Sagaing Kingdom
Kingdom of Sagaing စစ်ကိုင်း နေပြည်တော် | |||||||||
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1315–1365 | |||||||||
Theravada Buddhism, Ari Buddhism, animism | |||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
• 1315–27 | Saw Yun | ||||||||
• 1327–36 | Tarabya I | ||||||||
• 1339–49 | Kyaswa | ||||||||
• 1352–64 | Thihapate | ||||||||
Legislature | Hluttaw | ||||||||
Historical era | Ava Kingdom founded | 26 February 1365 | |||||||
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Today part of | Myanmar |
History of Myanmar |
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Myanmar portal |
The Sagaing Kingdom (Burmese: စစ်ကိုင်း နေပြည်တော်, [zəɡáɪɰ̃ nèpjìdɔ̀]) was a small kingdom ruled by a junior branch of the Myinsaing dynasty from 1315 to 1365. Originally the northern province of Sagaing of the Pinya Kingdom, it became de facto independent after Prince Saw Yun successfully fought for autonomy from his father King Thihathu in 1315–17. Sagaing formally seceded from Pinya in 1325 after Thihathu's death.
The northern petty state stayed independent for the next four decades mainly due to Pinya's internal divisions. Sagaing itself was full of palace intrigues, and the court led by
Sagaing, like its bigger cousin Pinya, was a microcosm of the fractious small kingdoms period (1287–1555). The small kingdom is remembered in Burmese history as the polity that gave birth to Ava, the dominant power of Upper Myanmar from the 14th to 16th centuries.
History
Origins
Myinsaing regency
At the end of the 13th century, Sagaing was the northernmost vassal state of
Myinsaing's rulers—
Pinya
For the first time since the 1280s, the entire Irrawaddy between Prome (Pyay) in the south and Tagaung in the north was under a single ruler. But the trouble was brewing from the start. First, the Myinsaing-Pinya rulers had inherited the longstanding problem that had existed since the late Pagan period: between one and two-thirds of Upper Burma's cultivated land had been donated to religion, and the crown had lost resources needed to retain the loyalty of courtiers and military servicemen.[4] Furthermore, "markedly drier weather during the late 13th and much of the 14th centuries" in Upper Burma forced large migrations from the established granaries (Kyaukse, Minbu, and Mu valley)[5] "to better watered districts farther south".[6]
To compound the problem, Pinya was hit with a dynastic feud from the start. So eager was Thihathu, a commoner, to be seen as a legitimate king of Pagan, he made his adopted stepson Uzana, biological son of King Kyawswa of Pagan and Queen Mi Saw U, his heir-apparent. He also appointed Kyawswa I, his biological son by Mi Saw U, governor of Pinle, the second most coveted position.[7] On the other hand, the king did not appoint Saw Yun, his eldest biological son by a commoner queen, Yadanabon, or Tarabya his stepson by Yadanabon, to any meaningful positions. He appointed Saw Yun governor of Sagaing in 1314 only after the eldest son's repeated protestations.[8][9] Saw Yun remained deeply unhappy for he still did not command an army as did Uzana and Kyawswa.[8]
Secession from Pinya
The simmering resentment led to Saw Yun's insurrection. In 1315, the teenage prince walked out of the Pinya Palace, never to return.[note 1] He found support among a sect of forest-dwelling monks and their followers who had become politically powerful during the chaotic conditions of the upcountry.[10] The young prince went on to upgrade Sagaing's timber walls to brick without his father's permission, and completed it in 1316.[11] Thihathu seemed conflicted about punishing his teenage son. The king, who had never liked to share power—even with his own brothers—never sent a full force to reclaim Sagaing. He did order two small expeditions, the first led by Crown Prince Uzana and the second led by Prince Kyawswa. But by the end of 1316–17 dry season, both expeditions had failed to dislodge Saw Yun.[12]
Sagaing got a breather in 1317 when Toungoo and Taungdwin revolted. Thihathu bought peace with Taungdwin but Toungoo required an expedition. In the end, Pinya agreed to a deal that allowed the rebel leader Thawun Nge to remain in office in exchange for his nominal submission to Pinya.[13][14] The deal with Toungoo proved to be the model for Sagaing as well. The king allowed Saw Yun to remain in office at Sagaing in exchange for his son's nominal submission. He was resigned to the fact that his kingdom would break apart once he died.[10]
The kingdom formally split into two right after Thihathu's death in 1325.[15] Saw Yun (r. 1315–27) now controlled the northern country to Tagaung while Uzana I (r. 1325–40) became king of the southern country to Prome and Toungoo. Since the end of the last war, Saw Yun had been preparing for another war against Pinya, which was much larger and more populous than Sagaing by founding special military battalions, most notably the Sagaing Cavalry.[16] King Uzana I's authority was openly contested by Crown Prince Kyawswa I with the half-brothers maintaining their own military units.[17] The best Pinya could muster was Kyawswa's ordering of an attempt on Saw Yun's life.[18]
