Two hill rivers, the Panlaung and the Zawgyi, are led out across a plain by weirs and canals into a set of irrigated districts whose surplus feeds the capital.
The count of districts differs by source: eleven (the Letwin Satit Khayaing) in English Wikipedia's Kyaukse and on the campaign board, nine in its Myinsaing (five on the Zawgyi, four on the Panlaung), nine or ten in the brief. The works are Pagan-period or older; later records name the Panlaung weirs Kinda, Nganaingthe, Pyaungbya and Kume and the Zawgyi weirs Nwadet, Kunhse and Ngapyaung, and which king built which is not recoverable. Pinle has earthworks from the Pyu centuries and is the one district with a real defence (board).
Myinsaing is only a place with good water, walled after 1293, and the three brothers of 1298 are not yet born.
Who holds it
- Title
- Irrigation officers and the heads of the khayaings (districts)
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No source we read names a holder.
What it holds
- The weirs and canals of both rivers
- The royal share of the harvest
How things stand that morning
Working at full strength; the heart of Pagan's revenue.
Threats
- A broken weir does Pagan more harm than a burned town (board); nothing of the kind is dated.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 1297 to 1298The three Myinsaing brothers, lords of the Kyaukse districts, depose the last king (1298).Depends on: Pagan's collapse after 1287. Stopped by: A strong king holding Kyaukse.
Places of note
- Kyaukse: Town of the district.
- Panlaung weirs: The campaign board entry position.
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry kyaukse-ledwin counts eleven districts; English Wikipedia's Myinsaing says nine; the brief says nine or ten.
Evidence: Firm that the tract existed and mattered; the district count, the weir names and the lords are not pinned.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: Drawn on the modern plain; the district boundaries are not known.
Primary sources for Kingdom of Pagan
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma, The Royal Historical Commission of King Bagyidaw (Monywe Sayadaw and others), drawing on U Kala's Maha Yazawin (about 1724) and earlier chronicles (1829 to 1832). The standard Burmese court chronicle, compiled six centuries after 1200 from older chronicles now lost. Read online
- The later Tai, Lao and Mon chronicles of the north, Ratanapanna (Jinakalamali); Bodhiramsi (Chamadevivamsa); anonymous monks and court scribes (the Chamadevivamsa about 1410; the Jinakalamali 1516 to 1528; the Chiang Mai Chronicle in its surviving form 1827; the Nithan Khun Borom 16th to 17th century). There is no text of 1200 for the Mon kingdom of Haripunjaya, the Tai muang of Ngoenyang (Chiang Saen), Chiang Rung, the Yom and Nan valleys, or the Lao middle Mekong.
- History of Song, chapters 488 and 489: Jiaozhi, Dali, Champa, Zhenla, Pagan, Srivijaya, Java, Brunei, Chola and Tambralinga, Toqto'a (Tuotuo) and the Yuan history office, from the Song court records (1343 to 1345, from Song veritable records and court diaries). The Chinese court's record of its southern neighbours, compiled from Song archives. Read online
- Epigraphia Birmanica, being lithic and other inscriptions of Burma, Various, edited by Taw Sein Ko, C. Duroiselle and C. O. Blagden (inscriptions of the 11th to 15th centuries; the series ran from 1919 to 1936). The Archaeological Survey of Burma's series of edited inscriptions with full translations. Read online
- Inscriptions of Pagan, Pinya and Ava; Inscriptions of Burma, Various (the Pagan kings, queens, ministers and donors), edited by Tun Nyein, Taw Sein Ko, G. H. Luce and Pe Maung Tin (inscriptions of the 11th to 14th centuries; editions 1899 and 1933 to 1956). The dedicatory inscriptions of Pagan are the only contemporary texts for the kingdom of Narapatisithu (reigning 1174 to 1211). Read online
- A Description of the Foreign Peoples (Records of Foreign Nations), Zhao Rukuo (Zhao Rugua) (1225 at Quanzhou). The best single text for the island world around 1200, written by the superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou from merchants' reports a generation after the date. Read online
- Notes in Answer to Questions about the Lands beyond the Passes, Zhou Qufei (周去非) (1178, after service in Guangxi). A Guangxi official's notes, written twenty years before 1200, on the south-western frontier of the Song and the countries beyond. Read online
Sources and studies
- English Wikipedia, Kyaukse
- English Wikipedia, Kyaukse District
- English Wikipedia, Myinsaing
- English Wikipedia, Pagan Kingdom
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.