Htilominlo

Htilominlo (Burmese: ထီးလိုမင်းလို, pronounced [tʰílò mɪ́ɰ̃lò]; also called Nadaungmya or Zeya Theinkha Uzana; 1175 – 1235) was king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1211 to 1235. His 24-year reign marked the beginning of the gradual decline of Pagan dynasty. It was the first to see the impact of over a century of continuous growth of tax-free religious wealth, which had greatly reduced the potential tax base. Htilominlo was the last of the temple builders although most of his temples were in remote lands outside the Pagan region, reflecting the deteriorating state of royal treasury.^[2]

Zeya Theinkha Uzana Htilominlo ဇေယျသိင်္ခ ဥဇနာ ထီးလိုမင်းလို
King of Pagan
King of Burma
Reign	18 August 1211 – 19 July 1235
Predecessor	Narapatisithu
Successor	Kyaswa (or Naratheinga Uzana)
Chief Minister and Commander-in-Chief	Ananda Thura[1]
Born	4 February 1175 Tuesday, 14th waxing of Tabaung 536 ME Pagan (Bagan)
Died	19 July 1235[1] (aged 60) Thursday, 4th waxing of Wagaung 597 ME Pagan
Consort	Pwadawgyi Myauk Pyinthe Saw Mi Pyan Eindawthe
Issue	Naratheinga Uzana Kyaswa Theinpatei Taya Mun
House	Bagan
Father	Sithu II
Mother	Saw Mya Kan
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

All the royal chronicles say he was succeeded by his son Kyaswa, but two contemporary inscriptions indicate that another son of his, Naratheinga Uzana, was at least acting as the regent towards the end of his reign.^[3][4]

Early life

Htilominlo was born to King Sithu II and his queen Saw Mya Kan. Chronicles do not agree on the birth, death and reign dates. According to the Zatadawbon Yazawin chronicle, considered the most accurate chronicle for the Pagan period, he was born on 4 February 1175.^{[note 1]} The table below lists the dates given by the four main chronicles.^[5]

Chronicles	Birth–Death	Age	Reign	Length of reign
Zatadawbon Yazawin (List of monarchs section)	1175–1234	59	1210–1234	24
Zatadawbon Yazawin (Royal horoscopes section)	26 February 1173 [sic]–1234	58	1209 [sic]–1234	22
Maha Yazawin	1178–1219	41	1197–1219	22
Yazawin Thit and Hmannan Yazawin	1175–1234	59	1211–1234	23

Reign

The king, a devout Buddhist and a scholar, gave up the command of the army, and left the day-to-day affairs to a privy council consisted of ministers,^[6] the forebear of the Hluttaw, or the supreme administrative body of government.^[2] He focused his energies on religion and temple-building. He completed the majestic Gawdawpalin Temple, begun by his father Narapatisithu, built the Mahabodhi, a replica of the Buddhagaya temple, and the Htilominlo Temple, named after himself.^[7]

His reign was largely peaceful, except for one rebellion north of Tagaung, which was put down by his commander in chief.^[2] By all accounts, he was popular with the people. Still he never really governed, and was especially oblivious to the growing problem of reduced tax base brought about continuous growth of tax free religious holdings. To be sure, his predecessors did not face the problem, and his successors also continued to ignore the problem, where by the 1280s, two-thirds of Upper Burma's cultivable land had been alienated to the religion. Thus the throne also lost resources necessary to retain the loyalty of courtiers and military servicemen, inviting a vicious circle of internal disorders and external challenges by Mons, Mongols and Shans.^[8]

Notes

1. Zatadawbon Yazawin's royal horoscopes section (Zata 1960: 67) says he was born on Thursday, 13th nekkhat (14th waxing) of the 12th month (Tabaung) of 534 ME (Monday, 26 February 1173) and died at age 58 (1231). But 534 ME is certainly a typographical error, and the year should be 536 for the following reasons: (1) the next horoscope (of King Kyaswa) says King Kyaswa ascended the throne in 1234 (not 1231); (2) Zata's own list of monarchs section (Zata 1960: 40) says he was born in year 536 on a Tuesday; (3) 14th waxing of Tabaung 536 ME gives Tuesday, 4 February 1175.