Minyekyawswa

Minyekyawswa (မင်းရဲကျော်စွာ, ; 1391–1417) was crown prince of Ava from 1406 to 1417, and commander-in-chief of Ava's military from 1409 to 1417. He is best remembered in Burmese history as the courageous general who waged the most fierce battles of Forty Years' War (1385–1424) against King Razadarit of Hanthawaddy Pegu.

The prince, who led an army battalion at age 13 and the entire army at 15, was his father King Minkhaung I's best and most trusted general. Between 1406 and 1417, the father and son team waged war on all of Ava's neighbors, and nearly succeeded in reassembling the Pagan Empire under Ava's leadership. By 1416, Ava had defeated two strongest Shan states of Mohnyin (1406) and Theinni (1413) in the north, overrun Arakan (1406, 1412) in the west, and seized the entire Irrawaddy delta (1415) in the south, forcing Razadarit to flee Pegu for Martaban. On the cusp of final victory, Minyekyawswa was wounded in a battle near Dala (Yangon), and captured by the Hanthawaddy army in March 1417. The crown prince of Ava refused treatment, and died shortly after. He was 25.

Minyekyawswa was deeply respected by both sides for his courage. His archenemy Razadarit gave him a burial with full royal honors and rites. Minyekyawswa's campaigns of 1414–1417 were the climax of Forty Years' War. After his death, the war quickly petered out. Only two more campaigns (1417–1418 and 1423–1424) were fought half-heartedly by both sides. Ava's military success was mostly attributable to his inspired leadership; Ava would not see this kind of success again.

Minkhaung and Minyekyawswa's struggles against Razadarit are retold as classic stories of legend in Burmese popular culture. Minyekyawswa's name is still invoked alongside the names of greatest warrior kings of Burmese history.

Early life
Minyekyawswa was the first child of Minkhaung, the Prince of Pyinsi by his chief queen Shin Mi-Nauk, a daughter of the saopha (Chief) of the Shan state of Mohnyin. He was born in 1390/1391 (752 ME). His birth name was Min Phyu. As Minkhaung himself was one-eighth Shan, Minyekyawswa was 9/16th Shan, and 7/16th Burman. During his youth, he grew up in Pyinsi, located about 30 miles south of Ava where his father was in charge.

According to Burmese and Mon chronicles, the people of Ava and Hanthawaddy kingdoms believed that Minyekyawswa was the reincarnation of Prince Bawlawkyantaw of Hanthawaddy, who was executed on the orders of his father Razadarit for suspicion of treason in 1390. Bawlawkyantaw was said to have sworn an oath before taking the poison that if he were innocent, he was to be reborn in the dynasty of Ava kings, and be the scourge of Mons. Still according to the legend, Shin Mi-Nauk supposedly wanted to eat three types of delicacies from Lower Burma, and ordered them. Shortly after, she became pregnant with Minyekyawswa. In the superstitious world of Burmese politics, Razadarit was said to have been greatly concerned.

Heir apparent
At age 9, Minyekyawswa came to Ava when his father ascended the Ava throne in November 1400. Minkhaung came to power with the significant help of his brother Theiddat who led the Ava army to put down a major rebellion by the lord of Yamethin. In 1406, Minkhaung made Minyekyawswa his heir apparent over his brother Theiddat, who would soon revolt. In the same year, Minyekyawswa was married to Saw Minhla, daughter of Governor of Pakhan. They had two sons and two daughters; the first son was born in 1407 and the last daughter in 1416.

Military service
Minyekyawswa was a driven personality from an early age. He led an army battalion at age 13, an army at 15, and the entire military of Ava at 19. In the dozen years between 1406 and 1417, he was called on to fight Ava's enemies wherever they appeared—in Arakan, in Lower Burma, in Shan States. Ava was not doing well until he was put in charge of the army in 1409. Despite fighting multiple adversaries simultaneously, Ava under his inspired leadership soundly defeated Theinni (and its Chinese army), and came very close to conquering all of Lower Burma from Hanthawaddy.

