28 Facts About Kyansittha

Kyansittha continued the social, economic and cultural reforms begun by his father, King Anawrahta.

Kyansittha was exiled twice in the 1070s and 1080s for his affair with Queen Manisanda.

Kyansittha ascended to the Pagan throne in 1084 after suppressing a major Mon rebellion that killed King Saw Lu.

Kyansittha completed Anawrahta's Shwezigon Pagoda and built his crowning achievement, the Ananda Temple.

Kyansittha is one of the most famous monarchs in Burmese history.

Many of the stories given in the Burmese chronicles attributed to Kyansittha are legends, with a heavy touch of literary flourish.

Kyansittha grew up away from Anawrahta's court after Anawrahta banished his mother who was pregnant with him to the countryside because Anawrahta was led to believe that she was not of royal blood.

Maha Yazawin says Kyansittha was about four years older but the two later chronicles Yazawin Thit and Hmannan say Kyansittha was about a year younger than Lu.

The chronicles claim that King Anawrahta tried to kill off all babies in the year that Kyansittha was born because his astrologers predicted that a new born would be king.

Kyansittha grew up in relative obscurity until Anawrahta recalled his son at a later point.

Kyansittha partook in all of Anawrahta's expeditions including one to the Nanzhao Kingdom, and in some cases led them.

Kyansittha fled west, and at a time, he earned a living by tending horses.

Kyansittha finally settled at Kaungbyu, and married Thanbula, niece of the head abbot of the local monastery.

Kyansittha lived there for the remainder of Anawrahta's reign until 1077.

Kyansittha was promptly exiled again, this time much farther away to Dala.

Kyansittha went to the Kyaukse region, the breadbasket of Pagan, to raise an army.

Kyansittha received allegiance from the chief of Htihlaing, who helped him raise men.

At any rate, Kyansittha came to power in 1084, per the Myazedi inscription.

Kyansittha ascended to the throne with the title Sri Tribhuvanaditya Dhammaraja.

Kyansittha strengthened the foundations of Pagan Empire which Anawrahta had built.

Kyansittha's troops repelled the attack but could not catch the lord.

Kyansittha guided by Shin Arahan continued Anawrahta's policies to reform the Buddhism of Pagan, which was a mix of Ari Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Theravada Buddhism and Hinduism.

Kyansittha gave sanctuary to Buddhists fleeing India.

Indeed, with the approval of primate Shin Arahan, Kyansittha believed Vishnu was his patron.

Kyansittha appointed his grandson Sithu as heir apparent because he thought he did not have a son.

Kyansittha died in either 1112 or 1113 after a long illness.

Kyansittha is regarded as one of the greatest Burmese monarchs for saving the nascent Pagan Empire and making it stronger.

Kyansittha's reign is generally understood as the time when the assimilation of various cultural traditions began to meld into a common Burmese cultural tradition that would come to dominate the Irrawaddy valley.