TO the court of aya. 
279 
the BudcPhist religion underwent farther change, 
assuming the form it has ever since retained.* 
It was while the seat of Government was at 
Pugan that the present vulgar era was esta¬ 
blished. The commencement of this corre¬ 
sponds with the year of Christ 639. As far as 1 
can understand, it is purely of Native origin; 
nor am I aware that it is connected with any 
important event of national history, although, I 
believe, some European writers have fancied that 
it commemorated the first introduction of the re¬ 
ligion of Gautama into Ava. 
In the year of Christ 1300, the seat of Go¬ 
vernment was established at Panya, and fifty-six 
years thereafter Pugan was destroyed. It conti¬ 
nued at Panya only for fifty-six years, and during 
the reign of three princes. In the fifth year of 
the reign of the first prince, it is recorded in ex¬ 
travagant terms, in an inscription found at Sa- 
gaing, and of which a translation is given in the 
Appendix, that he, the Prince, repelled an inva¬ 
sion of the Chinese; one of those often-repeated 
attempts at conquest by a more powerful and 
civilized people, from which the Burmese appear 
to have escaped subjugation less through their 
* I am disposed to believe that the Budd’hist worship was first 
brought to Ava through Bengal and Arracan ; and that reforms 
or innovations were subsequently introduced from the Southern 
Peninsula of India, and the Island of Ceylon, after it ceased to 
be a prevailing religion in Northern India, 
