Thado Minbya

Thado Minbya was a mere one of the several "kings" who had declared themselves independent in the wake of the devastating invasion. The Maw forces had looted and pillaged central Burma but returned as the rainy season arrived, carrying off King Narathu of Pinya and leaving central Burma in a power vacuum. Pinya's new ruler Uzana II had little control beyond the capital; Pinya's southern vassals—Pagan, Sagu, Taungdwin, Prome and Toungoo—were in open revolt. Over at Sagaing, Thado Minbya managed to win over the Sagaing court, and reassembled Sagaing's military forces in the next two months. His cross-river rival Uzana II could not do the same. In August/September, he crossed the Irrawaddy with a sizable force, and seized Pinya. He ordered the execution of Uzana II, and declared himself king of Pinya while raising Saw Omma of Pinya, the chief queen of the last three Pinya kings, as his chief consort.[note 6]

Despite his proclamation, the 18-year-old still had no control over Pinya's southern vassals. It is not clear how much control he had over Sagaing's vassals in the north either. Indeed, his first priority was to defend his realm as the threat of annual dry-season raids from the north still loomed. In the next six months, he feverishly built a new citadel at a more strategic location at the confluence of the Irrawaddy and the Myitnge. It was directly across the Irrawaddy from Sagaing, roughly between Sagaing and Pinya and right by the all important Kyaukse granary. It was the very site that his great grandfather Thihathu initially had wanted to build a new capital before choosing to build at Pinya in 1313. He drained the swamps around the site, and built a new fortified capital.[9] He also gained a much needed respite as Maw Shan raids did not come down that dry season. The initial phase of the capital was completed in about six months. The fortified city was on an island surrounded by rivers and moats.[10] So strategic was the location that Ava would be the capital of successive Burmese kingdoms for the most of next five centuries.[11] On 26 February 1365,[note 7] the king proclaimed the foundation of the city of Ava (Inwa), as the capital of the successor state of Pinya and Sagaing Kingdoms.[12] The city's brick walls were completed on 6 July 1365.[note 8]

Thado Minbya would spend the rest of his reign trying to consolidate all of Central Burma under his rule. In early 1365, his realm was still largely in the north, and controlled little south of Ava beyond the Kyaukse region. Pagan (160 km southwest of Ava), Sagu (220 km southwest), Taungdwin (240 km south), Nganwegon (280 km south), Toungoo (350 km southeast) and Prome (400 km south) all remained de facto or de jure independent.[13] (Toungoo had been in revolt since 1358.[13]) However, he did have some advantages: he controlled Kyaukse and Mu regions, two of the three main granaries of Upper Burma; and he had the support of key experienced leaders like Gov. Thilawa of Yamethin and Gov. Swa Saw Ke of Amyint.

His reunification campaign began at the start of the rainy season of 1365. His decision was likely due to the threat of dry season raids by the Maw Shans. His target was Sagu, capital of Minbu District, the third key granary of Upper Burma. En route to Sagu, he took Pagan, the former royal capital, without a fight, by 8 July 1365.[14] But he could not take a heavily fortified Sagu despite his repeated attempts. He finally had to retreat as he received news that a Toungoo army led by Baya Kyawthu of Nganwegon was raiding the Kyaukse region.[15] Realizing that Toungoo was not about to reunify Central Burma, Thado Minbya marched to Nganwegon (present-day Pyinmana–Naypyidaw), a vassal state of Toungoo, in the following dry season of 1365–66.[15][note 9] When the army finally took the town, he killed Baya Kyawthu himself, and ate a meal on the corpse's chest—an act that horrified even his most seasoned staff.[15][16]

Nonetheless, he did not invade further south towards Toungoo. The ever present threat of Maw Shan raids from the north factored into his strategy. He needed to keep his dry season campaigns short. (Maw raids into deep Central Burma would continue until 1368.[6][7]) In the dry season of 1366–67, he tried to pick off Taungdwin, west of his newly acquired territory of Nganwegon. The conquest of Taungdwin would allow him to isolate Sagu to the west as well as fortify his hold of Nganwegon to the east. When his army could not break the walls of Taungdwin, he sent his newly acquired commander Nga Tet Pya to penetrate inside the fort, and had the key Taungdwin commander assassinated. Tet Pya did his job, and Thihapate, ruler of Taungdwin, submitted shortly after.[17]

In 1367, he decided to take on Sagu once more.[17] His decision was certainly made easier by the death of Theingaba, the ruler of Toungoo, on 29 March 1367.[18] He again marched to Sagu in the rainy season, and laid siege to the city. In early September, the king was seized with smallpox, and had to retreat. But it was too late. He died shortly after c. 3 September 1367 at Swegyo near Pagan.[note 10]

By the time Thado Minbya came to power, a large percentage of the Buddhist clergy had become corrupt, and the new king was determined to stamp it out. When a monk misappropriated some gold that a poor widow had left in his monastery for safekeeping during one of the Shan raids, the king denounced the monk in the audience chamber of the palace, cut off the monk's head with his own hands, made a hole in the floor with his sword, and kicked the corpse down the opening. The barbaric act had the desired effect on the clergy. Nevertheless, he extended full patronage to orthodox monks and encouraged learning among both monks and laymen.[19]

The young king was magnanimous even to those who opposed him. For example, when Nga Tet Pya, a popular bandit who robbed the rich and shared his loot with the poor, was captured, the king in full audience asked him:[19]

Scoundrel, your punishment can only be death but because you shared your loot with the poor, I will give you this favor. What do you choose, the sword or trampling by elephants?

The bandit replied:

I choose your prettiest queen, Saw Omma.

The king, instead of being insulted by the reply said:

You're a brave man. I spare your life. You may go free.

Tet Pya was so overcome by the king's graciousness that he entered the royal service, and became the king's most distinguished commanders.[19]