 Similarly, religious servicemen ("hpaya-kyun") were hereditary, and were exempt from personal taxes and royal service in exchange for maintaining the affairs of monasteries and temples.Unlike royal servicemen or even "athi" commoners, the religious bondsmen could not be conscripted into military service.The primary language of the ruling class of Pagan was Burmese, a Tibeto-Burman language related to both the Pyu language and the language of the ruling class of Nanzhao.