Leik Munhtaw

Leik Munhtaw လိပ်မွတ်ထော
King of Hanthawaddy
Reign	c. June 1453 – January 1454
Predecessor	Binnya Kyan
Successor	Shin Sawbu
Born	c. 1432 Pegu (Bago)
Died	c. January 1454 Pegu (Bago)
Father	Binnya Ran I
Mother	Soe Min Wimala Dewi[1]
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Leik Munhtaw (Burmese: လိပ်မွတ်ထော, pronounced: [leiʔ mʊ̀ɴ tʰɔ́]; Mon: မမောဟ်ထာဝ်; c. 1432–1454) was the 14th king of the Hanthawaddy Pegu Kingdom in Burma for seven months in 1453–54. He came to power by assassinating his first cousin King Binnya Kyan. Binnya Kyan himself had come to power in 1451 by murdering his cousin King Binnya Waru, and went on to kill off male descendants of King Razadarit.^[2] Leik Munhtaw, son of King Binnya Ran I and a grandson of Razadarit, got to Binnya Kyan, also a grandson of Razadarit, first. Leik Munhtaw went on to kill more rivals. In early 1454, palace ministers killed Leik Munhtaw, leaving no male heir of Razadarit's line. The ministers chose his daughter Shin Sawbu to be the next ruler of Hanthawaddy.^[3]

Brief

Various Burmese chronicles do not agree on the key dates of the king's life. Indeed, Maha Yazawin and Hmannan Yazawin have inconsistent reporting within their own texts.

Chronicles	Birth–Death	Age	Reign	Length of reign
Slapat Rajawan[note 1]	not reported	not reported	1445–1446	7 months
Maha Yazawin	c. 1438–1452[note 2]	~24	1451–1452[4]	7 months
Hmannan Yazawin	c. 1432–1453[note 3]	~31	1452–1453[5]	7 months
Maha Yazawin and Hmannan Yazawin (in summary section of Hanthawaddy Kings)	not reported	not reported	1453–1454[6][7]	1 year

Notes

1. Slapat provides wildly divergent and inconsistent dates for the early Hanthawaddy history, including the reign of this king. The birth-death and regnal dates here 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.
2. (Maha Yazawin Vol. 2: 70): He was born after his mother was given to Binnya Ran in 1436/37. The Maha Yazawin date is corrected by Hmannan as 1430/31.
3. (Hmannan Vol. 2: 74): He was born after his mother was given to Binnya Ran in 1430/31.

References

1. Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 74
2. Harvey 1925: 368
3. Phayre 1967: 84
4. (Maha Vol. 2 2006: 81): 813 ME = 1451/52
5. (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 91): 814 ME = 1452/53
6. Maha Vol. 2 2006: 140
7. Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 185

Bibliography

• Athwa, Sayadaw (1785). Mon Yazawin (Slapat Rajawan) (in Burmese) (1922 ed.). Yangon: Burma Publishing Workers Association Press.
• 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.