Nawrahta Minsaw

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai

His star continued to rise. On 28 January 1579,[note 5] he was appointed the next viceroy of Lan Na to succeed Queen Visuddhadevi, who had died a month earlier.[14][15] The appointment certainly was a significant matter. The king regarded Lan Na as the most important of all his vassal states,[16] and selected Nawrahta from a list of candidates after careful deliberation with his court.[17] The king impressed upon Nawrahta the importance of the appointment, highlighting that Lan Na was larger than Ava, Toungoo, and Prome; that it was strategically located among mainland Burma, the Shan states, Siam, Lan Xang and Annam; that it had a large population and plenty of natural resources; and that he was to obey Nanda, the heir-apparent.[17]

Nawrahta Minsaw and Hsinbyushin Medaw ascended to the Lan Na throne at Chiang Mai on 2 July 1579.[18] Although he was the first Burmese-born ruler on the Chiang Mai throne, he did not face any serious issues governing the Tai Yuan-speaking former sovereign kingdom. The royal couple, at least according to reporting in the chronicle Zinme Yazawin, was accepted by the local populace.[note 6]

The initial tranquility however was to give way to increasingly more turbulent times after King Bayinnaung's death in October 1581. Nawrahta pledged loyalty to the new king. Nawrahta like other vassal rulers, who governed what used to be sovereign states as recently as only a few decades ago, adopted a "wait-and-see attitude" with Nanda, an experienced military commander in his own right.[19][20]

In the following years, he would be repeatedly asked to contribute to Nanda's manic efforts to maintain the extremely overextended empire intact. The first major assignment came in September 1582.[21] Two small northernmost Shan states (in present-day Dehong and Baoshan prefectures in Yunnan, China) never sent obligatory tribute to the new king. Nanda ordered Nawrahta and Thado Dhamma Yaza II to lead a two-pronged invasion. The combined army of 16000 men, 1600 horses and 100 elephants spent five months at Sanda before finally taking the town. The two commanders brought the rebel chief before the king on 9 April [O.S. 30 March] 1583.[22][note 7]

But the calm was temporary. About three months later, Viceroy Thado Minsaw of Ava sent secret embassies to Prome, Toungoo and Chiang Mai to raise simultaneous rebellions. Nawrahta like the viceroys of Toungoo and Prome sided with Nanda and secretly forwarded the news to Nanda.[23][24] In March 1584, as ordered by Nanda, Nawrahta marched with an army from Lan Na to Ava. But his army did not see any combat as Nanda defeated Thado Minsaw in single combat on 24 April [O.S. 14 April] 1584.[25]

The peace was shorter still. Nine days later on 3 May [O.S. 23 April] 1584, Siam revolted. In the next nine years, Nanda would launch five disastrous campaigns against the "proud kingdom" of Siam, which had been preparing for the eventual showdown with Pegu since Bayinnaung's death.[26]

Though he never went on campaign himself, Nawrahta dutifully contributed manpower to the war effort.

The declining share of Lan Na manpower may have been a sign of his increasing disillusionment with the war, and/or his increasing inability to control his own vassal states. At least to 1592–1593, his vassals in Nan, Phrae and Chiang Rai were still loyal to Nawrahta. Indeed, the vassal rulers were the ones who went to the front.[note 8] After the 1592–1593 invasion, Nanda's position with the vassal rulers rapidly deteriorated, as did Nawrahta's position with his own vassals. When Nanda asked for help to break the Siamese siege of Pegu in December 1594, Nawrahta faced great difficulty in rounding up the troops. It was only in April 1595 that troops from Toungoo and Lan Na arrived and broke the siege.[32]

By then, the once mighty Toungoo Empire was in a free fall. Nokeo Koumane, the ruler of Lan Xang, revolted.[33] The rebellion was more of a problem for Chiang Mai than for Pegu. Whereas Nanda had all but given up defending the empire, Nawrahta had to deal with an aggressive Nokeo who had designs on Lan Na itself. Nokeo quickly gained the allegiance of the ruler of Nan, Cao Cetabut, who joined him in rebellion.[34] In response, Nawrahta marched to Nan where he was met by combined Lan Xang–Nan forces at the mouth of the Ngao River near the city of Nan. There, on 25 November [O.S. 15 November] 1595, Nawrahta defeated the enemy, driving back Cetabut and Nokeo to Lan Xang. Fortunately for Nawrahta, Nokeo died shortly after, and Lan Xang's threat to Lan Na's eastern frontier ended for the time being. Nawrahta appointed Pana Khaek as the new governor of Nan.[33][34]

Like Nokeo, Vorapita, the new Pegu-appointed regent of Lan Xang, also harbored designs on Lan Na. (Vorapita like Nyaungyan in Upper Burma never formally declared independence from Pegu but was de facto independent by 1597.) By late 1598, Vorapita had decided to renew the hostilities, and sent in an army led by Cetabut, not just to retake Nan but to sack Chiang Mai itself. By January 1599, the army had advanced to Chiang Mai and laid siege to the capital. To make matters worse, "the people of the south attacked Chiang Mai", which could mean Siamese forces invading Lan Na.[36] The Lan Xang army retreated from Chiang Mai on 11 July [O.S. 1 July] 1599 but retained control of Nan.[37]

