Thado Minsaw of Prome

Thado Minsaw of Prome (Burmese: သတိုးမင်းစော, pronounced [θədó mɪ́ɴsɔ́]; died 1527) was the founder of Prome Kingdom, who reigned the minor kingdom from 1482 to 1527. He was governor of Tharrawaddy during the reigns of his father King Narapati of Ava and his elder brother King Thihathura. After Thihathura died in 1481, the new king Minkhaung II was greeted by a major rebellion by his brother Minyekyawswa, the governor of Yamethin. In 1482, Thado Minsaw's another elder brother viceroy of Prome, Mingyi Swa also died.

Thado Minsaw took advantage of the war between his nephews Minkhaung II and Minyekyawswa in Upper Burma by taking over Prome, and declaring himself independent. He raised his brother Mingyi Swa's chief queen as his chief queen. Minkhaung managed to send an army to reclaim Prome. But the Avan army could not take Prome, and retreated.^[2] Ava could not send another force again as the much more serious Yamethin rebellion (and rebellions by the Shan States of Mohnyin and Kale) consumed its resources for the next two decades. Prome became an independent kingdom with territories up to Tharrawaddy and Myede.^[2]

Thado Minsaw largely stayed out of the fighting in Upper Burma. He forged a peaceful relationship with Hanthawaddy, the most powerful kingdom in the region. He changed his policy in the 1520s when Ava was on its last legs suffering from the sustained assaults by Confederation of Shan States. He entered into a league with Sawlon, the confederation's leader. In 1524, the combined armies of Confederation and Prome sacked the city of Ava. The king of Ava, Shwenankyawshin, who was Thado Minsaw's grandnephew, escaped. Prome and Confederation forces looted the city. The Prome armies brought back the famed poet monk Shin Maha Rattathara.^[3] Prome remained in a league with the Confederation, which continued its attacks on Ava.

Thado Minsaw died in early 1527, and was succeeded by his son Bayin Htwe.

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