1873.] Sir Arthur P. Phayre —On the History of Pegu. 47 
The young king assumed the title of Badza-di-rit. He rewarded all 
those who had supported him, and put very few of his enemies to death. 
The queen had bitterly opposed him, yet, in remembrance of her care of 
him when he was a child, after his own mother’s death, he now treated 
her with respect and honour. There was one powerful nobleman who had 
opposed him, and who was still unsubdued. This was Lauk-bya, the 
governor of Myaung-mya, who was of the royal family. He hated Bad- 
za-dirit, whom he denounced as no son of Binya-ii’s, and was determined 
not to submit to him. He now caused the renewal of the stnma-le he- 
o o 
tween Burma and Pegu, which had ceased for about a century, or since 
the fall of the Pugan monarchy, and which only ended in the entire 
subjection of Pegu about the middle of the eighteenth century. 
At this time, Ava was the capital of Burma, and the king Tarabya, 
though said to be descended from the ancient kings of Pugan, and also 
through his mother from the family of the three Shan brothers who suc¬ 
ceeded them, was essentially the chief of a Shan dynasty. The king of 
Pegu belonged to a southern branch of the same race. Lauk-bya seeing 
that the king of Ava had subdued all his enemies, sent messengers to 
him, offering, if he were placed on the throne of Pegu, to hold it as a 
tributary king. The king of Ava therefore sent an army, composed of two 
columns under the command of his sons, to carry out this plan. One of 
these marched by the E-ra-wa-ti to Laing, and one by the Tsit- 
taung or Paung-laung Eiver to Taungu. Both were defeated by Badza- 
dirit before Lauk-bya could arrive to support either, and they retreated 
to Ava. The history of Pegu states that the king of Ava accompanied 
his army on this expedition, but this does not agree with the Burmese 
history. The king of Pegu was sensible that his victory resulted more 
from the difficulties in the country which the Burmese army had to en¬ 
counter, than from the superiority of the force he was able to bring against 
them. He, therefore, sent envoys to Ava with a letter and presents, hop¬ 
ing to establish friendship with the dreaded monarch. But the king of 
Ava remarked that the letter was a short one, and sternly replied that 
the Ta-laing country belonged to his ancestors, and would be recovered. 
The presents were scornfully rejected, and the envoys returned sorrowfully 
to their master. Thus the present king of Burma showed his determina¬ 
tion to recover, if possible, all that had once belonged to the kings of 
Pugan; and Eadzadirit had nothing for it but to prepare for resistance. 
Lauk-bya addressed the king of Ava, excusing himself for not having ap¬ 
peared with a force to support the Burmese army, and again tendering 
his allegiance. When the season arrived, Tarabya marched down the val¬ 
ley of the Erawati, and as in the previous campaign, established himself 
at Laing. The king of Pegu was entrenched in a strong position at Mau- 
