Thamoddarit (original) (raw)

Thamoddarit (Burmese: သမုဒ္ဒရာဇ် pronounced [θəmoʊʔdəɹiʔ]; Pali: Samuddarāja; 76 – 152) was the legendary founder of Pagan Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar), who supposedly reigned from 107 to 152 CE. He was proclaimed as the founder of Pagan for the first time by Hmannan Yazawin, the Royal Chronicle of Konbaung Dynasty in 1832. The introduction of Thamoddarit, whose lineage Hmannan traces to the Sakya clan of the Buddha as the founder of Pagan, was part of the early Konbaung kings' efforts to move away from then prevailing pre-Buddhist origin narrative of the monarchy. Burmese chronicles down to the 18th century had traced to another legendary figure Pyusawhti, a descendant of a solar spirit and a dragon princess.