Middle years
Pinya's entrenched power struggle gave Sagaing just enough room to survive. After Saw Yun's sudden death in 1327, his half-brother Tarabya I (r. 1327–36) succeeded, perhaps as a regent. Though he was a commoner stepson of Thihathu, Tarabya ruled for the next nine years until his son Shwetaungtet (r. 1336−39) overthrew him. But the self-proclaimed king, styled as Anawrahta, could not eliminate Saw Yun's young children. The dowager Queen Saw Hnaung with the help of Chief Minister Nanda Pakyan hid the children in Mindon inside Pinya territory.[19][20]
Nanda Pakyan became the power behind the throne. He ran the day-to-day affairs for the inexperienced usurper while regularly taking bribes from the dowager queen to keep the royal children hidden. In 1339, the powerful chief minister actually put down a palace coup by Tarabya's loyalists who had assassinated Shwetaungtet, ordered the execution of Tarabya, and placed Saw Yun's eldest son Kyaswa (r. 1339–49) on the throne.[21] Kyaswa duly appointed Nanda Pakyan chief minister and commander-in-chief. The minister ran the country.[22] He also placed the next two kings Anawrahta II (r. 1349), Tarabya II (r. 1349−52), and possibly Thihapate (r. 1352−64) on the throne.[23]
Throughout the years, Sagaing had largely stayed out of the affairs of its larger neighbor to the south. One exception was Shwetaungtet's 1339 expedition to Mindon that brought back the children of Saw Yun to Sagaing.
War with Maw
One main reason for the truce may have been the northern
The alliance yielded no discernible benefit. Kyawswa II simply did not command enough manpower to assist Sagaing and hold his southern vassals at the same time. When the next Maw raid came in 1358−59, Pinya's southern vassal Toungoo (Taungoo) promptly revolted, and attacked Pinya from the south.[26] This allowed the Shan forces to overrun Sagaing and Pinya territories from the north. Kyawswa II died during the raids in 1359.[29] So devastating were the raids that Pinya's new king Narathu (r. 1359–64) withdrew from the alliance.[30]
Sagaing was now on its own. The next raid in 1362–63 overran the entire Sagaing countryside, and reached as far south as Pinya.[29] Subsequently, Pinya pursued an alliance with Maw, and the two states agreed to a joint attack on Sagaing. In 1363–64, Maw forces again invaded, laying siege to Sagaing in early 1364, with Pinya forces enacting a naval blockade. In April 1364, Maw forces broke through, and entered the city. Thihapate escaped through the porous blockade but subsequently put to death by his stepson Thado Minbya (r. 1364–67) who seized the throne.[26]
Reunification with Pinya
Thado Minbya, great grandson of Thihathu, went on to reunite the two kingdoms that had been split since 1315. He benefited from Maw troops having sacked Pinya and leaving Central Burma in chaos in their wake. (Deeply dissatisfied with the porous blockade of Sagaing and what he deemed insufficient contribution by Pinya to the siege, the Maw leader ordered an attack on Pinya itself, and took away Narathu and the loot.
Aftermath
In 1365, Thado Minbya founded the Kingdom of Ava and declared Sagaing and Pinya constituent countries of Ava.[33] Despite his proclamation, he still had no control over Pinya's southern vassals. He would spend the next three years on campaigns to gain control of former vassal states of Pinya.[34] After Thado Minbya's sudden death from smallpox in 1367, his chief queen Saw Omma and Commander Nga Nu tried to seize the Ava throne, and when they failed, they fled to Sagaing to revive the old Sagaing Kingdom. Saw Omma's brother and Thado Minbya's brother-in-law Swa Saw Ke (r. 1367–1400) put down the rebellion.[35][36] Swa went on to restore the former Myinsaing Kingdom, and would ultimately attempt to restore the Pagan Empire in the following decades.
Government and society
Administration
Sagaing kings employed Pagan's
Economy
The landlocked Sagaing was an agrarian state. It possessed the largest granary, Mu valley, of the Irrawaddy valley that covered 93,000 hectares of irrigated lands at its peak in the late Pagan period.[note 3] However, the agriculture during the Sagaing period never reached its potential. Cultivators had been migrating to the south since the late 13th century as much of the land had been donated to religion by the crown.[6] By the 14th century, the monks who had been endowed the land had to till the land themselves because of the scarcity of lay cultivators.[10][40]
Religion
While
Military
Sagaing did not possess a large military. It did maintain special military units, founded by Saw Yun. One cavalry regiment he founded in 1318, named Sagaing Htaungthin ("Thousand-strong Regiment of Sagaing") would be maintained until the fall of Burmese monarchy.[16] During Saw Yun's reign, Sagaing's military included the forest dwelling monks.[9]
Historiography
The royal chronicles treat Sagaing as a junior branch of the Myinsaing dynasty.
