Nanda Bayin (, ; , ; 9 November 1535 – ) was king of the Toungoo dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1581 to 1599. He presided over the collapse of the First Toungoo Empire.
The eldest son of King Bayinnaung was one of the principal commanders in his father's military campaigns that expanded and defended the empire. As king, Nanda faced the impossible task of keeping his father's "improbable domain" together. He never gained the full support of his father's chosen vassal rulers, who governed what used to be sovereign kingdoms just a few decades earlier. Within the first three years of his reign, both Upper Burma and Siam revolted. Though he could never raise more than a third of his father's troop levels, Nanda could not come to terms with a smaller empire. Between 1584 and 1593, he launched five disastrous invasions of Siam, which increasingly weakened his hold everywhere else. From 1593 onward, it was he who was on the defensive, unable to stop a Siamese invasion that seized the entire Tenasserim coast in 1594–95, or prevent the rest of the vassals from breaking away in 1597. In 1599, Nanda surrendered to the joint forces of Toungoo and Arakan, and was taken prisoner to Toungoo. A year later, he was assassinated by Natshinnaung.Harvey 1925: 182–183Lieberman 2003: 154–156
Nanda was an energetic king, who probably would have made an "above average" Burmese monarch. But he made the mistake of trying to hold on to an "absurdly overextended" empire built mainly on patron-client relationships. The king's monumental failures taught his 17th-century successors not to overextend their realm and to implement a more centralized administrative system. The Restored Toungoo administrative reforms, which with Konbaung modifications, would last to the end of Burmese monarchy in 1885, had their origins in the failures of Nanda Bayin.
Early life
Ancestry Nanda was born to Princess Thakin Gyi and General Kyawhtin Nawrahta (later known as Bayinnaung) at the Toungoo Palace on 9 November 1535.(Hmannan Vol. 3 2003: 61, 106): Nanda ascended to the throne on the full moon day of Tazaungmon 943 ME (10 October 1581) at age 46 (in his 47th year). It means he was born on or before the full moon of Tazaungmon 897 ME (9 November 1535). But (Hmannan Vol. 3 2003: 240, 248) says he was still 12 years old (in his 13th year) on 13th waxing of Tazaungmon 910 (13 October 1548) at the start of the 1548 Siamese campaign. It means he was born between 14th waxing of Tazaungmon 897 ME and the full moon of Tazaungmon 897 ME (8 November or 9 November 1535). Per (Hmannan Vol. 3 2003: 106) he was born on a Tuesday. It means he was born on 9 November 1535 (Tuesday, full moon of Tazaungmon 897 ME). The prince hailed from Pagan and Pinya royal lines, and was a grandson of King Mingyi Nyo and nephew of King Tabinshwehti of Toungoo.See (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 172–173) his grandfather King Mingyi Nyo's ancestry. He had one full elder sister, Inwa Mibaya. He was probably at least one quarter Shan.Chronicles generally do not mention the ethnicity of the royalty, and Nanda's was no exception. His ethnicity is inferred from the positions of his ancestors. His maternal grandmother Yadana Dewi was a princess of Mobye (Mong Pai), a Shan state. He also descended from King Thihathu, a half-Shan according to colonial period scholarship, and Shin Mi-Nauk of Mohnyin, a full Shan. However, (Aung-Thwin 1996) and (Aung-Thwin and Aung-Thwin 2012: 107–109) argue that it is a mistake to equate the position with ethnicity, and that colonial scholarship grafted on Shan ethnicity to the so-called Shan brothers without any evidence. Indeed, Mohnyin Thado was a Burman saopha of Mohnyin, and many ethnic Shans were governors of the Shwebo region, the Burman heartland. Nevertheless, the ruling clan of Mobye and Hsipaw produced kings Hkonmaing and Mobye Narapati, both of whom are accepted as Shan. Therefore, Nanda's maternal grandmother was probably of Shan ethnicity, and his mother Atula Thiri was at least 50% Shan.
Childhood and education Except for the first three years of his life, he grew up at the Pegu Palace in Pegu, which became the new capital of the burgeoning Toungoo dynasty in 1539. Throughout his youth, his father was away on annual military campaigns with his uncle the king. Nanda nominally became the second in line to the Toungoo throne in 1542 when his father was made heir-apparent by Tabinshwehti. Like his father and uncle, who received a military style education in their youth,Sein Lwin Lay 2006: 109 he as a Toungoo prince probably received the same kind of military oriented education. Indeed, Nanda was only 13 when he, styled as Zeya Thiha (), accompanied his father and his uncle in their campaign in Siam. For his bravery at the battle of Ayutthaya, the young prince was awarded the title of Minye Kyawswa () by Tabinshwehti.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 189
Heir-apparent
Accession On 11 January 1551, Nanda became heir-apparent of the kingdom after eight months of chaos following Tabinshwehti's assassination on 30 April 1550. When the news of the assassination reached Pegu, one of Bayinnaung's half-brothers Minkhaung II refused to recognize Bayinnaung as the rightful successor, and seized the throne. Nanda, his mother and his sister had to flee the city to join Bayinnaung who was away on a campaign in Dala (modern Yangon).Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 258–259 There, Nanda became an active member of his father's inner circle who plotted to restore the Toungoo Empire. Bayinnaung's forces first attacked his native Toungoo in September 1550 and took the city on 11 January 1551. Bayinnaung held a coronation ceremony there, and made his 15-year-old son his heir-apparent.Chronicles (Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 201) do not explicitly say that Nanda became heir-apparent on Bayinnaung's coronation ceremony on 11 January 1551, in which the king handed out various titles to his brothers. But it assumed that he did as the chronicles refer to Nanda as Maha Upayaza (heir-apparent) on the very next page (Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 202).
