122 
Sir Arthur P. Phayre —The History of Pegu. 
[No. 2, 
catecl as slaves to the service of the Shwe Dagun, with a complete establish¬ 
ment of artificers and warders for service, day and night. # One of the 
Budhist monks who had assisted the queen to leave Ava, was chosen by lot 
to become a layman ; he was then raised to the rank of crown prince, with 
the title of Dliammadzedi, and was married to the queen’s daughter. Being 
suspicious that the other monk would, from envy, seek to raise a disturbance 
in the country, he had him put to death. After four years, the queen retired to 
Talkun, where she built a new palace, the site of which is still preserved by 
tradition. The crown prince remained at Hanthawati, where he carried on 
the duties of government, hut once a month he came to pay his respects to 
the queen. Sheng-Tsau-bu, after reigning three years at Ta-kun, died at 
the age of sixty-five years. Her name is held in high honour among the 
people to this day ; and a national festival to her memory is celebrated once 
a year at Bangoon. 
The crown prince Dhamma Dzedi was consecrated king. Some nobles 
were discontented as he had no hereditary right ; but when they saw how 
well he ruled the country, they were reconciled to him. He is celebrated 
in the history of Pegu for his great wisdom. Numerous instances are given 
of the difficult questions which he solved, and the decisions he gave in va¬ 
rious legal suits. Embassies came to him from China, Siam, Ava, ITau (?), 
and Ceylon. He was earnest in religion. He made no wars, but extended 
the boundary of his kingdom east of the Than-lwin, establishing the district 
of Mhaing-lun-gyi. His subjects believed that he could make gold. He died 
after a prosperous reign of thirty-one years, in the year 853, or A. T>. 1491. 
He received the funeral honours of a Tsekya-wati (Chakrawartti), or univer¬ 
sal monarch, and a pagoda was built over his bones, which was crowned and 
gilded all over, as if it were an object of worship. 
He was succeeded by his son Binya Ban, whose mother was the daugh¬ 
ter of Sheng-tsau-bu. During the long reign of this king, nothing is re¬ 
corded as to intercourse with foreign countries, which had been so prominent 
in his father’s time. He made a progress up the Erawati at the head of a 
large army, which is called a pilgrimage to the Shwe-zi-gun pagoda at Pu- 
gan. When passing Prome, he was received with high honour by the ruler 
of that city, who appears then to have been an independent prince. At this 
time, the king of Ava had little power beyond his own city. In the Bur¬ 
mese history, it is stated that Binya Ban made an attack on a fort built by 
the king of Taungu, but this is not mentioned in the Peguan history. Bin¬ 
ya Ban died in the year 888 (A. D. 1526), after a reign of thirty-live years. 
* For many centuries the servitors and warders of pagodas in Burma have been 
slaves, that is, persons condemned to the occupation, or descendants of such persons. 
They are degraded outcasts among the general population. Joshua condemned the 
Gibeonites to similar occupation. See Book of Joshua, chapter ix. 27. 
