Laukpya ( my, လောက်ဖျား or , ), was the ruler of the
Bassein province of the
Martaban–Hanthawaddy Kingdom from 1364 to 1388. He came to power by helping his brother
Byattaba
Byattaba ( my, ဗြတ်ထဗ; ; also Byat-Hta-Ba) was the ruler of the Mon State, Martaban province of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, Martaban–Hanthawaddy Kingdom from 1364 to 1388. He came to power by staging a coup against King Binnya U with t ...
stage a coup against King
Binnya U
Binnya U ( mnw, ဗညာဥူ, my, ဗညားဦး, ; also known as Hsinbyushin; 1323–1384) was king of Martaban–Hanthawaddy from 1348 to 1384. His reign was marked by several internal rebellions and external conflicts. He survived th ...
. He was also a key figure who started the
Forty Years' War
The Forty Years' War ( my, အနှစ်လေးဆယ်စစ်; 1385 – 1424; also Ava-Pegu War or the Mon-Burmese War) was a military war fought between the Burmese-speaking Kingdom of Ava and the Mon-speaking Kingdom of Hanthawad ...
(c. 1385–1424) between the
Mon-speaking
Hanthawaddy Pegu and the
Burmese-speaking
Ava.
Brief
Laukpya was appointed governor of
Myaungmya
Myaungmya ( my, မြောင်းမြမြို့ ) is a town in Myaungmya Township, Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar.
The town is home to the Myanmar Union Adventist Seminary, a Seventh-day Adventist seminary and Myaungmya Education College ...
, a key port in the
Irrawaddy delta
The Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Irrawaddy Division, the lowest expanse of land in Myanmar that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, to the south at the mouth of the ...
by King
Binnya U
Binnya U ( mnw, ဗညာဥူ, my, ဗညားဦး, ; also known as Hsinbyushin; 1323–1384) was king of Martaban–Hanthawaddy from 1348 to 1384. His reign was marked by several internal rebellions and external conflicts. He survived th ...
. In 1364, Laukpya's eldest brother
Byattaba
Byattaba ( my, ဗြတ်ထဗ; ; also Byat-Hta-Ba) was the ruler of the Mon State, Martaban province of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, Martaban–Hanthawaddy Kingdom from 1364 to 1388. He came to power by staging a coup against King Binnya U with t ...
, then a senior official, seized the
Martaban province south of
Donwun
Donwun ( my, ဒုန်ဝန်းမြို့, ; also spelled Don Wun; also known as Wun), located 16km north of Thaton, is a former capital of Hanthawaddy
Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and th ...
while Laukpya seized the entire
Bassein province. In 1371/72, the rebel brothers and the king signed a treaty that allowed the brothers to be his nominal vassals. In 1384, the brothers refused to extend the same recognition to Binnya U's son and successor
Razadarit
Razadarit ( mnw, ရာဇာဓိရာတ်,The spelling "ရာဇာဓိရာတ်" per '' Slapat Rajawan'' (Schmidt 1906: 118) and the 1485 Shwedagon Pagoda inscription (Pan Hla 2005: 368, footnote 1). Nai Pan Hla's ''Razadarit Ayedaw ...
. In 1385, as Razadarit prepared to march to the delta, Laukpya sought assistance from King
Swa Saw Ke
Mingyi Swa Saw Ke ( my, မင်းကြီး စွာစော်ကဲ, ; also spelled စွာစောကဲ, Minkyiswasawke or Swasawke; 1330–1400) was king of Ava from 1367 to 1400. He reestablished central authority in Upper Mya ...
of Ava with the promise of submission to Ava.
Laukpya's wrote to Swa:
[Htin Aung 1967: 88]
:''Glorious king, the ungrateful son, who was rebel when his father was alive, now has dared to ascend the great Binnya U's throne, assuming the title of "Razadarit". Before he can make his position secure, I beg my lord to attack Pegu both by land and by water. Your humble servant holds both Bassein and Myaungmya, and shall attack Pegu by water. When you have achieved your great triumph, take all the treasures for yourself; as to your humble servant, grant him only the annual revenue.''
Swa's acceptance of Laukpya's invitation resulted in the Forty Years' War between Ava and Pegu. Swa's inaugural invasions of Hanthawaddy in 1385–86 and 1386–87 could not break Razadarit's defenses. In 1388/89, Razadarit attacked the delta. Razadarit's army could not take Myaungmya, which was heavily fortified, and was defeated at Bassein which was defended by Laukpya's three sons. Then Laukpya ventured out of his defenses, and was promptly captured by Razadarit's forces. Myaungmya surrendered in 1390. The entire delta followed.
[Phayare 1967: 70] Laukpya's son
Bya Kun and son-in-law
Bya Kyin both fled to Ava. Swa welcomed the princes, and made Bya Kun governor of
Salin and Bya Kyin, governor 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 Aye ...
(Pyay).
[Harvey 1925: 85]
Laukpya had 16 wives and 70 children.
[Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 290 in editors' footnote]
Notes
References
Bibliography
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Hanthawaddy dynasty
Burmese people of Mon descent