Two hill rivers, the Panlaung and the Zawgyi, are led out over a plain by weirs and canals into a set of irrigated districts that feed the capital.
The count differs by source: English Wikipedia's Kyaukse says eleven (the Letwin Satit Khayaing), its Myinsaing says nine (five on the Zawgyi, four on the Panlaung); the brief says nine or ten. The works are Pagan-period or older: the Panlaung weirs are named in later records as Kinda, Nganaingthe, Pyaungbya and Kume, the Zawgyi weirs as Nwadet, Kunhse and Ngapyaung; which king built which is not recoverable; a royal dam ('Min Ye', also Kyaukse Taw) is credited to this reign. Anawrahta is credited with nine river forts in the country, among them Tamote.
Myinsaing is a small settlement in the 1170s, named in an inscription of 1266 and a walled town only by 1293 under a governor; Pinle and Mekkhaya are districts, not towns. A Mon inscription of Poungywa records a Mon monk asking the Thathanabaing of Pagan leave to build an ordination hall, undated. The three Kyaukse brothers of 1298 are not yet born.
Who he is
- Title
- Irrigation officers and district lords of the Kyaukse khayaings
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
English Wikipedia (Kyaukse; Myinsaing): the Pagan-period Letwin Satit Khayaing, eleven agricultural districts; Myinsaing says nine districts, five on the Zawgyi and four on the Panlaung; local inscriptions call Kyaukse 'the first home'.
What it holds
- The irrigated districts and the weirs on the Zawgyi and Panlaung
- The royal share of the harvest and the labour of the weir-keeping
- Endowed land granted out of the districts to pagodas and monasteries
How things stand that morning
Working; the granary of the capital. Holders not named.
Threats
- Whoever breaks a weir does more harm to Pagan than burning a town (board): no such threat 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 brothers of Myinsaing, lords of the Kyaukse districts, depose the last king (1298) and later beat off a Mongol siege (1301).Depends on: Collapse of the court after 1287; control of the granary. Stopped by: A strong king holding Kyaukse.
Places of note
- Myinsaing old town: A small settlement in 1200.
- Tamote: One of the chronicle's nine river forts (position approximate).
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry kyaukse-ledwin: 'eleven named irrigated districts' (agrees with English Wikipedia, Kyaukse); the brief says nine or ten; English Wikipedia's Myinsaing says nine. Not settled.
- The campaign board entry myinsaing at 21.56, 96.08 (a 'village four miles from Kyaukse'): English Wikipedia places the old town at 21.60, 96.20, about 7 km east of Kyaukse; used.
- The campaign board entry panlaung-weirs and zawgyi-weirs: weir names are from later records.
Evidence: The existence and fame of the tract is firm (Pagan-period inscriptions and later records); the district count, the weir names and the lords are not.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.