Mahārājavaṃsa I

Single-text palm-leaf manuscript being the first bundle of what might have been a two-bundle set. One damaged red lac. cover; one plain teak cover with gilding and vermilion band on edges (both originally belong to other manuscripts, the plain teakwood cover is inscribed with the name of the text to which it was previously related (Saṅkhārabhājanī). Gilded leaves with vermilion band. In its full extent, Mahārājavaṃsa is a 21-volume work (organized into two or three palm-leaf manuscript bundles) belonging to Burmese genre of “great chronicles” that was compiled at the royal court of Ava to serve as an official chronicle of the Nyaungyan dynasty (1597-1752). It commenses with the appearance of the universe in the beginning of the world-cycle and the sequence of eleven Mahasamata kings and continues to trace the lineage of the kings of Majjhimadesa, Thayekhitaya, Pagan, Pinya, Sagaing, Ava, Taungngu/Hanthawady, and again Ava (up to King Sane-min). Extent: One incomplete bundle of 142 inscribed and one uninscribed palm-leaf folios (ff. ka - maṃ) originally organized into ten fascicles. Three volumes out of ten originally included in the manuscript bundle are currently missing. Five inscribed palm-leaf folios misplaced from three other manuscripts. Two plain teak covers with vermilion band. A fragment of inscribed, decorated, woven cotton ribbon, 250 cm. Author(s)/Creator(s): Attributed to Ūḥ Kulāḥ. Additional date information: Composed in c. 1714-1720, copied c. 1845 Keywords: Meditation, Abhidhamma, History, Buddhism, Sutta-piṭaka. This manuscript contains the following 10 texts: EAP1150/1/115/1: Mahārājavaṃsa 1 Description: Volume one of Mahārājavaṃsa covering the kings of Majjhimadesa to the lifetime of the Buddha. Extent: One fascicle of 22 inscribed and one uninscribed palm-leaf folios (ff. ka [3] - khau [26]). Custodial history: (owner of the manuscript) = Aṅ Kraṅḥ Caññ tuik ne Kyoṅḥ ma kyoṅḥ charā bhunḥ tau krīḥ bhurāḥ Ūḥ Mhuiṅḥ; (donors of the manuscript) = takā Moṅ Rhve Thvanḥ Moṅ Rhve Lup sāḥ smīḥ ta cu tui. Author(s)/Creator(s): Attributed to Ūḥ Kulāḥ. Additional date information: Composed in c. 1714-1720, copied 1867 EAP1150/1/115/2: Mahārājavaṃsa 3 Description: Volume three of Mahārājavaṃsa covering the events from the thrid century BCE to the eleveth century CE. Extent: One incomplete fascicle of 10 inscribed palm-leaf folios (ff. ṅāḥ [26] - chāḥ [36]). Condition of original material: Incomplete fascicle, folios preceeding f. ṅāḥ and ff. ca to chi are missing. Custodial history: (donors of the manuscript) = Moṅ Rhve Thvanḥ moṅ nhaṃ. Author(s)/Creator(s): Attributed to Ūḥ Kulāḥ. Additional date information: Composed in c. 1714-1720, copied 1845 EAP1150/1/115/3: Mahārājavaṃsa 5 Description: Volume five of Mahārājavaṃsa covering the events from the twelth to the late thirteenth centuries. Extent: One incomplete fascicle of 29 inscribed palm-leaf folios (ff. ññaṃ [37] - ḍi [65]). Condition of original material: Incomplete fascicle, folio ḍī missing. Author(s)/Creator(s): Attributed to Ūḥ Kulāḥ. Additional date information: Composed in c. 1714-1720, copied 1845 EAP1150/1/115/4: Mahārājavaṃsa 7 Description: Volume seven of Mahārājavaṃsa covering the events of the late fourteenth to the early fifteenth centuries. Extent: One incomplete fascicle of 27 inscribed palm-leaf folios (ff. ṇai [65] - thau [92]). Condition of original material: Incomplete fascicle, folios thaṃ and thāḥ are missing. Author(s)/Creator(s): Attributed to Ūḥ Kulāḥ. Additional date information: Composed in c. 1714-1720, copied c. 1845 EAP1150/1/115/5: Mahārājavaṃsa 8 Description: Volume eight of Mahārājavaṃsa covering the events of the early to the mid-fifteenth century. Extent: One fascicle of 30 inscribed palm-leaf folios (ff. da [93] - nū [120]). Custodial history: (donors of the manuscript) = takā Ṅa Rhve Thvanḥ Ṅa Rhve Lup tui. Author(s)/Creator(s): Attributed to Ūḥ Kulāḥ. Additional date information: Composed in c. 1714-1720, copied c. 1845 EAP1150/1/115/6: Mahārājavaṃsa 9 Description: Volume nine of Mahārājavaṃsa covering the events of the mid-fifteenth to the early sixteenth centuries. Extent: One incomplete fascicle of 19 inscribed and one uninscribed palm-leaf folios (ff. ne [121] - phāḥ [140]). Condition of original material: Incomplete fascicle, approximately 11 folios (ff. pī to phā) are missing. Author(s)/Creator(s): Attributed to Ūḥ Kulāḥ. Additional date information: Composed in c. 1714-1720, copied c. 1845 EAP1150/1/115/7: Mahārājavaṃsa 10 Description: Volume ten of Mahārājavaṃsa covering the events of the late fifteenth to the mid-sixteenth centuries. Extent: One incomplete fascicle of 5 inscribed palm-leaf folios (ff. me [140] - maṃ [144]). Condition of original material: Incomplete fascicle, approximately 30 folios (ff. ba to mū) are missing. Custodial history: (donors of the manuscript) = takā Moṅ Rhve Thvanḥ Moṅ Rhve Lup tui. Author(s)/Creator(s): Attributed to Ūḥ Kulāḥ. Additional date information: Composed in c. 1714-1720, copied 1845 EAP1150/1/115/8: Paccavekkhaṇa gaṇṭhi Description: Misplaced folio from a vernacular prose text dealing with the reflection on the necessities for monastic life. Extent: One folio ka [145] misplaced from another bundle. Condition of original material: Misplaced folio. Author(s)/Creator(s): Paññājotābhivaṃsasīripavarālaṅkāradhammasenapati mahādhammarājādhirājaguru (Paññājota), Second Bāḥ ka rā Charā tau. Additional date information: Composed c. 1830s, copied c. 1850-1880 EAP1150/1/115/9: Paramatthavinicchaya pāṭha Description: Misplaced folios from a handbook on the Abhidhamma, a systematic treatment of Buddhist teaching. Extent: Two folios ka (one likely being a replacement) [147, 148] and one folio kā [145-6] misplaced from another bundle. Condition of original material: Misplaced folios. Author(s)/Creator(s): Anuruddha. Additional date information: Copied c. 1850-1880 EAP1150/1/115/10: Cariyāpiṭaka pāli nissaya Description: Mispaced folio from a bilingual translation of Cariyāpiṭaka, a Buddhist canonical text included into the Sutta-piṭaka. Extent: One final folio cī [149-150] misplaced from another bundle. Condition of original material: Misplaced folio. Additional date information: Copied 1842.