Hanthawaddy Kingdom

Origins

After the fall of the Pagan Kingdom, Wareru, a Mon adventurer said to have been a merchant, seized Martaban in 1287 and gained recognition from Sukhothai. His dynasty united the Mon-speaking coast of Ramannadesa, and in 1369 King Binnya U moved the capital to Pegu, also called Hanthawaddy.

Rule and society

The kingdom's ports, Martaban, Pegu, Bassein and Syriam, exported rice, lac, rubies and the famous Martaban jars across the Bay of Bengal. Razadarit fought the Forty Years' War with the Ava Kingdom from 1385 to 1424 and kept Hanthawaddy independent. Queen Shin Sawbu and her successor Dhammazedi, a former monk, presided over a golden age; Dhammazedi reformed the Buddhist order through the Kalyani inscriptions.

Decline and legacy

Internal decline left Hanthawaddy open to the rising First Toungoo Empire, whose king Tabinshwehti took Pegu in 1539 and Martaban in 1541, making Pegu his own capital. Mon resistance revived in the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom of the 18th century.