Sawlu

Sawlu (Burmese: စောလူး, pronounced [sɔ́lú]; 1039–1084) was king of Pagan dynasty from 1077 to 1084. He inherited from his father Anawrahta the Pagan Empire, the first ever unified kingdom of Burma (Myanmar) but proved an inexperienced ruler. In 1084, he faced a rebellion in Lower Burma, and was captured and killed.

Early life

Sawlu was born in 1039 to Anawrahta, then a royal cadet at the Pagan court of Sokkate. His father seized the Pagan throne in 1044, and Sawlu became the heir presumptive, and became known as Min Lulin (မင်းလုလင်, [mɪ́ɴ lu̯lɪ̀ɴ], lit. Boy King.) He was brought up by a Mon lady of noble birth. He grew up with the wet nurse's son Yamankan, who became a close friend of his.^[2] By all accounts, Sawlu was not interested in running the kingdom, and never participated in any of his father's military campaigns. He viewed Kyansittha, (adopted?) son of Anawrahta and a general in the Pagan army who was extremely popular with the people.

Reign

Sawlu ascended to the Pagan throne at age 38 after his father Anawrahta died under mysterious circumstances. When he became king, he married his father's Mon queen Manisanda (Khin U) and made her the chief queen.^[3] To run the Mon territories in the south, he appointed his trusted childhood friend Yamankan, an ethnic Mon. To administer the upcountry, Sawlu, at the urging of Primate Shin Arahan, reluctantly brought back Kyansittha, who had been sent to exile by Anawrahta for his affair with Manisanda. However, Sawlu soon had to banish Kyansittha again (this time to Dala near Yangon) because the latter renewed his affair with Manisanda.^[4]

Mon rebellion

As governor of Pegu, Yamankan continued to visit Sawlu at Pagan. Knowing the inexperience of his childhood friend well, Yamankan decided to rebel and restore independence of the Mon land, which only came under Pagan rule in 1057. (Note that the name Yamankan (literally, Blind Mon) was not the governor's true name. It was an insulting name given by the Burmese chronicles for his rebellion. His true name is lost to history.)^[2]

The chronicles describe the final breach between Sawlu and Yamankan in a dramatic way. The two were playing a game of dice, and Yamankan won. As Yamankan romped about in joy at his victory, Sawlu taunted him, "If you are so clever, why don't you rebel against me?"

Yamankan went back to Pegu, and revolted. In 1084, he sailed up the Irrawaddy river with his army, and took a position on an island a few miles below Pagan. Sawlu recalled Kyansittha from exile, and gave him the command of Pagan army.^[2] They marched south and halted near Myingun (near Magwe). Yamankan's army was stationed at Thayet. Sawlu was impatient and against Kyansittha's warning, attacked. But Yamankan had expected such an attack and prepared his positions well. Sawlu's army was routed and the king was taken prisoner.

Death

Kyansittha tried to rescue but Sawlu refused to be rescued. His last fatal miscalculation that Kyansittha would kill him to get the throne but his friend Yamankan would not. He was killed by Yamankan to prevent the further rescue attempts. Yamankan himself was ambushed by the sniper bow-shot of Nga Sin the hunter and died. Later Kyansittha became the third king of Pagan Dynasty.^[1]

Sawlu was so incompetent that it says much for the genius of the father that his kingdom survived the test. The main danger was in the south, where the Mons rebelled, captured the feeble king, murdered him and threatened Pagan itself.^[5]

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