42 Sir Arthur P. P hay re —On the History of Pegu. [No. 1, 
taking Tarabya with him. The deposed king was soon after put to death 
for entering into a conspiracy. 
Of the birth and parentage of Wa-re-ru there are conflicting accounts. 
The history which I follow, relates that there was at Muttama a merchant 
of the name of Magadu who traded to the adjoining countries. To the 
east was the country of Thuk-ka-te, the name of the ancient capital of Siam, 
or the ancient seat of the royal family, situated on a branch of the river 
Menam. Magadu went to Thuk-kate, and entered the service of the king of 
that country. He either possessed a female elephant which gave birth to 
a white one, or he captured a white one in the forest, which he presented to 
the king. This was regarded as an omen of his future high destiny. On 
returning to Muttama, he raised a rebellion against Alimma, the Burmese 
governor, and put him to death. # After this, there is some obscurity in the 
narrative as to the fate of Magadu, and it might almost be supposed that 
he disappeared. But this arises from the respectful reserve of the chronicler, 
who refrains from stating distinctly that the quondam merchant Magadu 
became king of Muttama under the name of Wa-re-ru. It is intimated that 
his great fortune resulted from the merit of his good deeds in former births. 
In fact, he was descended from one of the Nat-Bhilu who listened to the 
preaching of Budha, when he came to the wild region east of Tha-htun, 
instead of joining those who impiously drove him away. Thus he is claimed 
as a Mun by race, though it is probable that he was descended from a Shan 
family from the eastward, which had settled in the country of the lower 
Than-lwin (Salwin). 
Wa-re-ru was now king of Mut-ta-ma. He was anxious to possess a 
white elephant, which is the great object of the ambition of a Budhist king, 
and especially of an usurper, as it is supposed to indicate his true royal de¬ 
scent. After much negociation with the king of Thuk-ka-te, or Siam, a white 
elephant was forwarded by that monarch. This occurred in the Burmese 
year 655 (A. H. 1293), six 3 ^ears after Wareru had become king. As the 
strength of his kingdom lay in the country of the Salwin, where the Shans 
had been settling for several generations, the king made Muttama his capital, 
though, as we have already seen, he had dethroned Tarabya and occupied 
Pegu. The Talaing historians, however, as he did not reign in their ancient 
capital, do not include his name among the kings of Hanthawati. 
After the fall of the ancient Burmese monarchy, the Shan chief A-theng- 
kha-ya, with his two brothers, ruled at Myin-tsaing what still remained of 
the empire. Having heard of the fame of Wareru’s white elephant, he de¬ 
termined to possess it. He marched with an army to Muttama and demand¬ 
ed that the sacred animal should be delivered to him. This was refused, 
* In the Burmese Maha Radza weng, the year of Alim-ma’s death is said to have 
been A. D., 1281 . 
