Editing Thaton

{{For|Thaton subdistrict in Chiang Mai, Thailand|Tha Ton}}
{{Infobox settlement
| settlement_type         = Town
| native_name             = {{Langx|my|သထုံ}}<br />{{Langx|mnw|သဓီု}}
| official_name           = Thaton
| pushpin_label_position  = bottom
| pushpin_map             = Burma
| pushpin_map_caption     = Location in Myanmar
| image_skyline           = [[File%3AColonial_Buddhist_Monastery_in_Thaton.jpg|250px]]
| image_map               = 
| map_caption             = 
| subdivision_type        = Country
| subdivision_name        = {{Flag|Myanmar}}
| subdivision_type1       = [[Administrative divisions of Burma|Division]]
| subdivision_name1       = {{flag|Mon State}}
| subdivision_type2       = [[Districts of Myanmar|District]]
| subdivision_name2       = [[Thaton District]]
| unit_pref               = Imperial
| area_code               = 57<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://en.18dao.net/Area_Code/Myanmar | title=Myanmar Area Codes | access-date=2009-04-10}}</ref>
| area_total_km2          = 
| population              = 
| population_as_of        = 2007
| population_blank1_title = Ethnicities
| population_blank2       = [[Theravada Buddhism]]
| population_blank2_title = Religions
| population_density_km2  = auto
| population_total        = 130,763
| coordinates             = {{coord|16|55|30|N|97|22|00|E|region:MM|display=inline,title}}
| leader_title            = Mayor
| elevation_m             = 
| timezone                = [[Time in Burma|MST]]
| utc_offset              = +6.30
| website                 = 
| name                    = 
}}

'''Thaton''' ({{MYname|MY=သထုံမြို့|MLCTS=sa. htum mrui.}}{{IPA|my|θətʰòʊɰ̃ mjo̰|pron}}; {{langx|mnw|သဓီု}} {{ipa|/səthɜ̤m/}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shorto|first=H.L.|authorlink=Harry Leonard Shorto|year=1962|title=A Dictionary of Modern Spoken Mon|url=http://sealang.net/monkhmer/database/|location=London|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>) is a town in [[Mon State]], in southern Myanmar on the [[Tanintharyi Region|Tenasserim]] plains. Thaton lies along the [[National Highway 8 (Burma)|National Highway 8]] and is also connected by the National Road 85. It is {{Convert|230|km}} southeast of [[Yangon]] and {{Convert|70|km}} north of [[Mawlamyine]]. Thaton was the capital of [[Thaton Kingdom]] from at least the 4th century BC to the middle of the 11th century AD.

==Etymology==
Thaton is the Burmese name of '''Sathuim''' (သဓီု) in [[Mon language|Mon]], which in turn is from '''Sudhammapura''' ({{lang|my|သုဓမ္မပူရ}}) in [[Pali language|Pali]], after Sudharma, the [[moot hall]] of the gods.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shorto|first=H.L.|authorlink=:en:Harry Leonard Shorto|year=2002|chapter=The 32 ''myos'' in the medieval Mon Kingdom|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_mtxM6KAYvMC&q=Sadhuim&pg=PA204|editor=Vladimir Braginsky |title=Classical Civilisations of South East Asia: An Anthology of Articles Published in ''The Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies''|page=204|location=London and New York| publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-7007-1410-3}}</ref> This name has Buddhist symbolism: according to the 4th-century ''[[Buddhavaṃsa]]'', this was the name of the city where the [[Śobhita Buddha]] was born, as well as the name of his father, and "Sudhammavati" was also the name of the city where the [[Sujāta Buddha]] "held his first assembly of monks".<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 79 --> The name of Thaton probably originated as the formal Pali name "Sudhamma", which then became vernacular Mon form "Sadhuim", which is in turn pronounced "Thaton" in Burmese.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 80 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|79-80}}

==Geography==
Thaton is located on a "fanlike" area at the foot of an elongated mountain spur, with the coast to the west.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 221 --> There is a significant slope within the city, from 43&nbsp;m above sea level at the northeast corner to 9&nbsp;m in the southwest.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 221 --> Just south of Thaton, the mountain range opens up and there is a valley 20&nbsp;km long offering passage to [[Hpa-an]] and eventually over the [[Three Pagodas Pass]] to central Thailand.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 221-2 --> Besides the mountain range, there are also eight smaller hills that form a low arc around the city.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 222 --> Seven of these are located on the west and south, which conveniently provide protection against flooding on the side that is otherwise exposed to the sea.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 222 --> The eighth hill, Neimindara, is on the northeast.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 222 --> It is thought to have been a key strategic point in pre-cannon times, and "the troops that held this hill controlled the city".<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 222 --><ref name="Moore and San Win 2007"/>{{rp|221-2}}

On the west side of Thaton is a [[fault line]], which the railway follows.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 221 --> To the south are the Gawt and Waba streams.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 222 --><ref name="Moore and San Win 2007"/>{{rp|221-2}}

Southern Myanmar has extensive deposits of [[laterite]], a reddish-yellow soil which is rich in [[iron]].<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 205 --> At Thaton, this is found as a "clay layer" about 10&nbsp;cm below the ground surface.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 205 --> Historically, laterite was widely used as a building material in southern Myanmar, and today, it is also mined extensively for iron in the area north of Thaton.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 205-6 --><ref name="Moore and San Win 2007"/>{{rp|205-6}}

[[Alluvium|Silting]] has resulted in the coastline moving {{convert|16|km}} away from Thaton, which is now a sleepy town on the rail line from [[Bago, Burma|Bago]] to [[Mawlamyine]] (Moulmein).

===Climate===
{{Weather box
|location                = Thaton (1991–2020)
|single line             = Y
|metric first            = Y
|width                   = auto
|collapsed               = Y
|Jan high C              = 32.8
|Feb high C              = 34.5
|Mar high C              = 35.7
|Apr high C              = 36.2
|May high C              = 33.1
|Jun high C              = 30.1
|Jul high C              = 29.2
|Aug high C              = 29.0
|Sep high C              = 30.5
|Oct high C              = 32.8
|Nov high C              = 33.3
|Dec high C              = 32.4
|year high C             = 32.5
|Jan mean C              = 25.2
|Feb mean C              = 26.8
|Mar mean C              = 29.1
|Apr mean C              = 30.5
|May mean C              = 28.8
|Jun mean C              = 27.0
|Jul mean C              = 26.4
|Aug mean C              = 26.2
|Sep mean C              = 27.1
|Oct mean C              = 28.3
|Nov mean C              = 27.6
|Dec mean C              = 25.6
|year mean C             = 27.4
|Jan low C               = 17.6
|Feb low C               = 19.1
|Mar low C               = 22.5
|Apr low C               = 24.7
|May low C               = 24.5
|Jun low C               = 23.9
|Jul low C               = 23.6
|Aug low C               = 23.5
|Sep low C               = 23.8
|Oct low C               = 23.8
|Nov low C               = 21.8
|Dec low C               = 18.8
|year low C              = 22.3
|precipitation colour    = green
|Jan precipitation mm    = 6.9
|Feb precipitation mm    = 4.0
|Mar precipitation mm    = 20.4
|Apr precipitation mm    = 73.7
|May precipitation mm    = 573.5
|Jun precipitation mm    = 1009.8
|Jul precipitation mm    = 1286.5
|Aug precipitation mm    = 1263.3
|Sep precipitation mm    = 744.1
|Oct precipitation mm    = 232.1
|Nov precipitation mm    = 47.9
|Dec precipitation mm    = 13.6
|year precipitation mm   = 5276
|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
|Jan precipitation days  = 0.6
|Feb precipitation days  = 0.4
|Mar precipitation days  = 1.9
|Apr precipitation days  = 4.1
|May precipitation days  = 19.9
|Jun precipitation days  = 27.7
|Jul precipitation days  = 28.8
|Aug precipitation days  = 29.4
|Sep precipitation days  = 25.4
|Oct precipitation days  = 13.7
|Nov precipitation days  = 3.0
|Dec precipitation days  = 0.7
|year precipitation days = 155.6
|source 1                = [[World Meteorological Organization]]<ref name=WMOCLINO>{{cite web
| url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-2-WMO-Normals-9120/Myanmar/CSV/Thaton_48098.csv
| title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020
| publisher = World Meteorological Organization
| access-date = 16 October 2023}}</ref>
}}

==History==
{{see also |Thaton Kingdom}}
Thaton was the capital of the [[Thaton Kingdom]], a [[Mon kingdoms|Mon Kingdom]] which ruled present day Lower Burma between the 4th and 11th centuries. Like the [[Bamar|Burmans]] and the [[Thai people|Thais]], some modern Mons have tried to identify their [[ethnicity]] and, specifically this kingdom at Thaton, with the semi-historical kingdom of [[Suwarnabhumi]] ("The Golden Land");<ref>{{cite book | last=Shorto | first=H.L. | title=Classical civilisations of South East Asia: an anthology of articles | editor=Vladimir I. Braginsky | chapter=The 32 Myos in the medieval Mon Kingdom | publisher= Routledge | year=2002 | isbn=9780700714100 |page=590}}</ref> today, this claim is contested by many different ethnicities in [[south-east Asia]], and contradicted by [[scholar]]s.<ref>{{cite book | last=Harvey| first=G. E.| title = History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824 | publisher=Frank Cass & Co. Ltd | year = 1925 | location = London}}</ref>

In the kingdom of [[Dvaravati]], Thaton was an important [[seaport]] on the [[Gulf of Martaban]], for trade with India and [[Sri Lanka]]. [[Shin Arahan]], also called [[Dhammadassi]], a [[monk]] born in Thaton and raised and educated in [[Nakhon Pathom]], an old [[Capital (political)|capital]] of the Mon kingdom of Dvaravadi, now in [[Thailand]], took [[Theravada Buddhism]] north to the Burmese kingdom of [[Bagan]]. In 1057, King [[Anawrahta]] of Bagan conquered Thaton.

However, [[Michael Aung-Thwin]], has disputed the entire traditional narrative of a "Thaton Kingdom" and its conquest by Anawrahta.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 9 --> No contemporary inscriptions refer to Thaton or its conquest by Anawrahta,<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 83-4, 112 --> and the full version of the conquest story does not appear in later chronicles until [[U Kala]]'s ''[[Maha Yazawin|Mahayazawingyi]]'', written in the early 1700s.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 136 --> Aung-Thwin also disputes the existence of Thaton itself during this time period, writing that "it is not even certain that the area... was not under the ocean" during the first millennium CE, since the shoreline likely would have been much farther inland at the time.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 304 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005">{{cite book |last1=Aung-Thwin |first1=Michael |author1-link=Michael Aung-Thwin |title=The mists of Rāmañña: The Legend that was Lower Burma |date=2005 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |location=Honolulu |isbn=0-8248-2886-0 |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/45339/1/625896.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref>{{rp|9, 83-4, 112, 136, 304}}

===Contemporary epigraphy===
The first undisputed mention of Thaton is in the 1479 [[Kalyani Inscriptions]], which were written in the [[Mon language#History|Middle Mon language]] and attributed to [[Dhammazedi]].<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 84 --> This inscription uses "Sudhuim",<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 84 --> which is the usual Mon form of the name.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 79 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|79, 84}}

Thaton is not mentioned before this, although other inscriptions from Bagan and Ava monarchs do mention places farther south.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 83 --> Then in 1486, the name Sudhammapura appears in three Mon inscriptions.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 84 --> There is one inscription purportedly dating to 1067 records the building of a temple by a king Manuho of Thaton, but based on linguistic analysis (for example, the spelling of certain words is more characteristic of later times than of Pagan times), Aung-Thwin says the inscription is likely from a later period.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 109-10 --> (Even among scholars who are proponents of the idea that Thaton was a major capital at this time period, the 1067 inscription is also rejected for the same reasons, and they say it could be no earlier than the 1500s.)<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 105, 110 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|83-4, 105, 109-10}}

The earliest dated inscriptions found near Thaton (but not mentioning it) are the Kyaik Talan and Kyaik Te inscriptions, which were made in 1098 under [[Kyanzittha]].<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 159, 161 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|159, 161}} The two inscriptions were found at the Kyaik Talan and Kyaik Te stupas in [[Ayetthema]],<!-- Khin Myint Myint 2016, p. 6 --> on the northwest side of [[Kelasa Mountain]].<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 215 --><ref name="Moore and San Win 2007">{{cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=Elizabeth |author2=San Win |title=The Gold Coast: Suvannabhumi? Lower Myanmar Walled Sites of the First Millennium A.D. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42928710 |journal=Asian Perspectives |volume=46 |number=1 |date=Spring 2007 |page=202-232 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |doi=10.1353/asi.2007.0007 |jstor=42928710 |s2cid=49343386 |language=en|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|215}} The inscriptions record the renovation of the stupas under Kyanzittha.<!-- Khin Myint Myint 2016, p. 6 --><ref>{{cite web |author1=Khin Myint Myint |title=Buddhism in Myanmar |via=University of Mandalay Open Access Repository |date=2016 |url=https://meral.edu.mm/records/841?community=um |publisher=Suratthani Rajabhat University |location=[[Surat Thani]]}}</ref>{{rp|6}}

===Archaeology===
An urban site at Thaton was excavated between 1975 and 1977 under U Myint Aung.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 80, 82, 348 --> The site is small, with an area of about 1,500 square yards and "at most three major stupas".<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 217 --> A large structure that may have been a palace has partially been excavated, at the center of the site.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 81 --> Part of the city walls also remain.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 81 --> <ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|80-2, 217, 348}}

The walled area of Thaton is mostly rectangular in shape, roughly measuring 2010&nbsp;m from north to south and 1290&nbsp;m from east to west.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 220 --> The walls aren't perfectly rectangular, though — the northeast and southeast corners each have a few rounded segments that serve to "draw water off from streams flowing down from peaks on the escarpment".<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 221 --><ref name="Moore and San Win 2007"/>{{rp|220-1}} The overall layout resembles the 1st-millennium site of [[Hanlin, Burma|Halin]], which also had a rectangular shape.<!-- Stadtner 2008, p. 200 --><ref name="Stadtner 2008"/>{{rp|200}}{{refn|group=note|Michael Aung-Thwin, doubtful of an early date for Thaton, wrote that Thaton's rectangular plan "[does] not resemble the cities of the preclassical period in Southeast Asia to which it was said to belong", i.e. the circular or rounded Pyu sites like [[Śrī Kṣetra]] or [[Beikthano]].<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 81 --> Instead, he wrote, Thaton had more of a resemblance to later Burmese capitals like [[Amarapura]] and [[Mandalay]].<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 81 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|81}} However, Donald Stadtner criticized Aung-Thwin's argument for overlooking the similarity between Thaton and Halin.<!-- Stadtner 2008, p. 200 --> Stadtner instead cited the fingermarked bricks as supporting a 1st-millennium date for Thaton.<!-- Stadtner 2008, p. 200 --><ref name="Stadtner 2008"/>{{rp|200}}}}

The lower layers of Thaton's city walls contain numerous fingermarked bricks,<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 222 --><ref name="Moore and San Win 2007"/>{{rp|222}} which according to Elizabeth Moore are characteristic of first-millennium architectural remains over a wide area including not just Myanmar but also parts of India and Thailand.<!-- Stadtner 2008, p. 195 --><ref name="Stadtner 2008"/>{{rp|195}}{{rp|200}}{{refn|group=note|Aung-Thwin described the fingermarked bricks at Thaton as "distinctly Pyu",<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 81 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|81}} but Stadtner dismissed this as evidence of Pyu influence at Thaton because the bricks are found over such a broad area.<!-- Stadtner 2008, p. 200 --><ref name="Stadtner 2008"/>{{rp|200}}}} As a result, Moore and San Win date the walls of Thaton to the first millennium as well.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 222 --><ref name="Moore and San Win 2007"/>{{rp|222}}

Remains of city gates have been found on the north and south walls, but none have been found on the east or west walls.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 81 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|81}}

Three carved reliefs of Hindu deities found at Thaton in the 19th century have been variously stylistically dated to the 9th/10th or 11th centuries.<!-- Stadtner 2008, p. 204 --> One depicts [[Shiva]] and [[Parvati]].<!-- Stadtner 2008, p. 204 --><ref name="Stadtner 2008"/>{{rp|204}} The other two are reddish sandstone reliefs, each over a meter tall, depicting the god [[Vishnu]] reclining on the serpent [[Shesha|Ananta Shesha]].<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 222 --> Three lotus stems are depicted as coming out of Vishnu's navel, and smaller figures of Vishnu, [[Brahma]], and Shiva are depicted sitting on them.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 222 --><ref name="Moore and San Win 2007"/>{{rp|222}} (Normally, there would only be one lotus and deity coming out of Vishnu's navel.)<!-- Stadtner 2008, p. 204 --> The exact find spots for these three reliefs was not recorded, so their function is unknown.<!-- Stadtner 2008, p. 204 --> They were likely intended for local faithful, indicating an "eclectic religious milieu" at first-millennium Thaton.<!-- Stadtner 2008, p. 204 --> All three were destroyed during the [[Second World War]] when they were kept in the [[University of Yangon]]'s library.<!-- Stadtner 2008, p. 204 --><ref name="Stadtner 2008">{{cite journal |last1=Stadtner |first1=Donald M. |title=The Mon of Lower Burma |journal=Journal of the Siam Society |date=2008 |volume=96 |pages=193-215 |url=https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/JSS_096_0g_Stadtner_MonOfLowerBurma.pdf |access-date=22 January 2024}}</ref>{{rp|204}}

Another relief{{refn|group=note|This might just be a more detailed description of the relief with Shiva and Parvati as mentioned above; the sources aren't clear}} found at Thaton is a 1.2&nbsp;m-tall depiction of Shiva sitting down, with his bull [[Nandi (mythology)|Nandi]] shown below his right leg and a "buffalo demon" below his left knee.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 222 --><ref name="Moore and San Win 2007"/>{{rp|222}}

There is also a set of ''[[bai sema|sema]]'', or boundary stones, at the Kalyani Thein [[ordination hall]] near the Shweyazan stupa.<ref name="Moore and San Win 2007"/>{{rp|222}} The Kalyani ''sema'' are each over a meter tall and carved with panels depicting the life of [[Gautama Buddha]] and floral designs at the top.<ref name="Moore and San Win 2007"/>{{rp|222-3}} Their date is highly uncertain — stylistically similar ''sema'' found in Thailand are associated with the [[Dvaravati]] culture and dated to the 6th through 9th centuries, but the Kalyani ''sema'' also have their own distinct forms that have been tentatively associated with Mon migrations from [[Haripuñjaya]] in the 12th and 13th centuries.<ref name="Moore and San Win 2007"/>{{rp|223}}

Myint Aung's excavation in the 1970s did not produce any radiocarbon dating, so the exact date of the site is uncertain.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 82 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|82}} According to Moore and San Win, repeated renovations and additions to pilgrimage sites has made detecting first-millennium remains "extremely difficult".<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 222 --> However, as mentioned above, they identify the fingermarked bricks as evidence of first-millennium occupation at Thaton.<!-- Moore and San Win 2007, p. 222 --><ref name="Moore and San Win 2007"/>{{rp|222}}

===Historiography of the conquest story===
The origins of the conquest story by Anawrahta in 1057 are unclear and "apparently does not go back to any single source".<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 149 --> According to Michael Aung-Thwin, the story may have originated from Bagan's conquest of Lower Burma during this period.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 304 --> Anawrahta's southward expansion is well-documented in contemporary inscriptions, with about 28 votive tablets recording his activity as far south as [[Mergui]].<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 112 --> But no Bagan-era inscription mentions a conquest of Thaton, which would be unusual because it would have been directly on the route to Mergui.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 111-2 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|111-2, 149, 304}}

====In the ''Zambu Kungya''====
The earliest text to mention something like the conquest of Thaton is the ''[[Zambu Kungya]]'', written by [[Min Yaza of Wun Zin|Wun Zin Min Yaza]], who served as a minister under the Ava-period kings [[Swa Saw Ke|Mingyi Swasawke]] and [[Mingaung I]] in the late 1300s and early 1400s.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 123 --> The only surviving part of this is an 1825 copy, although some of its content was also incorporated into the ''[[Maniyadanabon]]'', which was written in the late 1700s.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 124 -->
This version (the one incorporated into the ''Maniyadanabon'') says nothing about a conquest of Thaton; it only says that in 1054 "the king, ministers, officers, people, and monks of Thaton carried the three [[Pitaka]]s of the scriptures" to Bagan.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 123-4 --> Although the version in the ''Maniyadanabon'' was only written in 1781, Aung-Thwin writes that it "is very likely a good preservation" of the ''Zambu''.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 141 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|123-4, 141}}

====In the Kalyani Inscriptions====
The Kalyani Inscriptions of 1479, which are relatively close in date to the ''Zambu Kungya''<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 124 -->, are often cited to illustrate the conquest of Thaton, <!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 113 --> However, Aung-Thwin writes that the Kalyani Inscriptions contain no direct reference to this event.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 113 --> Instead, they refer to two completely separate things: in one part, the Pali version of the inscription says simply that Anawrahta "took a community of monks together with the ''[[Tipiṭaka]]'' and established the religion in Arimaddanapura, otherwise called Pugāma", without saying where the monks or texts came from; in another part, the inscriptions refer to the decline of Thaton during the reign of a king Manohor, without mentioning any sort of conquest.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 114 --> These two parts were then conflated, according to Aung-Thwin, into a single narrative of conquest in 18th-century chronicles and then repeated by 19th-century colonial scholars.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 114-5 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|113-5, 124}}

Aung-Thwin interprets the Kalyani Inscriptions as a way of legitimizing Dhammazedi's religious reform to more closely follow what he saw as a more "orthodox" form of Theravada Buddhism of the [[Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya|Mahavihara]] tradition.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 115 --> Thus, the story of Thaton's decline under Manohor was meant to "illustrate what happened when Buddhist kings allowed the religion to decay".<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 151 --> It also "invented the tradition of an 'earlier' Thaton"<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 311 --> that had practiced an earlier, more "pure" version of Buddhism before being corrupted, so that his own religious reforms could appeal to an even older tradition and overcome opposition from "conservative forces in Lower Burma" who were following an allegedly corrupted strain of Buddhism.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 117 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|115, 117, 151}}

====In the ''Jinakālamālī''====
The ''[[Jinakālamālī]]'', written in Pali in the early 1500s by an author from [[Chiang Mai]], is the first work to mention Anawrahta's conquest of Manohara's kingdom.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 124-6 --> It appears to treat the story as "an illustration of Buddhist principles": a weak ruler like Manohara, who fails to properly uphold Buddhist ideals, would inevitably be defeated by a strong ruler who does.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 129 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|129}}

====In the ''Mahayazawingyi''====
The "first chronicle of Burma with the most comprehensive and complete version" of the conquest story is [[U Kala]]'s ''[[Maha Yazawin|Mahayazawingyi]]'', written sometime between 1712 and 1720.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 136 --> It is not clear where U Kala got this story from — none of the sources he is said to have used mention the conquest of Thaton.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 136-7 --> He may have been using older sources that are now lost, or he may have synthesized or embellished it based on the sources he was using.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 137, 150, 152 --> In any case, U Kala's version proved influential: it was used as a source for both the ''Yazawin Thit'' and especially the ''[[Hmannan Yazawin|Hmannan Maha Yazawindawgyi]]'', which "depended heavily on his work".<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 142-4 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|136-7, 142-4, 150, 152}}

====In the ''Yazawin Thit''====
The ''[[Yazawin Thit]]'', written by [[Twinthin Taikwun Maha Sithu]] in the late 1700s, introduces a couple of details not found in previous or contemporary sources.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 142, and summarizing --> First, Twinthin  — a well-educated scholar who was already familiar with Old Burmese inscriptions — was the first scholar to specifically cite the Kalyani Inscriptions as a source for the conquest of Thaton (probably because he interpreted it as confirming what was by his time "common knowledge").<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 114, 143 --> Second, he was the first one to write that Shin Arahan was born at Thaton, which was repeated in the ''Hmannan''.<!-- Aung-Thwin 2005, p. 144 --><ref name="Aung-Thwin 2005"/>{{rp|114, 142-4}}

== Sites of interest ==
Thaton's primary Buddhist pagoda is [[Shwesayan Pagoda]], which is near the town's main Myoma Market.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-06-23 |title=Shwe Sar Yan Pagoda |url=https://www.travelfish.org/sight_profile/burma_myanmar/southern_burma_myanmar/mon_state/thaton/3757 |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Travelfish |language=en}}</ref> Myathabeik Pagoda is perched on a hilltop east of the town.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Myathabate Pagoda |url=https://www.travelfish.org/sight_profile/burma_myanmar/southern_burma_myanmar/mon_state/thaton/3755 |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Travelfish |language=en}}</ref> Thaton is home to the [[U Pho Thi Library]], which houses an extensive collection of [[Palm-leaf manuscript|palm-leaf manuscripts]], at the Saddhammajotikārāma Monastery.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ruiz-Falqués |first=Aleix |date=2022-06-01 |title=Pruitt, William / Ousaka, Yumi / Kasamatsu, Sunao: The Catalogue of Manuscripts in the U Pho Thi Library, Thaton, Myanmar. Bristol: The Pali Text Society 2019. XVI, 412 S. 8°. Hardbd. ISBN 978-0-86013-081-9. |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/olzg-2022-0026/html |journal=Orientalistische Literaturzeitung |language=de |volume=117 |issue=1 |pages=70–72 |doi=10.1515/olzg-2022-0026 |issn=2196-6877|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Health care ==
* Thaton District Hospital

== Education ==
Thaton is home to [[Computer University, Thaton|Computer University (Thaton)]], which offers five-year bachelor's degree programs in [[computer science]] and computer technology. It is also the home of [[Thaton Institute of Agriculture]].

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Wikivoyage-inline|Thaton (Myanmar)}}

{{Mon State}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Township capitals of Myanmar]]
[[Category:Populated places in Mon State]]
[[Category:Capitals of Mon kingdoms]]