, image = , caption = , reign = 28 January 1579 – 1601/02 , coronation = 2 July 1579 , succession = Chief queen consort of Lan Na , predecessor = , successor = , suc-type = Successor , reg-type = , regent = , spouse =

Nawrahta Minsaw Nawrahta Minsaw ( my, နော်ရထာ မင်းစော, ; formally, Anawrahta Minsaw; also known as Nawrahta Saw and Tharrawaddy Min; 1551/52–1607/08) was king of Lan Na from 1579 to 1607/08, and the first Burmese-born vassal king ...

, issue = Yodaya MibayaMaha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 152
Thado Minsaw of Lan Na (Tu Laung)
Minye Deibba of Lan Na
Thado Kyaw , issue-link = , issue-pipe = , full name = , house =

Toungoo Taungoo (, ''Tauñngu myoú''; ; also spelled Toungoo) is a district-level city in the Bago Region of Myanmar, 220 km from Yangon, towards the north-eastern end of the division, with mountain ranges to the east and west. The main industr ...

, father = Thado Dhamma Yaza II , mother =

Salin Mibaya , image = , caption = , reign = 30 August 1551 – November/December 1588 , coronation = , succession = Chief vicereine of Prome , predecessor = ''unknown'' , success ...

, birth_date = in or before 1552/53Chronicles do not mention her birth date. But her younger sister

Min Taya Medaw , image = , caption = , reign = 10 October 1581 – , coronation = , succession = Queen of the Western Palace , predecessor = Maha Dewi , successor = ''va ...

was already born by 915 ME (1553/54) per (Minye Deibba 1967: 6).
in or before 914 ME , birth_place =

Prome Pyay (, ; mnw, ပြန် , ; also known as Prome and Pyè) is principal town of Pyay Township in the Bago Region in Myanmar. Pyay is located on the bank of the Irrawaddy River, north-west of Yangon. It is an important trade center for the Ayey ...

(Pyay)

Toungoo Empire The First Toungoo Empire ( my, တောင်ငူ ခေတ်, ; also known as the First Toungoo Dynasty, the Second Burmese Empire or simply the Toungoo Empire) was the dominant power in mainland Southeast Asia in the second half of the ...

, death_date = 1601/02
963 MEFernquest 2005: 52 , death_place =

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

Lan Na The Lan Na Kingdom ( nod, , , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; th, อาณาจักรล้านนา, , ), also known as Lannathai, and most commonly called Lanna or Lanna Kingdom, was an Indianized state centered in present-day ...

, date of burial = , place of burial = , religion =

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

, signature = Hsinbyushin Medaw ( my, ဆင်ဖြူရှင် မယ်တော်, ; also known as Hsinbyushin Me, lit. "Lady of the White Elephant"; c. 1550s–1601/02) was the chief queen of King

from 1579 to 1601/02. She was the mother of three rulers of Lan Na: Thado Minsaw of Lan Na (Tu Laung), Minye Deibba of Lan Na and Thado Kyaw. She was an accomplished

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, known for her ''

yadu This is a list of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes that are mentioned in the literature of Indic religions. From the second or first millennium BCE, ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes turned into most of the population in the northern p ...

'' poems, which are among the earliest records of Lan Na in Burmese literature.

Early life

Hsinbyushin Medaw was the elder daughter of Thado Dhamma Yaza II, Viceroy of Prome, and his chief queen

Salin Mibaya , image = , caption = , reign = 30 August 1551 – November/December 1588 , coronation = , succession = Chief vicereine of Prome , predecessor = ''unknown'' , success ...

. She was probably born c. 1552. From her mother's side, she was descended from Ava and

royal lines; from her father's side, she was a niece of King

Bayinnaung , image = File:Bayinnaung.JPG , caption = Statue of Bayinnaung in front of the National Museum of Myanmar , reign = 30 April 1550 – 10 October 1581 , coronation = 11 January 1551 at Toung ...

. She had one full younger sister

Min Taya Medaw , image = , caption = , reign = 10 October 1581 – , coronation = , succession = Queen of the Western Palace , predecessor = Maha Dewi , successor = ''va ...

and eight half-siblings.Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 89 For much of her childhood, her father, who was one of the four principal commanders of the king, was often away on military campaigns. She was educated at the Prome Palace. One of her tutors was a famous and accomplished poet

Nawaday Nawade ( my, နဝဒေး; also spelt Nawaday) is a title given by the Burmese kings to the poet laureates of ancient Burma. Whereas there were at least five court poets who were given the title of Nawade only two are frequently discussed in aca ...

