Binnya Ran I
| Binnya Ran I ပထမ ဗညားရံ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King of Hanthawaddy | |||||
| Reign | 1424–1446 | ||||
| Predecessor | Binnya Dhammaraza | ||||
| Successor | Binnya Waru | ||||
| Consort | Soe Min Wimala Dewi[1] | ||||
| Issue | Leik Munhtaw | ||||
| |||||
| House | Wareru | ||||
| Father | Razadarit | ||||
| Mother | Thuddhamaya of Dala | ||||
| Born | c. 1395 | ||||
| Died |
1446 (aged 50) Pegu (Bago) | ||||
| Religion | Theravada Buddhism | ||||
Binnya Ran I (Burmese: ပထမ ဗညားရံ, pronounced: [pətʰəma̰ bəɲá jàɴ]; Mon: ဗညားရာံ; c. 1395–1446) was the 11th king of the Hanthawaddy Pegu Kingdom in Burma from 1424 to 1446. As crown prince, he ended the Forty Years' War with the rival Ava Kingdom in 1423. He came to the throne after poisoning his brother King Binnya Dhammaraza in 1424. As king, Binnya Ran largely kept his kingdom at peace for much of his 20-year reign when Ava was struggling to keep its territories intact. He pursued an opportunistic policy to keep Ava weak, helping Toungoo's rebellion against Ava between 1437 and 1442 during which he placed his son as the viceroy of Toungoo. When Ava reconquered Toungoo in 1442, he did not resume a large-scale war against Ava.
Brief
Various Burmese chronicles do not agree on the key dates of the king's life.
| Chronicles | Birth–Death | Age | Reign | Length of reign |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slapat Rajawan[note 1] | c. 1377–1437 | 60 | 1405–1437 | 32 |
| Maha Yazawin and Hmannan Yazawin | not reported | not reported | 1426–1446 | 20 |
| Scholarship[note 2] | c. 1395–1446 | 50 | 1424–1446 | 22 |
Crown Prince
Binnya Ran was a son of King Razadarit. After Razadarit's death, Binnya Dhammaraza became king. Binnya Ran and Binnya Kyan immediately revolted against their elder brother. Binnya Dhammaraza pacified Binnya Ran for a time by making him the heir-apparent and governor of Pathein (Bassein) and the entire Irrawaddy delta. Binnya Dhammaraza also pacified Binnya Kyan by making him governor of Martaban.[2] But Binnya Ran was not satisfied. He soon extended his territory, and occupied Dagon (Yangon) in 1423. When Ava forces came to occupy Dala opposite Dagon, Binnya Ran presented his elder sister Shin Sawbu to Thihathu, and bought peace. Ava forces withdrew, ending the Forty Years' War between Ava and Hanthawaddy Pegu.
In 1424, Binnya Ran poisoned Binnya Dhammaraza and became the eleventh king of Hanthawaddy.[3] His reign name, as reported in Mon language inscriptions, was Rama Razadarit (ရာမ ရာဇာဓိရာဇ်; Pali: Rāma Rājādhirāj).[4]
Reign
As king, Binnya Ran allowed Binnya Kyan to remain as governor of Martaban where the latter exercised almost independent authority. He soon became involved with the dynastic intrigues of Ava Kingdom. In 1426, Mohnyin Thado ascended the Ava throne. In 1429, his sister Shin Sawbu fled secretly from Ava back to Pegu. Binnya Ran received his elder sister with great honor.[2] In the same year, Sawlu Thinkhaya, the governor of Toungoo, who felt he should have been king, sought Binnya Ran's alliance against Ava by presenting a daughter. Binnya Ran agreed and attacked Prome (Pyay) together with Toungoo governor's forces.[2][5] Mohnyin Thado broke up the alliance by giving a niece, Soe Min Wimala Dewi, to Binnya Ran.[1][3] The Pegu king accepted the peace offer as he did not want renewed fighting.
The alliance was one of convenience for Binnya Ran. He was happy to see that Mohnyin Thado was having trouble with Shan raids into Avan territory throughout the 1430s. When Toungoo revolted again in 1437, Binnya Ran readily provided assistance for Toungoo. With his help, Toungoo defeated Ava, and Binnya Ran's son Minsaw became the viceroy of Toungoo.[6] However, King Minyekyawswa of Ava reconquered Toungoo in late 1442,[7] and appointed Tarabya, a Shan chief.[6] For the remainder of his reign, he was content to see Ava had its hands full with Ming Chinese invasions and Shan raids.
Binnya Ran died after a reign of approximately 22 years, and was succeeded by nephew and adopted son Binnya Waru, a son of Shin Sawbu.
Notes
- ↑ Slapat provides wildly divergent and inconsistent dates for the early Hanthawaddy history, including the reign of this king. The birth-death and regnal dates use the regnal years given in the Slapat chronicle with 888 ME (1526/27), the death year of King Binnya Ran II, which is in agreement with standard Burmese chronicles, as the anchor reference point.
- ↑ Provisional dates by scholars. See (Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 344).
References
Bibliography
- Athwa, Sayadaw (1785). Mon Yazawin (Slapat Rajawan) (in Burmese) (1922 ed.). Yangon: Burma Publishing Workers Association Press.
- Fernquest, Jon (Autumn 2006). "Crucible of War: Burma and the Ming in the Tai Frontier Zone (1382–1454)". SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research 4 (2).
- Harvey, G. E. (1925). History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
- Kala, U (1724). Maha Yazawin (in Burmese) 1–3 (2006, 4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
- Phayre, Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur P. (1883). History of Burma (1967 ed.). London: Susil Gupta.
- Royal Historical Commission of Burma (1832). Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese) 1–3 (2003 ed.). Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.
- Than Tun (1985). The Royal Orders of Burma, A.D. 1598–1885 2. Kyoto University.
| Binnya Ran I Hanthawaddy Dynasty Born: 1395 Died: 1446 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Binnya Dhammaraza |
King of Hanthawaddy 1424–1446 |
Succeeded by Binnya Waru |
| Royal titles | ||
| Preceded by Binnya Dhammaraza |
Heir to the Hanthawaddy Throne 1421–1424 |
Succeeded by Binnya Waru |
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