Mohnyin Thado
Encyclopedia
Mohnyin Thado was the eighth king of Ava
who reigned from 1427 to 1440. The ethnic Burman
saopha
(chief) of Mohnyin
came to power after overthrowing King Kale Kyetaungnyo
and his queen Shin Bo-Me
in 1427. His reign marks the plateauing of Ava's power. Left exhausted by the Forty Years' War
with Hanthawaddy Pegu
(Bago) in the south, and long-running wars against various Shan States in the north, Ava was no longer in a position to expand. Mohnyin Thado spent his 12-year reign keeping restive regions of Ava in one piece. In particular, he had trouble controlling Toungoo which successfully revolted in 1437. He had to tolerate the governors of other regions who treated him as at best a senior. Hanthwaddy aided Toungoo's rebellions in 1427 and in 1437. But the two kingdoms did not resume a full scale war.
In April 1438, Mohnyin Thado renumbered the Burmese calendar by subtracting two years on the advice of a court astrologer. The change did not stick as he died less than two years later.
King Alaungpaya of Konbaung Dynasty
claimed descent from Mohnyin Thado.
's court. He was a 7th generation descendant of King Narapatisithu
of Pagan
, and a descendant of Kyawswa I of Pinya
. As a youngster, Nansi was given a small region east of Shwebo
in fief by King Swasawke
. The king also made him an attendant of his sons Minkhaung
and Theiddat
, who were sent to their respective fiefs away from Ava. The princes lived as wandering minstrels and nat
dancers, one of the older attendants playing a drum, another the horn, and so on. They strayed down to Taungdwingyi
, and then crossing over to Minbu District
and lived at Ngape and Padein.
in one of the crucial campaigns against the Hanthawaddy Kingdom
in the Forty Years' War
. He fought his way into Prome (Pyay) with pack-ponies carrying rice. Having provisioned the garrison, he fought his way out through the Hanthawaddy lines. Minkhaung was so pleased with Nansi's wartime performance that in 1410 he made Nansi the Saopha
(Chief) of the Shan State
of Mohnyin
., and in addition gave the youngster in marriage his queen of five months, Shin Mi-Myat, daughter of Thihapate, Lord of Taungdwin. At Mohnyin, he gained the title of "Mohnyin Thado" (Lord of Mohnyin) that he would be known thence. Despite his mainly Burman
heritage— he had a small amount of Shan blood as he was a descendant of Kyawswa I of Pinya— he successfully ruled Mohnyin, a restive Shan state which had launched numerous raids into Ava territories for decades. (Inter-marriage blur the lines of ethnicity among the ruling elite in Upper Burma and the Shan realm during this period.)
) were assassinated by the designs of Queen Shin Bo-Me
, who put her lover Kale Kyetaungnyo
, the Saopha
of Kale, on the throne. Mohnyin Thado refused to submit to the usurpers, and came down with his army to Ava in 1427, forcing the usurpers to flee the capital. He became the new king of Ava on 7 May 1427 (1st waxing of Nayon 788 ME). Kyetaungnyo later died in the jungle. Queen Bo-Me, a dashing beauty who had already been queen of four kings Tarabya
, Minkhaung I
, Thihathu and Kale Kyetaungnyo, was brought back and made a junior queen of Mohnyin Thado. According to the Burmese Chronicles, when Mohnyin Thado enquired about her health after she was brought back from the forest, she replied insultingly "I think I smell a slave." The king had a residence built for her within the walls of the palace. He was 47 when he became king.
, Yamethin
, Pinle
, and above all Toungoo, under princes of much the same standing as himself went their own way and treated him as best a senior.
, an adjacent region of Toungoo, and staying on good terms with King Binnya Ran I
of Hanthawaddy. Nonetheless, Sawlu formed an alliance with Binnya Ran, decided to raise a rebellion and laid siege to Prome. However Binnya Ran simply wanted to keep Ava occupied, and was not eager to restart a war with Ava. He sent envoys to Ava, asking for a princess of Ava as the price of alliance. Mohnyin Thado was so angry that he kept the envoys for three months without audience, and had to be dissuaded from killing them. He finally decided to ally with Hanthawaddy and gave his niece to the Hanthawaddy king. He defeated Sawlu's rebellion in 1428.
. On top of that, Shan raids continued. The Shan state of Hsipaw
(Thibaw) attacked Myedu
and the northern frontier in Shwebo district, and even for eight months drove him out of his palace, withdrawing only on payment of a large sum.
