Binnya Waru Explained

Type:monarch
Binnya Waru
Reign:1446–1451
Succession:King of Hanthawaddy
Predecessor:Binnya Ran I
Successor:Binnya Kyan
Suc-Type:Successor
Spouse:Ye Mibaya
House:Wareru
Father:Binnya Bye
Mother:Shin Sawbu
Birth Date:c. 1418
Birth Place:Pegu (Bago)
Death Date:30 May 1451
New moon (15th waning) of Nayon 813 ME[1]
Death Place:Pegu
Religion:Theravada Buddhism

Binnya Waru (Burmese: ဗညားဗရူး, in Burmese pronounced as /bəɲá bəjú/; Mon: ; c. 1418–1451) was the 12th king of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in Burma from 1446 to 1451. He was a nephew and adopted son of King Binnya Ran I after whom he succeeded to the Hanthawaddy throne. The king was known for his strict disciplinary rule. He reportedly liked to travel around the kingdom disguised as a commoner to observe the affairs firsthand, and meted out justice even to those who committed petty crimes. Binnya Waru was killed by his first cousin Binnya Kyan, son of King Binnya Dhammaraza, in 1451.[2]

Brief

Binnya Waru was born to Shin Sawbu, a daughter of King Razadarit and Binnya Bye, Razadarit's nephew. He had two sisters Netaka Taw and Netaka Thin. His father died in 1419. In 1423, his mother Shin Sawbu was sent to Ava as a present to King Thihathu of Ava by his uncle Crown Prince Binnya Ran. A year later, after Binnya Ran became king after poisoning King Binnya Dhammaraza, another one of his uncles, Binnya Ran adopted the parent-less Waru as his own.[3] In 1430, his mother Shin Sawbu fled Ava and returned to Pegu. But none of her children, Waru included, recognized her since she had been away for seven years.[2]

He ascended the throne in 1446 after his uncle Binnya Ran I's death. He reigned for about five years.

Historiography

Various Burmese chronicles do not agree on the key dates of the king's life.

ChroniclesBirth–DeathAgeReignLength of reignReference
Maha Yazawin (1724)1420/21–June 145029 or 301446–June 14504[4]
Slapat Rajawan (1766) 1434 [sic]–1459/60251456/57–1459/604 [sic][5]
Mon Yazawin (Shwe Naw) (1785)265[6]
Hmannan Yazawin (1832)1418/19–June 145031 or 321446–June 14504[7]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Chronicles do not agree on his death year or the manner in which he died. According to Slapat Rajawan, he died in the year in which the court astrologers specifically had advised him not to declare the year as a great leap year (with both leap month and leap day) for he would surely die. The king, the chronicle continues, refused saying that he would not alter the schedule, and he died on the night of the leap day (New moon / 15th waning of Nayon). Main chronicles Maha Yazawin and Hmannan Yazawin say that he was assassinated in Waso 812 ME (10 June 1450 to 8 July 1450), having reigned for four years. But 812 ME was not a leap year, while 813 ME was a great leap year; the king likely died on New Moon of Nayon 813 ME (30 May 1451).
  2. Harvey 1925: 116
  3. Phayre 1967: 81–84
  4. (Maha Vol. 2 2006: 82): He was assassinated in Waso 812 ME (10 June 1450 to 8 July 1450).
  5. Slapat is inconsistent. (Schmidt 1906: 129) says the king died in 821 ME (1459/60) after having reigned 4 years in his 26th year (aged 25). But the chronicle (Schmidt 1906: 121) also says he came to power in 818 ME (1456/57), which means he could not have ruled for 4 years. Furthermore, he could not have born as the chronicle suggests since his father had been dead for at least 10 years in 1434.
  6. Shwe Naw 1922: 50–55
  7. Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 92

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