Saw Min Hla

Saw Min Hla (Burmese: စောမင်းလှ, pronounced [sɔ́ mɪ́ɴ l̥a̰]) was the chief queen consort of Ava from 1422 to 1425. Her son Min Hla briefly became king for three months in 1425, following the death of her second husband King Thihathu of Ava. Her first husband was Thihathu's elder brother Crown Prince Minye Kyawswa of the Forty Years' War fame. Her eldest child Minye Kyawhtin was the rebel king of Toungoo (Taungoo) from 1451 to 1459.

Brief

Saw Min Hla was a daughter of Tarabya of Pakhan, and sister of Tarabya of Toungoo, who was viceroy of Toungoo from 1440 to 1446. In 1406, she was married to Prince Minye Kyawswa at his coronation ceremony as heir-apparent.^{[note 1]} Minye Kyawswa was a cousin.^{[note 2]} She and Minye Kyawswa had four children between 1408 and 1415:^{[note 3]} Minye Kyawhtin, Min Hla Htut, Minye Aung Naing and Saw Min Phyu.^[1][2] After Minye Kyawswa fell in action, she was made the chief queen of Thihathu, Minye Kyawswa's younger brother and successor as heir-apparent. She had three children with Thihathu: Min Hla, Saw Pyei Chantha and Shwe Pyi Shin Me.^[1] In all, she had seven children (three sons and four daughters.)^[1]

When Thihathu became king in 1422, Saw Min Hla became the chief queen.^[3] But her rank as the chief queen was only nominal. Thihathu also took his father's favorite queen Shin Bo-Me as queen. He spent much time with Bo-Me that Saw Min Hla left the palace for a hall next to the Shwe Zedi Pagoda in the capital, and retired to religion.^[4] She hence became known as Tanzaung-shin Mibaya (တန်ဆောင်းရှင် မိဖုရား).^[5]

Her fifth child Min Hla became king in August 1425 after Thihathu was assassinated in a plot arranged by Shin Bo-Me. Three months later, the seven-year-old king was poisoned by Shin Bo-Me, who put her lover Kale Kyetaungnyo on the throne.^[6][7] Saw Min Hla's eldest child Minye Kyawhtin (also known as Minnge Kyawhtin) became the rebel king of Toungoo from 1451 to 1459.^[8]

Notes

References

Bibliography

• 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. 
• Royal Historical Commission of Burma (1832). Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). 1–3 (2003 ed.). Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar. 
• Sandamala Linkara, Ashin (1931). Rakhine Yazawinthit Kyan (in Burmese). 1–2 (1997–1999 ed.). Yangon: Tetlan Sarpay. 
• Sein Lwin Lay, Kahtika U (1968). Mintaya Shwe Hti and Bayinnaung: Ketumadi Taungoo Yazawin (in Burmese) (2006, 2nd printing ed.). Yangon: Yan Aung Sarpay.