti of the House of Mone had been resisted by King Setthathirath of Lan Xang, grandson of King Ketklao of Lan Na. When Bayinnaung and his armies showed up at the gates of Chiang Mai on 31 March 1558, Mekuti surrendered without a fight on 2 April 1558. The Burmese king allowed Mekuti to remain ruler of Lan Na, and brought several artisans, many of whom were notable lacquerware workers, back to Pegu. He left a small garrison of 1000 men commanded by Binnya Dala and Binnya Set at Chiang Mai.

paragraph: Order broke down soon after the main armies left. Setthathirath occupied eastern provinces of Lan Na (Phrae, Nan, Chiang Rai and Chiang Saen). In November 1558, a 14,000-strong army led by Thado Minsaw reinforced Chiang Mai's defenses, and from there the combined armies then successfully drove out the Lan Xang forces from the territories.

paragraph: Section::::Expansion of the Toungoo Empire.:Cis-Salween Chinese Shan states (1558–1559).

paragraph: Lan Xang's defeat cemented Toungoo Burma's emergence as the premier power in the Shan country. The remaining cis-Salween Shan states fell in line even if they probably continued paying tribute to China. Theinni sent preemptive tribute, received on 26 July 1558. It was followed by tributary missions by the smaller Chinese vassal states of Mowun, Kaingma, Latha and Sanda in early 1559.

paragraph: Section::::Expansion of the Toungoo Empire.:Manipur (1560).

paragraph: Bayinnaung immediately put manpower from the newly acquired territories to acquire yet more territory. On 2 December 1559, he ordered an invasion of Manipur, ostensibly to address the small kingdom's alleged transgressions into Kale's territory. He had recalled Binnya Dala from Chiang Mai to lead the invasion. The three armies (10,000 men, 300 horses, 30 elephants), mostly made up of conscripts from Kale, Mohnyin, Mogaung, Momeik and Sanda, faced minimal resistance. The Manipuri raja surrendered around February 1560.

paragraph: Section::::Expansion of the Toungoo Empire.:Trans-Salween Chinese Shan states (1562–1563).

paragraph: The king spent the next two years preparing for war against Siam, which he considered his unfinished business. He set up a garrison at Tavoy (Dawei) on 17 June 1562. But he first wanted to bring the trans-Salween Shan states into his fold, probably to get more manpower as well as to secure the rear. The Burmese chronicles states that he was merely responding to a July 1562 rebellion by his cis-Salween Chinese Shan states with support from trans-Salween Shan states. However, as with Manipur, it may just have been a pretext. He sent four 12,000-strong armies, led respectively by Nanda, Thado Dhamma Yaza II, Minkhaung II and Thado Minsaw. The southernmost trans-Salween state of Kengtung submitted prior to the invasion on 16 December 1562. The armies launched a two-pronged invasion of the Taping valley in March/April 1563. The armies faced minimal resistance, and secured the allegiance of the local saophas. Bayinnaung now had at least nominal suzerainty over the Chinese Shan states from the cis-Salween states in the Taping valley to Kenghung (present-day Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan) in the east.

paragraph: Section::::Expansion of the Toungoo Empire.:Siam (1563–1564).

paragraph: With much of western mainland Southeast Asia under his control, Bayinnaung now felt ready to take on Siam. He needed an overwhelming advantage in manpower over Siam because unlike interior Shan states, Siam could not be overwhelmed by the strength of his Portuguese firearms alone. Siam was a prosperous coastal power in its own right, and its forces included Portuguese firearms, ships and mercenaries. On 16 July 1563, he sent an embassy to Siam, demanding one of the four white elephants in possession of the Siamese king as tribute. As expected, King Maha Chakkraphat duly refused. On 1 November 1563, five armies (60,000 men, 2400 horses and 360 elephants) left Pegu to start the campaign. Another army from Lan Na was supposed to come down but King Mekuti of Lan Na had revolted.

paragraph: The invasion route was via central Siam. The armies took the key central town of Kamphaeng Phet on 4 December 1563. Three of the armies then fanned out to acquire the key central Siam cities of Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, and Sawankhalok. Aside from a five-day battle at Phitsanulok, the armies faced minimal opposition. The rulers of the three cities as well as the ruler of Phichit submitted, and were reappointed to their positions.

paragraph: The armies then marched down to Ayutthaya. There, they were kept at bay for weeks by the Siamese fort, aided by three Portuguese warships and artillery batteries at the harbor. The invaders finally captured the Portuguese ships and batteries on 7 February 1564, after which the fort promptly fell. The Siamese king surrendered on 18 February 1564. Bayinnaung took all four white elephants, among other loot, and sent the fallen king to Pegu. He appointed Mahinthrathirat, a son of the fallen king, vassal king of Siam, and left a garrison of 3000. Thai sources state that Bayinnaung also took Prince Ramesuan (ราเมศวร), the eldest son of Maha Chakkraphat, back with him as well as Phraya Chakkri (พระยาจักรี), the chancellor of Ayutthaya, and Phra Sunthon Songkhram (พระสุนทรสงคราม), the military chief of Ayutthaya.

paragraph: Section::::Expansion of the Toungoo Empire.:Lan Na and Lan Xang (1564–1565).

paragraph: Although he had finally conquered Siam, he still needed to deal with the middle Tai country. King Mekuti of Lan Na had allied himself with his old rival Setthathirath of Lan Xang. On 23 October 1564, Bayinnaung himself led five massive armies (64,000 men, 3600 horses, 330 elephants) and began a two-pronged invasion of Lan Na. The levies hailed from all over the empire, including Siam whose troops were led by Ramesuan, the former crown prince of Siam. The massive show of force worked. When four southern armies showed up at Lamphun, 20 km south of Chiang Mai, on 25 November 1564, the commanders leading Chiang Mai's defenses simply fled the city. Mekuti now submitted, asking for forgiveness. Bayinnaung spared the broken king's life, and sent him to Pegu. The Burmese king then stayed in Lan Na for the next four months, administering the country. He appointed Queen Visuddhadevi, as the vassal ruler of Lan Na before leaving Chiang Mai on 10 April 1565 to deal with a serious rebellion in Pegu.

paragraph: Lan Xang proved a much more difficult project however. Three armies led by the crown prince himself invaded Lan Xang, and easily captured Vientiane on 2 January 1565. But King Setthathirath escaped. For the next several months, the Burmese troops fruitlessly chased him and his small band of men around the Laotian countryside. Many troops died of starvation and disease. The Burmese command finally gave up, and the armies left Vientiane on 1 August 1565. They had installed a son-in-law of Setthathirath as vassal king. They also brought back many members of the Lan Xang royalty, including Setthathirath's 18-year-old brother, Maha Ouparat.

paragraph: Lan Na was to be at peace for the rest of Bayinnaung's reign. At Vientiane, however, the vassal king's authority did not extend much beyond the capital, backed by the Burmese garrison. Setthathirath remained active in the countryside, and would return to Vientiane in late 1567.

paragraph: Section::::Maintaining the empire.

paragraph: After the Lan Xang campaign, Bayinnaung had at least nominal control over the lands stretching from Manipur in the northwest to Lan Xang in the east; and from the Chinese Shan states in the north to the Malay peninsula in the south. After a brief lull, he was to spend nearly a decade (1568–1576) keeping the empire intact.

paragraph: Section::::Maintaining the empire.:Interlude (1565–1567).

paragraph: After the 1565 rebellion by resettled Shans in Pegu, he faced no new rebellions for the next two years (1565–1567). Because the rebellion burned down major swaths of the capital, including the entire palace complex, he had the capital and the palace rebuilt. The new capital had 20 gates, each named after the vassal who built it. Each gate had a gilded two-tier "pyatthat" and gilded wooden doors.

