Min Khin Saw

Atula Agga Maha Dewi Min Khin Saw အတုလအဂ္ဂ မဟာဒေဝီ မင်းခင်စော
Chief queen consort of Toungoo State
Tenure	c. February 1597 – 11 August 1609
Coronation	21 March [O.S. 11 March] 1603
Predecessor	new office
Successor	vacant[note 1]
Chief vicereine of Toungoo
Tenure	June 1584 – c. February 1597
Predecessor	Laygyun Mibaya
Successor	disestablished
Born	c. 1555[note 2] Pegu (Bago) Toungoo Empire
Died	after August 1612 Pinya Restored Toungoo Kingdom
Spouse	Minye Thihathu II
Issue	Natshinnaung Minye Kyawswa of Toungoo Minye Thihathu III of Toungoo Minye Kyawhtin II of Toungoo
House	Toungoo
Father	Bayinnaung
Mother	Sanda Dewi
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

In this Burmese name, Min is an honorific.

Min Khin Saw (Burmese: မင်းခင်စော, pronounced: [mɪ́ɴ kʰɪ̀ɴ sɔ́]) was the chief queen consort of the break-away kingdom of Toungoo (Taungoo) from 1597 to 1609. She was also the chief queen of Toungoo from 1584 to 1597 when Toungoo was a vassal state of Toungoo Empire.^[1] From 1612 onwards, the mother of Natshinnaung spent her last years as a dowager queen in Pinya (near Ava (Inwa).^[2]

Brief

Min Khin Saw was the only child born from the union of Queen Sanda Dewi and King Bayinnaung. She descended from the Ava royal line from her mother's side. She married her half-cousin Minye Kyawhtin, governor of Tharrawaddy (Thayawadi), on 1 May 1571.^[3]

The couple had four children:^[1]

• Natshinnaung, King of Toungoo (1609–1610); Viceroy of Toungoo (1610–1612)
• Minye Kyawswa of Toungoo, Crown Prince of Toungoo (1609–1612)
• Minye Thihathu III of Toungoo, Governor of Badon (1612–?)^[4]
• Minye Kyawhtin II of Toungoo, Governor of Taungdwingyi (1612–?)^[4]

Min Khin Saw became a dowager queen in 1609 when her husband died. She fled Toungoo in August 1612^{[note 3]} when the combined forces of Portuguese Syriam (Thanlyin) and Martaban (Mottama) attacked Toungoo. King Anaukpetlun gave her a two-story house in Pinya (near Ava) with a retinue of servants.^[2]

Ancestry

Ancestry of Queen Min Khin Saw

8. Taungkha Min                       4. Minye Thihathu I of Toungoo                             9. Kayenawaddy                       2. Bayinnaung                                   10. Kywe Sit Min                       5. Shin Myo Myat                             11. (Unnamed)                       1. Min Khin Saw                                         12. Minkhaung II of Ava                       6. Narapati II of Ava                             13. Atula Thiri Dhamma Dewi of Ava                       3. Sanda Dewi                                   14. Thihapate of Pakhan                       7. Dhamma Dewi of Pakhan                             15. (Unnamed)

Notes

1. (Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 148): Natshinnaung did not have a queen after the death of Yaza Datu Kalaya. He did not raise any of his concubines to queen. And since Natshinnaung was the last sovereign king of Toungoo, the office of Chief Queen of Toungoo ended with Min Khin Saw.
2. Sanda Dewi became Bayinnaung's queen only in April 1553. Since she got married in 1570, she was likely born in the mid 1550s.
3. (Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 144): Wagaung 974 ME = 28 July to 25 August 1612

References

1. Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 108
2. Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 144
3. (Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 336): Saturday, 7th waxing of Nayon 933 ME = Tuesday, 1 May 1570
4. Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 145

Bibliography

• Kala, U (1724). Maha Yazawin (in Burmese) 1–3 (2006, 4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.