Mani Yadanabon

The Mani Yadanabon (Burmese: မဏိ ရတနာပုံ ကျမ်း, pronounced [mənḭ jədənàbòʊɴ tɕáɴ]; also spelled Maniyadanabon or Mani-yadana-bon) is an 18th-century court treatise on Burmese statecraft and court organization. The text is a compilation of exemplary "advice offered by various ministers to Burmese sovereigns from the late 14th to the early 18th century." It is "a repository of historical examples illustrating pragmatic political principles worthy of Machiavelli".

It was also the first Burmese historical text to link Burmese kings to the Shakya clan of the Buddha and ultimately to Maha Sammata, the first king of the world in Buddhist tradition. It was one of the first four Burmese texts to be machine-published by the Burmese Konbaung Dynasty in 1871.

The Mani Yadanabon Kyan, "Treatise of Precious Jewelled Precedents", was completed in October 1781 by Shin Sandalinka, a senior Buddhist monk and the recipient of a high royal title under King Singu's patronage. According to the author, the work was a compilation of several historical works and chronicles. It claims to describe the exemplary "advice offered by various ministers to Burmese sovereigns from the late 14th to the early 18th century". The book was probably modeled upon the Buddhist text Milinda Panha. "Each section typically begins with the king seeking advice on a historical problem," which is then followed by the minister's advice or submissions, supported by "a wealth of didactic examples from religious and historical literature". Sandalinka also interleaves "condensed and cannibalized" historical context before particular submissions.

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. It also includes submissions from later periods by famous ministers, including the 16th century Chief Minister Binnya Dala, the author-translator of the chronicle Razadarit Ayedawbon. Nonetheless, the book is known mostly for the Min Yaza section, and commonly known as "Po Yaza's Submissions" (ဘိုးရာဇာ လျှောက်ထုံး).