Minye Kyawswa I of Ava (, ; also known as Hsinbyushin Minye Kyawswa Gyi (ဆင်ဖြူရှင် မင်းရဲကျော်စွာကြီး, ; –) was king of Ava (Inwa) from 1439 to 1442. In less than three years of rule, the second king from the royal house of Mohnyin (မိုးညှင်းဆက်) had recovered four major former vassal states of Ava: his native Mohnyin, Kale (Kalay), Taungdwin and Toungoo (Taungoo), and was about to capture a fifth, Mogaung, which was achieved shortly after his death. Despite the successes farther afield, his attempt to capture the closer districts of Pinle and Yamethin failed.
His reign marked Ava's first attempt to forcefully reclaim the former vassal states that it had lost since the mid-1420s. As king, Minye Kyawswa implemented a more aggressive policy against the rebel states, which he had advocated for since his days as crown prince of Ava (1426–1439) but could not get his father King Mohnyin Thado to prioritize. He launched a major military campaign in every dry season of his short reign.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 78–81 Ava's campaigns in the kingdom's north benefited greatly from Ming China's campaigns against the powerful Shan-speaking state of Mong Mao. King Minye Kyawswa I's expansionist policy would be continued by his successor and brother King Narapati I under whose leadership Ava would reach its height of power in the early second half of the 15th century.Aung-Thwin 2017: 91–93
Early life The future king was the eldest child of a minor noble family of Shin Myat Hla and Thado (from present-day Mandalay Region, Myanmar). He was born in Mohnyin (present-day Kachin State) ,The date is based on the king's horoscope as given in (Zata 1960: 76) but using the year (772 ME) given in (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 284) and (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 81). A Thursday in the 10th month of 772 ME = (27 November 4 December, 11 December 18 December 1410). In all, various chronicles provide different dates for his date of birth. The 17th century Zatadawbon Yazawin chronicle alone contains two different dates in two different sections: (Zata 1906: 46): one Thursday in the 4th month [First Waso] of 763 ME (i.e. 16 June 23 June, 30 June or 7 July 1401); and (Zata 1906: 76): Born on a Thursday in the 10th month of 763 ME (1401/02) (8, 15, 22, 29 December 1401). The Maha Yazawin chronicle (Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 73–74) gives as the birth date. The Yazawin Thit chronicle (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 284) corrects the prior chronicles' date of birth for the king by citing the frescoes at the Golden Monastery (Shwe Kyaung) in Pagan donated by Minye Kyawswa's mother, which says that his parents were married in 771 ME (30 March 1409 – 29 March 1410), and he was born in 772 ME (30 March 1410 – 29 March 1411). The Hmannan Yazawin (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 81) accepts Yazawin Thit's correction. about eight months after his parents had relocated to the northern Shan-speaking frontier state, following his father's appointment as sawbwa (lord governor) of the state by King Minkhaung I of Ava.(Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 236) and (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 81): Thado's appointment to Mohnyin and marriage to Myat Hla took place in 771 ME (30 March 1409 – 29 March 1410), according to the fresco writings at the Shwe Kyaung (Golden Monastery) in Pagan, donated by Queen Myat Hla herself. Since the appointment and the marriage came after an unsuccessful five-month campaign in 771 ME, and since dry season campaigns typically began after the Buddhist Lent (which ended on 23 September 1409), the events most probably took place in March. He grew up in Mohnyin with his younger brother, and two younger sisters.Chronicles do not mention the personal names of King Minye Kyawswa I and his brother King Narapati I. The Hmannan Yazawin (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 62) does mention the personal names of their sisters as Shin Hla Myat and Shin Hla Htut. Unlike his brother, who spent time at the capital Ava (Inwa) as a page of King Thihathu from 1421 to 1425,Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 54 chronicles have no record of Minye Kyawswa spending his early years outside of Mohnyin. He apparently remained alongside his father to his early teens when he was appointed sawbwa of Moshwe, a small district of Mohnyin.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 59
Thado's rebellion His small town life ended in February 1426.(Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 271) and (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 59): Tabaung 787 ME = 6 February 1426 to 7 March 1426 That month, his father formally revolted against King Min Nyo's regime, and the 15-year-old sawbwa and his 12-year-old brother, sawbwa of Wuntho, became active participants in the rebellion. The brothers' first assignment was notable in that they achieved their first battlefield victory by not strictly following their father's orders. They had sailed down the Irrawaddy with a flotilla of war boats to Thissein, Ava's forward garrison with 2000 troops and 50 war boats, while Thado marched with his army towards the garrison. Though they were to wait for their father, whose army was still ten marches away, the brothers decided to launch a surprise attack from the port-side of the fort. Ava forces were not expecting an attack, and withdrew in disarray.Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 271 Despite the success, their father, a former co-commander-in-chief of the Ava military, would not put his eager but inexperienced sons in the vanguard again for the rest of the campaign. The brothers' next assignment came only in May as Thado's forces closed in on Ava: the brothers dutifully marched to the east of Ava (Inwa) to block a possible escape route of King Nyo but saw no action.Aung-Thwin 2017: 83 Thado entered the royal capital unopposed on 16 May 1426.(Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 272): Thursday, the 10th waxing of Nayon 788 ME = Wednesday, 15 May 1426. The editors of the chronicle (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 272, footnote 3) accept Thursday, 16 May 1426.