, who was a queen of Thihathu of Ava and the elder sister of Binnya Ran I of Hanthawaddy, from the lord of Pagan
to whom she had been given after Thihathu was assassinated. As Mohnyin Thado bestowed his affections elsewhere, Shin Sawbu planned to flee Ava. In 1430, she fled Ava with the help of two ethnic Mon
monks who were studying in Ava. At Pegu, her brother Binnya Ran received her with great honors.
, and nearby a pagoda named Yadanazedi, now called Payabyu, to enshrine the relics.
Ava Kingdom
The Ava Kingdom was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1364, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms that had ruled central Burma since the collapse of Pagan Empire in the late 13th century...
who reigned from 1427 to 1440. The ethnic Burman
Bamar
The Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...
saopha
Saopha
Saopha, Chaofa, or Sawbwa was a royal title used by the rulers of the Shan States of Myanmar . The word means "king" in the Shan and Tai languages...
(chief) of Mohnyin
Mohnyin
Mohnyin is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is the administrative center for both Mohnyin Township and Mohnyin District.Shells of different sizes were found in mass on 19 September. Those were found in apple-pie order while rooting up a tree between MohnyinDistrict Court and the Township...
came to power after overthrowing King Kale Kyetaungnyo
Kale Kyetaungnyo
Kale Kyetaungnyo was the seventh king of Ava who reigned for seven months from 1426 to 1427. He came to the Ava throne with the help of Queen Shin Bo-Me who had engineered the deaths of her husband King Thihathu and his eight-year-old son King Minhlange in 1426 to put her lover on the throne...
and his queen Shin Bo-Me
Shin Bo-Me
Shin Bo-Me was queen to five consecutive kings of Ava. The ethnic Shan queen was considered a great beauty. She was the favorite and chief queen of Minkhaung I. In 1426, she engineered the death of the next two kings Thihathu and Minhlange. She personally poisoned an 8-year-old Minhlange and put...
in 1427. His reign marks the plateauing of Ava's power. Left exhausted by the Forty Years' War
Forty Years' War
The Forty Years' War was a military conflict fought between the Burmese-speaking Kingdom of Ava and the Mon-speaking Kingdom of Hanthawaddy Pegu. The war was fought during two separate periods: 1385 to 1391 and 1404 to 1424, interrupted by two truces of 1391–1404 and 1406–1407...
with Hanthawaddy Pegu
Hanthawaddy Kingdom
The Hanthawaddy Kingdom was the dominant kingdom that ruled lower Burma from 1287 to 1539. The Mon-speaking kingdom was founded as Ramannadesa by King Wareru following the collapse of the Pagan Empire in 1287 as a nominal vassal state of Sukhothai Kingdom, and of the Mongol Yuan dynasty...
(Bago) in the south, and long-running wars against various Shan States in the north, Ava was no longer in a position to expand. Mohnyin Thado spent his 12-year reign keeping restive regions of Ava in one piece. In particular, he had trouble controlling Toungoo which successfully revolted in 1437. He had to tolerate the governors of other regions who treated him as at best a senior. Hanthwaddy aided Toungoo's rebellions in 1427 and in 1437. But the two kingdoms did not resume a full scale war.
In April 1438, Mohnyin Thado renumbered the Burmese calendar by subtracting two years on the advice of a court astrologer. The change did not stick as he died less than two years later.
King Alaungpaya of Konbaung Dynasty
Konbaung dynasty
The Konbaung Dynasty was the last dynasty that ruled Burma from 1752 to 1885. The dynasty created the second largest empire in Burmese history, and continued the administrative reforms begun by the Toungoo dynasty, laying the foundations of modern state of Burma...
claimed descent from Mohnyin Thado.
Early life
Mohnyin Thado was born Myo Hla (also known as Min Nansi) to a minor nobility family that attended King SwasawkeSwasawke
Swasawke was the second king of Ava, who reigned from 1368 to 1400. When he was elected by the ministers to succeed King Thadominbya who left no heir, Swasawke took over a kingdom that was less than four years old, and still faced external and internal threats...
's court. He was a 7th generation descendant of King Narapatisithu
Narapatisithu
Narapatisithu was king of Pagan dynasty of Burma from 1173 to 1210. He is considered the last important king of Pagan. His peaceful and prosperous reign gave rise to Burmese culture which finally emerged out of the shadows of Mon and Pyu cultures. The Burman leadership of the kingdom was now...
of Pagan
Pagan Kingdom
The Pagan Kingdom or Pagan Dynasty was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute the modern-day Burma...
