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The Three Emperors of Myanmar

The three emperors of Myanmar, also known as the three national heroes of Myanmar, refer to the three emperors who played important roles in the history of Myanmar. The three emperors were Anuradha, the unifier of the Bagan Dynasty, Mang Yinglong, the third-generation king of the Toungoo Dynasty, and Yong Jiya, the founder of the Gongbang Dynasty.

Anuradha

Anuruddha (Sanskrit: Anawrahta, Pali: Anuruddha, 1015-1078), founder of the Bagan Dynasty in Myanmar (reigned 1044-1078). Together with Mang Yinglong (Bayinnaung, reigned 1551-1581) and Alaungpaya (reigned 1752-1760), he was known as the “Three National Heroes” or “Three Emperors” of Myanmar. Because of his strong support of Buddhism, he was honored as “King Ashoka of Burma”.

Anuruddha is the son of Gongcuo Jiang Piao (one of the mixed monks), and after he ascended the throne, he first unified the situation of separate divisions, and successively conquered the Taduan kingdom in the south, the Arakan kingdom of the Rakhine in the west, and the Dali kingdom in the north. The country maintained a peaceful balance and laid the foundation for the Bagan Dynasty in 243 years (1044-1287). At that time, the domain of the dynasty stretched from Bhamo in the north, the sea in the south, the Shan tribes in the east, and the North Arakan in the west. It was the earliest unified kingdom in Myanmar.

Mang Yinglong

Mang Yinglong (Bayinnaung; January 16, 1516 – October 10, 1581), also translated as Bo Yinnang, Pa Zhaonao, the third king of the Toungoo Dynasty in Myanmar (reigned from 1550 to 1581), formerly known as Xin Yestu. He is also known as the “Three Emperors of Burma” together with Anuradha and Yong Jiya.

Mang Yinglong was the brother-in-law and confidant of Wang Mangrui Ti of Toungoo in his early years. After Mang Rui was assassinated in 1550, all parts of Burma fell into separatist regimes. Mang Yinglong used his hundreds of battles to conquer and reunite Burma in four years. After that, he destroyed Ava (1555), Shan State and Chiang Mai (1556), surrendered Manipur (1560), and captured Ming Shan State (1562).

In 1563 and 1568, Siam was conquered twice, and finally it was subordinated to Burma. In 1574, they captured Vientiane and forced Laos to surrender. In 1581, he died of illness while preparing to conquer Rakhine, and his son Mang Yingli succeeded him. Mang Yinglong single-handedly built the most powerful empire in the history of Southeast Asia, but during the rule of his son Mang Yingli, parts of Myanmar outside mainland China defected.

Yong Ji Ya

Alaungpaya (English: Alaungpaya; August 24, 1714 – May 11, 1760) was the founder of the Burmese Gongbang Dynasty (reigned from 1753 to 1760), along with Anuradha and Mang Yinglong. Known as the “Three Emperors of Burma”.

After the Mon people occupied Ava, the capital of the Toungoo Dynasty in 1752, they persuaded Yongjiya to surrender. Yong Jiya refused to surrender, and based on Gongbang, he defeated the attack of the Mon army in one fell swoop. Since then, the army has become more powerful, and leaders from all over the country have come to submit, and Yong Jiya has been embraced as king. After the capture of Awa in 1753, from 1756 to 1757, they successively captured Pyay, Dagon (now Yangon) and Baigu, which were invincible and unified Lower Burma.

Yong Ji Ya’s right to know him depends on whether he can make the country unified, so he continued to march north, and finally forced the chiefs of Shan State to surrender to him. Yong Ji Ya continued eastward and attacked Ayutthaya, the capital of Siam, but was injured due to injuries. Withdrawn, died in the army in May 1760, at the age of 46, Yong Jiya’s eldest son Mang Jijue succeeded to the throne.

When Yong Jiya died, except for Arakan, the unification of Burma had basically been completed. During his reign, Yong Jiya took a series of measures for the revival of Myanmar, implemented the rule of law, ordered the compilation of various Burmese codes, built water conservancy, and developed agriculture.