Thihathu of Prome

Thihathu of Prome သီဟသူ
Viceroy of Prome
Reign	1275–1288
Predecessor	new office
Successor	Pazzawta (as governor)
Chief Minister	Pazzawta
Born	late 1250s Pagan (Bagan)
Died	1288 Pegu (Bago)
Spouse	Atula Dewi
Issue	Shin Myat Hla[1]
House	Pagan
Father	Narathihapate
Mother	Shin Mauk[2]
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Thihathu of Prome (Burmese: သီဟသူ, pronounced: [θìha̰θù]; d. 1288), or Sihasura, was viceroy of Prome (Pyay) from 1275 to 1288. He is known in Burmese history for assassinating his own father King Narathihapate, the last sovereign king of the Pagan Empire, in 1287.^{[3]:209–210} He was the maternal grandfather of King Swasawke of Ava.

Brief

Thihathu was born to Queen Shin Mauk and Narathihapate in the late 1250s in Pagan (Bagan). Thihathu grew up at the palace alongside his half-brothers Uzana and Kyawswa, and appeared to have been the black sheep of the family. According to the royal chronicles, the king constantly teased Thihathu in front of others, for which Thihathu nursed malice toward his father.^[4] Nonetheless, in 1275, he was appointed viceroy of Prome (Pyay), which was reestablished at the old city of Thray Khittaya (Sri Ksetra).^[5]

His chance for payback came during the Mongol invasion of the country in 1283–85. Instead of defending the country, Narathihapate fled Pagan for Lower Burma in panic. The king finally became a Mongol vassal in 1287, and returned to Pagan with a small retinue. En route at Prome, on 1 July 1287,^[6] Thihathu arrested his father and forced the king to take poison. To refuse would have meant death by the sword, and with a prayer on his lips that in all his future existences "may no male-child be ever born to him again", the king swallowed the poison and died.^[7]

Having killed the king, Thihathu next tried to kill off his two rival half-brothers, Uzana (Governor of Pathein) and Kyawswa (Governor of Dala) as they were also potential claimants to the throne. Thihathu first went to Pathein, entered Uzana's chambers, and hacked Uzana, who laid sick in his chamber, to pieces. He then sailed to Dala to kill Kyawswa. Kyawswa had fortified Dala, and withstood Thihathu's several charges to take the port city. Thihathu then went northeast of Dala to Pegu whose ruler had also fortified the city. At the Pegu harbor, as he tried to shoot one of the guards with his crossbow, he accidentally killed himself by his own arrow.^[8]

Family

Thihathu was married to Atula Dewi, the youngest and only sister of the three brothers who would later found the Myinsaing Kingdom.^[9] They had at least one daughter, Shin Myat Hla, the mother of King Swasawke of Ava.^[1]

References

1. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 402
2. Pe, Luce 1960: 179
3. 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.
4. Harvey 1925: 62
5. Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 326, footnote 1
6. Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 149, footnote 3, citing (Dagon 1992: 17)
7. Htin Aung 1967: 70–71
8. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 358–359
9. Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 251

Bibliography

• 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 (1720). Maha Yazawin (in Burmese) 1–3 (2006, 4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Maha Sithu (1798). Myint Swe (1st ed.); Kyaw Win, Ph.D. and Thein Hlaing (2nd ed.), ed. Yazawin Thit (in Burmese) 1–3 (2012, 2nd printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Pe Maung Tin; Luce, G.H. The Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma (1960 ed.). Rangoon University Press.
• Royal Historical Commission of Burma (1832). Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese) 1–3 (2003 ed.). Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.