Quick Facts
Biography
Nai Pan Hla (Burmese: နိုင်ပန်းလှ, Mon: နာဲပါန်လှ; 1923 – 18 June 2010) was a Burmese historian and cultural anthropologist of Mon descent. Throughout his career, he published many works on Mon ethnography, including the best-seller The Struggle of Rajadhiraj.
Early life and education
Pan Hla was born in March 1923 in Kawkareik Township, British Burma to Nai Jawt and Mi Cho. He earned bachelors, law, and doctorate degrees from Pacific Western University in Los Angeles.
Career
In 1953, he joined the Ministry of Culture's archaeological department, serving as an official of Mon literature and culture. He published the best-seller Struggle of Rajadhiraj, about Razadarit, in 1977.
In 1992, he published Eleven Mon Dhammasattha Texts. In 1994, he became a professor at Meio University in Okinawa, Japan, where he taught Southeast Asian literature and history, and returned to Myanmar in 1998. He published A Short Mon History in 2013.
Death
He died on 18 June 2010 in Yangon after suffering a paralytic stroke.
Publications
- A Short Mon History (2013)
- Struggle of Rajadhiraj (1977)