Maha Thiha Thura Dhammaraja ( my, မဟာသီဟသူရဓမ္မရာဇာ, pi, Mahāsīhasūra dhammarājā; born Pe Khin; 27 October 1812 – 4 April 1839), commonly known as Setkya Min ( my, စကြာမင်း '' Chakravarti'') or the Prince of Nyaungyan ( my, ညောင်ရမ်းမင်းသား), was an heir apparent of Burma and son of King

Bagyidaw Bagyidaw ( my, ဘကြီးတော်, ; also known as Sagaing Min, ; 23 July 1784 – 15 October 1846) was the seventh king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma from 1819 until his abdication in 1837. Prince of Sagaing, as he was commonly known ...

and his consort

Hsinbyume Princess Hsinbyume ( my, ဆင်ဖြူရှင်မယ်; ) was crown princess of Burma from 1808 to 1812, and first wife of King Bagyidaw of Konbaung dynasty. She married Bagyidaw when he was Prince of Sagaing on 9 February 1803. Hsinbyu ...

. He is worshipped as a ''

weizza A weizza or weikza ( my, ဝိဇ္ဇာ, pi, vijjādhara) is an immortal, supernatural wizarding mystic in Buddhism in Burma associated with esoteric and occult practices such as recitation of spells, samatha, mysticism and alchemy. The goal ...

'' along with Bo Bo Aung.

Life

Maung Pe Khin (မောင်ဖေခင်) was born on 27 October 1812 in

Mingun Mingun ( ) is a town in Sagaing Township of Sagaing Region, north-west Myanmar (Burma), located 11 km up the Ayeyarwady River on the west bank from Mandalay. Its main attraction is the ruined Mingun Pahtodawgyi. Mingun Pahtodawgyi The Ming ...

, near Ava, to the Crown Prince of Sagaing (who later became King

) and

. Miraculous events were reported at his birth and his body was said to bear the signs of a future world emperor. King

Bodawpaya Bodawpaya ( my, ဘိုးတော်ဘုရား, ; th, ปดุง; 11 March 1745 – 5 June 1819) was the sixth king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma. Born Maung Shwe Waing and later Badon Min, he was the fourth son of Alaungpaya, fou ...

, his great grandfather, conferred the title of Thatoe Minhla Shwetaung on him, and gave him the status of Prince of Nyaungyan. His mother died seven days after giving birth. He is recorded as having been very popular with the people and called by them Setkya Min. After Burma's defeat in the

First Anglo-Burmese War The First Anglo-Burmese War ( my, ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ်-မြန်မာ စစ်; ; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese ...

, it was hoped that he would succeed his father on the throne, drive out the British, and usher in an era of prosperity for Burma and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. Setkya Min married Shwetantin Princess, who gave birth to a daughter named Me Tin Gyi. Shwetantin Princess was a daughter of the Prince of Hlaing (a son of King Bodawpaya) and the Princess of Danubyu (a daughter of King Bodawpaya). Therefore, Setkya Prince and Shwetantin Princess were half-siblings. When Bagyidaw was overthrown by his brother King Tharrawaddy, Setkya Min was executed on 15 April 1838. He was thrown into a river in a velvet sack - an execution method favored by Burmese royalty.

Veneration

Many believed Setkya Min had not been drowned. They said that he had been miraculously rescued by the powerful ''weizza'' Bo Bo Aung, who brought him to a hidden sanctuary where he learned esoteric practices and eventually became a ''weizza'' himself. Using his spiritual powers, Bo Bo Aung transported Setkya Min to the heaven where future kings are said to bide their time before returning to Earth.

Anti-colonial movement

Setkya Min is associated with the anti-colonial movement in Burma. Throughout most of the colonial era, the figure of Setkya Min represented anti-colonial resistance, and a series of rebellions were led by people claiming to be this mysterious personage. After the British had annexed all of Burma and deposed the last Burmese king in 1885, these rebellions largely sought to restore the monarchy and the king to his role as the foremost promoter and supporter of the Buddha's Sasana.

References

{{reflist 1812 births 1832 deaths Heirs to the Burmese throne Konbaung dynasty Weizzas