HKB
WAR AGAINST THE KING OF MIEN.
The late Edouard HUBER of Hanoi, writing from Burmese sources, throws new light on this subject: “In the middle of the thirteenth century, the Burmese kingdom included Upper and Lower Burma, Arakan and Tenasserim; besides the Court of Pagan was paramount over several feudatory Shan states, until the valleys of the Yunnanese affluents of the Irawadi to the N.E., and until Zimmé at the least to the E. Narasīhapati, the last king of Pagan who reigned over the whole of this territory, had already to fight the Talaings of the Delta and the governor of Arakan who wished to be independent, when, in 1271, he refused to receive Kúblái’s ambassadors who had come to call upon him to recognize himself as a vassal of China. The first armed conflict took place during the spring of 1277 in the Nam Ti valley; it is the battle of Nga-çaung-khyam of the Burmese Chronicles, related by Marco Polo, who, by mistake, ascribes to Nasr ed-Din the merit of this first Chinese victory. During the winter of 1277–78, a second Chinese expedition with Nasr ed-Din at its head ended with the capture of Kaung sin, the Burmese stronghold commanding the defile of Bhamo. The Pagan Yazawin is the only Burmese Chronicle giving exactly the spot of this second encounter. During these two expeditions, the invaders had not succeeded in breaking through the thick veil of numerous small thai principalities which still stand to-day between Yun Nan and Burma proper. It was only in 1283 that the final crush took place, when a third expedition, whose chief was Siang-wu-ta-eul (Singtaur), retook the fort of Kaung sin and penetrated more into the south in the Irawadi Valley, but without reaching Pagan. King Narasīhapati evacuated Pagan before the impending advancing Chinese forces and fled to the Delta. In 1285 parleys for the establishment of a Chinese Protectorship were begun; but in the following year, King Narasīhapati was poisoned at Prome by his own son Sīhasūra. In 1287, a fourth Chinese expedition, with Prince Ye-sin Timur at its head, reached at last Pagan, having suffered considerable losses.... A fifth and last Chinese expedition took place during the autumn of 1300 when the Chinese army went down the Irawadi Valley and besieged Myin-Saing during the winter of 1300–1301. The Mongol officers of the staff having been bribed the siege was raised.” (Bul. Ecole franç. Extrême-Orient, Oct.–Dec., 1909, pp. 679–680; cf. also p. 651 n.)
Huber, p. 666 n., places the battle-field of Vochan in the Nam Ti Valley; the Burmese never reached the plain of Yung Ch’ang.
LII., p. 106 n.
BURMA.
We shall resume from Chinese sources the history of the relations between Burma and China:
Embassy of Kúblái to Mien asking for allegiance.
New embassy of Kúblái.
Information supplied by A-kuo, chief of Zardandan.
First Chinese Expedition against Mien—Battle of Nga-çaung-khyam won by Hu Tu.
Second Chinese Expedition led by Naçr ed-Din.
Third Chinese Expedition led by Prince Singtaur.
Fourth Chinese Expedition led by Yisun Timur; capture of Pagan.
1300–1301. Fifth Chinese Expedition; siege of Myin-saing.
Cf. E. HUBER, Bul. Ecole franç. Ext. Orient, Oct.–Dec., 1909, pp. 633–680.—VISDELOU, Rev. Ext. Orient, II., pp. 72–88.
LIII.–LIV., pp. 106–108. “After leaving the Province of which I have been speaking [Yung ch’ang] you come to a great Descent. In fact you ride for two days and a half continually down hill.... After you have ridden those two days and a half down hill, you find yourself in a province towards the south which is pretty near India, and this province is called AMIEN. You travel therein for fifteen days.... And when you have travelled those 15 days ... you arrive at the capital city of this Province of Mien, and it also is called AMIEN....”
I owe the following valuable note to Mr. Herbert Allan OTTEWILL, H.M.’s Vice-Consul at T’eng Yueh (11th October, 1908):