Bawlawkyantaw

Bawlawkyantaw (Burmese: ဘောလောကျန်းထော, [bɔ́lɔ́ tɕáɴtʰɔ́]; c. 1383 – 1390) was the eldest son and first child of King Razadarit of Hanthawaddy Pegu. The prince is best known for his famous oath before his execution on the orders of his father that he shall be reborn to fight against his father if he were innocent. The people of Hanthawaddy and the people of rival Kingdom of Ava widely believed that Prince Minyekyawswa of Ava was the reincarnation of Bawlawkyantaw, fulfilling the prophecy of the oath.

Razadarit ordered the execution of his own son at a young age because he was afraid that the young prince would later raise a rebellion against him. Razadarit had driven the prince's mother Queen Talamidaw to commit suicide, and feared that the young prince would one day avenge for his mother's death. Razadarit, who was never his father's favorite, himself had raised a rebellion against his own father, King Binnya U when he was only 15. Razadarit was in Bassein (Pathein) when he ordered the execution of his son, who was in Pegu (Bago).^[1] It was c. 1390. The king's executioners took Bawlawkyantaw to the Shwemawdaw Pagoda. The young prince was imprisoned for three days at the pagoda during which he was said to have reread the Abhidhamma (part of Buddhist scriptures).^[2]

According to Mon and Burmese chronicles, on the day of his execution, the young prince swore an oath that would enter into Burmese history:

I do not plot against my father. Neither is there any fault in me. My father and mother played together as children. When she grew to womanhood, he took her beauty and then cast her away. She was a king's daughter, but he drove her away like a slave and drove her to her evil death. If I am guilty of treason by thought, word or deed, may I suffer in the fires of the nether regions for a thousand cycle times. If I am innocent, may I be reborn in the dynasty of Ava kings, and may I become the scourge of Hanthawaddy Kingdom.^{[2][3][note 2]}

Razadarit was greatly disturbed when he heard of the terrible oath. In the superstitious world of Burmese politics, he was alarmed when the chief wife of Prince Minkhaung of Ava fetched to eat various foods from Lower Burma before she became pregnant. She gave birth to Minyekyawswa a year after Bawlawkyantaw's death. Indeed, Minyekyawswa would later grow up to be Razadarit's nemesis.^[2]

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Harvey, G. E. (1925). History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. 
• Htin Aung, Maung (1967). A History of Burma. New York and London: Cambridge University Press. 
• Pan Hla, Nai (1968). Razadarit Ayedawbon (in Burmese) (8th printing, 2005 ed.). Yangon: Armanthit Sarpay. 
• Phayre, Major Gen. Sir Arthur Purves (1873). "The History of Pegu". Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal (Oxford University) 42: 47–55. 
• Royal Historical Commission of Burma (1832). Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese) 1–3 (2003 ed.). Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.