8 Sir Arthur P. Phayre —On the History of Pegu ,. [No. 1, 
sarily vacate the throne in the opinion of his own subjects. After this, he 
was allowed by the emperor of Pegu to go to his own country as a pilgrim. 
But there he threw off his monk’s frock, and excited a rebellion which led to 
the second siege of Yodaya by Bureng Naung in 1569. During this, the 
king, that is he who had formerly abdicated and become a Italian, and who 
is called Bratha-di by the Burmese, died. His son Bra-ma-hin, called 
Mahin tha-ra-thi-rat in the Siamese history, succeeded him, but was forced 
to surrender the city, in A. D. 1555, or fourteen years earlier than the date 
given for the same event in the Burmese history. This king was also 
carried off to Pegu, but the Siamese history states that he died on the way. 
The Burmese history is silent on this point, and it is not improbable that 
he was put to death. The emperor of Pegu then, according to the Burmese 
« 
history, appointed one of the Zimme royal family to be tributary king of 
Siam. In the history of Siam, he is called Plira Thamma raxa tliirat, and 
it is stated that he had formerly been king of Phitsilok. Though appointed 
to the kingdom by the emperor of Pegu, he was faithful to the interests of 
his own race ; and his son Phra Naret, the Byanarit of the Burmese, at the 
age of sixteen distinguished himself by his hospitality to the Pegu troops on 
the frontier. This young prince by the death of his father became king 
of Siam about the year 1577, A. D., though the Siamese history places that 
event ten years earlier. Siam now become practically independent. Byanarit 
is called by the Portuguese the black Prince, and lived until the year 1605, 
A. D., as mentioned by the Hollander Ploris, though the Siamese annals 
state that he died in 1593. 
When Nanda Bureng was collecting his forces to advance to Ava in 
1581, he summoned the king of Siam to attend with his army. Byanarit 
no doubt had designs to establish his own independence, but he appeared 
to obey the order and entered Pegu by the Tsit-taung route. The emperor 
was then in the upper country, but the Upa Kadza, who was regent at the 
capital, directed the king of Siam to march on Ava. Instead of doing so, 
he came close to the city, and menaced an attack upon it. Hearing, however, 
that the emperor had defeated the king of Ava, he retired to Muttama, and 
carried off from thence a number of the inhabitants into Siam. The emperor 
at once sent a force against Siam under the Upa Badza. The expedition 
was hastily planned and badly executed. In marching down the banks of 
the Menam, the invading army was attacked by Byanarit, and forced to 
retreat with heavy loss. To retrieve this disaster, the emperor himself in the 
year 1587 led a large army which invested Yodaya. The Burmese history 
admits that the besiegers were unequal to the task. Thousands died from 
want and exposure, and the emperor was forced to make a disastrous retreat, 
returning to his capital in June 1587. The year following, the king of 
Prome having died, the emperor appointed one of his sons to that kingdom. 
