kingdom · Mainland Southeast Asia
Kingdom of Dhanyawadi
Origins
Rakhine chronicles place the founding of Dhanyawadi far back in antiquity, with a line of kings ruling from a walled city in the Kaladan valley. Historians date the excavated city, with its brick walls and palace site, to the early centuries CE, and the register's 1st to 4th century span follows the later chronicle chronology.
Rule and society
Dhanyawadi was a rice-growing and trading kingdom on the Bay of Bengal, open to Indian influence. Its fame rests on the Mahamuni Buddha, which tradition says was cast in the Buddha's lifetime under King Chandrasuriya. Sanskrit inscriptions and coins of the following Chandra kings show Indian-style kingship.
Decline and legacy
According to the chronicles, power shifted south to the new city of Waithali around 370. The Mahamuni image remained at Dhanyawadi until 1784, when the Konbaung dynasty carried it to Amarapura; its temple, now within Mandalay, is still a major pilgrimage site.
Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.
Lineage
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Dhanyawadi. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-dhanyawadi
- MLA
- “Kingdom of Dhanyawadi.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-dhanyawadi. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Dhanyawadi.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-dhanyawadi.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Dhanyawadi’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-dhanyawadi (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