[4] The Mani Yadanabon Kyan, "Treatise of Precious Jewelled Precedents", was completed on 24 September 1781[note 1] by Shin Sandalinka, a senior Buddhist monk and the recipient of a high royal title under King Singu's patronage.
[1] About half of the compilation came from the 15th-century treatise Zabu Kun-Cha, which recounts famous submissions by the Chief Minister Min Yaza to kings from Swa Saw Ke to Minkhaung I of the early Ava dynasty.
[4] The Mani Yadanabon belongs to a "largely unexplored Burmese literary genre dealing with statecraft and court organization".
[1] The book is "essentially a collection of moral tales,"[6] and "a repository of historical examples illustrating political principles worthy of Machiavelli.
The Min Yaza section is "very likely a good preservation of the 15th century work Zabu Kun-Cha, parts of which can still be found in the palm-leaf copy of 1825".
However, much of Mani's accounts were "condensed and cannibalized" versions of then existing chronicles, and add little to the scholarly understanding of Burmese history.
[6] According to Hudson, "the section covering the time before Bagan could be viewed as a retrospective addition by the compilers of chronicles, designed to fill the period back to the Buddha with authentic dynasties.