Razadarit's invasion of Ava (1404–1406)
Minyekyawswa saw his first military action at 13. In December 1404, King Razadarit of Hanthawaddy Pegu broke the truce in place since 1391, and invaded the upcountry with a massive flotilla (4000 boats of every description) that also transported elephants and horses. The 13-year-old Minyekyawswa was allowed to lead an army battalion. This phase of the war ended in February 1406 when both sides entered into another truce again.

Arakan and Hanthawaddy (1406–1407)
In November 1406, Minyekyawswa at 15 was allowed to lead the invasion of Arakan. Minyekyawswa's invasion force defeated the Arakanese at their capital Launggyet on 27 November 1406 (Saturday, 2nd waning of Natdaw 768 ME), forcing its king Min Saw Mon (Narameikhla) to flee to Bengal. The prince left Anawrahta, the newly appointed king of Arakan backed by a garrison of 3000 troops, and returned to Ava. Later, his 13-year-old sister Saw Pye Chantha was sent by Minkhaung to be the wife of Anawrahta. Soon after Minyekyawswa left with the main Ava army, Razadarit, who decided that he could not allow Arakan to be fallen to Ava, broke the truce for the second time, and sent in an invasion force from Bassein (Pathein) in 1407. The Hanthawaddy army stormed Launggyet and captured both Anawrahta and Saw Pye Chantha. Razadarit had Minkhaung's son-in-law executed, and took Saw Pye Chantha as queen. Both Minkhaung and Minyekyawswa were incensed. Against everyone's advice, Minkhaung invaded the Hanthawaddy country in May 1407 at the start of the rainy season, and but Ava forces were soundly defeated.

Theinni (1408)
In 1408, Minkhaung sent Minyekyawswa to defend against Shan raiders from Theinni, which was the most powerful Shan State. Minyekyawswa successfully defended the Shan attacks.

Hanthawaddy (1408)
In 1409, Minkhaung invaded the south and reached the outskirts of Pegu's fortified walls. Razadarit's forces withstood the assaults and held out until the rainy season came. During the rainy season Minkhaung's communication lines and supply lines were cut. Razadarit came out and attacked Minkhaung. The Ava forces were routed, and driven out. During the chaotic retreat, Minkhaung's chief queen Shin Mi-Nauk (Minyekyawswa's mother) was captured by Hanthawaddy forces. Razadarit made Shin Mi-Nauk his queen. Razadarit now had both the mother and the daughter in his harem. Minyekyawswa became a "fiend".

Commander-in-chief (1409–1417)
After this disastrous defeat of 1408, a dejected Minkhaung handed over the military leadership to Minyekyawswa.

Irrawaddy delta and Arakan (1409–1410)
In 1409, Minyekyawswa led his forces by river and land south, attacking Myaungmya, Bassein, and Khebaung in the Irrawaddy delta. But the attacks were unsuccessful. He then turned to Arakan drove out Pegu-installed vassals. In 1410, he appointed Letya as governor of North Arakan and Sokkate as governor of Sandoway (Thandwe), and returned to Ava.

Arakan, Theinni, Prome, Mawke/Mawdon (1411–1413)
After he left, Hanthawaddy troops from the delta promptly attacked and occupied Sandoway in late 1411, forcing Sokkate to retreat to North Arakan. Minyekyawswa led 8000 troops (seven regiments, 300 horses, 30 elephants) and laid siege to Sandoway. The Pegu garrison held out for three months. However in 1412 Minyekyawswa had to rush back to Ava as the army of Shan state of Theinni attacked the northernmost garrison of Myedu, and was marching towards Ava.

The Shan state of Theinni (Hsenwi) was probably the strongest Shan state among the various Shan states that existed between Ava and Chinese Yunnan border. Theinni, which paid tribute to the Ming court, was concerned about Ava's annexation of Shan states of Kale and Mohnyin, and did not want Ava to win its war against Hanthawaddy.