paragraph: The newly rebuilt Kanbawzathadi Palace was officially opened on 16 March 1568, with every vassal ruler present. He even gave upgraded titles to four former kings living in Pegu: Mobye Narapati of Ava, Sithu Kyawhtin of Ava, Mekuti of Lan Na, and Maha Chakkraphat of Siam.

paragraph: Section::::Maintaining the empire.:Lan Xang and Siam (1568–1569).

paragraph: Even as he triumphantly entered the new palace as the universal ruler, or "cakkavatti", trouble was already brewing in Lan Xang. About a month earlier, he had been informed that Setthathirath's forces not only had retaken Vientiane but were also raiding eastern districts of central Siam and Lan Na. In response, he had rushed down troops from the Shan states and Upper Burma to the border. But it was a rush job. The army could only muster 6000 troops on short notice, and was thoroughly routed at the border.

paragraph: More bad news piled up. He learned on 12 May 1568 that southern Siam (Ayutthaya) too had revolted, and entered into an alliance with Lan Xang. The rebellion was led by Maha Chakkraphat, the deposed king of Siam whom Bayinnaung had just showered with honors and permitted to return to Ayutthaya on pilgrimage as a monk. No sooner had the monk arrived at Ayutthaya than he flung off the robe, and declared independence. But all was not lost. The ruler of central Siam (Phitsanulok), Maha Thammarachathirat, remained loyal to him. On 29 May 1568, a dismayed Bayinnaung sent an army of 6000 to reinforce Phitsanulok.

paragraph: The war began in June. Desperate to consolidate the Chao Phraya valley before the expected dry-season invasion, combined Ayutthaya and Lan Xang forces braved unforgiving rainy season conditions and laid siege to Phitsanulok. But Phitsanulok's reinforced defenses held. In late October/early November, the besiegers retreated to their respective cities before the upcoming invasion. Bayinnaung's five armies (54,600 men, 5300 horses, 530 elephants) arrived at Phitsanulok on 27 November 1568. Reinforced at Phitsanulok, combined armies of 70,000 marched down along the Chao Phraya to Ayutthaya, and laid siege to the city in December 1568.

paragraph: But the Burmese armies, despite taking immense losses, could not break through for months. When Setthathirath and his army approached to relieve the city, Bayinnaung left Binnya Dala in command of the siege, and left with half his force to meet the enemy. On 8 May 1569, he decisively defeated Setthathirath northeast of the city, after which Lan Xang ceased to be of concern to the siege operations. Meanwhile, Maha Chakkraphat had died, and his son Mahinthrathirat made an offer of conditional surrender. It was refused. Bayinnaung demanded an unconditional surrender. Instead he sent one of his Siamese nobles to the city, pretending to be a deserter. King Mahinthrathirat promptly appointed him to a high command. Through the spy's treacherous machinations, one of the city's gates was opened. The city fell on that very night on 2 August 1569. Bayinnaung appointed Maha Thammarachathirat king of Siam on 29 September 1569.

paragraph: Section::::Maintaining the empire.:Remote regions.

paragraph: While Bayinnaung had decisively defeated Siam, his most powerful rival in the region, his greatest challenge would turn out to be keeping remote, mountainous states in the farthest corners of his empire in check. Guerrilla warfare by small rebel armies combined with difficult terrain and starvation caused more problems for the king's armies than the armies of Siam ever did.

paragraph: Section::::Maintaining the empire.:Remote regions.:Lan Xang (1569–1570).

paragraph: The remote hilly Lan Xang proved most troublesome. He personally led the two-pronged invasion of Lan Xang in October 1569. Setthathirath made a stand at Vientiane for a few months before retreating into the jungle in February 1570 to conduct his tried-and-true guerrilla warfare. Bayinnaung and his men spent the next two months combing the Lao countryside. Setthathirath was nowhere to be found but many Burmese troops died of starvation and from long marches. Bayinnaung finally called off the search in April 1570, and returned home. When the king arrived back at Pegu, very few men of the original army had survived to reach their own country.

paragraph: Section::::Maintaining the empire.:Remote regions.:Northern Shan states (1571–1572).

paragraph: Lan Xang was not the only remote, mountainous region the Burmese king had trouble controlling. The northernmost Shan states of Mohnyin and Mogaung (and their vassals in present-day Kachin State and Sagaing Region) collectively revolted in July 1571. He sent two 12,000-strong armies led by Nanda and Thado Dhamma Yaza II. The armies easily recaptured the states. But, like in Lan Xang, the troops spent five punishing months fruitlessly chasing after the renegade "saophas" in the snow-clad foothills of the Himalayas.

paragraph: Section::::Maintaining the empire.:Remote regions.:Lan Xang (1572–1573).

paragraph: Meanwhile, Setthathirath's forces sacked the Burmese garrison at Vientiane. Fortunately for the Burmese, so it seemed, the Lan Xang king was killed shortly after—sometime before mid-1572, and a senior minister and general named Sen Soulintha seized the throne. (In Laotian history, the events took place a year earlier. Setthathirath retook Vientiane in the dry season of 1570–1571, and died in 1571.) Much to his surprise, Soulintha refused Bayinnaung's ultimatum to submit. Incredulous, Bayinnaung sent Binnya Dala to lead an invasion with a small army of 6000, with the majority of troops coming from Lan Na and Siam. But he and the Toungoo court had underestimated the opposition. Lan Xang's strength was more than Setthathirath, and Soulintha proved no pushover. The small Burmese army suffered from guerrilla attacks, and had to retreat in early 1573. At Pegu, the king was furious at Binnya Dala, hitherto his most trusted adviser and favorite general, despite the fact that he had given the general little to work with. He sent Binnya Dala into exile "to a sickly place" in central Siam, where the general who had won him many a battle died from illness six months later.

paragraph: Section::::Maintaining the empire.:Remote regions.:Lan Xang and northern Shan states (1574–1577).

paragraph: He immediately ordered the levy to be raised to invade Lan Xang in the following dry season of 1573–1574. But the kingdom had been in constant campaign mode, and his annual demands of more levies were pushing his vassals to the breaking point. Even his senior advisers murmured loudly, and the king reluctantly agreed to postpone the expedition for a year. The respite did little to restore the ranks of depleted vassals. When the conscription drive came in 1574, the northernmost states of Mohnyin and Mogaung refused, and revolted.

paragraph: The king was unfazed. He ordered Thado Minsaw, the ruler of Ava, to take care of the northern states while he personally led the Lan Xang campaign. On 1 October 1574, Thado Minsaw's army (6000 men, 800 horses, 80 elephants), made up of regiments from Upper Burma and the Shan states, marched north. Six days later, Bayinnaung's four armies (34,000 men, 1800 horses, 180 elephants), with regiments from Lower Burma, Lan Na and Siam, began the Lan Xang campaign. The armies arrived before Vientiane after 60 days marching. On 6 December 1574, the king and his massive armies faced no opposition entering Vientiane, as Soulintha had already evacuated to the countryside. Fortunately for the Burmese king, Soulintha was viewed as a usurper by his own officers, who arrested him and presented him to the conqueror. Burmese armies again fanned out to and received tribute from the Lao countryside, including easternmost Lan Xang, which is now part of present-day Vietnam. The Burmese king appointed a younger brother of Setthathirath, Maha Oupahat (Chao Tha Heua), king of Lan Xang with the regnal name Voravongsa I, and returned to Pegu on 16 April 1575. Since he was a true high Lan Xang royal he was accepted by the populace as the rightful successor to Setthathirath. Lan Xang was finally under control.

