Mahāsammata (original) (raw)

Mahāsammata (Burmese: မဟာသမ္မတမင်း; also spelled Maha Samrat; lit. "the Great Elect"), also known as Khattiya and Rāja, was the first monarch of the world according to Buddhist tradition. The chronicles of Theravada Buddhist tradition such as Mahāvaṃsa and Maha Yazawin state that he was the founder of the Sakya dynasty, to which the historical Buddha belonged. He was the first of the eleven world monarchs named Maha Sammata, each of whom founded the eleven dynasties that existed from the beginning to the day of the Buddha.