Military service For the next 15 years, Bayinnaung directed his energies to restoring and expanding the Toungoo Empire. Everyone in his inner circle was devoted to the main enterprise of the kingdom: warfare. In the early years (1551 to 1555), however, Nanda, still a teenager, was given limited roles, and did not see any combat action. It was only 1557 onward that Nanda took on increasingly active and prominent roles in his father's military campaigns that founded the largest empire in Southeast Asia. Nanda, along with his uncles Thado Dhamma Yaza II, Minkhaung II and Thado Minsaw, became one of the four principal commanders of the king. Over the next decades, he grew to be an able military leader in his own right, and by the end of his father's reign, was leading entire campaigns by himself.
CampaignDurationTroops commandedNotes Prome 1551 Guarded Toungoo.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 202 Pegu 1552 1 regiment Did not see any action.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 206 Ava 1553 14,000 His first big assignment, and as commander-in-chief to move the forward perimeter in the north against Ava Kingdom. His role was largely ceremonial since the two 7,000 strong armies were led by his uncles Thado Dhamma Yaza II and Minkhaung II, experienced generals. After seeing extensive defenses of Ava, the trio decided not to proceed.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 280–281 He guarded Pegu during the next Ava campaign (1554–55).Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 216 Ava 1554–55 ? Guarded Pegu. Shan states 1557 12,000 Led an army. Along with Thado Minsaw's and Minkhaung II's armies, his army converged on to Thibaw, part of a three-pronged attack. Fought on elephant-back in the battle of Hsipaw.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 230, 233–235 Mone 1557 8000 Led an army with Binnya Dala as deputy but did not see any action. Thado Dhamma Yaza II's vanguard army took Mone.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 240–242 Lan Na 1558 10 regiments 2 cavalry battalions Led one of the three vanguard armies (alongside Thado Dhamma Yaza II, Thado Minsaw).Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 245 Mone 1558 10 regiments He and Thado Minsaw returned to Mone from Lan Na and put down a rebellion by the saopha of Mone.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 249 Trans-Salween Chinese Shan states 1563 12,000 Led one of the four armies that invaded the trans-Salween states. His army invaded from Momeik. Binnya Dala was again his deputy. Saw action at Maing Maw. Took Hotha, Latha, Kaingma, Mainglyin.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 261–262 Siam 1563–64 14,000 He and Minkhaung II jointly-attacked and conquered Sukhothai in December 1563. Attacked the fort defending Ayutthaya.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 267–272 Lan Na 1564 12,000 One of four armies that marched to Chiang Mai from Ayutthaya. From Chiang Mai, marched to Chiang Saen and secured allegiance there.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 277–279 Lan Xang 1564–65 24,000 Commander-in-chief of the campaign. Took Vientiane in January 1565.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 285–287 Installed a vassal ruler. Spent the next seven months fruitlessly searching for King Setthathirath's troops in the Lan Xang countryside. Returned to Pegu in August 1565.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 289–292 Siam 1568–69 11,000 Led one of the five armies that invaded Siam.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 309 Lan Xang 1569–70 11 regiments Led one of five armies that invaded Lan Xang in October 1569. His army invaded northern Lan Xang via Lamphun.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 327 Burmese armies spent months in the countryside searching for elusive bands of guerrilla forces but returned in March 1570, having lost many men from starvation and disease.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 332–335 Very few men of the original army survived to reach their own country.Phayre 1967: 114–115 Mohnyin and Mogaung 1571–72 12,000 Led one of two 12,000-strong armies dispatched to northern Kachin hills to put down a rebellion. Thado Dhamma Yaza II commanded the other. Reconquered Mohnyin and Mogaung without a fight. Chased rebel chiefs to the jungle but could not find them.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 336–338 Lan Xang 1574 11,000 Led one of three vanguard armies that invaded Lan Xang. Saw no action. Took Vientiane without a fight.Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 39–42 Mohnyin and Mogaung 1575 7,000 Led one of five armies that put down another rebellion in northern Kachin hills.Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 45–46 His army and Thado Minsaw's army chased the rebels to the northern hills. One of the battalions from Thado Minsaw's army found the rebel chiefs and killed one of them.Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 48–49 Lan Xang 1579–80 22,000 Led a force to restore law and order after instabilities rose in Lan Xang. Spent months in the Lan Xang countryside but saw no resistance. Arrived back at Pegu on 20 March 1580.Chronicles (Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 68–69) say he arrived back on Sunday, 8th waxing of 942 ME but 8th waxing is a typographical error. 8th waxing of 942 ME translates to Wednesday, 23 March 1580. It was probably 5th waxing of Tagu 942 ME, which translates to Sunday, 20 March 1580. The Burmese numerals 5 () and 8 () written in longhand can easily be mixed up.
Administration Nanda was an active member of the Pegu court dominated by ethnic Mon ministers. His father listened to Nanda's input even if he did not always heed his son's suggestions.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 251 He took on an increasingly greater role in the last two years of his father's reign when the king's health deteriorated.As seen in (Hmannan Vol. 3 2003: 49, 53), Bayinnaung began to back away as early as 1579, and gave Nanda a greater role. In his appointment of Nawrahta Minsaw as ruler of Lan Na, the king acknowledged his failing health, and asked Nawrahta Minsaw to obey Nanda as the health of the kingdom depends on their unity. Later that year, Bayinnaung asked Nanda to go to Lan Xang to restore order there.
Early reign
Accession