, and a descendant of Kyawswa I of Pinya
Kyawswa I of Pinya
Kyawswa I of Pinya or Ngarsishin Kyawswa was the third king of Pinya Kingdom from 1343 to 1350. Kyawswa, who descended from both Pagan and Myinsaing dynasties, ascended the throne of Pinya in 1343 after his half-brother Uzana I abdicated the throne...
. As a youngster, Nansi was given a small region east of Shwebo
Shwebo
Shwebo is a city in Sagaing Division, Myanmar, located 113 km northwest of Mandalay between the Irrawaddy and the Mu rivers. The city, also called Ratanasingha , was the capital of Myanmar from 1752 to 1760 during the Konbaung period....
in fief by King Swasawke
Swasawke
Swasawke was the second king of Ava, who reigned from 1368 to 1400. When he was elected by the ministers to succeed King Thadominbya who left no heir, Swasawke took over a kingdom that was less than four years old, and still faced external and internal threats...
. The king also made him an attendant of his sons Minkhaung
Minkhaung I
Minkhaung I of Ava was the fourth king of Ava from 1401 to 1422. Minkhaung is best remembered in Burmese history for his epic struggles against King Razadarit of Hanthawaddy Pegu in the Forty Years' War , and for being the father of Crown Prince Minyekyawswa, who did most of the fighting.Minkhaung...
and Theiddat
Theiddat
Theiddat was the heir-presumptive of Ava from 1401 to 1407 during the reign of King Minkhaung I of Ava. Theiddat was the key figure in securing his elder brother Minkhaung I's claim on the throne of Ava. In the early days of Minkhaung's reign, Theiddat personally led an army to put down a major...
, who were sent to their respective fiefs away from Ava. The princes lived as wandering minstrels and nat
Nat (spirit)
The nats are spirits worshipped in Burma in conjunction with Buddhism. They are divided between the 37 Great Nats and all the rest . Almost all of the 37 Great Nats were human beings who met violent deaths . They may thus also be called nat sein...
dancers, one of the older attendants playing a drum, another the horn, and so on. They strayed down to Taungdwingyi
Taungdwingyi
Taungdwingyi is a town of Taungdwingyi Township in Magway District in the Magway Division of Myanmar. People inhabited this area since thousands of years ago and one of the earliest civilization of Myanmar, Beikthano Ancient Pyu City, is located near the town. Territorial area is plane and rice,...
, and then crossing over to Minbu District
Minbu District
Minbu District is a district of the Magway Division in central Myanmar. The city of Minbu is the administrative centre.-Borders:Minbu District is bounded to the south by Thayet District, to the east by Magway District, to the north by Pakokku District and Gangaw District, to the northwest by Mindat...
and lived at Ngape and Padein.
Saopha of Mohnyin
When Minkhaung became king in 1401, he brought his young attendants to court. In 1406, the 16-year-old Nansi served under Prince MinyekyawswaMinyekyawswa
Minyekyawswa was crown prince of Ava from 1407 to 1417, and commander-in-chief of Ava's military from 1410 to 1417. He is best remembered in Burmese history as the courageous general who waged the most fierce battles of Forty Years' War against King Razadarit of Hanthawaddy Pegu.The prince, who...
in one of the crucial campaigns against the Hanthawaddy Kingdom
Hanthawaddy Kingdom
The Hanthawaddy Kingdom was the dominant kingdom that ruled lower Burma from 1287 to 1539. The Mon-speaking kingdom was founded as Ramannadesa by King Wareru following the collapse of the Pagan Empire in 1287 as a nominal vassal state of Sukhothai Kingdom, and of the Mongol Yuan dynasty...
in the Forty Years' War
Forty Years' War
The Forty Years' War was a military conflict fought between the Burmese-speaking Kingdom of Ava and the Mon-speaking Kingdom of Hanthawaddy Pegu. The war was fought during two separate periods: 1385 to 1391 and 1404 to 1424, interrupted by two truces of 1391–1404 and 1406–1407...
. He fought his way into Prome (Pyay) with pack-ponies carrying rice. Having provisioned the garrison, he fought his way out through the Hanthawaddy lines. Minkhaung was so pleased with Nansi's wartime performance that in 1410 he made Nansi the Saopha
Saopha
Saopha, Chaofa, or Sawbwa was a royal title used by the rulers of the Shan States of Myanmar . The word means "king" in the Shan and Tai languages...
