The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s3.85

v4.c23.s3.85

How destructive was the disorder which overwhelmed Burma is shown by the history of the Shwesettaw shrine in the Minbu district. It is one of the holiest imaginable, containing two of Buddha’s reputed footprints. Yet, during the depopulation caused by the Siamese wars, so little was the intercourse with Arakan over the An Pass, the approach to which runs through Shwesettaw, that even this famous spot was forgotten. In 1638 a party of monks sent by the king succeeded in finding the footprints amid the jungle which enveloped them, and the shrine was restored.²