Saw Lagun Ein ( my, စောလဂွန်းအိန် ) was viceroy of Martaban (Mottama) from 1541 to 1550. The ethnic Mon viceroy was a top military adviser to King

Tabinshwehti Tabinshwehti ( my, တပင်‌ရွှေထီး, ; 16 April 1516 – 30 April 1550) was king of Burma (Myanmar) from 1530 to 1550, and the founder of the First Toungoo Empire. His military campaigns (1534–1549) created the largest kin ...

and Gen.

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 ...

Toungoo Dynasty , conventional_long_name = Toungoo dynasty , common_name = Taungoo dynasty , era = , status = Empire , event_start = Independence from Ava , year_start ...

. He fought alongside them in all their military campaigns from 1540 to 1549. He led the 1547–1548 campaign that retook the Tavoy frontier in the war against Siam (1547–49). He was overthrown by

Smim Htaw Smim Htaw ( my, သမိန်ထော, ; died 27 March 1553) was a pretender to the Hanthawaddy throne, and the last king in the line of the Hanthawaddy dynasty. He ruled a small region around Pegu as king from 1550 to 1552. An ex- Buddhist ...

in the chaos that followed Tabinshwehti's assassination in 1550.

Background

Saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mov ...

Lagun Ein(Pan Hla 2004: 176): Lagun Ein was a royal style, meaning "He Who Is Powerful Like Sakra", the ruler of the in Buddhist cosmology. ''Ein'' () is the Mon derivative of Pali Indra, another name of Sakra." was of Hanthawaddy royalty, a grandson of King

Dhammazedi Dhammazedi ( my, ဓမ္မစေတီ, ; c. 1409–1492) was the 16th king of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in Burma from 1471 to 1492. Considered one of the most enlightened rulers in Burmese history, by some accounts call him "the greatest" of al ...

(r. 1471–1492) as well as a first cousin and brother-in-law of King Takayutpi of Hanthawaddy (r. 1526–1539). His mother was a paternal aunt of Takayutpi and he was married to a younger sister of Takayutpi.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 222 He was one of the Hanthawaddy nobles that entered the service of Tabinshwehti after Takayutpi died in exile.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 196

Viceroy and general

In May 1541, he was appointed viceroy of the province of

Martaban Mottama ( my, မုတ္တမမြို့, ; Muttama mnw, မုဟ်တၟံ, ; formerly Martaban) is a town in the Thaton District of Mon State, Myanmar. Located on the west bank of the Thanlwin river (Salween), on the opposite side ...

(approximately, present-day Mon State) by Tabinshwehti. As a vassal ruler, he not only contributed manpower to the high king's nonstop military campaigns every year between 1541 and 1549 but also led armies in those campaigns. He was one of the three top generals (along with Bayinnaung and Smim Payu) in Toungoo's invasion of Upper Burma in 1543–44.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 217–220 In 1547–48, he successfully led Toungoo forces (4000 naval troops and 8000 land troops), and retook Ye and

Tavoy Dawei (, ; mnw, ဓဝဲါ, ; th, ทวาย, RTGS: ''Thawai'', ; formerly known as Tavoy) is a city in south-eastern Myanmar and is the capital of the Tanintharyi Region, formerly known as the Tenasserim Division, on the northern bank of ...

(Dawei) from Siamese forces.Sein Lwin Lay 2006: 221–222Harvey 1925: 158 He was under the command of Bayinnaung in the 1548–49 invasion of Siam. In January/February 1550 (Tabodwe 911 ME), Lagun Ein went to the

Irrawaddy delta The Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Irrawaddy Division, the lowest expanse of land in Myanmar that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, to the south at the mouth of the ...

with the king and his crew on an extended elephant hunting trip in search of an elusive "white elephant". He was asked to go along on the trip by Bayinnaung, who was concerned about the safety of the king. As Bayinnaung suspected, one of the king's closest advisers, the governor of Sittaung Smim Sawhtut, was planning to assassinate the king. Lagun Ein's constant presence foiled Sawhtut's plans for over two months but Sawhtut finally convinced the king to send Lagun Ein back to Martaban. Lagun Ein protested but had to obey the order. Soon after he left, the king was assassinated by Sawhtut's men.Sein Lwin Lay 2006: 240–242 After Tabinshwehti's death, the kingdom he had built up in the last 15 years promptly fell apart. Instead of submitting to his chosen successor Bayinnaung, each major governor declared himself independent.

, who had raised a rebellion in the delta since early 1550, took over the Martaban region.Sein Lwin Lay 2006: 252 Though it is unclear as to what happened to Lagun Ein—Chronicles do not mention his name again—he was probably killed by Smim Htaw's men.

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