Problems continued to mount for Nawrahta. In 1601/02,[note 10] Ram Decho, ruler of Chiang Saen, revolted and his rebellion spread to much of Lan Na. He even attacked Lan Xang's vassal Nan but was driven back.[38] Now, Lan Xang forces went on a major counterattack, taking Ram Decho's territories. Ram Decho is not heard from again in the chronicles.[39] By then, Nawrahta's territory was down to central and northwestern Lan Na (Chiang Mai, Phayao and Fang).[38] In the following dry season, combined Lan Xang–Nan forces attacked Chiang Mai for a final push. But Chiang Mai's defenses once again held, and drove back the invaders.[38][40] Chiang Mai forces had regained Nan by 16 May [O.S. 6 May] 1603. They also caught Cetabut who was executed on 3 June [O.S. 24 May] 1603.[40] Four months after the failed invasion, the Vientiane court forced Vorapita to abdicate in favor of his son Voravongsa. The new king did not renew the war.[41]

The Ayutthaya Chronicle paints a completely different picture. In early 1599,[note 11] Nawrahta was under siege by Lan Xang–Nan forces, and requested military help from Siam. King Naresuan sent an army led by Prince Surasi. The Siamese army marched past Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai and Chiang Saen where they installed Ram Decho, a Chiang Mai native, as the ruler there. Ram Decho emerged as the main rival to Nawrahta.[36]

For the next three years, Nawrahta tried desperately and ultimately unsuccessfully to stay out of Ayutthaya's increasing grip on Lan Na. When Naresuan asked Nawrahta to contribute manpower to the Siamese king's 1600 invasion of Lower Burma, Nawrahta sent his eldest son Thado Minsaw (Tu Laung) instead of joining the campaign himself. Perhaps encouraged by Naresuan's failed invasion, Nawrahta attacked Siamese-backed ruler of Chiang Saen and Chiang Rai Ram Decho c. 1601/02,[note 12] In response, Naresuan sent his brother Ekathotsarot to Lan Na to sort things out there.[36]

Nawrahta drove out Ram Decho from Chiang Rai. Upon his return to Chiang Mai, he heard that Ekathotsarot was waiting at Lamphun, immediately south of Chiang Mai, receiving submissions by the vassal rulers of Chiang Mai, including the ruler of Nan. Nawrahta held out for a long time, wavering back and forth. He sent Tu Laung to submit but then called him back after his chief queen died. Meanwhile, Siamese officials were running out of patience, and advised their king at Ayutthaya to abandon Nawrahta and leave him to his own devices against Lan Xang and minor states of Lan Na. Naresuan ordered another mission to persuade Nawrahta, and it was successful. Nawrahta finally traveled to Lamphun and submitted. For his part, Ekathotsarot ordered all the vassal rulers of Lan Na to obey Nawrahta as the rightful king of Lan Na.[39]

The main Burmese chronicles Maha Yazawin and Hmannan Yazawin both agree with Ayutthaya's account that Lan Na was a vassal of Siam. The Burmese chronicles say that in the dry season of 1604–1605, Naresuan was in Lan Na, preparing to invade the Shan states.[35][42] Moreover, the chronicles mention that Nawrahta's eldest daughter was married to the Siamese king, and that the eldest son Tu Laung, heir-apparent of Lan Na, was married to a Siamese princess and lived in Ayutthaya.[43][44] These were hallmarks of what vassal rulers of the era would have done. Furthermore, the chronicles indicate that Naresuan's successor Ekathotsarot continued to be the overlord of Lan Na at least to Nawrahta's death in 1607/08 when Ekathotsarot unsuccessfully tried to place his nominee Tu Laung on the throne.[43][44]

Although various chronicle accounts differ greatly and have many contradictions among them,[note 13] they all agree that Nawrahta's independent reign of Lan Na was at peace for at most two years between 1597 and 1599. From 1599 onward, he had to deal with two major foreign-backed rebellions in Nan (by Lan Xang) and in Chiang Rai/Chiang Saen (by Siam). He twice survived Lan Xang's sieges of Chiang Mai (1599 and 1602–1603). Despite his best efforts to stay independent, according to Siamese and Burmese chronicles, he became a vassal of Siam. Ayutthaya does not give an actual date as to when the submission took place—only that it happened some time after 1600/01.[39] Given that according to Chiang Mai, Siam-backed Chiang Rai was still in active rebellion in 1601/02, Ekathotsarot's expedition likely took place around the same time, probably in the dry season of 1601–1602. Nawrahta avoided submission as long as he could but eventually gave in, probably c. 1602. This submission may have triggered Lan Xang's 1602–1603 invasion.[42]