, originally of the Ava court.Harvey 1925: 170–171 She learned from the "great master" various forms of Burmese poetry, including the ''

'' style for which she would be remembered.Ni Ni Myint 2004: 17

Princess of Tharrawaddy

The princess was married to her first cousin Min Tha Sit, a senior prince and son of King Bayinnaung, at the

Kanbawzathadi Palace Kanbawzathadi Palace ( my, ကမ္ဘောဇသာဒီ နန်းတော်, ) is a palace in Bago, Myanmar. The original palace, built for King Bayinnaung , image = File:Bayinnaung.JPG , caption = Statue ...

Pegu Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon lang ...

(Bago) by the king himself on 27 February 1574.(Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 37): ''Wednesday'', 7th waxing of Tabaung 935 ME = ''Saturday'', 27 February 1574 She moved to Tharrawaddy, a town about 150 km south of Prome, where her husband was governor. She found a kindred spirit in Mintha Sit, who also loved literature and poetry.Ni Ni Myint 2004: 21–22 But Sit was also an ambitious prince who led a campaign to northern

Shan states The Shan States (1885–1948) were a collection of minor Shan kingdoms called ''muang'' whose rulers bore the title ''saopha'' in British Burma. They were analogous to the princely states of British India. The term "Shan States" was firs ...

Mohnyin Mohnyin ( my, မိုးညှင်း, ; Shan:မိူင်းယၢင်း) is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is the administrative center for both Mohnyin Township and Mohnyin District and it has a population of 33,290. History T ...

and

Mogaung Mogaung ( my, မိုးကောင်း ; ( Shan: မိူင်းၵွင်း) is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is situated on the Mandalay-Myitkyina railway line. History Mogaung or Möngkawng was the name and capital (roya ...

in 1576–1577.Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 59–62 It was the first of many campaigns that Sit would be away from her, and their long separations would come to be used as an inspiration for her poetry.Ni Ni Myint 2004: 16 She gave birth to her first child, a daughter, on 8 May 1578.''Hmannan'' (Hmannan Vol. 3 2003: 178) cites a Nawaday ''eigyin'' about the daughter, which states that she was born in the evening of Thursday, 4th waxing of Nayon 940 ME. But 4th waxing of Nayon 940 ME translates to Saturday, 10 May 1578. If she was a Thursday born--most Burmese care more about the day of the week in which they were born, and are unlikely to be mistaken about it--her birth date was probably 2nd waxing of Nayon 940 ME.

Queen of Lan Na

On 28 January 1579, Mintha Sit was appointed as King of

with the title of Nawrahta Minsaw by the High King.Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 65 With the appointment, Hsinbyushin Medaw, who was pregnant with their second child,''

Maha Yazawin The ''Maha Yazawin'', fully the ''Maha Yazawindawgyi'' ( my, မဟာ ရာဇဝင်တော်ကြီး, ) and formerly romanized as the ,. is the first national chronicle of Burma/Myanmar. Completed in 1724 by U Kala, a historian at ...

'' (Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 152) says the daughter was the youngest. But ''

Hmannan Yazawin ''Hmannan Maha Yazawindawgyi'' ( my, မှန်နန်း မဟာ ရာဇဝင်တော်ကြီး, ; commonly, ''Hmannan Yazawin''; known in English as the '' Glass Palace Chronicle'') is the first official chronicle of Konbaung ...

'' (Hmannan Vol. 3 2003: 177) says she was the eldest child. became the chief queen consort of Lan Na. En route to

, she gave birth to a boy whom the couple named Tu Laung () after the place of birth, Mt. Doi Luang.Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 67Ni Ni Myint 2004: 19 They ascended to the Chiang Mai throne on 2 July 1579.(Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 67): ''Thursday'', 10th waxing of 2nd Waso 941 ME = ''Friday'', 2 July 1579 The queen would spend the rest of her life in Lan Na. The royal couple had two more children there. She composed many poems, which are among the earliest extant Burmese language records about life in Lan Na. According to her poems, she went on pilgrimages to the famous Buddhist shrines of Lan Na, in particular Phra Kaew (which at the time housed the

Emerald Buddha The Emerald Buddha ( th, พระแก้วมรกต , or ) is an image of the meditating Gautama Buddha seated in a meditative posture, made of a semi-precious green stone (jasper rather than emerald or jade), clothed in gold. and about ...