Item | Zatadawbon Yazawin | Maha Yazawin | Yazawin Thit | Hmannan Yazawin | Inscriptions |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name of dynasty | Sagaing dynasty[42] | no specific name | Sagaing dynasty[43] | Sagaing dynasty[44] | |
Secession from Pinya (de facto) |
1322/23[42] | 1322/23[45] | 15 May 1315[46] | 15 May 1315[47] | 26 March 1316[11] |
(de jure) | 1323/24[45] | before 30 April 1322[48] | before 30 April 1322[44] | before 29 March 1325[note 4] | |
Fall of Sagaing to Maw Shans | 1364[42] | April 1364[49] | 1364[50] | April 1364[51] | |
Fall of Pinya to Sagaing | not mentioned | September 1364[49] | 1364[52] | September 1364[31] | |
End of dynasty | 26 February 1365[23] | 26 February 1365[49] | 26 February 1365[53] | 26 February 1365[54] | before 8 July 1365[note 5] |
See also
- List of kings of Sagaing
- Kings family tree
Notes
- ^ Earlier chronicles, Zatadawbon Yazawin (Zata 1960: 71) and Maha Yazawin (Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 262) say that Saw Yun revolted in 684 ME (29 March 1322 to 28 March 1323). Maha Yazawin continues to say that Saw Yun completed the brick wall a year later in 685 ME (29 March 1323 to 28 March 1324). Later chronicles Yazawin Thit (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 161) and Hmannan Yazawin (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 375) say that he left Pinya on 12th waxing of 3rd month of 677 ME (15 May 1315) and revolted. A contemporary inscription (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 161, fn-3) says he founded Sagaing on 4th waxing of Late Tagu 677 ME (26 March 1316).
- ^ See (Lieberman 2003: 26) for the political map c. 1340.
- ^ (Aung-Thwin and Aung-Thwin 2012: 95): In the late Pagan period, the Mu valley had three major canals, totaling about 145 km, 86 auxiliary canals, 46 weirs, 31 reservoirs, and 73 sluices, altogether numbering about 232 irrigation works.
- ^ Derived from Uzana I's succession. Per (Than Tun 1959: 123, 127), Uzana I came to power in late 686 ME. 687 ME began on 29 March 1325.
- ^ (Taw, Forchhammer 1899: 8; Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 182, footnote 2): Per the inscription dedicated at the Shwezigon Pagoda by King Thado Minbya himself on 8 July 1365 (Tuesday, 5th waxing of Waso 727 ME), he was already of king of Ava.
References
- ^ Than Tun 1964: 137
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 370
- ^ a b Aung-Thwin and Aung-Thwin 2012: 109
- ^ Lieberman 2003: 120
- ^ Aung-Thwin and Aung-Thwin 2012: 94
- ^ a b Lieberman 2003: 121
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 370–371
- ^ a b Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 374
- ^ a b Harvey 1925: 79
- ^ a b c d e Htin Aung 1967: 77
- ^ a b Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 161, fn-3
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 373–376
- ^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 160, fn#1
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 372
- ^ Htin Aung 1967: 78
- ^ a b Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 388–389
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 378
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 383
- ^ a b c Than Tun 1959: 127
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 389−390
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 390−391
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 391
- ^ a b Zata 1960: 44
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 380
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 403
- ^ a b c d e Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 384–385
- ^ a b Than Tun 1964: 278
- ^ a b Than Tun 1959: 129
- ^ a b Than Tun 1959: 124
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 392
- ^ a b Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 394
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 394–395
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 396, 398
- ^ Than Tun 1959: 128
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 400–401
- ^ Harvey 1925: 81
- ^ Lieberman 2003: 35
- ^ Aung-Thwin 1985: 99–101
- ^ Phayre 1967: 60
- ^ Aung-Thwin and Aung-Thwin 2012: 95
- ^ a b Than Tun 1959: 131
- ^ a b c Zata 1960: 43
- ^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 172
- ^ a b Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 389
- ^ a b Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 262
- ^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 161
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 375
- ^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 173
- ^ a b c Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 275
- ^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 170
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 393
- ^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 177
- ^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 181
- ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 396
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-8248-0960-2.
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