On 20 May 1426, Thado formally ascended the throne, and made his eldest son einshei min (အိမ်ရှေ့မင်း, lit. "Lord of the Front Place", heir apparent) with the title of Minye Kyawswa, and gave Salin, Sagu, and Legaing districts (all three in modern Minbu District) in fief. The new crown prince also married his double first cousin Min Hla Nyet, daughter of his paternal aunt Shin Myat Hla and his maternal uncle Thiri Zeya Thura.Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 272Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 61
Crown prince years
Throughout his father's 13-year reign, Minye Kyawswa would prove a loyal deputy albeit with policy differences. The royal chronicles portray the crown prince as far more distrustful of the vassal rulers, and more eager to use force against the rebel states. But he failed to significantly alter the policies of Thado, who never made a sustained effort to establish his authority outside the core zone.Harvey 1925: 97Aung-Thwin 2017: 84–85 The first such episode took place just a few months into Thado's reign when Minye Kyawswa urged Thado to arrest the governors of Toungoo (Taungoo) and Taungdwin, who purportedly had come to Ava to pledge their allegiance. The son argued that the governors—Thinkhaya III of Toungoo and Thihapate III of Taungdwin—had probably come to assess Ava's military strength but the father disagreed. The son's suspicion soon proved correct: the two governors revolted right after they got back to their respective regions.Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 274Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 65
It was not an isolated incident. The crown prince could not get his father to take a harder stance against Prince Minye Kyawhtin either. Although the second-most senior prince of the previous dynasty had never renounced his claim to the Ava throne, and by 1427 had occupied Pinle, only 70 km away from the capital,Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 275Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 66 Thado was unwilling to send the full force against the prince, grandson of his deceased lord, King Minkhaung. Indeed, Thado had even freed the prince back in August 1426, only to see him revolt again just a few months later. Even when Thado finally authorized Minye Kyawswa to lead an expedition to Pinle in late 1428, he gave his son just a small force (1500 troops, 300 cavalry, and 20 elephants). The crown prince dutifully went on to laid siege to the fortified town but the outcome was never in doubt; he had to withdraw after three months, in early 1429.
Minye Kyawswa would not get another chance for the next four years. By then, his father had essentially abandoned the reunification project; turned to religion; and began devoting much of the kingdom's resources on building Buddhist stupas and monasteries. (In all, Thado would build a total of 27 new pagodas, temples and monasteries, including one at Rajagaha (ရာဇဂြိုဟ်) in India during his reign. According to a preliminary calculation by Michael Aung-Thwin, the 27 projects may have cost the royal treasury, 1.62 million kyats (ticals) of silver, "not including the usual endowments of people and land for their subsequent upkeep."Aung-Thwin 2017: 88) In 1431, Thado formally ceded the southernmost districts of Tharrawaddy and Paungde to King Binnya Ran I of Hanthawaddy Pegu without putting up a fight.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 73–74 In late 1433, Minye Kyawswa managed to get his father's permission to lead an expedition to Pinle and other southeastern states in revolt. Although his army was larger (5000 infantry, 300 cavalry and 120 elephants), it still was not enough to take any rebel-held town. He again came back empty handed in early 1434.Sein Lwin Lay 2006: 29Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 69–70, 166
The failed campaign was the last one Thado would authorize. Over the next five years, the king continued to focus on his pagoda building spree, and little else. Even when Pegu openly seized Toungoo in 1436,Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 166 his response was not to launch a punitive campaign but to order a recalibration of the Burmese calendar, over the objection of the court.Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 282Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 78
Reign
Thado died in April 1439, and Minye Kyawswa succeeded without incident.(Aung-Thwin 2017: 88–89, 323, citing (SMK Vol. 5 1998: 4)): The main chronicles and a contemporary inscription (SMK Vol. 5 1998: 4) say King Minye Kyawswa ascended the throne in 801 ME (30 March 1439 to 29 March 1440), an (Arthein [Asvini] Year). The chronicles (Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 61, 72) and (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 61, 76) say King Thado died as his reign was about to turn 13, having come to power in the waxing half of Nayon of 788 ME. Thus, the latest Thado could have died would be the last waxing day of Nayon 801 ME (26 April 1439), and Minye Kyawswa would have been king by 26 April 1439. The two key vassals who could challenge the new 28-year-old king—his brother Prince Thihathu of Prome and his uncle Gov. Nawrahta I of Myedu—both acknowledged him. Even with their support, the realm he inherited was a rump polity that extended only along the narrow north-south axis of the Irrawaddy river between Myedu in the north to Prome in the south.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 68–69
The following major former vassal states remained out of Ava's orbit:Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 282–284Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 78–80
Region Ruler Notes Pinle Minye Kyawhtin Backed by Le Than Bwa of Onbaung Onbaung Le Than Bwa In revolt and supporter of Minye Kyawhtin since 1426 Toungoo (Taungoo) Saw Oo II of Toungoo In revolt 1426–1436 / vassal of Hanthawaddy 1436–1441 Taungdwin Thihapate III of Taungdwin In revolt since 1426 Yat Sauk Naung Mun unnamed Occupies Yamethin in 1433 Kale (Kalay) unnamed Mohnyin unnamed Vassal of Mogaung since 1427 Mogaung Tho Ngan Bwa of Mogaung (Si Renfa in Chinese) In revolt since 1427