), Phra Singh, and Phra Suthep. She also used her pilgrimages as opportunities to see the Lan Na countryside, and to be outside the walled city of Chiang Mai.Ni Ni Myint 2004: 20 Her husband, who also enjoyed writing poetry, wrote a famous ''yadu'' poem, dedicated to his beloved queen. To be sure, the Burmese royals' reign of the

Tai Yuan The Northern Thai people or Tai Yuan ( th, ไทยวน, ), self-designation ''khon mu(e)ang'' ( nod, , คนเมือง meaning "people of the (cultivated) land" or "people of our community") are a Tai ethnic group, native to eight p ...

-speaking kingdom was not all filled with tranquility. In 1584, both Ava and

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

revolted, setting into motion the eventual fall of

.Harvey 1925: 180–181 After King

Nanda Nanda may refer to: Indian history and religion * Nanda Empire, ruled by the Nanda dynasty, an Indian royal dynasty ruling Magadha in the 4th century BCE ** Mahapadma Nanda, first Emperor of the Nanda Empire ** Dhana Nanda (died c. 321 BCE), last ...

's failed campaigns in Siam (1584–1593), the political stability of Lan Na itself rapidly deteriorated, with eastern provinces breaking away from Chiang Mai. Since Nanda could not provide any help, Nawrahta Minsaw declared himself independent in 1596/97.Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 97 In the following years, he was always on campaigns in the eastern provinces.Fernquest 2005: 47 It is unclear if he was by her side when she died in Chiang Mai c. 1601/02 (963 ME). (According to the ''Ayutthaya Chronicle'', she died while Nawrahta Minsaw prepared to submit to King

Naresuan King Naresuan the Great (( th, สมเด็จพระนเรศวรมหาราช, , ) or Sanphet II ( th, สรรเพชญ์ที่ ๒), ( my , နရဲစွမ် (သို့) ဗြနရာဇ်); 1555/1556 – ...

of Siam.)

Literary records

The chronicle ''

Zinme Yazawin ''Zinme Yazawin'' ( my, ဇင်းမယ် ရာဇဝင်, ) is an 18th-century Burmese chronicle that covers the history of Lan Na under Burmese rule (1558–1775).Aung-Thwin 2005: 137 The first English translation of the chronicle was p ...

'' contains some of her more famous ''yadu'' poems. According to the historian Ni Ni Myint, ''yadu'' is "a poetic form in which three stanzas are linked by the rhyming of their last lines, the ''yadu'' had its golden age in the 16th and early 17th century. The poem generally evokes a mood of wistful sadness through the contemplation of nature in the changing seasons or the yearning for a loved one temporarily separated." The following is a translation by Ni Ni Myint of one of the queen's famous poems called "Victory Land of Golden Yun".(Ni Ni Myint 2004: 16): ''Yun'' was the Burmese name for the people of Lan Na, and derived from

. The queen composed the poem while her husband was away on campaign in

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

in 1582–1583. :Victory Land of Golden Yun, Our Home :Thronged pleasantly like paradise :The clear waters moving without cease :The forests teeming with singing birds :The breezes replace the sere leaves :As buds peep and petals spread :''ingyin, yinma, thawka, tharaphi'' :''gangaw, swedaw, fragrant hpetsut'' :''anan, thazin, gamon'', balmy in bloom :Luxuriantly scenting the air in the early summer… :Yet my love is not here to enjoy :I in loneliness watch the delights :In this season of diverse scents :In Yun City, created by you, lord :And await your return :Topmost of the royal lineage of the sun :Brilliant like the flame of the sun :Ever-triumphant conqueror of the foes :My husband marches boldly to far-off China and Lan Xang :To clear the enveloping enemies… :Sadly I nurse my loneliness :Clear the enemy before

Tagu Tagu ( my, တန်ခူး; mnw, ဂိတု စဲ) is the first month of the traditional Burmese calendar. Holidays and observances *Thingyan *Pagoda festivals **Shwemawdaw Pagoda Festival, Bago Tagu symbols *Flower: ''Mesua ferrea'' *As ...

! :All enemies bow to

City :Encircled by cool waters and wall-like hills :Unequalled Lord of Golden Yun… :My topmost lineage of the sun :Now that the south wind blows, the sere leaf falls :The golden laburnum flutters, liquid emerald :I do not know how to wear :Fragrant flowers in my top-hair :Since my lion-hearted husband marched to war :I guard my mind and kneeling :Before Buddha’s images :Of Phra Kaew, Phra Singh, golden Maha Chedi :And the famous Phra Suthep :Images bright as sun :On western hill-top beyond the city, and within :With reverence I say my prayers :Rising glory of the lineage of the sun

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hsinbyushin Medaw Chief queens consort of Toungoo dynasty 1550s births 1600s deaths 16th-century Burmese women 17th-century Burmese women