Mingyi Swa of Prome

Mingyi Swa မင်းကြီးစွာ
Viceroy of Prome
Reign	1446–1482
Predecessor	Minye Kyawswa
Successor	Thado Minsaw
Born	c. 1435[note 1] Prome (Pyay)
Died	1482[1] Prome
Spouse	Saw Myat Lay[2]
Issue	Min Hpone Htut of Prome[3] Shwe Zin Gon[4]
House	Mohnyin
Father	Narapati I of Ava
Mother	Atula Thiri Maha Yaza Dewi of Ava[2]
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Mingyi Swa of Prome (Burmese: မင်းကြီးစွာ, pronounced: [mɪ́ɴdʑíswà]; c. 1435–1482) was viceroy of Prome from 1446 to 1482 during the reigns of kings Narapati I, Thihathura I and Minkhaung II of Ava.

Biography

He was born Min Hsin-Mya (မင်းဆင်များ^[5] or မင်းဆင်မြား^[6]) to Viceroy Thihathu of Prome and his chief queen Atula Thiri Maha Yaza Dewi in Prome (Pyay).^[2] He was the fourth of the couple's eight children. He had one elder brother, two elder sisters, one younger brother and three younger sisters.^[7] In April 1442, the family moved to Ava (Inwa) when Thihathu succeeded the Ava throne as Narapati I of Ava.^[8]

His stay at Ava was short. In January 1446,^{[note 2]} Narapati I appointed his second son, then no older than 11 years of age, the viceroy of Prome, the second most important city in the kingdom.^[6] He was a loyal son throughout his father's 26-year reign. But in 1472, he tried to revolt against his elder brother King Thihathura I by getting into a league with his younger brother Thado Minsaw, governor of Tharrawaddy. But the planned rebellion never panned out and both brothers submitted to the king in February 1473.^{[note 3]} Thihathura forgave his brothers and appointed them to their former position.^[9] He gave no more trouble when his nephew Minkhaung II became king of Ava in 1480. In return, the new king kept Mingyi Swa at his post.

Mingyi Swa died in 1482, Thado Minsaw of Tharrawaddy seized Prome, and revolted against Minkhaung II. The rebellion succeeded, and Prome became independent.^[10] Mingyi Swa's daughter Shwe Zin Gon (ရွှေစင်ကုံး) was married to her first cousin Bayin Htwe, Thado Minsaw's son.^[4] His granddaughter Chit Mi was also married to Bayin Htwe.^[3]

Ancestry

Ancestry of Mingyi Swa

8. Saw Diga of Mye-Ne                       4. Mohnyin Thado                             9. Saw Pale of Nyaungyan                       2. Narapati I of Ava                                   10. Thihapate of Taungdwin                       5. Shin Mi Myat                             11. unnamed                       1. Thado Minsaw                                         12. Min Shin Saw of Thayet                       6. Thinkhaya of Pagan                             13. unnamed                       3. Atula Thiri Maha Yaza Dewi of Ava                                   14. Thinkhaya of Wadi                       7. Pagan Mibaya                             15. Saw Pale of Wadi

Notes

1. Chronicles do not explicitly mention his birth date. His eldest sibling Thihathura was born on 1 May 1431. He had two elder sisters in between him and Thihathura, meaning he could have been born no earlier than 1434. Moreover, because he was appointed viceroy in early 1446, he must have been at least around 10. It is probable that he was born around 1435.
2. Standard chronicles (Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 78; Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 86) say that King Narapati made new appointments in Toungoo (Taungoo) and Prome (Pyay) following the death of Tarabya of Toungoo in 807 ME (29 March 1445 to 28 March 1446). According to the Toungoo Yazawin chronicle (Sein Lwin Lay 2006: 30–31), Tarabya died on 2 January 1446 (5th waxing of Tabodwe 807 ME). It means the appointments were made sometime between 2 January 1446 and 28 March 1446, and most probably in January 1446.
3. (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 102): Tabaung 834 ME = 28 January 1473 to 26 February 1473

References

1. Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 215
2. Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 83
3. Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 83
4. Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 89
5. Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 78
6. Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 86
7. Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 83–84
8. Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 81
9. Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 101–102
10. Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 113–114

Bibliography

• 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.
• Sein Lwin Lay, Kahtika U (1968). Mintaya Shwe Hti and Bayinnaung: Ketumadi Taungoo Yazawin (in Burmese) (2006, 2nd printing ed.). Yangon: Yan Aung Sarpay.