Thihathu of Prome ( my, သီဟသူ, ; 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 Narathihapate ( my, နရသီဟပတေ့, ; also Sithu IV of Pagan; 23 April 1238 – 1 July 1287) was the last king of the Pagan Empire who reigned from 1256 to 1287. The king is known in Burmese history as the "Taruk-Pyay Min" ("the King ...

, the last sovereign king of the

Pagan Empire The Kingdom of Pagan ( my, ပုဂံခေတ်, , ; also known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire; also the Bagan Dynasty or Bagan Empire) was the first Burmese kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-da ...

, in 1287. He was the maternal grandfather of King Swa Saw Ke of Ava.

Brief

Thihathu was born to Queen Shin Mauk and Narathihapate in the late 1250s in

Pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

(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.Harvey 1925: 62 Nonetheless, in 1275, he was appointed viceroy of

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), which was reestablished at the old city of Thray Khittaya (Sri Ksetra).Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 326, footnote 1 His chance for payback came during the

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire ( 1206- 1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

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,Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 149, footnote 3, citing (Dagon 1992: 17) 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.Htin Aung 1967: 70–71 Having killed the king, Thihathu next tried to kill off his two rival half-brothers, Uzana (Governor of

Pathein Pathein (, ; mnw, ဖာသီ, ), formerly called Bassein, is the largest city and the capital of the Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar (Burma). It is located 190 km (120 mi) west of Yangon within Pathein Township on the bank of the Pathei ...

) and Kyawswa (Governor of

Dala Dala may refer to: Places *Dala Airport, Dalarna province, Sweden *Dala, Angola * Dala, Bhutan * Dala, Kano, Nigeria **Dalla Hill, a hill in Kano, Nigeria *Đala, Serbia * Dalas, Khuzestan Province, Iran *Dala Township, Yangon, Myanmar People * ...

) 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.Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 358–359

Family

Thihathu was married to Atula Dewi, the youngest and only sister of the three brothers who would later found the

Myinsaing Kingdom , conventional_long_name = Myinsaing Kingdom , common_name = Myinsaing Kingdom , era = Warring states , status = Regency , event_pre = , date_pre = 1277–87 , event_start = , year_start ...

.Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 251 They had at least one daughter, Shin Myat Hla, the mother of King Swa Saw Ke of Ava.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thihathu Of Prome Pagan dynasty 13th-century Burmese people