ABSTRACT
The commencement of the era in general use among the chief races inhabiting Burma may be taken as the period at which something like genuine history commences. For instance, any time between the 1st January and 14th April, 1908, the deduction of 1269, the current Burmese year, from 1908 would have given 639 as the result; but on 15th April, the Burmese new year, 1270, began, the deduction would leave 638. The Burmese chronicles give no reason for the introduction of a new era, but they ascribe it to a king named Thinga Raja, or Popa Saw Rahan, a usurper, who had been a monk, and the Preceptor of the Queen of his predecessor. Phayre says that the Burmese system of astronomy and method of computing time are essentially those of the Hindus. Arakan had its own king, and the Talaing kingdom in Pegu and Tenasserim was too powerful for the Burmese of the Upper Irrawaddy to interfere with.