(Chief) of the Shan State
Shan States
The Shan States were the princely states that ruled large areas of today's Burma , Yunnan Province in China, Laos and Thailand from the late 13th century until mid-20th century...
of Mohnyin
Mohnyin
Mohnyin is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is the administrative center for both Mohnyin Township and Mohnyin District.Shells of different sizes were found in mass on 19 September. Those were found in apple-pie order while rooting up a tree between MohnyinDistrict Court and the Township...
., and in addition gave the youngster in marriage his queen of five months, Shin Mi-Myat, daughter of Thihapate, Lord of Taungdwin. At Mohnyin, he gained the title of "Mohnyin Thado" (Lord of Mohnyin) that he would be known thence. Despite his mainly Burman
Bamar
The Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...
heritage— he had a small amount of Shan blood as he was a descendant of Kyawswa I of Pinya— he successfully ruled Mohnyin, a restive Shan state which had launched numerous raids into Ava territories for decades. (Inter-marriage blur the lines of ethnicity among the ruling elite in Upper Burma and the Shan realm during this period.)
Ascension to the Ava throne
In 1426, two successive kings of Ava (Thihathu and his 9-year-old son MinhlangeMinhlange
Minhlange was the sixth king of Ava for three months in 1426. Minhlange was just about nine when he was made king. His father King Thihathu had been killed in an ambush by raiders from the Shan State of Hsipaw...
) were assassinated by the designs of Queen Shin Bo-Me
Shin Bo-Me
Shin Bo-Me was queen to five consecutive kings of Ava. The ethnic Shan queen was considered a great beauty. She was the favorite and chief queen of Minkhaung I. In 1426, she engineered the death of the next two kings Thihathu and Minhlange. She personally poisoned an 8-year-old Minhlange and put...
, who put her lover Kale Kyetaungnyo
Kale Kyetaungnyo
Kale Kyetaungnyo was the seventh king of Ava who reigned for seven months from 1426 to 1427. He came to the Ava throne with the help of Queen Shin Bo-Me who had engineered the deaths of her husband King Thihathu and his eight-year-old son King Minhlange in 1426 to put her lover on the throne...
, the Saopha
Saopha
Saopha, Chaofa, or Sawbwa was a royal title used by the rulers of the Shan States of Myanmar . The word means "king" in the Shan and Tai languages...
of Kale, on the throne. Mohnyin Thado refused to submit to the usurpers, and came down with his army to Ava in 1427, forcing the usurpers to flee the capital. He became the new king of Ava on 7 May 1427 (1st waxing of Nayon 788 ME). Kyetaungnyo later died in the jungle. Queen Bo-Me, a dashing beauty who had already been queen of four kings Tarabya
Tarabya of Ava
Tarabya was the third king of Ava, who reigned for seven months in 1401. Tarabya was crown prince during his father King Swasawke's reign, and ascended in January 1401 . But he was assassinated seven months into his rule by his one-time tutor, Nga Nauk Hsan, the governor of Tagaung...
, Minkhaung I
Minkhaung I
Minkhaung I of Ava was the fourth king of Ava from 1401 to 1422. Minkhaung is best remembered in Burmese history for his epic struggles against King Razadarit of Hanthawaddy Pegu in the Forty Years' War , and for being the father of Crown Prince Minyekyawswa, who did most of the fighting.Minkhaung...
, Thihathu and Kale Kyetaungnyo, was brought back and made a junior queen of Mohnyin Thado. According to the Burmese Chronicles, when Mohnyin Thado enquired about her health after she was brought back from the forest, she replied insultingly "I think I smell a slave." The king had a residence built for her within the walls of the palace. He was 47 when he became king.
Reign
Mohnyin Thado's reign marks the plateauing the Ava Kingdom, though it was not of his making. After the Forty Years' War (1385–1424) with Hanthawaddy Pegu (Bago) in the south, and long-running wars against various Shan States in the north, Ava by Mohnyin Thado's reign was thoroughly exhausted, and no longer in a position to expand. Unlike his predecessors Swasawke and Minkhaung who launched the wars, Mohnyin Thado spent his 12-year reign keeping restive regions of Ava in one piece. TaungdwingyiTaungdwingyi
Taungdwingyi is a town of Taungdwingyi Township in Magway District in the Magway Division of Myanmar. People inhabited this area since thousands of years ago and one of the earliest civilization of Myanmar, Beikthano Ancient Pyu City, is located near the town. Territorial area is plane and rice,...
, Yamethin
Yamethin
Yamethin is a town in central Burma in Yamethin District, Mandalay Region. Yamethin provides a market and processing for local agriculture production of rice and beans, as well having a small textile industry, and serving as a railroad shipping point on the Rangoon – Mandalay...
