1873.] 
Sir Arthur P. Phayre —The History of Pegu. 
123 
This king had appointed one of his younger sons to succeed him. This 
was done through the influence of the mother, but the child was put to 
death the day his father died, and another son, named Ta-ka-rwut-bi, who 
was fifteen years of age, ascended the throne. He paid no attention to the 
affairs of the kingdom, hut passed his time in frivolous amusements with 
evil companions. He disregarded all warnings, and as many evil portents 
appeared, and even a flaming comet waved in the sky, the people dreaded 
some dire disaster. At this time Meng-ta-ra Shwe-hti, called Ta-beng 
Shwe-hti, was the king of Taungu, having succeeded his father in the 
year 892, when he was only sixteen years of age. Taungu, from being an 
insignificant state, had slowly risen to importance, and when Ava fell to a 
race of Shan kings, the rulers of Taungu gradually came to be considered 
the representatives of the ancient Burmese monarchy. Binya Ran, no doubt, 
had made an attack on Taungu which had been repelled. The young king, 
a warlike and ambitious prince, determined to avenge the insult. His first 
attack on Pegu was made in the year 896. It was unsuccessful, but for four 
successive years he led his armies against his enemy. At last in the year 
900 (A. D. 1538), he mastered the capital Hantha-wati. # Takarwutbi is 
said in the Burmese history to have retired to Prome, where he was kindly 
received by the king ; and it is added that the king of Ava, Tho-han-bwa 
brought a Shan army to his assistance. But Tabeng-Shwe-hti appeared 
with an army near Prome, and a battle was fought, chiefly by the flotillas 
on the Erawati, in which he was victorious. But he does not appear to have 
been strong enough to take Prome ; for he retired down the river, and no 
action was taken to follow him. The unfortunate king of Pegu, unable to 
induce his allies to support him further, marched down with a small force, 
and lost his life in the jungle of his native country. In the Talaing histo¬ 
ry is stated that the king of Ava, who is referred to merely as a Shan Tsau- 
bwa, came down to Pegu with an army to assist Takarwutbi, but as they 
could not agree to the term of an alliance, the former retreated without doing 
anything. The king of Pegu then died of sickness in the jungle of the 
district of Engabu. This was in the year 902 (A. D. 1510), and the Shan 
royal line of Pegu, which had been established by Wa-re-ru in A. D. 1287j 
became extinct. The new dynasty pursuing a reckless career of conquest, 
raised the kingdom to a height of dazzling, but false, prosperity, which excit¬ 
ed the astonishment of European travellers. But in less than half a century, 
the country was utterly exhausted, and the population so reduced by war, 
pestilence, and famine, that to this day it has not recovered. 
The narrative having reached thus far into the sixteenth century, when 
* These destructive wars which ended in the conquest of Pegu by the king of 
Taungu, are described in the Burmese history. Soo Journal, As. Soc. Bengal, Yol. 
XXXVIII, for 1809. 