Arriving back from Arakan, Minyekyawswa intercepted the Theinni army led by its saopha. He killed the saopha in single combat on his elephant at Wetwin (near today's Pyinoolwin (Maymyo)). With his army of 40,000 soldiers, 200 battle elephants and 3000 horses, Minyekyawswa chased the retreating army, and laid siege to Theinni in November 1412. But after five months, he could not take the fortified city whose defenders were waiting for Chinese reinforcements from Yunnan. Around March 1413, a Chinese force of 20,000 and 2000 cavalry from Yunnan were approaching the city to relieve the siege. He ordered a quiet pullout of the city at night, and waited in the Sinkhan forest nearby. The Ava army split the Chinese army into three groups, and attacked them as the Chinese came out of the forest. He captured prisoners of war including five Chinese officials, 2000 troops and 1000 horses. Approximately 500 horses died.

While Minyekyawswa was laying siege to Theinni, Razadarit's army from Sandoway invaded north Arakan and removed Ava installed puppet king, Letya.

After defeating the Chinese reinforcements, the Ava prince returned to besiege Theinni city as before. But he was called back to Ava when Hanthawaddy forces attacked Prome (Pyay) in the south. Minyekyawswa's army relieved Prome. The Hanthawaddy general Lagun Ein was killed in battle, and the Hanthawaddy forces retreated. Still in 1413, two Shan brothers, chiefs of Mawke and Mawdon in today's Shwebo District, attacked the frontier town of Myedu until Minyekyawswa drove them away.

Hanthawaddy (1414–1417)
Having quelled the Shan raiders, Minyekyawswa invaded the delta in full force in late 1414. The invasion force consisted of eight armies (13,000 men including 2000 cavalry, 800 war elephants, 18 large warships, 500 war boats, 1300 supply boats.) By early 1416, the fiery prince of Ava had conquered the entire delta in the west, and controlled up to the outskirts of Pegu in the east. He returned to Ava for a period, and came back to the delta at the end of the rainy season for a final showdown. Ava's renewed onslaught began in November 1416 (Tazaungmon 778 ME), and forced Razadarit to flee to Martaban. But the Hanthawaddy garrison at Dala held off repeated attacks although the garrison was starving inside. Razadarit returned to Pegu in January/February 1417 (Tabodwe 778 ME). At Pegu, Razadarit made plans to relieve Dala by luring Minyekyawswa to engage in a battle outside Dala. Minyekyawswa was severely wounded at the battle, and was captured by Hanthawaddy troops. The crown prince of Ava refused treatment, and died shortly after. It was 24 March 1417. The Mon chronicles say Minyekyawswa died of his wounds but the Burmese chronicles say he was executed. He was 25.

His archenemy Razadarit gave him a burial with full royal honors and rites. Minkhaung renewed the campaign, marching to Dala to exhume his sons' bones from where Razadarit had given them honorable burial. The remains were solemnly dropped into the waters near Twante. Hanthawaddy marched north to Toungoo in 1417 and Ava marched south to Pegu in 1418, but the war machine had run out of steam.

Legacy
Minyekyawswa was deeply respected by both sides for his courage. Minyekyawswa's campaigns of 1414–1417 were the culmination of Forty Years' War. After his death, the war quickly petered out. Only two more campaigns (1417–1418 and 1423–1424) were fought half-heartedly by both sides. Heart-broken by his son's death, Minkhaung spent his remaining years in piety. Minhkaung died in early 1422 (782 ME), followed by Razadarit later that year. Their successors carried on the war for a few years but gradually a long period of peace descended over the south.

Ava's military success was mostly attributable to his inspired leadership; Ava would not see this kind of success again.

Minkhaung and Minyekyawswa's struggles against Razadarit are retold as classic stories of legend in Burmese popular culture. Minyekyawswa's name is still invoked alongside the names of greatest warrior kings of Burmese history. He then entered the pantheon of Burmese nats (spirits) as Maung Minbyu (his birth name).