Mobye Narapati (, ; Narapati III of Ava) also Sao Hso Kaw Hpa of

Mong Pai Mong may refer to: People *A proposed original name for the Hmong people, based on the main group, the Mong community * Bob Mong (), American journalist and academic administrator * Henry Mong (), American surgeon and Presbyterian missionary * Mon ...

was the penultimate king of Ava who reigned from 1545 to 1551. The ethnically Shan king ruled as the disputed leader of the

Confederation of Shan states The Shan States were a collection of minor Shan kingdoms called '' möng'' whose rulers bore the title '' saopha'' (''sawbwa''). In British Burma, they were analogous to the princely states of British India. The term "Shan States" was fir ...

that had ruled Ava since 1527. He ended the seven years' war with Toungoo as soon as he came to power. Throughout his six years of reign, he faced an active rebellion by Sithu Kyawhtin, who was supported by the

Shan state Shan State (, ; , ) is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos (Louang Namtha Province, Louang Namtha and Bokeo Provinces) to the east, and Thailand (Chiang Rai Province, Chia ...

Mohnyin Mohnyin (, ; ) is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is the administrative center for both Mohnyin Township and Mohnyin District Mohnyin District () is a Districts of Burma, district of the Kachin State in northern Myanmar. The administrative c ...

. He controlled only a rump state, east of the Irrawaddy and north of

Pagan Paganism (, 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 Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

(Bagan). After he was finally driven out of Ava (Inwa) in October 1551, he fled south to

Pegu Bago (formerly spelled Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon lang ...

(Bago) where he was given protection by King

Bayinnaung , title = King of Toungoo , image = 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 Taungoo, ...

Toungoo Dynasty ''taungnguumainn saat'' , conventional_long_name = Toungoo dynasty , common_name = Taungoo dynasty , status = Empire/Monarchy, Kingdom , event_start = Independence from Kingdom of Ava, Ava Kingdom , yea ...

. He lived out his years at Pegu.

Early life

The future king was a son of

Hkonmaing Hkonmaing ( , ; also Hkonmaing Nge, Sao Hkun Mong;Aung Tun 2009: 104 1497–1545) was king of Ava from 1542 to 1545. The '' saopha'' of the Shan state of Onbaung–Hsipaw was elected by the Ava court to the Ava throne in 1542, by extension the ...

, who was ''saopha'' (chief) of the Shan state of Onbaung–Hsipaw (Thibaw) his personal name in Shan language is Hso Kaw Hpa of

. His father later appointed him chief of

Mobye Mobye (; also spelt Mobre or Moe Bye) is a village tract within Pekon Township, Shan State, Myanmar. It is located on the southern end of the Mobye Reservoir located south of Inle Lake and contains the lowest point within Pekon Township at . Th ...

(present day northern

Kayah State Kayah State (, ), or Karenni State, is a state of Myanmar. Situated in eastern Myanmar, it is bounded on the north by Shan State, on the east by Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province, and on the south and west by Kayin State. It lies approximately b ...

), which was a vassal state of Onbaung–Hsipaw. He remained in Mobye even when his father was elected by the Ava court to become king of Ava in 1542.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 146 Three tumultuous years later, after his father's death c. September 1545, the 29-year-old chief of Mobye succeeded the Ava throne with the royal style of Narapati III.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 149

Reign

Narapati III inherited not only an ongoing war with Toungoo but also an active Mohnyin-backed rebellion in

Sagaing Sagaing (, ) is a town in the Sagaing Region of Myanmar. It is located on the Irrawaddy River, to the south-west of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river. Sagaing, with its numerous Buddhist monasteries, is an important religious and ...

by Sithu Kyawhtin. The territory he inherited was already badly splintered. The Ava "Kingdom" had already lost all of Central Burma from

(Bagan) southward since 1544, and further split into two halves: the Mohnyin-controlled west of the Irrawaddy (present-day Sagaing Region and southern Kachin State), and Hsipaw/Onbaung-controlled eastern half (approximately, northern Mandalay Region and western Shan State). Unable to fight two wars, Narapati III sued for peace with Toungoo, agreeing to cede all of Central Burma. He was merely acknowledging the

facts on the ground ''Facts on the ground'' is a diplomatic and geopolitical term that means the situation in reality as opposed to in the abstract. The term was popularised in the 1970s in discussions of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict to refer to Israeli settle ...

. His offer was accepted by King

Tabinshwehti Tabinshwehti (, ; 16 April 1516 – 30 April 1550) was King of Burma from 1530 to 1550, and the founder of the First Toungoo Empire. His military campaigns (1534–1549) created the largest kingdom in Burma since the fall of the Pagan Empire ...

of Toungoo. He then tried to persuade Sithu Kyawhtin to come over to his side. But Sithu Kyawhtin was loyal to his overlord

Sawlon II of Mohnyin Sawlon of Mohnyin ( ; 1486–1533), Tai name Hso Lung Hpa, was saopha of the Shan state of Mohnyin in the early the 16th century. He is best remembered in History of Burma, Burmese history as the conqueror of Ava Kingdom. Sawlon led a confederat ...

, and both were not interested in a truce. They believed that the Ava throne rightfully belonged to Mohnyin since it was Sawlon I of Mohnyin who led the Confederation to conquer Ava in 1527. Furthermore, they found it jarring that Narapati III belonged to the House of Hsipaw which bitterly fought against Mohnyin in the 1520s. Failing at diplomacy, Narapati attacked Sagaing but could not take it.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 150 An uneasy stalemate ensued in the next five years. Narapati was an average ruler but his cross river rival Sithu Kyawhtin proved to be an able ruler, who increasingly commanded more manpower. Indeed, by 1549, Sithu Kyawhtin had been acknowledged as an equal by Sawlon II, his former overlord.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 151 Narapati had no answers when Sithu Kyawhtin attacked Ava in September 1551. He resisted for about a month but fled south to Pegu where he was given protection by King

.Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 152

Aftermath

He lived out his life in Pegu. One of his daughters, Khin Aung Kham, was a minor queen of Bayinnaung.Sein Lwin Lay 2006: 309–310 He was one of four former kings (along with Sithu Kyawhtin of Ava, Mekuti of

Lan Na The Lan Na kingdom or the Kingdom of Lanna (, , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; , , ), also known as Lannathai, was an Indianized state centered in present-day Northern Thailand from the 13th to the 18th centuries. The cultural developmen ...

and

Maha Chakkraphat Maha Chakkraphat (, ; lit.: 'The Great Emperor'; 1509 – 1569; Burmese: မဟာစက္ကဝတ္တိ၊ မဟာစကြဝတေး၊ မဟာစကြာမင်း) was king of the Ayutthaya kingdom from 1548 to 1564 and 1568 to 1 ...

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

) honored by Bayinnaung at the opening ceremony of the newly rebuilt Kanbawzathadi Palace on 16 March 1568.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 298–299

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mobye Narapati Ava dynasty 1516 births Year of death unknown 16th-century Burmese monarchs