paragraph: The low-grade rebellion in Mohnyin and Mogaung remained a pesky thorn in Bayinnaung's side. The rebel chiefs simply retreated to the jungle when the army showed up, returning right after the army left. The king was particularly annoyed that the leader of the rebellion, the young saopha of Mogaung, had been raised at the Pegu palace, and that he himself had appointed him to the office in 1572. He personally marched north in late 1575, and sent several battalions to comb the jungles. One battalion ran into the rebels deep in the hills, and killed the saopha of Mohnyin. But the saopha of Mogaung escaped and remained at large for another year and a half. When the renegade saopha was finally captured, and brought before the king on 30 September 1577, the king ordered that the young chief be exhibited in fetters for a week at each of the twenty gates of Pegu, and that he and his followers be sold as slaves in India.

paragraph: Section::::Later years.

paragraph: Section::::Later years.:Ceylon.

paragraph: By 1576, almost no one wanted to challenge Bayinnaung's rule, and the rest of his reign was to be relatively quiet. Other states in the region—in particular, rival Ceylonese kingdoms—were keen to receive his support. For his part, Bayinnaung viewed himself as the protector of Theravada Buddhism, and had long tried to promote and protect the religion in Ceylon. Two decades earlier, in November 1555, he sent rich presents to the Tooth of Kandy, and bought land there to keep lights continually burning at the shrine. His craftsmen beautified the temple and swept it with the broom made of his and his chief queen's hair. In 1560, upon hearing that the Portuguese had seized and taken the tooth relic to Goa, he sent envoys to secure the relic for 800,000 silver kyats (41,000 pounds sterling) and shiploads of rice, whenever needed, to provision the Portuguese garrison at Malacca. Viceroy Constantino de Bragança was interested but the Archbishop of Goa, Gaspar de Leão Pereira, overruled him by threatening the viceroy with an Inquisition style trial. In 1561, "while the Burmese envoys gazed in frozen horror, the archbishop placed the Tooth in a mortar, grounded it to powder, burned it in a brazier, and cast the ashes into the river." The Ceylonese however claimed that the destroyed relic had been a replica, and that the true Tooth had remained in Ceylon. Two teeth, claimed to be the real Tooth, appeared in Ceylon, one at Colombo and the other at Kandy.

paragraph: By the 1570s, both Kotte and Kandy were jockeying for Bayinnaung's support. King Dharmapala of Kotte was the most active. He presented who he said was his daughter to Bayinnaung. The princess was received with great fanfare at Bassein (Pathein) on 24 September 1573. According to G.E. Harvey, however, the Kotte king's action was not voluntary: the Burmese king had demanded a princess to fulfill a prophecy given by his astrologers, and Dharmapala, who had no daughters, complied by sending the daughter of a chamberlain, whom he had treated as his own. At any rate, Dharmapala, who had converted to Catholicism, continued to curry favor by sending what he claimed was the real Tooth relic, ostensibly to be safeguarded under the protection of the great Buddhist king. The main purpose of his mission was to seek military help against a rebellion. The Tooth was received on 14 July 1576. While it is unclear whether Bayinnaung actually believed in the authenticity of the relic, the possession of a holy Tooth, which many millions of subjects believed in, was of the highest importance. In return, Bayinnaung sent 2500 of his best "invulnerables" from all parts of the empire in five ships to Colombo. The king's best troops easily defeated the rebellion, which was noticed by the other three rulers on the island. Chronicles say that the Burmese generals then received the rulers of the four kingdoms of Ceylon in Colombo, and instructed them to safeguard the religion. King Karaliyadde Bandara of Kandy, offered a daughter and what he claimed was the real Tooth. But His Majesty, seeing no reason to reopen the case, would not enter into controversy with skeptics and dismissed them with thanks.

paragraph: Section::::Later years.:Lan Na and Lan Xang (1579).

paragraph: No troubles arose when Queen Visuddhadevi of Lan Na, who had successfully kept the middle Tai country quiet for over 13 years, died on 2 January 1579. Bayinnaung's choice Nawrahta Minsaw, one of his sons, faced no problems taking over the Lan Na throne. When instabilities arose in Lan Xang, he took no chances. On 17 October 1579, he sent a sizable army (22,000 men, 1200 horses, 120 elephants), which faced no opposition. According to Laotian history, the vassal king of Lan Xang Maha Ouparat died in 1580, and Bayinnaung installed Sen Soulintha, the usurper whom he had kept in Pegu since 1574, as the successor. The Burmese chronicles make no mention of any change for the rest of the king's reign. The Chronicles' lone post-1579 entry on Lan Xang during his reign simply states that on 2 September 1581, the king commissioned a Buddhist pagoda in Lan Xang. The Chronicles say that the vassal king died in September/October 1588.

paragraph: Section::::Later years.:Arakan (1580–1581).

paragraph: By 1580, not only had the "universal ruler" subdued all the countries which had occupied his attention for the last three decades but he also had the respect of neighboring states. He faced no internal or external threats (although Portuguese Goa considered itself technically at war with Burma for her interference in Ceylon). Instead of resting, he turned his gaze on Arakan, the kingdom he and Tabinshwehti unsuccessfully tried to conquer in 1545–1547. He determined that it was now time to reduce the western coastal kingdom to the vassal status it held under the Pagan kings once more. A year earlier, he had sent an embassy to Emperor Akbar of the Mughal Empire, which had just acquired Bengal in 1576, perhaps to ascertain whether his occupation of Arakan would be viewed as an act of hostility to the Mughals.

paragraph: At any rate, the king sent an 8000-strong naval invasion force on 15 October 1580. The fleet, which consisted of 200 ships, went on to occupy Sandoway in November 1580. The king had probably planned to lead the assault on the Arakanese capital Mrauk-U by himself but could not because of his failing health. The invasion force remained inactive at Sandoway for a year. The king sent additional land and naval forces (29,000 troops, 1600 horses, 120 elephants) on 28 August 1581 in preparation for the coming dry season campaign. But the king died six weeks later, and the invasion forces withdrew soon after.

paragraph: Section::::Administration.

paragraph: Section::::Administration.:Emperor without an empire.

paragraph: Bayinnaung successfully assembled the largest empire in Burmese history. The empire spanned "from Manipur to Cambodian marches and the borders of Arakan to Yunnan," and likely received "propitiatory homage" from states as far east as Vietnam and Cambodia. Notwithstanding its fragility, his realm was certainly the largest empire in the history of mainland Southeast Asia and "probably the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia." The Portuguese called Pegu "the most powerful monarchy in Asia except that of China."

paragraph: But Bayinnaung, who began his reign as a "king without a kingdom", ended his reign as an "emperor without an empire." According to Than Tun, Bayinnaung conquered territories not to colonize them but to gain the loyalty of their rulers. He kept conquered kings and lords in their own positions so long as they remained loyal to him. Tun Aung Chain adds that "the extensive polity was held together not so much by formal institutions as personal relationships" based on the concepts of "thissa" (, 'allegiance') and "kyezu" (, 'obligation')." Lieberman writes: "...he presented himself as "cakkavatti", or World Ruler, par excellence..."

paragraph: This was nothing new. The king was simply following the then prevailing Southeast Asian administrative model of solar polities in which the high king ruled the core while semi-independent tributaries, autonomous viceroys, and governors actually controlled day-to-day administration and manpower. As such, the "King of Kings" governed only Pegu and the Mon country himself, leaving the rest of the realm to vassal kings in Ava, Prome, Lan Na, Lan Xang, Martaban, Siam, and Toungoo. He regarded Lan Na as the most important of all the vassal states, and spent much time there.

paragraph: He administered Lower Burma with the help of ministers, the vast majority of whom were of ethnic Mon background. (The word used by European visitors to describe a court official was "semini", Italian translation of "smim", Mon for lord.) His chief minister was Binnya Dala, known for his military and administrative abilities, and literary talents.

paragraph: Section::::Administration.:Administrative reforms.

paragraph: He introduced administrative reforms only at the margins. By and large, he simply grafted the prevailing decentralized administration system, which barely worked for petty states like his native Toungoo, to the largest polity ever in the region. Indeed, it did not work for mid-size kingdoms like Ava, Hanthawaddy, Lan Na, and Siam. (Ava had always had to contend with Prome and Toungoo; Pegu with Martaban and Bassein; Chiang Mai with Chiang Saen and Nan; Ayutthaya with Phitsanulok; etc.) Now, because of the sheer size of the empire, the system was even more decentralized and stretched thinner still. At any rate, it was the only system the Toungoo kings knew, and they "had no choice but to retain it."

paragraph: He, perhaps inadvertently, did introduce a key reform, which turned out to be the most important and most enduring of his legacies. It was his policy to administer the Shan states, which had constantly raided Upper Burma since the late 13th century. The king permitted the "saophas" of the states to retain their royal regalia and ceremonies, and feudal rights over their subjects. The office of the saopha remained hereditary. But the incumbent "saopha" could now be removed by the king for gross misconduct although the king's choice of successor was limited to members of the saopha's own family. The key innovation was that he required sons of his vassal rulers to reside in his palace as pages, who served a dual purpose: they were hostages for good conduct of their fathers and they received valuable training in Burmese court life. His Shan policy was followed by all Burmese kings right up to the final fall of the kingdom to the British in 1885.

paragraph: Still, his reforms were ad hoc and experimental. Patron-client relationships still mattered much more than weak or non-existent institutions: his vassals were loyal to him, not Toungoo Burma. The reforms he started would ultimately be expanded by his 17th-century successors. But they had not sufficiently taken root by his death to prevent his "overheated" empire from rapidly collapsing in the next two decades.

paragraph: Section::::Administration.:Legal and commercial standardizations.

paragraph: His Majesty introduced a measure of legal uniformity by summoning learned monks and officials from all over his dominions to prescribe an official collection of law books. The scholars compiled "Dhammathat Kyaw" and "Kosaungchok", based on King Wareru's "dhammathat". The decisions given in his court were collected in "Hanthawaddy Hsinbyumyashin Hpyat-hton". He promoted the new law throughout the empire so far as it was compatible with customs and practices of local society. The adoption of Burmese customary law and the Burmese calendar in Siam began in his reign. He also standardized the weights and measurements such as the cubit, tical, basket throughout the realm.

paragraph: Section::::Administration.:Religious affairs.

paragraph: Another enduring legacy of Bayinnaung was his introduction of a more orthodox Theravada Buddhism to Upper Burma and the Shan states. He propagated the religious reforms begun by King Dhammazedi in the late 1470s. Viewing himself as the "model Buddhist king," the king distributed copies of the scriptures, fed monks, and built pagodas at every new conquered state from Upper Burma and the Shan states to Lan Na and Siam. Some of the pagodas are still to be seen, and in later ages the Burmese would point to them as proof of their claim to rule those countries still. Following in the footsteps of Dhammazedi, he supervised mass ordinations at the "Kalyani Thein" at Pegu in his orthodox Theravada Buddhism in the name of purifying the religion. He prohibited all human and animal sacrifices throughout the kingdom. In particular, he forbade the Shan practice of killing the slaves and animals belonging to a "saopha" at his funeral. His attempts to rid of animist "nat" worship from Buddhism, however, failed.

paragraph: He donated jewels to adorn the crowns of many a pagoda, including the Shwedagon, the Shwemawdaw, the Kyaiktiyo, and many less famous ones. He added a new spire to the Shwedagon in 1564 after the death of his beloved queen Yaza Dewi. His main temple was the Mahazedi Pagoda at Pegu, which he built in 1561. He tried but failed to secure the release of the Tooth of Kandy from the Portuguese in 1560. He later interfered with the internal affairs of Ceylon in the 1570s, ostensibly to protect the religion there.

paragraph: Section::::Administration.:Economy.

paragraph: His kingdom was mainly an agrarian state with a few wealthy maritime trading ports. The main ports were Syriam (Thanlyin), Dala, and Martaban. The kingdom exported commodities such as rice and jewels. At Pegu, overseas trade was in the hands of eight brokers appointed by the king. Their fee was two percent. Their honesty and business-like methods won the esteem of European merchants. The wealth was seen at the capital. Contemporary European travelers would "never tire of describing Pegu—the long moat full of crocodiles, the walls, the watch-towers, the gorgeous palace, the great processions with elephants and palanquins and grandees in shining robes, the shrines filled with images of massy gold and gems, the unending hosts of armed men, and the apparition of the great king himself." The king appointed officials to supervise merchant shipping and sent out ships to undertake commercial voyages. The prosperous life at the capital, however, was probably not replicated at the countryside. Annual mobilizations of men greatly reduced the manpower necessary to cultivate the rice fields. Harvests at times fell perilously low, causing severe rice shortages, such as in 1567.

paragraph: Section::::Military.

paragraph: Bayinnaung built the largest empire in Southeast Asia on the back of "breathtaking" military conquests. His success has been attributed to a "more martial Toungoo tradition", Portuguese firearms, foreign mercenaries, and larger forces.

paragraph: First, he was a product of Toungoo, a rebellion-prone former vassal of Ava, where he as a young man at the palace received a military-style education since childhood. With their training, he and Tabinshwehti launched their first campaign against a larger, wealthier Hanthawaddy when they were both just 18.

paragraph: Secondly, the beginning of their military careers coincided with the arrival of Portuguese cannon and matchlocks in large quantities. Portuguese weaponry proved superior in accuracy, safety, ballistic weight, and rapidity of fire to Asian-made firearms. The duo arrived at the coast on the cusp of this transformation, and quickly turned it to their advantage, incorporating Portuguese firearms as well as Portuguese and Indian Ocean (mostly Muslim) mercenaries into their forces. Indigenous infantry and elephant units also began using guns, with 20–33% of the troops so equipped on some late 16th century campaigns. According to Lieberman, "had Toungoo attacked Pegu a generation later, it is conceivable that Portuguese guns could have given Pegu the victory, thus altering the course of history." But it was Toungoo that seized Hanthawaddy's advantages and leveraged them into an empire.

paragraph: Finally, Bayinnaung was able to marshal more manpower than any ruler in the region. He required every new conquered state to provide conscripts for his next campaign. Using both larger forces and superior firearms, he had no trouble reducing Manipur and the entire Shan world to tributary status. His larger forces and their greater fighting experience proved to make the difference against Siam, which too was a wealthy coastal power with a powerful well-equipped military.

paragraph: It turned out however that Siam was not his greatest adversary. It was the remote mountainous states like Lan Xang, Mohnyin and Mogaung whose guerrilla warfare gave him constant trouble. Many of his men died from starvation and disease while fruitlessly searching for elusive bands of rebels, year after year. (The death toll must have been significant since it made it to the chronicles.) He was fortunate that the charismatic guerrilla leader Setthathirath died. In the end, his military might alone could not bring lasting peace. He needed competent local rulers, who commanded the respect of the local populace, to rule the lands on his behalf. History shows that he used the political solution instead to maintain peace.

paragraph: To be sure, the individual ingredients alone cannot explain his success. The same ingredients were available to his successors. Yet no one (in Burma or elsewhere in the successor states of his empire) could put them together. For example, he raised upwards of 60,000 to 70,000 men for his major campaigns. His Toungoo successors raised a third at most. It was not until the early Konbaung kings that the army again raised nearly as many men. Harvey notes: "From his teens until his death, he was constantly in the field, leading every major campaign in person. The failure of other kings who attempted the same conquests is the measure of his ability."

paragraph: Section::::Death and succession.

paragraph: The king died on 10 October 1581 after a long illness. His full reign name at death was "Thiri Tri Bawa Naditra Pawara Pandita Thudhamma Yaza Maha Dipadi."

paragraph: His eldest son and heir-apparent Nanda took over the throne without incident. But the empire, which Bayinnaung had built on military conquests and maintained by both military power and personal relationships with the vassal rulers, was to crumble soon after. The first crack appeared in the far north in September 1582 when the Chinese Shan states of Sanda and Thaungthut revolted. The rebellion was put down in March 1583. Much more serious cracks followed. Ava (Upper Burma) revolted in October 1583, and the rebellion was put down on 24 April 1584. Siam revolted on 3 May 1584. Nanda would spend the rest of his reign fighting Siam and other former vassals and would lose the entire empire in the process by 1599.

paragraph: Section::::Family.

paragraph: The king had three principal queens consort and over 50 other junior queens. In all, he left 97 children. The following is a list of notable queens and their issue.

paragraph: A notable queen of Bayinnaung in Thai history is Suphankanlaya, daughter of King Maha Thammarachathirat of Siam.

paragraph: Section::::Legacy.

paragraph: Bayinnaung is considered one of the three greatest Burmese kings, alongside Anawrahta and Alaungpaya, the founders of the First and Third Burmese Empires, respectively. The king is mostly remembered for his military conquests, not just in Myanmar but also in Thailand and Laos. His reign has been called "the greatest explosion of human energy ever seen in Burma." In Myanmar, the soldier-king is considered the favorite king of the present-day Burmese generals. According to Thant Myint-U, the generals often see themselves "as fighting the same enemies and in the same places... their soldiers slugging their way through the same thick jungle, preparing to torch a town or press-gang villagers. The past closer, more comparable, a way to justify present action. His statues are there because the ordeal of welding a nation together by force is not just history." In Thailand, he is well known as "Conqueror of Ten Directions" (พระเจ้าชนะสิบทิศ), from the 1931 novel "Phu Chana Sip Thit" (ผู้ชนะสิบทิศ, "Conqueror of Ten Directions") by Chot Phraephan (โชติ แพร่พันธุ์). He has thus far escaped the increasingly negative portrayals of Burmese kings in Thai history books. As the founder of an empire "geographically" centered in Siam, he is well known by the Thai people, and often still treated with respect. In Laos, King Setthathirath is lionized for his pesky resistance to the empire.

paragraph: Though he is best known for empire building, his greatest legacy was his integration of the Shan states, which eliminated the threat of Shan raids into Upper Burma, an overhanging concern to Upper Burma since the late 13th century. His Shan policy, greatly enhanced by later Toungoo kings, reduced the power of hereditary "saophas", and brought hill customs in line with low-land norms. This policy was followed by Burmese kings right up to the final fall of the kingdom to the British in 1885.

paragraph: The adoption of Burmese customary law and the Burmese calendar in Siam began in his reign. Siam used the Burmese calendar until 1889.

paragraph: Section::::Commemorations.

paragraph: Bayinnaung is commemorated in Myanmar in several ways.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bayinnaung Bridge, a suspension bridge in Yangon

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bayinnaung Market, a major commodities market in Yangon

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bayinnaung Road, a road in Yangon

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bayinnaung Statue, one of the three statues of kings that tower over the main parade square in Naypyidaw. The other two are the statues of Anawrahta and Alaungpaya.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Cape Bayinnaung, the southernmost point of mainland Myanmar

paragraph: BULLET::::- Team Bayinnaung, one of the five student teams in Burmese primary and secondary schools

paragraph: BULLET::::- UMS Bayinnaung, Myanmar Navy Anawrahta-class corvette

paragraph: Section::::In popular culture.

paragraph: Bayinnaung is a main character in Age of Empires II: The Rise of the Rajas.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Voyage to Pegu, and Observations There, Circa 1583, Gaspero Balbi

paragraph: BULLET::::- Account of Pegu (1586–1587), by Cesar Fedrici.

paragraph: BULLET::::- The Flight of Lao War Captives from Burma back to Laos in 1596:A Comparison of Historical Sources Jon Fernquest, Mae Fa Luang University, SOAS bulletin, Spring 2005

paragraph: BULLET::::- The Changing Nature of Conflict between Burma and Siam as seen from the Growth and Development of Burmese States from the 16th to the 19th Centuries, by Pamaree Surakiat,Mar 2006, Asia Research Institute, Singapore.

description: King of Burma

wikidata_label: Bayinnaung

wikipedia_title: Bayinnaung


text: India

text: cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church

text: Prefect

text: Congregation for the Oriental Churches

text: Roman Curia

text: curial

text: Tamil Nadu

text: India

text: theologian

text: D. S. Amalorpavadass

text: ordained

text: Auguste-Siméon Colas

text: MEP

text: Pondicherry and Cuddalore

text: Loyola College

text: Madras

text: Pontifical Urbaniana University

text: Cathedral in Pondicherry

text: Auxiliary Bishop

text: Bangalore

text: Titular Bishop

text: consecrated as a bishop

text: co-consecrators

text: Antony Padiyara

text: Second Vatican Council

text: Coadjutor Archbishop

text: Pope John Paul II

text: consistory

text: Tamil

text: Congregation for the Oriental Churches

text: papal legate

text: Mother Teresa

text: Adamson University

text: Pondicherry University

text: Tamil

text: Latin

text: English

text: Italian

text: French

text: German

text: Kannada

text: Spanish

text: Portuguese

text: Dutch

text: Swedish

text: Pope Francis

text: Antony Anandarayar

text: Angelo Cardinal Sodano

text: Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals

text: lay in state

text: Petit Seminaire Higher Secondary School

text: Papal Nuncio

text: Salvatore Pennacchio

text: Biography

text: Cardinal Lourdusamy

text: Cardinal Lourdusamy

categories: Pontifical Urbaniana University alumni,Indian cardinals,Roman Catholic archbishops of Bangalore,Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II,2014 deaths,People from Pondicherry,Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore,Members of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches,Loyola College, Chennai alumni,1924 births,20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops,Protodeacons,Participants in the Second Vatican Council,Tamil priests

paragraph: Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy

paragraph: Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy (5 February 1924 – 2 June 2014) was an Indian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in the Roman Curia and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1985. His episcopical motto was "Aedificare domum Dei" which means "To build the house of God". He was the fourth cardinal from India and the first curial cardinal of Asia outside of the Middle East.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: Lourdusamy was born in Kalleri (Archdiocese of Pondicherry), Tamil Nadu  state, India, as the seventh of twelve children of Annamarie (aka Matharasi) and Duraisamy Simeon. Lourdusamy was the elder brother of priest and theologian D. S. Amalorpavadass, who was killed in an automobile accident while travelling from Mysore to Bangalore. The two of them played a significant part in the implementation of Vatican II Council reforms in India and leading others to do the same.

paragraph: He enjoyed a close relationship with Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I, and most especially, with Pope John Paul II and his fellow curial cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and future Pope Benedict XVI. John XXIII elevated him to the episcopal ranks and appointed him to the See of Bangalore, Pope Paul VI invited him to Rome to serve the Universal Church from 1971. Cardinal Lourdusamy also worked with Pope John Paul I as Secretary of the Congregation for Evangelization of Peoples. The Cardinal worked very closely with John Paul II for 26 years in various capacities, and he served as Prefect of the Oriental Churches alongside Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) who was the Prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine of Faith.

paragraph: He had his early education at St. Ann's in Tindivanam. Then he finished his high school studies at St. Joseph Higher School of Cuddalore; then he entered St. Agnes's Minor Seminary in Cuddalore, and completed major seminary education in Philosophy and Theology at St. Peter's Pontifical Seminary, Bangalore from 1946 to 1951.

paragraph: He was ordained to the priesthood on 21 December 1951 at Seven Dolours Church, Tindivanam, Pondicherry by Archbishop Auguste-Siméon Colas, MEP, the Archbishop of Pondicherry and Cuddalore. 1951–1952, pastoral ministry in the archdiocese of Pondicherry.

paragraph: After studying further at Loyola College in Madras (1952–1953), he was sent to Rome to pursue higher studies in the area of Canon Law at the Pontifical Urbaniana University (1953–1956), from where he obtained a doctorate. He obtained 100% in all of his exams in canon law studies, something which had never occurred in other Roman universities. He plays the piano, and has composed the music for devotional songs.

paragraph: On returning to the Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore, Fr. Lourdusamy served as Archdiocesan Chancellor and private secretary to Archbishop Ambrose Rayappan, as editor of the archdiocesan weekly "Sarva viyabhi" (சர்வ வியாபி), and was choirmaster at the Cathedral in Pondicherry, Director of the Catholic Doctors' Guild, Director of the Catholic Nurses' Guild, Director of the Newman Association, and Director of the Catholic University Students Union.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Bishop.

paragraph: Pope John XXIII appointed Fr. Lourdusamy Auxiliary Bishop of Bangalore and Titular Bishop of "Sozusa in Libya" on 2 July 1962, at the age of 38. He was consecrated as a bishop on the following 22 August by Archbishop Ambrose Rayappan, with Bishops Rajarethinam Sundaram (bishop of Tanjore) and Daniel Arulswamy (bishop of Kumbakonam) serving as co-consecrators; Bishop (later Cardinal and Major Archbishop of the Syro Malabar Church) Antony Padiyara of Ooty was also present at the consecration.

paragraph: Bishop Lourdusamy attended the Second Vatican Council (Sessions 2, 3 and 4 as a "Council Father"). On 9 November 1964, he was promoted to titular archbishop of Filippi and appointed the Coadjutor Archbishop of Bangalore. He attended, the First Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Vatican City, 29 September to 29 October 1967. He was appointed to represent the Indian bishops at the Pan Asiatic Catechetic-Liturgical Conference in Manila in 1967 and was elected the vice-president of the conference and president of its liturgical section. He succeeded Thomas Pothacamury as archbishop on 11 January 1968.

paragraph: As Archbishop of Bangalore, he served as Chairman of the National Liturgical commission of India, founded the National Biblical, Catechetical and Liturgical Centre in Bangalore, and also played a significant role in the establishment of St.John's Medical College (the first Catholic Medical College in India), also in Bangalore. Prior to the International Eucharistic Congress in Bogota in 1968, he was invited as a panel member of the International Catechetical study week in Medellin, Colombia.

paragraph: Pope Paul VI appointed him as Secretary adjunct of the S.C. for the Evangelization of Peoples, 2 March 1971. He resigned as Archbishop of Bangalore on 30 April 1971 and left India to serve in the Curial Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in March 1971, Secretary of the S.C. for the Evangelization of Peoples, president of the Pontifical Missionary Work and Vice-Grand chancellor of the Pontifical Urbanian University, 26 February 1973, the University at which he was a student from 1953–56. He is the first Asian to become a member of the Roman Curia.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Cardinal.

paragraph: Pope John Paul II created Lourdusamy Cardinal-Deacon of "Santa Maria delle Grazie alle Fornaci fuori Porta Cavalleggeri" in the consistory of 25 May 1985; he is the first Tamil to be raised to the rank of cardinal. Cardinal Lourdusamy was named Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches on the following 30 October.

paragraph: Attended the Second Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Vatican City, 24 November to 8 December 1985, and the Seventh on 1 to 30 October 1987. Special papal envoy to the closing ceremonies of the Year of St. Willibrord, Luxemburg, 3 to 5 June 1990. Attended the Eighth Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Vatican City, 30 September to 28 October 1990.

paragraph: He became Cardinal Protodeacon (the senior Cardinal-Deacon) on 5 April 1993, and served as a special papal legate to the funeral of Mother Teresa on 13 September 1997. On 5 April 1993 was appointed protodeacon. He chose to become a Cardinal-Priest on 29 January 1996 thereby relinquishing protodeacon post.

paragraph: Cardinal Lourdusamy accompanied John Paul II on his Apostolic travels to Africa, Asia, Oceania, and The Americas. He has also visited 110 countries on all continents in the service of Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II, and received numerous distinctions in appreciation of his work and has been honoured by the Governments of Philippines, Republic of China - Taiwan (The Order of the Brilliant Star, First Class - 13 November 1983), France (Commander of the Légion d'honneur - 29 December 1976), and Germany (Das Grosse Verdienstkreuz mit Stern - 10 October 1977), Liberia (Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of Africa - 3 November 1977), Luxembourg (The "Grand-Croix de l'Ordre Grand-Ducal de la Couronne de Chêne" - 29 June 1988). He was also awarded a doctorate of laws - "Honoris Causa" (5 February 1979) by Adamson University, Manila, Philippines and a doctorate of letters - "Honoris Causa" (25 May 1989) by Pondicherry University, India. Cardinal Lourdusamy was fluent in several languages including Tamil, Latin, English, Italian, French, German, Kannada, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and Swedish.

paragraph: Pope John Paul II appointed Cardinal Lourdusamy a member of the following Departments of the Roman Curia, in addition to Prefect, Congregation for Oriental Churches:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

paragraph: BULLET::::- Congregation for the Causes of Saints

paragraph: BULLET::::- Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples

paragraph: BULLET::::- Congregation for Catholic Education

paragraph: BULLET::::- Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura

paragraph: BULLET::::- Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity

paragraph: BULLET::::- Pontifical Council for the Family

paragraph: BULLET::::- Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue

paragraph: BULLET::::- Pontifical Council for Interpretation of Legislative Texts

paragraph: BULLET::::- Pontifical Commission for International Eucharistic Congresses

paragraph: BULLET::::- Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of the Oriental Canon Law

paragraph: BULLET::::- Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law

paragraph: BULLET::::- Pontifical Commission for Latin America

paragraph: BULLET::::- Pontifical Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

paragraph: BULLET::::- The Commission of Cardinals and Bishops set up by the Pope to prepare a Catechism for the Church Universal

paragraph: BULLET::::- The Commission for the Study of the Theological and Juridical Status of the Bishops' Conferences

paragraph: BULLET::::- The Permanent Interdicastrial Commission for the Formation of the Candidates to the Sacred Orders

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Death.

paragraph: Cardinal Lourdusamy died in Rome on 2 June 2014. Pope Francis sent an official telegram of condolence to the Archbishop of the Pondicherry, Antony Anandarayar.

paragraph: A funeral Mass was celebrated for the Cardinal on Thursday, 5 June 2014, with Angelo Cardinal Sodano, Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, presiding. At the end of the service, Pope Francis led the Rites of Final Commendation and Valediction. His nephew Vincent and Sr. Vellie Fernandez, Sr. Avis Aguiar who cared for him were with him on his 90th birthday four months earlier, again during his final days in the hospital, and accompanied his mortal remains to Pondicherry, India on 6 June 2014. Cardinal lay in state at Escande's Hall, Petit Seminaire Higher Secondary School, where thousands paid their final respects round the clock, over two days and nights.. On 9 June 2014, after a mass of repose, celebrated by the Papal Nuncio for India and Nepal Monsignor Salvatore Pennacchio, the Cardinals, Bishops and hundreds of priests, his remains were entombed in front of St. Joseph's Alter inside Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Pondicherry.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Biography

paragraph: BULLET::::- Cardinal Lourdusamy on Cardinal rating

paragraph: BULLET::::- Cardinal Lourdusamy on Catholic Hierarchy

description: Catholic cardinal

wikidata_label: Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy

wikipedia_title: Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy


text:
Sunday school
Gloucester
Pembroke College, Oxford
John Roysse
Free School
Abingdon-on-Thames
Abingdon School
Ashbury
Oxfordshire
Sunday school
Glasbury-on-Wye
Robert Raikes
Sunday School movement
parish church
Gloucester Cathedral
List of Old Abingdonians

categories: Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford,English Anglicans,1750 births,1803 deaths,People from Berkshire (before 1974),Sunday schools,People educated at Abingdon School

paragraph: Thomas Stock

paragraph: Thomas Stock (1750–1803) established the first Sunday school in the United Kingdom.

paragraph: Section::::Early life and education.

paragraph: Thomas was the son of Thomas Stock, gentleman of Gloucester. The young Thomas joined Pembroke College, Oxford from John Roysse's Free School in Abingdon-on-Thames (now Abingdon School).

paragraph: Section::::Career.

paragraph: Entering Holy Orders, Stock was curate at Ashbury in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), where he formed the first Sunday school in the country in 1777. Stock became rector of St Aldate's and then of St John Baptist's, Gloucester and headmaster of Gloucester Free School. He was also vicar of Glasbury-on-Wye. At Gloucester, jointly with Robert Raikes, proprietor of the "Gloucester Journal," Stock became co-founder of the Sunday School movement.

paragraph: There are memorials to Stock at Ashbury parish church and in the nave of Gloucester Cathedral. He was author of "A Compendious Grammar of the Greek Language" (1780). There is also a residential cul-de-sac, Thomas Stock Gardens, built in 1994/5 in the Abbeymead area of Gloucester on the western outskirts of Gloucester.

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- List of Old Abingdonians

description: Established first Sunday school

wikidata_label: Thomas Stock

wikipedia_title: Thomas Stock


text: Orkney Islands

text: 21st Royal North British Fusiliers

text: Bergen op Zoom

text: Netherlands

text: half-pay

text: South Africa

text: Benjamin Moodie

text: Umkomaas

text: Natal

text: Susanna Strickland

text: Coburg

text: Upper Canada

text: Belleville

text: Upper Canada Rebellion

text: Victoria District

categories: 1797 births,1869 deaths, 19th-century Canadian civil servants,Canadian memoirists

paragraph: John Wedderburn Dunbar Moodie

paragraph: John Wedderburn Dunbar Moodie (October 7, 1797 – October 22, 1869) was a Scottish-born army officer, farmer, civil servant and writer in early Canada.

paragraph: The son of Major James Moodie, he was born in Melsetter in the Orkney Islands. In 1813, he became a second lieutenant in the 21st Royal North British Fusiliers. He was seriously wounded during an attack on Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands. He received a military pension for two years and was placed on half-pay in 1816. In 1819, he went to South Africa, where his two older brothers Benjamin Moodie and Donald Moodie had settled two years earlier. Moodie was magistrate at Umkomaas, Natal. In 1829, he returned to England. He published an article in the "United Service Journal" in 1831 and then a book "Ten years in South Africa" in 1835.

paragraph: In 1831, he married Susanna Strickland; they came to Canada the following year. They purchased a farm near Coburg in Upper Canada. After encountering difficulties establishing a homestead, they settled in Belleville. Moodie served in the militia during the Upper Canada Rebellion. From November 1839 to January 1863, he served as sheriff for Victoria District. From 1847 to 1848, he contributed to and was editor for the "Victoria Magazine". He also published "Scenes and adventures, as a soldier and settler, during half a century" in 1866 and contributed to his wife's book "Roughing it in the bush, or life in Canada".

paragraph: He died in Belleville at the age of 72.

description: Scottish army officer and farmer

wikidata_label: John Moodie

wikipedia_title: John Wedderburn Dunbar Moodie


href: Nayanars Periya%20Puranam Sundarar Shiva Tamil%20language Vannar Kanchipuram Pallavas monarch Hinduism Nayanars Shaivism Nayanars Shaivism Tamil%20language Chaitra Swati%20the%20Star Nayanars

text:
Nayanar
Periya Puranam
Thiruthondar Thogai
Shiva
Tamil
Vannar
Kanchipuram
Pallavas
rulers
Hindus
Nayanars
Saiva
Nayanar
Saiva
Tamil
Chithrai
Swathi
Nayanars

paragraph: Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar

paragraph: Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar or Thiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar is the 19th Nayanar saint. Traditional hagiographies like "Periya Puranam" (13th century CE), "Tirutoṇṭar Antādi" (10th century CE) and "Thiruthondar Thogai" (8th century CE) describe him as a great devotee of Hindu god Shiva. The saint was serving the Shiva devotees by reading their facial expressions and understanding their actual needs. The kind of service had earned him the name Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar. In Tamil "Thiru" is the honorific term and "Kurippu" means expressions in general and facial expressions in specific and "Thondar" means voluntary servant.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar was born in a Vannar family at Kanchipuram, the ancient capital of the Pallavas rulers and this rural town is now located at a distance of 76 km south-west of Chennai. This religious capital of South India is regarded as one of the seven holiest cities for the Hindus in India, and also considered as the land of devotees, poets, philanthropists, saints and savants.

paragraph: The saint was a single minded staunch devotee of Shiva and served the devotees of Shiva by reading the faces of Nayanars He derived utmost satisfaction in washing the clothes of Saiva devotees. The devotees of Shiva appreciated the selfless washing services of the saint and considered him as the "selfless launderer". He was not only physically washing the dirt from clothes but also spiritually washing the three blemishes of the human being. Shiva decided to relieve Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar from the miseries of rebirth and wanted him to bless with salvation. Before this He wanted the Nayanar to go through tough times and wanted to put saint's devotion and faith by trials and testing.

paragraph: On an eventful day, Shiva appeared before the saint in the guise of a ripened Saiva devotee with thin frame and wearing old and dirty rags. The saint stopped Him and volunteered to wash his rags. The old devotee also agreed that the clothes deserve good washing. However he also claimed that the clothes are the only possession and it protected him against the chilly weather during night time. Therefore the old devotee insisted that the clothes need to be duly washed and delivered before sunset. Nayanar, without hesitation, agreed to complete the washing service before evening. The poor man even left a warning: if the washing is delayed, the act of delay would harm his body. At that time there was enough sunlight and therefore the saint was hoping to complete the service before sunset. All of a sudden the climate become cloudy till evening and soon there was heavy rain. The saint was developing the signs of desperation and hopelessness. Soon he was wailing and weeping with grief. Even he felt guilty and attempted to break his head on the washing stone. The devotion and faith of Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar melted Shiva and He appeared before him and valued his act with benign grace. The determination shown by the saint earned him a place in the abode of Shiva.

paragraph: The Tamil month Chithrai, star Swathi (nakshatra) is observed as Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar's Guru puja day in all Shiva temples.

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Nayanars

wikidata_label: Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar

wikipedia_title: Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar


text:
courtesy name
Ming dynasty
Guixi
Jiangxi
Linqing
Jiajing Emperor
Zhongxiang
Yan Song
Changping
laurel wreath
kerchief
Taoist
Aquilaria sinensis
litter
memorials
Zeng Xian
Hetao
Tongzhou
Guangxi

wikipedia_title:
Courtesy name
Ming dynasty
Guixi
Jiangxi
Linqing
Jiajing Emperor
Zhongxiang
Yan Song
Changping District
Laurel wreath
Kerchief
Taoism
Aquilaria sinensis
Litter (vehicle)
Memorial to the throne
Zeng Xian
Hetao
Tongzhou District, Beijing
Guangxi

categories: 1548 deaths,Ming dynasty politicians,Politicians from Yingtan,1482 births,Executed Ming dynasty people

paragraph: Xia Yan (Ming dynasty)

paragraph: Xia Yan (; 1482–1548), courtesy name Gongjin (), was a Chinese politician of the Ming dynasty.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Early life and career.

paragraph: Xia was born in Guixi, Jiangxi. His father, Xia Ding (), was the subprefectural magistrate of Linqing.

paragraph: In the early reign of the Jiajing Emperor, the emperor paid more attention on ceremony. Xia rationalized the emperor's grand scheme for four separate sacrifices to Heaven, Earth, the Sun, and the Moon, and endorsed it. Thus, he gained the emperor's favor.

paragraph: When the Jiajing Emperor went back to Zhongxiang and prayed at Xianling Tomb, Yan Song requested to let officials convey their congratulations. But Xia delayed the congratulations until they were back to Beijing, which depressed the emperor. Then one day, the emperor visited Changping, Xia was late for the reception. This infuriated the emperor, and Xia was reprimanded for his discourtesy. The emperor pointed out that Xia had originally been recommended for promotion from a minor post and that he enjoyed his high status at the emperor's pleasure, thus the emperor issued an order to strip Xia's title, left him a minor one and forced him to retire. Within a matter of days, the emperor relented and prevented Xia from heading home. The punishment was quashed in the end.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Fall from grace.

paragraph: There was a censor Gao Shi () as Xia's closet friend. With his support, Xia Yan caused his political adversary Guo Xun (郭勛) to be imprisoned in 1541 until his death in the next year. Xia had previously disagreed with Guo Xun's proposal to move the crown prince into one of the two inner palaces that became vacated due to the deaths of two empresses. But when the emperor consulted him, on the issue, Xia made self-contradictory comments that appeared to take Guo Xun's side in the end. Finding it highly objectionable, the emperor began to suspect the censors involved in Guo's case. The emperor also ordered to keep Xia under constant surveillance, and noticed Xia was too indolent to draft the imperial edicts.

paragraph: Although Xia had taken part in various Taoist ceremonies during the 1530s, he was not an enthusiastic participant in the 1540s. On July 1542 the emperor asked several high-ranking officials to ride a horse to work, he also granted them "xiangye jin" (; a special headgear as something between laurel wreath and kerchief for Taoist rituals, it may be made from leaves of "Aquilaria sinensis") to wear. Xia Yan was the only one to refuse; he took a litter and wore the normal trappings, since he thought the wreath violated the rites.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Animosity and retirement.

paragraph: Yan Song seized these opportunities to oust Xia. Yan was promoted to be the Minister of Rites with Xia's help. Nevertheless, they had feuded since Yan entered the Grand Secretariat. Yan conformed with the emperor's expectations as Xia's counter, so he won favour. On one occasion, Yan Song listed Xia's faults to the emperor, especially noting how Xia engineered Guo Xun's downfall. The emperor reproached Xia furiously:(Since Guo Xun had been imprisoned, why did Xia Yan fabricate evidence against him, still? The censors ought to be the ears and eyes of the court, how dared Xia to control them as puppets? If I don't hold court in the morning, neither Xia went to the Grand Secretary. Such significant military and political affairs related to national security, Xia actually made decisions at home in private. Xia regards the classified words I uttered as a trifling matter. The censors are blind to these situations, they merely cheated and defamed me. What you have done incur the wrath of gods, the heavy rains had destroyed crops.) Xia became frightened, he not only apologised but also submitted his resignation to the emperor. Just then a solar eclipse took place. The emperor gave another edict, blaming the officials' misconduct for the abnormal eclipse, and sanctioned Xia's resignation. Many officials expressed their desire to share the responsibility with Xia. The emperor was outraged by their memorials taking Xia Yan's side and punished them. Thirteen officials were exiled in total, and Gao Shi was banished to the frontiers for his impeachment of Guo Xun.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Back to Beijing.

paragraph: Xia's influence was on the skids since 1539. Being angered by Yan's presumptuousness, the Jiajing Emperor longed for a sense of balance. Xia was recalled to Beijing in 1545 as a counterbalance to Yan. Again, they competed fiercely for dominance of the imperial court.

paragraph: When Xia became the Senior Grand Secretary again, he vented his anger by excluding Yan Song from the court affairs, and even exiled the officials that Yan Song had promoted. However, Yan did not dare to resist. Widespread disgust at Yan made Xia popular among his peers and the subordinate officers.

paragraph: Meanwhile, Xia Yan's growing arrogance had offended various persons at court, including the eunuchs, who began to speak disparagingly of Xia in the emperor's presence. The emperor also became increasingly dissatisfied with Xia's "qingci" (, [green poetry]; a special poetry for prayer in the Taoist ceremony was wrote down on a green paper). Xia was not in favour any longer.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Death.

paragraph: Later, the Supreme Commander of Shaanxi Zeng Xian appealed to the emperor to recover Hetao. Xia sought backing from the emperor for this proposal, which the emperor initially took a liking to. In February 1548, however, he suddenly withdrew support. Yan Song disassociated himself from this campaign, and indicated that Xia should be blamed for such an impracticable operation.

paragraph: At the same time, there was a rumour going around against Xia, which made the emperor more angry. He scolded Xia, then stripped of Xia's official title and privileges in the beginning of 1548, but had no intention of executing Xia.

paragraph: There was a gossip that Xia expressed resentment at being punished by the emperor, while Yan kept fabricating evidence against Xia. Thus, the emperor was furious, he ordered to kill Zeng and incarcerate Xia.

paragraph: Heard that he was implicated in Zeng's case as soon as he arrived in Tongzhou, Xia was so scared that fell off his carriage, saying "Alas! I have to die! ()". He fought to prove his innocence and affirmed that Yan set him up, but his letter to the emperor failed to redress. Several senior officials attempted to intercede with the emperor, the latter not only refused, but also kept all their wages. Perhaps what rankled the emperor was Xia's arrogance rather than the apparent contention. Eventually, Xia was executed at the market publicly on 31 October 1548, following Zeng Xian's death in April. Xia's wife was exiled to Guangxi.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Family.

paragraph: Xia's wife came from Su clan, Su had no child, while Xia's concubine was pregnant, Su envied and forced her to remarry. The latter gave birth to a boy, Su got him back after Xia's death. He died when he was about to be an official, so Xia had no descendant eventually.

description: politician

wikidata_label: Xia Yan

wikipedia_title: Xia Yan (Ming dynasty)