Mingyi Nyo
King Mingyi Nyo မင်းကြီးညို | |
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Theravada Buddhism |
Mingyi Nyo (
Early life
Mingyi Nyo was born to
Ancestry of King Mingyi Nyo[note 1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nyo was most likely born in Ava (Inwa) as his maternal grandfather Sithu Kyawhtin did not become viceroy until 1470, and prior to 1470 served at King Thihathura I's court at Ava. He was born in 1459.[note 2] He was likely about eleven or twelve years old when his entire family moved to Toungoo with Sithu Kyawhtin's appointment as viceroy. After Sithu Kyawhtin's death in 1481, his eldest son Min Sithu inherited the viceroyship. (The viceroyships in that era were hereditary, and were a primary cause of endemic rebellions that plagued Ava. The Restored Toungoo kings (1599–1752) would later eliminate the hereditary rights of viceroys.) Nyo wanted to marry his first cousin, Soe Min Hteik-Tin. But because his uncle Min Sithu repeatedly rejected Nyo's numerous requests, he murdered his uncle, took his cousin as wife.[4] He seized power in c. April 1485.[note 3]
Reign
After assassinating his uncle and seizing the viceroyship, Nyo sent a present of two young elephants to King Minkhaung II of Ava. In normal times, killing a governor was a serious crime. But Minkhaung II was facing a serious rebellion nearer to Ava (by his brother Minye Kyawswa of Yamethin)–Prome farther south had already revolted in 1482–did not want another rebellion. He gave Nyo recognition as governor of Toungoo, and solicited Toungoo's help in the rebellions. Nyo also received recognition from Hanthawaddy and Lan Na, and received propitiatory tribute from the Karenni.[5]
Loyal vassal of Ava (1485–1501)
Mingyi Nyo, now styled as Thiri Zeya Thura, eagerly assisted Ava in its fight against Yamethin. (His grandfather Sithu Kyawhtin died in 1481 fighting against the Yamethin rebels.) Even with Toungoo's help, the Yamethin rebellion was intractable and remained a stalemate. (It would remain so until Minye Kyawswa's death in August 1500). With Ava chiefly preoccupied by Yamethin, Nyo grew more confident and on 11 November 1491[note 4] built a new fortified city called Dwayawaddy (still near Toungoo), at the estuary of the rivers Kabaung and Paunglaung.[6]
Nyo soon tested his power by meddling into the accession affairs of Hanthawaddy Kingdom, the much larger kingdom to the south. In 1491–1492, Hanthawaddy's new king Binnya Ran II came to power by killing off all the royal offspring. Taking advantage of the chaos in the southern kingdom, Nyo sent a probing raid into the territory of Hanthawaddy without Minkhaung II's permission. At Kaungbya, he killed its Shan governor in single combat by jumping onto his elephant and cutting him down.[5] Hanthawaddy's response was swift. In late 1495, Binnya Ran II sent in a combined land and naval force of 16,000, which ultimately laid siege to the new built Dwayawaddy itself.[7] Toungoo barely survived the siege but Nyo would not make war against the larger neighbor for the remainder of his life.[citation needed]
Minkhaung II nonetheless upgraded Nyo's title to Maha Thiri Zeya Thura for surviving the Hanthawaddy attack (although it was Nyo who without his permission provoked the attack). Minkhaung had little choice but to retain Nyo as he was one of the remaining loyal vassals of Ava. In return, Toungoo participated Ava's campaigns against Yamethin and Prome for the remainder of the 1490s.[8]
Nominal vassal of Ava (1501–1510)
By the turn of the 16th century, Nyo's Toungoo was equally powerful as its nominal overlord Ava. Nyo, though still loyal to Minkhaung, nonetheless accepted about a thousand Yamethin rebels, who fled to Toungoo after their leader died in August 1500. When Minkhaung II also died in April 1501, Nyo was ready to assert his independence.[8] He readily gave shelter to those who attempted on the life of the new king Shwenankyawshin.
Despite Nyo's thinly veiled insurrection, the new king wanted to retain Toungoo's loyalty as he faced a new even more pressing problem of Shan raids from the north. In 1502, he bribed Nyo by giving him his first cousin
Independence from Ava (1510–1530)
In 1510, he founded Ketumati, the present-day Toungoo, complete with fortified walls. On 16 October 1510 (Full moon of Tazaungmon 872
When the Confederation finally defeated Ava in March 1527, Nyo deliberately devastated the countryside between Ava and Toungoo, filling the wells and breaking down the channels in the hope of making an impassable belt between Toungoo and the Confederation. The Burmese bureaucracy and population at Ava largely fled to Toungoo.[5]
Mingyi Nyo died on 24 November 1530, and was succeeded by his son
Legacy
Mingyi Nyo's 45-year reign was one of the few stable regimes in Upper Burma in the era. Toungoo's remote location (nestled between the
Notes
- ^ The ancestry is per Hmannan Yazawin (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 171–173) and (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 435–436). Hmannan "corrects" reporting by other chronicles Maha Yazawin (Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 130–131) and Yazawin Thit (Yazawin Thin Vol. 2 2012: 14–16), each of which gives a different ancestral line for Mingyi Nyo's father Maha Thinkhaya.
- ^ The chronicles are inconsistent with regard to his birth year. (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 182) says he died at age 71 (in his 72nd year) on 5th waxing of Nadaw 892 ME (24 November 1530), having reigned for 46 years. It means he was born before 5th waxing of Nadaw 821 ME (30 November 1459), and came to power in 1484. However this is inconsistent with their own reporting (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 172) which says he came to power in 847 ME (1485/1486) at age 25 (26th year), meaning he was born in 822 ME (1460/1461).
- ^ Both standard chronicles Maha Yazawin (Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 129) and Hmannan Yazawin (Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2003: 172) report that he came to power in 847 ME (29 March 1485 to 28 March 1486). Because both chronicles also report that he reigned for about 46 years, he likely came to power in early 847 ME (c. April 1485).
- ^ (Sein Lwin Lay 2006: 57): Friday, 12th waxing of Nadaw 853 ME = 11 November 1491
- ^ Chronicles (Sein Lwin Lay 2006: 70) give the foundation date as Tuesday, Full Moon of Tazaungmon 872 ME, which actually translates to Wednesday, 16 October 1510.
References
Bibliography
- Fernquest, Jon (Autumn 2005). "Min-gyi-nyo, the Shan Invasions of Ava (1524–27), and the Beginnings of Expansionary Warfare in Toungoo Burma: 1486–1539" (PDF). SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research. 3 (2).
- Harvey, G.E. (1925). History of Burma. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
- Kala, U (2006) [1724]. Maha Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
- Maha Sithu (2012) [1798]. Kyaw Win; Thein Hlaing (eds.). Yazawin Thit (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2nd ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
- Royal Historical Commission of Burma (2003) [1832]. Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3. Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.
- Sein Lwin Lay, Kahtika U (2006) [1968]. Mintaya Shwe Hti and Bayinnaung: Ketumadi Taungoo Yazawin (in Burmese) (2nd printing ed.). Yangon: Yan Aung Sarpay.