Pak Lat Chronicles

Pak Lat Chronicles is a Mon language chronicle. It is so called because it was first published in Pak Lat, near Bangkok in Siam in two volumes.

The provenance and chronology of the manuscripts of these two volumes are uncertain, and as of 2005, had not been analyzed in depth by a Burma Mon scholar. Scholarship, mainly by British colonial period historians, finds internal inconsistencies, and suggests the chronicles, judging by their vocabulary usage, were written in the late 19th century, probably after 1874. However, W.G. Cooper says the words could have been miscopied, and the original manuscripts might have been written much earlier as claimed.[1] It is a subject, Michael Aung-Thwin writes, that "needs a competent Burma Mon scholar to untangle properly."[1]

Despite its problems, the chronicles have been referenced by later historians such as G.E. Harvey[2] and Nai Pan Hla.[3] Pan Hla wrote his version of Razadarit Ayedawbon by incorporating details from Pak Lat.[3]

According to Aung-Thwin, it is also first Mon-language chronicle to mention King Anawrahta's conquest of Thaton, a topic that all previous Mon language chronicles never once mentioned. He suggests that the British historians' narratives and interpretations were incorporated into the leitmotif of this supposedly ancient text.[1]