________________ 190 Homage to Vaisali extensive brick walls. The old moat of the royal palace can still be seen running along the north of the village. To judge from the extant ruins, the city must have been a fairly large one. A number of sculptures, some with inscriptions, have been found in the locality, and a few of them may be as early as the 8th century A. D. These sculptures are predominaptly Buddhist in character. A long line of Buddhist kings, as noted above, is referred to in an inscription engraved on a pillar which is now in Shitthaung temple at Mruhaung. It gives an account of the Sri Dharmarajanuja-vamsa and records the name of 19 kings who probably ruled between 600 and 1000 A.D. Most of these kings have names ending in Candra such as Balacandra, Devacandra, Yajnacandra, Dipacandra, Priticandra, Niticandra, Narendracandra and Anandacandra. The other kings of this family were Mabavira, Dharmasura, Dbarmavijaya and Narendra-vijaya. Whether the capital city of Vaisali in Arakan had any relation with the ancient city of Vaisali in India, it is, of course, impossible to say. Vaisali loomed large in the minds of the Burmese people. The Burmese chronicles have preserved a long story about the marriage of Aniruddha, the great king of Pagan (1044-1077 A.D.), with a princess of Vaisali. The Burmese king, we are told, sent an envoy to the ruler of Vaisali, in India, asking for the hands of his daughter. The ruler of Vaigali agreed and the princess was escorted by a noble man of the Burmese court with due pomp and ceremony. Scandalous stories about the relation between the princess and her escort reached the ears of the king, but after some hesitation, he married her. The queen gave birth to a son who later ascended the throne under the name of Kyantsittha, and attained great fame. This traditional account may or may not be true, but it at least proves that the Buddhist people of Burma had great respect for Vaisali and held it in high honour. MIU MINIMITTAD
