THE PAGAN PERIOD (1044-1287) 19
became the third ruler of the dynasty. He was enthroned at
Pagan with majestic ceremonial. Later he erected a whole
series of inscriptions, which bear eloquent witness to the
splendour of his conceptions. "King Kyanzittha shall sit upon a
throne of gold adorned with gems, and he shall enjoy the
splendour of royalty", runs one sentence from the great inscrip-
tion at the Shwezigon Pagoda. It is in the Mon language, as are
most of his inscriptions, and their literary standard is high.
Mon scholarship was still well ahead of Burmese. Morover
Kyanzittha devoted special attention to the Mons, whose
revolt had so nearly wrecked the monarchy. His main political
object was to unify the diverse peoples composing his
realm.
Of increasing contacts with the outer world his reign
provides much evidence. He was the first of his house to send
missions to China, probably with the intention of facilitating
overland trade with Yunnan, which appears to have revived
after Nanchao became tributary to China at the end of the ninth
century. His first mission, in 1103, is the first Burmese embassy
to be recorded in the History of the Song. When his second
mission appeared in 1106, the Council of Rites laid down that it
was to be accorded the same honours as were accustomed to be
shown to the envoys of the Arab princes or of Tongking. This
incident shows how much the prestige of the Burmese kingdom
had grown in the sixty-two years since its foundation.
A Mon inscription at the Shwehsandaw Pagoda at Prome
shows that Kyanzittha was also the first king of Burma to
undertake the restoration of the Mahabodi Temple at Buddha-
gaya, the most sacred pkce in the Buddhist world, commemor-
ating, as it does, the attainment of enlightenment by Gautama
beneath the shade of its holy tree. "Thereafter," runs the
inscription, "many persons from all the provinces came into his
presence to attend him." One of these was a Chola prince to
whom he had written a pious message "concerning the grace of
the Jewel of the Lord, the Jewel of His Law, and the Jewel of
His Clergy, with vermilion ink upon a leaf of gold". Extensive
maritime trade with Indo-China had been developed by the
Chola dynasty in the Carnatic. They had also raided the Malay-
empire of Srivijaya. It has been suggested that the prince