Mwei Ma-Gu-Thauk Explained

Consort:yes
Thiri Yaza Dewi Mwei Ma-Gu-Thauk
သီရိရာဇာဒေဝီ မွေ့မဂူသောက်
Reign: 1350 – 2 January 1384
Succession:Queen of Hanthawaddy
Suc-Type:Successor
Spouse:Binnya U (1350?–1384)
Issue:Baw Ngan-Mohn
House:Hanthawaddy Pegu
Birth Date: 1330s
Birth Place:Byat-Laing, Martaban Kingdom
Religion:Theravada Buddhism

Thiri Yaza Dewi Mwei Ma-Gu-Thauk (Burmese: သီရိရာဇာဒေဝီ မွေ့မဂူသောက်, in Burmese pronounced as /θìɹḭ jàzà dèwì mwḛ mə gù θaʊ̯ʔ/) was a principal queen of King Binnya U of Hanthawaddy. She was the mother of Prince Baw Ngan-Mohn, the heir-apparent during the late reign of Binnya U.

Brief

According to the chronicle Razadarit Ayedawbon, she was a commoner village girl from the village of Byat-Laing, north of then capital Martaban (Mottama). One day, Binnya U was returning from an elephant hunting trip, and stopped by at Byat-Laing, and saw her. Taken by her beauty, the king made her his concubine. Her Mon language name Mwei Ma-Gu-Thauk (or Hla Hteik-Khaung in Burmese) means "Epitome of Beauty".[1]

The king was extremely fond of her. She later became a queen with the title of Thiri Yaza Dewi.[2] [3] She bore a son, Baw Ngan-Mohn, about two decades later.[4] The king was fond of Ngan-Mohn, and made him the heir-apparent of the kingdom, by 1382.[5] But she never became the Queen Mother. In 1384, Binnya U died, and Prince Binnya Nwe seized the throne with the help of the court. Nwe, now known as King Razadarit imprisoned Ngan-Mohn, and ordered him executed in 1389/90.[6]

She was also known as the Queen of Pegu because she donated a monastery at the Gu-Nin village near Pegu.[7]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Pan Hla 2005: 44
  2. Pan Hla 2005: 45, 47
  3. