MEMORANDUM OF A TOUR IN PARTS OF THE AMHERST, 
 SHWEGYIN, AND PEGU DISTRICTS 
 s BY 
 TAW SEIN KO, 
 GOVERNMENT TRANSLATOR, ae enc, DUTY. 
 ee PRINTED BY THE oe 2s PRINTING, = FEBY. 1892, 
 
“MEMORANDUM OF A TOUR IN PARTS OF THE AMHERST, 
 SHWEGYIN, AND PEGU DISTRICTS. 
 
 ‘In pursuance of instructions, which were subsequently 
 modified, that I should report on the amount of archeeological 
 work which remained to be done in the Province, I -left Ran- 
 goon for Moulmein on the 5th December 1891. As it was 
 my intention to explore the whole of the country which con- 
 stituted the ancient Talaing kingdom of Ramaffiadesa, with 
 special reference to the elucidation of the history of the places 
 mentioned in the Kalyani Inscriptions, I went down to Am- 
 herst by boat and returned to Moulmein by land. The Mun 
 or Talaing language is still spoken in the villages between 
 Awherst and Moulmein, and is still taught in monastic 
 schools; but, owing to there being no grants-in-aid given 
 for the encouragement of its study, it 1s not taught in lay 
 schools. The Talaing language hasan unique literature of its 
 own; numbers of inscriptions are recorded in it; and certain 
 - questions relating to the ethnography, history, antiquities, and 
 
 languages of the peoples inhabiting Burma are awaiting so- 
 lution, because Talaing literature is still a terra incognita. Con- 
 sidering that the study of the insignificant dialects of the 
 Karen language, which has no indigenous literature, and 
 whose alphabet was invented by Doctor Wade, an American 
 Missionary, in 1832, receives considerable encouragement, it 
 would be wellif the Education Department could see its way to 
 recognize Talaing in the curriculum of studies in indigenous 
 schools in those parts of the Tavoy, Amherst, Shwegyin, and 
 Pegu districts, where it is still spoken and studied. This 
 measure would, no doubt, be pleasing to the Talaings, and 
 would be a token of gracious, although late, recognition of the 
 services rendered by their fellow-countrymen to the British in 
 the first and second Anglo-Burmese wars. 
 
 About 20 miles from Amherst is Wagarit, originally founded _ 
 by King Wagari near the close of the 13th century A.D. The 
 site of ‘the old city is now completely covered with jungle ; 
 but traces of its walls and moat still exist. It is said that its 
 walls were of laterite and that images of the same material 
 existed in its vicinity. But I saw neither the walls nor the 
 images; apparently the laterite walls have served as road- 
 metal to the contractors of the Public Works Department, 
 and the images are hidden by jungle. I am not sure whether 
 
Co 
 
 any excavations carried out at Wagarai would bring to light 
 any inscriptions or objects of archeological interest. 
 
 On the 11th December, Pagat was visited. There are caves 
 of great historical interest in its neighbourhood. Pagat ds the 
 birth-place of Wagari, who restored the Talaing monarchy 
 after Ramafifiadesa had been subject to Burmese rule for 
 over two centuries, and is full of historical associations. 
 It was here that Dalaban, the ‘Hereward the Wake’ of 
 the Talaings, utilized the strategic position of the place, 
 and for long defied the Burmese forces of Alompra’s son 
 and immediate successor, Naungdawgyi. The caves are 
 natural openings in hills of submarine limestone rock. Some 
 of them are over 1,000 feet in height and have precipitous 
 sides. It is reported that large boxes of Talaing palm-leaf 
 manuscripts, which were originally hidden by patriotic Ta- 
 laings to escape destruction from the ruthless hands of the 
 Burmese conquerors, are decaying * in the sequestered parts 
 of these caves. There are now few persons who can read 
 and understand these manuscripts ; but, whenever they shall 
 have been interpreted by a trained scholar, they will throw 
 a flood of light on Talaing history, and on the history 
 of learned, religious, and commercial relations between Ra- 
 mafinadesa, Ceylon, and Southern India. They will also solve 
 certain questions connected with Pali and Sanskrit philology 
 and literature. 
 
 Owing to want of time, only two caves, namely, the Kawgun 
 and Pagat, could be visited. The former presents a splendid 
 sight. Its precipitous side facing the Kaweun village is com- 
 pletely covered by painted terra cotta tablets arranged sym- 
 metrically in the form of terraces and spires. Inside the cave 
 are lying images of various sizes in different stages of decay 
 and ruin. They are found to be made of the following 
 substances: lead, brass, wood, stone, brick, and lacquerware. 
 The majority of them bespeak their antiquity as they differ 
 from modern ones in the following particulars: the head is 
 surmounted by a spiral truncated cone; the bristles of the hair 
 are represented ; the ears do not touch the shoulders ; the fore- 
 head is prominent, but remarkably narrow; the eye-brows, eyes, 
 
 * Subsequently, I learnt from a priest of the Mahayin Kyaung at Kado that 
 eomplete sets of Talaing manuscripts are being preserved in the Royal Libraries 
 at Bangkok. It would be a good thing to obtain a set for the Bernard Free 
 Library at Rangoon. Perhaps, the British Consul could be moved to prefer a 
 request to this effect to His Siamese Majesty. | 
 
 The late Dr. Forchhammer succeeded in procuring a number of ancient Talaing 
 manuscripts from the caves in the neighbourhood of Pagat. I understand some of 
 them, if not all, are now lying in the Bernard Free Library. ) 
 
aD, 
 
 and lips are the most prominent features of the face ; the body 
 is short and stout and the head is, disproportionately big ; the 
 limbs are fulland large; the sole of the right leg is not dis- 
 played. ; 
 
 No history is known to exist about these caves; nor is there 
 any person, layman or priest, who can relate anything his- 
 torically true about them. But, judging from the fact that Ra- 
 mannadesa was subject to Cambodian rule from the 6th to the 
 10th century A. D., and again to Siamese rule in the 14th 
 century, it may be safely inferred that most of the images are 
 of Cambodian or Siamese origin. The general architectural 
 effect of the cave and the resemblance of these images to 
 those of Siam favour this view. A closer examination in de- 
 tail, however, might reveal the fact that some of the images 
 were dedicated to Brahmanical worship, which was favoured 
 by the ancient Kings of Cambodia, that others are of Sinhalese 
 or Dravidian origin, and that there is some relationship, his- 
 _ torical, religious, and architectural, between the caves in the 
 Amherst district and the Cave Temples of India. I brought 
 away three small wooden images with legends conjectured to 
 be in the Siamese character inscribed on their pedestals. ~ 
 
 __ The Pagat cave was next visited. It contains nothing of 
 
 interest. It is now the home of bats whose dung yields an 
 annual revenue of Rs. 600. It seems to me that the contents 
 of this cave have been made away with in order to make room 
 for the more valuable dung ! 
 
 Near this cave is a monastery, now occupied by a priest from 
 Upper Burma. Since the annexation, numbers of Buddhist 
 priests from the upper province have settled down in this 
 district. Owing to their reputed learning and their conver- 
 sational powers, they are highly esteemed and are abundantly 
 supplied with the necessaries of life. The Talaing priests are, - 
 as a rule, somewhat lax in their observance of the precepts, 
 e.g., they are possessed of boats and landed estates, drive about 
 in bullock-carts, drink tea in the evenings, and smoke cigars 
 in public, Such conduct is now being followed by the priests 
 from Upper Burma, who appear to be imbued with the truth 
 of the proverb: ‘‘ When you are at Rome, act like the 
 Romans.”’ 7 
 _ The burden of supporting the priests, who do very little 
 in return for their maintenance, and who idle away most of 
 their time, because the educational work is better and more 
 efficiently done by the lay schools, is indeed a heavy one. On 
 an average about 100 houses support a kyaung, and every village | 
 
4) 
 
 that has any pretence to piety, must have a kyaung of its 
 own. ‘The standard of material comfort of the villagers, who 
 maintain the kyaung, may be a low one, but the pdngyi is fed 
 on the fat of the land. 
 
 On the 14th December, I visited Kawkareik, which is 
 inhabited by Burmans, Talaings, Shans, Karens, and Taung- 
 thus. The Taungthus are an interesting people. They have 
 a literature* of their own, and I obtained a copy of a poetical 
 work called Suttanippan (Suttanibbana or Nibbanasutta). 
 Lhe language of the 'l'aungthus contains words bodily borrow- 
 ed from the languages of the people by whom they are sur- 
 rounded. The Taungthus resemble their congeners, the 
 Karens, in physical appearance ; their build is thick-set, and 
 they have full, round, and heavy features. At Kawkareik the 
 Taungthu language is purer than at Thaton, although there 
 have been many inter-marriages between the Taungthus and 
 the Shans. 
 
 The meaning of the word ‘Taungthu’ is an tnhabitant of 
 highlands in contradistinction to the people of the lowlands. 
 A similar distinction obtains in Cambodia, the ancient King- 
 dom of the Khmers (vide Mouhot’s Travels¢n the Central Parts 
 of Indo-China, Cambodia, and Laos, page 24). 
 
 ‘“‘ Having a great taste for music, and being gifted with ears 
 excessively fine, with them? originated the tam-tam, so 
 prized among the neighbouring nations; and by uniting”its 
 sounds to those of a large drum, they obtain music tolerably 
 harmonious. The art of writing is unknown to them; and 
 as they necessarily lead a wandering life, they seem to have 
 lost nearly all traditions of the past. The only information 
 I could extract from their oldest chief was, that far beyond 
 the chain of mountains which crosses the country from north 
 to south are other people of the high country—such is the name 
 they give themselves; that of savage wounds them greatly— 
 that they have many relations there, and they even cite names 
 of villages or hamlets as far as the provinces occupied by the 
 Annamite invaders. ‘Their practice is to bury their dead.” 
 
 The above description would, with slight modifications and 
 with the exception of the part relating to their ignorance of 
 the art of writing, answer very well for that of the Taungthus. 
 
 * « My authority for this is the following extract of a note from a gentleman 
 of the American Mission to Lieutenant Newmarch :~— 
 
 “The Toungthoos have a written language and books, and kyoungs and priests. Ihave seen 
 their books, and on the fall of Sebastopol I printed the Governor-General’s proclamation for 
 Lieutenant Burn, in Toungthoo, but I confess it was the first and only thing that was ever printed 
 in ‘'oungthoo.’”—Yule’s Mission to Ava, Appendix M., page 383. : 
 
 + Savages to the east of Cambodia, called by the Cambodians their elder 
 brothers. . 
 
(ae) 
 
 The Taungthus call themselves Pha-o, ancient fathers, and 
 have a tradition that large numbers of them emigrated years 
 ago from their original seat of Thatdn to a State of the same 
 name in the Shan country. Since then they have borrowed 
 largely from Shan literature: in fact, their books, most of 
 which have been translated from Shan, contain a large ad- 
 mixture of Shan words. 
 
 The Taungthu alphabet appears to have closer affinity to 
 that of the Talaings or the Burmans rather than to that of the 
 Shans as it recognises the media letters, which are absent in 
 Shan. The one peculiarity deserving of notice in the pronunci- 
 ation of the letters is, the Indian sound accorded to the letters, 
 of the Palatal class, ¢.g., c is pronounced ch and not ts as the 
 Thibetans, Burmans, or Talaings would. Thisisa remarkable 
 fact showing the probability of the Taungthus having received 
 their alphabet direct from Indian colonists or the curious in- 
 cident of the capacity of a monosyllabic language to assimilate 
 towards an Aryan alphabet. 
 
 The Taungthu language, as evidenced by the comparative 
 vocabulary shown below, has closer affinity to Burmese than 
 to Shan or Talaing— 
 
 Taungthu. ; Burmese. Meaning. 
 Ta-pa* .., a) | Ta, tit ae Se MOG: 
 Ni-pa ... ee Bails Rane tage ee Pa Be ha toe 
 Sén-pa ... ea 6. PIP DOU ¢ 4 by AU sy geyey 
 Lit-pa ... 3 ar ie aes ae 4h Leur: 
 Negat-pa Le a (SN Ga eee oe ». | Five. 
 Sti-pa -... Le ive fe Chale 23 2 23 / eke. 
 Nit-pa ... we .. | Bhunhit ie .., | Seven. 
 Sét-pa ... ier we Chie a ... | Eight. 
 Kut-pa ... ve Sic eeOsc ee 7 me (a vine: 
 Hachiy ft a rer Lage Me: Rs: fe Len 
 Way ca as ac a4 20 (INC say eae Eee Ou 
 La ae fe Rey ae 72) ae ae Sse) fe VLOOM: 
 Cha ne peril Ly Cu. nie Bi et fe ears 
 Pha nee ed Ra Pha AY wet ... | Father. 
 Me: cee este We NEE ba a ... | Mother. 
 L6 nae 406 sean Lie ae She Ade ll. Mee ae 
 
 * A . . . . e wom 
 Pa denotes an individual unit. Its cognate form pronounced with the 
 heavy tone is employed as a numerative in Burmese. 
 Tt Ch in Taungthu is interchangeable with s in Burmese. ; 
 mye: : - . Oyo : 
 {| This word means jire in Burmese ; but the primitive conception of the sun 
 as the sowrce of heat may have possibly existed. 
 
 : The double dots denote that the word to which they aro aft : : 
 nounced with the heavy tone. y aro allixed should be pro- 
 
_ ( 6 } 
 
 As I had to conduct personally the Burmese portion of the 
 examination for Myodkships held by the Educational Syndi- 
 cate, 1 returned to Rangoon on the 19th and went wees to 
 Moulmein on the 26th December. 
 
 On the 28th, I started for Thatén and reached it on the same 
 da | 
 
 Thaton has been identified by Burmese and Talaing writers 
 as the Suvannabhimi of the Buddhist books, and the Aurea 
 Regio of Ptolemy and others. It is bounded on the east 
 by the Thinganeik range, which is about 12 miles long, and 
 trends from north to south. On the west is an immense rice 
 plain, which is about 15 miles in breadth, and beyond that is 
 the sea. In the rainy season the plain is covered by water 
 and navigation by boat is possible. 
 
 According toa ‘Talaing tradition, Thatén was founded by 
 - Siharaja, a contemporary of Gotama Buddha. In choosing 
 the site of the new city he consulted his foster-father, the 
 Rishi of Zingyaik, and was advised to select a spot where gold 
 was found, and to which a large population would be attracted 
 in a short time. The place, where the Jubilee Memorial 
 fountain erected in 1888 is now playing, is still pointed out 
 as the site of the palace of Siharaja and Manuha, the first and 
 last kings of Thatén. Closebyis the gold-bearing stream of 
 Shwegyaung San, which is perennial and issues from the Thin- 
 ganeik (Singanika) hill. Gold is still worked by isolated in- 
 dividuals at the beginning and close of the rainy season, but the 
 quantities obtained are not commensurate with the amount of 
 labour involved. 
 
 There are five Talaing inscriptions at Thaton: four in the 
 enclosure of the Shwezayan pagoda, and the remaining one 
 under a banyan tree at Nyaungwaing. Their palocography 
 indicates that their ageis about 400 years. 
 
 Three brick buildings near the Shwezayan pagoda are 
 known as the libraries whence Anawratazaw, King of Pagan, | 
 is said to have removed the ‘five elephant-loads of Buddhist 
 scriptures’? in 1057 A.D. 
 
 The terra cotta tablets inserted in niches in the Thagyapaya 
 within the same enclosure are of considerable interest. Most 
 of them have been destroyed, and the meaning of the repre- 
 sentations is not accurately understood. But they appear to 
 indicate that the people, whoever they were, who constructed 
 these tablets undoubtedly professed Brahmanism or Hinduism, 
 and that they had attained to some degree of civilization. 
 Siva with his trident is the predominant figure ; conveyances 
 
Cer y) 
 
 are drawn by single ponies, and women wear their hair in big 
 knots at the back of the head. The features of the persons 
 represented are of Mongolian cast, and resemble those of the 
 Karens and Taungthus of the present day.* 
 
 The Thagyapaya, in common with other pagodas built by 
 the Talaings, is constructed of hewn laterite; and the exist- 
 ence of several tanks in its vicinity indicates the source 
 whence this building material was obtained. 
 
 There are three basso relievo sculptures on stone represent- 
 ing Vishnuic symbols lying in the enclosure of the Assistant 
 Commissioner’s Court-house. It has been arranged to remove 
 them to the Phayre Museum at Rangoon. 
 
 Nat-worship is still, hke in other parts of Burma, one of the 
 prevailing forms of belief at Thaton. I visited the temple of 
 the Nat called P’o-p’o, grandfather. Tradition, which is, in this 
 case, prima facie palpably false, says that, when this Nat was a | 
 human being, he was charged by Sova and Uttara, the Bud- 
 dhist missionaries who visited Ramafifiadesa in the 3rd cen- 
 tury B.C., to safeguard Thatén against the attacks of the bilus 
 or fierce monsters. The image of P’o-p’o represents an old 
 man of about 60 years sitting cross-leeged, with a white fillet 
 on the head, and a moustache and pointed beard. The fore- 
 head is broad and the face bears an intelligent expression. 
 The upper portion of the body is nude, and the lower is dressed 
 in a chetk paso or loin-cloth of the zigzag pattern so much 
 prized by the people of Burma. The right hand rests on the 
 right knee, and the left 1s in the act of counting the beads of 
 arosary. ‘The height of the figure is about five feet. In the 
 apartment on the left of P’o-p’o is an image representing 
 a benign-looking wun or* governor in full official dress. 
 Facing the second image in a separate apartment is the . 
 representation of a wild, fierce-looking bo or military officer in 
 uniform. The fourth apartment on the left of the bo is dedi- 
 cated to a female Nat, who is presumably the wife of P’o-p’o. 
 But there is no image representing her. It is a strange co- 
 incidence that, like in India and Ceylon, these shrines are 
 
 held in veneration by various nationalities professing different 
 
 creeds. 
 
 The images of the Nats are in a good state of preservation 
 as they are in the custody of a medium, who gains a comfort- 
 able livelihood. An annual festival, which is largely attended, 
 is held in their honour. 
 
 * A description of these tablets is given at pages 716 and 717 of the British 
 Burma Gazetteer, Vol, II, : 
 
> 
 
 (98 &) 
 
 On the 81st December, I visited the K6Ktheinnayén hill, - 
 which is about 8 miles to the west of Bilin. On the top of. 
 the hill are two images representing the Buddhist mission- . 
 aries, Sona and Uttara, in a recumbent posture and with their 
 hands clasped towards a stone .vessel placed between them. 
 The vessel is reputed to contain a hair.of Gotama Buddha. 
 Around Sona and Uttara are the figures of rahandas or Bud- . 
 dhist saints, with full, round, and heavy features. The fore- © 
 head of these figures is broad and prominent, bit retreating ; 
 the nose is big and long; and the mouth large. - At the four 
 corners of the platform on the top of the hill, are figures of a 
 strange monster, half human and half beast, called ‘* Manus. 
 siha.”’ There is no such Pali word; but the term has been 
 coined to designate a human-headed monster with two bodies 
 ofa lion. The origin of these monsters is thus recorded in 
 the Kalyani Inscriptions. : 
 
 ‘The town (Golamattikanagara) was situated on the sea- 
 shore; and there was a Rakkhast, who lived in the sea, and 
 was in the habit of always seizing and devouring every child 
 that was born in the King’s palace. On the very night of 
 the arrival of the two theras, the Chief Queen of the King gave 
 birth toa child. The Rakkhast, knowing that a child had been 
 born in the King’s palace, came towards the town, surround- 
 ed by 500 other Rakkhasas, with the object of devouring it. 
 When the people saw the Rakkhasi, they were stricken with 
 terror, and raised a loud cry. The two theras, perceiving that 
 the Rakkhast and her attendants had assumed the exceeding- 
 ly frightful appearance of lions, each with one head and two 
 bodies, created (by means of their supernatural power) monsters 
 of similar appearance, but twice the number of those accom- 
 panylng the Rakkhast, and these monsters chased the Rakkhasas 
 and obstructed their further progress. When the pisdcas saw 
 twice thelr own number of monsters created bv the super- 
 natural power of the two theras, they cried out: ‘ Now we shall 
 become their prey,’ and being stricken with terror, fled to- 
 wards the sea.” ; 
 
 Fergusson, in his History of Indian and Eastern Architecture 
 (page 622), makes the following pertinent remarks on the 
 origin of this monster: ‘This illustration (of the Shwedagon 
 pagoda at Rangoon) is also valuable as showing the last lineal 
 descendant of these great human-headed winged lions that 
 once adorned the portals of the palaces at Nineveh ; but after 
 nearly 3,000 years of wandering and ill-treatment have de- 
 generated into these wretched caricatures of their former — 
 selves.” | | 
 
 é 
 
ie (a?) 
 
 In an image-housé at the foot of the hill, is a brass bell on 
 which the .old Talaing inscription has been effaced and a 
 modern Burmese one engraved. It is, perhaps, hopeless to 
 recover a copy of the ancient inscription, even if any ever 
 existed. 
 
 On the 1st January 1892, I visited the Tizaung pagoda 
 at Zdkthdk village, which is about 6 miles to the north of Bilin. 
 The basement of the pagoda is constructed of blocks of laterite 
 each about 2 feet by 14 feet and by 1footin dimensions. Some 
 of the images as well as the receptacles for offerings, &c., placed 
 around it are of the same material, and bear traces of orna- 
 mentation. In the neighbourhood are sculptures in relief 
 engraved on large laterite blocks, which are so arranged as to 
 form panels on the face of a wall or rampart of earth 450 feet 
 long, and 12 feet high. They are known as the Sindat-myindat 
 (elephants and horses of war); but the representations are 
 those of elephants and tigers or lions alternately with those 
 of Nats interspersed between them. 
 
 The Kelatha (Kelasa) pagoda—the Kelasabhapabbatacetiya 
 of the Kalyani Inscriptions—was visited on the 2nd January. 
 It is situated on a steep hill about 2,000 feet high, and appears 
 to have been renovated. It derives its sanctity from the tra- 
 dition that, like the Kyaiktiyo, and Kéktheinnayén pagodas, it 
 contains one of the three hairs given by Gotama Buddha to 
 the Rishi Kelasa. Near the pagoda are two stone inscrip- 
 tions erected by King Dhammaceti. They are in the Talaing 
 character. The engraved portion of one has been entirely 
 _ destroyed and only the socket remains standing, while half of 
 
 the other has been broken. Only one ‘‘ Manussiha”’ facing 
 seawards is found on the pagoda platform. Numbers of square 
 bricks with the representation of a lotus flower impressed upon 
 them are lying about the place. 
 
 The Kelasa hill abounds in plants used in Burmese medi- 
 eine. The plant called Maukk’adaw is employed as an anti- 
 dote against snake-poison, and another called K’wegaungzawet 
 is used in curing hydrophobia. Itis a well-known fact that 
 cases of hydrophobia have been cured with medicines which 
 are a secret to Burmese doctors, who are utterly ignorant of 
 the Pasteur method. It appears to me that the interests ot 
 the science of medicine and of humanity generally would be 
 served if the study of Burmese Pharmacopeia could be scienti- 
 fically pursued. The Medical Department could, perhaps, in- 
 struct the Burmese Assistant Surgeons to take up the study. _ 
 
 2 
 
( to % 
 
 On the same day, the village of Ayetthéma, which is 4 
 miles off, was visited. It is the ancient Taikkula and the 
 Golamattikanagara of the Kalyani Inscriptions. Dr. Forch- 
 hammer in his Notes on the Early History and Geography of 
 British Burma, I, page 7, says: ‘ Though the seashore is now 
 about 12 miles* to the west, this place was still an important 
 seaport in the 16th and 17th centuries; it is marked on the 
 map of Professor Lassen as Takkala, but erroneously placed a 
 few miles north of Tavoy. Cables, ropes, and other vestiges of 
 sea-going vessels are still frequently dug up about Taikkala.”’ 
 
 The subject of the identification of the Takéla of Ptolemy 
 and the Kalah of Arabian Geographers is discussed at pages 
 12—16 (ibid), and at pages 198 and 199 of McCrindle’s <An- 
 cient India described by Ptolemy. 
 
 Very little appears to be known about the ancient Golas 
 (Skr. Gaudas) of Gaur (vide pages 35—86 of the Imperial 
 Gazetteer of India, Volume V). If the evidence afforded by the 
 Kalyani Inscriptions can-be relied on, the settlement in 
 Suvannabhumi was apparently colonized from Bengal during 
 one of the struggles for supremacy between Buddhism and 
 Brahmanism and possibly Jainism also. At the conclusion 
 of the Third Buddhist Council, it was remembered by the 
 mother-country, and missionaries were sent to it in order to 
 re-establish community of faith. That Buddhism was pre- 
 valent in many parts of India from 300 B.C. to 400 A.D. is 
 abundantly clear from the researches of Prinsep, Lassen, and 
 Burnouf, ab 
 
 There was a Talaing inscription near Ayetthema. It was 
 removed to the Phayre Museum at Rangoon about 8 years 
 ago. 
 
 Traces of a wall and moat still exist, and fragments of 
 pottery and of glazed tiles are found in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Peeu was reached on the night of the 3rd January. Hx- 
 tensive ruins are extant on the east and west face of the 
 town. The ruins at Zaingganaing, on the west side, comprise 
 those of Kalyanisima, Mahaceti, Yathemyo, Kyaikpun,{ and 
 Shwegagyi. There are 10 inscriptions at Kalyanisima, one 
 
 * Of late, the sea has been encroaching on the land. At the time of my visit, the 
 sites of many villages, which derived their wealth and prosperity from the rice 
 trade, were under water. 
 
 + Four colossal images of Buddha sitting cross-legged, back to back, and facing 
 the cardinal points. The height of each image is about 90 feet; the thumb 
 measures 8 feet, the arm from the inner elbow-joint to the tip of the middle finger 
 33 feet, the distance from knee to knee 62 feet. The images represent the four 
 Buddhas, who have appeared in this Kalpa, namely, Kakusandha, Konagamana, 
 Kassapa, and Gotama. 
 
( il ) 
 
 at Yathemyo and 22 at Shwegagyi. Between Kalyanisima 
 and Mahacetiis a Brobdignaggian image of Gotama Buddha 
 in a recumbent posture, measuring about 90 feet in length. 
 Treasure-hunters have been hard at work among these ruins, 
 and I am told that their acts of vandalism,are countenanced both 
 by the péngyts and the native officials, who expect a share in 
 the “finds.” Most of the stone inscriptions have been broken 
 by treasure-hunters or by pagoda slaves who were anxious to 
 obliterate the record of their origin. In some cases, the names 
 of persons dedicated as pagoda slaves have been carefully 
 chiselled out. 
 
 Peou is the Thebaid of Ramafina as Pagan is of Burma 
 Proper, and its ruins have some claim to a detailed archzxo- 
 logical survey. The Kalyanisima is the most interesting of 
 all. It ig an ancient Hall of Ordination, to which Buddhist 
 priests from all parts of Burma, from Ceylon and Siam, used to 
 flock to receive their upasampadé ordination. Close by are 
 ten stone-slabs covered with inscriptions on both sides. All 
 of them are more or less broken, but the fragments, which are 
 lying scattered about, can easily be restored. ‘Their average 
 dimensions are about 12 feet high, 4 feet 2 inches wide, 
 and 1 foot and 38 inches thick. They were set up by King 
 Dhammacetiafter he had founded. the Kalyanisima in 1476 
 A.D. The language of the inscriptions is partly Pali and partly 
 Talaing. Numerous copies of the Pali portion on palm-leaf are 
 extant, and from two of them the text has been transcribed in 
 the Roman character and translated. Only the notes are want- 
 ing to complete the work. The chief value of the Kalyani In- 
 scriptions rests on the detailed information they give of the 
 manner in which Simds should be consecrated in order to 
 secure their validity, and of the intercourse of Pegu and 
 Burma with Ceylon and the Dekkhan in the 15th century A.D. 
 
 The Mahaceti pagoda is a huge pile of brick and laterite, 
 built by Hanthawadi Sinbyuyin about the middle of the 16th 
 century A. D. Only the square basement now remains, 
 Hee about 3820 feet wide at the base, and about 170 feet 
 
 igh. | . 
 
 Nothing definite is known about the ruins of Yathemyo, 
 Kyaikpun, and Shweetgyi. In the neighbourhood of the last- 
 named Pagoda, glazed terra cotta tablets exhibiting, in relief, 
 figures of human beings and animals were found lying scattered 
 about. A number of such tablets have been collected in Mr, 
 _Jackson’s garden near the Kalyanisima. All these should be 
 acquired by Government and sent to the Phayre Museum at 
 
( 2 ) 
 
 Rangoon. They appear to have been manufactured by colo- 
 nists from India. 
 
 The religious buildings at Pegu suffered greatly at the 
 hands of the Portuguese adventurer, Philip de Brito, and Nicote 
 alias Maung Zinga, who held his Court at Syriam at the 
 beginning of the 17th century, and also at the hands of Alom- 
 pra’s soldiery, who, being incensed at the acts of sacrilege 
 committed by the Talaings during their ephemeral conquest of 
 Burma Proper, wreaked their vengeance when their turn came. 
 It is said that Maung Zinga, who was originally a ship-boy, 
 and was stationed at Syriam to watch events, and to represent 
 his master, the King of Arakan, entertained ambitious designs 
 of holding Pegu as a dependency of the Crown of Portugal 
 and of converting the Peguans to Christianity. For the attain- 
 ment of this object, he allied himself with Byinnya Dala, 
 the Governor of Martaban, who was tributary to Siam, and 
 opened communications with the Viceroy of Goa. He failed 
 in his object and met with his death, because he bad alienated 
 the sympathy of the people by breaking down their religious 
 buildings and shipping off to Goa the treasures obtained there- 
 from in ‘‘ five ships.” In the plaintive words of the Thamaing 
 or history of the Shwemawdaw Pagoda: *‘ Maung Zinga was a 
 heretic, who, for 10 years, searched for pagodas to destroy 
 them. Religion perished in Ramafifia, and good works were 
 no longer performed.” 
 
 The Shwegigale Pagoda is in a good state of preservation. 
 Its basement consists of a gallery containing 64 images of 
 Buddha, each 4 feet 8 inches high, which were apparently 
 constructed by Siamese architects. It is octagonal in shape, 
 and is a remarkable structure. Oneach side is an entrance, 
 6 feet high by 3 feet 2 inches wide, and 7 feet 2 inches long; 
 they lead to an interior gallery, 5 feet 2 inches wide and 7 feet 
 8 inches high; the entire gallery passing round the central 
 portion, measures 246 feet. 
 
 Close to the Mazinchaung, is the Shwenatha Pagoda. It 
 contains an image sculptured in relief on a tablet of sand- 
 stone measuring 54 feet by 4 feet. The image has an Indian 
 cast of features, and is fabled to be shackled with fetters 
 owing to its having once fled from Pegu. It is said that this. 
 image as well as a similar one of the same name on the 
 eastern face of the city were brought away from Taikkala. 
 The resemblance between these images and the figure of 
 Avalokiteswara (Plate LV of The Cave Temples of India by Fer- 
 gusson and Burgess) is very striking, and suggests the idea 
 
( Is ) 
 
 that they have probably been modified to suit their Buddhistic 
 character. Near this image was picked up a small terra cotta 
 tablet bearing a Sanskrit legend. This tablet and other old 
 images lying about the place have apparently been obtained 
 by ransacking the relic-chambers of ancient pagodas. 
 
 The eastern face of Pegu was visited on the 5th January. 
 The Shwemawdaw Pagoda, said to contain two hairs of Gotama 
 Buddha enshrined by Mahasala and Cilasala, sons of Pinda- 
 kamahasetthi of Zaungta, was being re-gilt under the super- 
 vision of its trustees. The Pagoda was last repaired by 
 Bodawpaya, one of the numerous sons of Alompra, about a 
 hundred years ago, and a broken inscription recording this 
 meritorious act is lying on the Pagoda platform. ‘There is also 
 an ancient brass bell said to have been presented by Byinnya 
 Dala after his conquest of Ava in 1752 A.D. 
 
 Like the Shwedagén Pagoda at Rangoon, the Shwemadaw 
 is a Buddhist shrine of great sanctity. Successive Kings of 
 Burma and Pegu lavished their treasures on it in repairing 
 and enlarging it. When originally built, it was only 75 feet 
 high, but as it now stands, it is about 288 feet high, and 
 about 1,350 feet in circumference at the base. 
 
 A little to the north-east of Shwemawdaw is a small hill, 
 fabled to have been the resting-place of two Hamsa birds, 
 when the region about Pegu was under the sea. At the foot of 
 this hill are two octagonal pillars of fine granite. The length 
 of one is about 11 feet and that of the other is about 5. 
 They bear no inscription, but a tradition is current that they 
 were erected by Kala or Indian merchants who subsequently 
 claimed the country as their own by virtue of pre-occupation, 
 and that they were driven out by a Talaing prince. However, 
 the true history of the pillars appears to be that, like a similar 
 granite pillar in the ancient town of Tenasserim in the Mergui 
 district, they were erected, when Ramafifidesa was subject to 
 Siamese rule, to mark the centre of the ancient city of Hamsa- 
 vati, and that most probably a human being or beings were 
 buried alive below the pillars in the belief that the spirits of 
 the deceased would keep an unremitting watch over the city. 
 
 A good panoramic view of Pegu and its suburbs is obtained 
 from the Shwe-aungyo Pagoda which is situated at the 
 south-east corner of the city walls. At about 700 yards from 
 the southern face is Jetuvati, the encampment of Alompra, who 
 beleaguered Pegu in 1757 A.D. Within the walls are visi- 
 ble the sites of the palaces of the great kings of Hamsavati 
 like Hanthawaddi Sinbyuyin known to European writers as 
 
( is) 
 
 Branginoco, Yazadarit, and Dhammaceti. Traces of a double 
 wall and moat are also seen, the walls being in good con- 
 dition... — 
 
 I have now traversed through the whole of the ancient 
 Talaing Kingdom of Ramafifiadesa proper. The stone in- 
 scriptions are about the only objects of archeological value ; 
 and should, I think, for the purpose of preservation, be reé- 
 moved to the Phayre Museum at Rangoon, provided of course 
 that they are ownerless and that the people of the locality do 
 not offer any objection to the removal. In the case, however, 
 of inscriptions, whose size and weight render their removal to 
 Rangoon unadvisable, they should be collected at some con- 
 venient and central place and arrangements should be made 
 to protect them from the weather. If they remain in situ they 
 are liable to be defaced or weather-worn. Manuscripts of his- 
 torical interest are extremely scarce; the architectural struc- 
 tures have in most cases been renovated in the modern style ; 
 and the religious buildings worthy of conservation are being 
 looked after by the people. With the exception of the pago- 
 das, which are generally octagonal in shape, and of the new 
 kyaungs recently constructed at Moulmein, there is scarcely 
 any building of historic or architectural interest. No stupas 
 or topes like those of Upper India were met with, and the 
 enquiries instituted failed to elicit any information regarding 
 the existence of any records, lithic or otherwise, in the Asoka 
 character. The absence of any records in this character, both — 
 in Ramafifadesa and at Pagan, whither it is supposed the 
 Burmese conquerors removed their spoils of war, throws con- 
 siderable doubt on the authenticity of the account relating to 
 the mission of Sona and Uttara at the conclusion of the Third 
 Council, as stated in the Mahadvamsa and other Buddhist 
 books. The question, however, may be considered to be an 
 open one, because the information afforded by Talaing, Cambo- 
 dian, and Siamese records, whenever they shall have been ex- 
 amined and interpreted, may help towards its solution. 
 
 RANGOON : TAW SEIN KO, 
 Dated the 29th January 1892. Government Translator, 
 | on special duty. 
 
 ‘ 
 
 G. B,C. P. O,—No. 376, B, 8., 9-2-92—-200.