King Thalun

Timeline

1. 1584–1628Prome · PromeHe grew up in the wars in which Nyaungyan and Anaukpetlun rebuilt Upper Burma. After Anaukpetlun captured Prome in 1608 he appointed Thalun governor; he thereafter long garrisoned the middle Irrawaddy and took part in campaigns toward the Shan states and Kengtung, accumulating experience in military command and local administration.
2. 1628–1635Pegu · PeguWhen Anaukpetlun was murdered by his son Minye Deibba in 1628, Thalun was on the Kengtung front. He marched back to Pegu and became the core of opposition to the usurper, acceding around 1629–1630, and repelled an Arakanese invasion that exploited the disorder. Campaigns against Lan Na continued until 1632, after which he turned inward.
3. 1635–1648Ava · AvaIn 1635 he moved the capital from Pegu in Lower Burma back to Ava in Upper Burma, and was formally crowned at Ava, with his brother Minye Kyawswa as crown prince. He then carried out land and population surveys, completing the tax register in 1638, by which the valley population was estimated at about two million; he rebuilt irrigation and monasteries, abandoned Bayinnaung-style wide empire, and devoted himself to a governable core territory.