When monastic libraries were destoryed , what was lost ?
In Burma , a royal library called the Pitaka Taik was legendarily founded by King Anawrahta ; in the 18th century , British envoy Michael Symes , on visiting this library , wrote that " it is not improbable that his Birman majesty may possess a more numerous library than any potentate , from the banks of the Danube to the borders of China " .