, Pinle
Pinle
Pinle is an archaeological excavation site, located in Myittha Township, Mandalay Division, Myanmar. Pinle was a capital of the Myinsaing Kingdom from 1298 to 1312....
, and above all Toungoo, under princes of much the same standing as himself went their own way and treated him as best a senior.
First Toungoo rebellion (1427–1428)
He found it difficult to control the mainly Burman region of Toungoo (Taungoo), over which Ava had only nominal suzerainty. When Sawlu Thinkhaya, the ruler of Toungoo, came to Ava in 1427, he was treated almost as equal by Mohnyin Thado. Mohnyin Thado tried to encircle Toungoo by making his brother the governor of TharrawaddyTharrawaddy
Tharrawaddy is a town and district of the Bago Division of lower Myanmar....
, an adjacent region of Toungoo, and staying on good terms with King Binnya Ran I
Binnya Ran I
Binnya Ran I was the eleventh king of Hanthawaddy Pegu who reigned from 1426 to 1446. As crown prince, he ended the Forty Years' War with the rival Ava Kingdom in 1423. He came to the throne after poisoning his brother King Binnya Dhammaraza in 1426...
of Hanthawaddy. Nonetheless, Sawlu formed an alliance with Binnya Ran, decided to raise a rebellion and laid siege to Prome. However Binnya Ran simply wanted to keep Ava occupied, and was not eager to restart a war with Ava. He sent envoys to Ava, asking for a princess of Ava as the price of alliance. Mohnyin Thado was so angry that he kept the envoys for three months without audience, and had to be dissuaded from killing them. He finally decided to ally with Hanthawaddy and gave his niece to the Hanthawaddy king. He defeated Sawlu's rebellion in 1428.
Other regions
Mohnyin Thado did not have much authority over other regions of the kingdom either. The rulers of regions as close to Ava such as Yamethin and Pinle, which controlled the all important Kyaukse granary behaved like sovereigns. Pinle was ruled by Minnge Kyawhtin, son of the famous warrior prince MinyekyawswaMinyekyawswa
Minyekyawswa was crown prince of Ava from 1407 to 1417, and commander-in-chief of Ava's military from 1410 to 1417. He is best remembered in Burmese history as the courageous general who waged the most fierce battles of Forty Years' War against King Razadarit of Hanthawaddy Pegu.The prince, who...
. On top of that, Shan raids continued. The Shan state of Hsipaw
Hsipaw
Hsipaw , is a town in Shan State, Myanmar on the riverbank of Myitnge River. It is 200 km northeast of Mandalay.-Shan Saopha:Hsipaw is perhaps one of the most well known and powerful saopha states of Shan State...
(Thibaw) attacked Myedu
Myedu
Myedu is a small town located in Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region, Myanmar . The town was the fief of King Hsinbyushin of Konbaung Dynasty, who was also known as Myedu Min....
and the northern frontier in Shwebo district, and even for eight months drove him out of his palace, withdrawing only on payment of a large sum.
Flight of Shin Sawbu (1430)
When he came to power, he took Shin SawbuShin Sawbu
Shin Sawbu was the queen of Hanthawaddy from 1453 to 1472. Queen Shin Sawbu was also known as Binnya Thau or Old Queen in Mon. Queen Shin Sawbu and Queen Jamadevi of Haripunjaya are the two most famous queens among the small number of queens who ruled in mainland Southeast Asia...
, who was a queen of Thihathu of Ava and the elder sister of Binnya Ran I of Hanthawaddy, from the lord of Pagan
Bagan
Bagan , formerly Pagan, is an ancient city in the Mandalay Region of Burma. Formally titled Arimaddanapura or Arimaddana and also known as Tambadipa or Tassadessa , it was the capital of several ancient kingdoms in Burma...
to whom she had been given after Thihathu was assassinated. As Mohnyin Thado bestowed his affections elsewhere, Shin Sawbu planned to flee Ava. In 1430, she fled Ava with the help of two ethnic Mon
Mon people
The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...
monks who were studying in Ava. At Pegu, her brother Binnya Ran received her with great honors.
Relics from Ceylon
In 1430, two monks returned from Ceylon with five relics. The king built the monks a huge monastery two miles west of SagaingSagaing
Sagaing is the capital of Sagaing Region in Myanmar. Located on the Ayeyarwady River, 20 km to the southwest of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river, Sagaing with numerous Buddhist monasteries is an important religious and monastic center. The pagodas and monasteries crowd the numerous...
, and nearby a pagoda named Yadanazedi, now called Payabyu, to enshrine the relics.