Saw Hnit

Saw Hnit စောနှစ်
Viceroy of Pagan
Reign	1299–1325[1]
Coronation	8 May 1299[2]
Predecessor	Kyawswa
Successor	Uzana II
Born	1283 (Saturday born) Pagan (Bagan)
Died	1325 (aged 42) Pagan
Consort	Saw Thitmahti[3]
Issue	Uzana II Atula Sanda Dewi[4]
House	Pagan
Father	Kyawswa
Mother	Saw Soe[5]
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

In this Burmese name, Saw is an honorific.

Saw Hnit (Burmese: စောနှစ်, pronounced: [sɔ́ n̥ɪʔ]; also spelled စောနစ်, [sɔ́ nɪʔ], Saw Nit or Min Lulin; 1283–1325) was a viceroy of Pagan (Bagan) from 1297 to 1325 under the suzerain of Myinsaing Kingdom in central Burma (Myanmar). He was a son of the Mongol vassal king Kyawswa, and a grandson of Narathihapate, the last sovereign king of Pagan dynasty. Saw Hnit succeeded as "king" after his father was forced to abdicate the throne by the three brothers of Myinsaing in December 1297.^[6]

The brothers put him on the throne, officially styled as the king of Pagan, but essentially their viceroy.^[7] His authority amounted to the region around the Pagan city.^[8] The viceroy gave his first audience on 8 May 1299.^[2] He raised his father's chief queen Saw Thitmahti as his own chief queen.^[9] Two days later, the three brothers executed his brother Theingapati and his father Kyawswa.^[7]

King Swasawke of Ava (r. 1367–1400) was a grandnephew of Saw Hnit.^[8]

Dates

Saw Hnit was a son of King Kyawswa. The table below lists the dates given by the four main chronicles.^[10]

Chronicles	Birth–Death	Age	Reign	Length of reign
Zatadawbon Yazawin	1285–1331	46	1300–1331	31
Maha Yazawin	1285–1322	37	1300–1322	22
Yazawin Thit	1279–1330	51	1298–1330	32
Hmannan Yazawin	1283–1325	42	1298–1325	27

Ancestry

The following is the ancestry of Saw Hnit as reported by the Hmannan Yazawin chronicle (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 360, 402–403). He was descended from Pagan kings from both sides. His parents were second cousins, once removed.^[5]

Ancestry of Saw Hnit

8. Uzana of Pagan                       4. Narathihapate                             9. Su Le Htone of Pagan                       2. Kyawswa of Pagan                                   10. unnamed                       5. Shin Hpa of Pagan                             11. unnamed                       1. Saw Hnit                                         12. unnamed                       6. Yazathingyan of Pagan                             13. unnamed                       3. Saw Soe of Pagan                                   14. Kyaswa of Pagan                       7. Saw Khin Htut of Pagan                             15. Yaza Dewi of Pagan

References

1. Harvey 1925: 79
2. Than Tun 1959: 122
3. Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 234 (fn#3), 257 (fn#1)
4. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 380
5. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 360
6. Than Tun 1959: 119–120
7. Coedès 1968: 210-211
8. Htin Aung 1967: 65–71
9. Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 257
10. Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 349

Bibliography

• Coedès, George (1968). Walter F. Vella, ed. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. trans.Susan Brown Cowing. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-0368-1.
• Harvey, G. E. (1925). History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
• Htin Aung, Maung (1967). A History of Burma. New York and London: Cambridge University Press.
• 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.
• Than Tun (December 1959). "History of Burma: A.D. 1300–1400". Journal of Burma Research Society XLII (II).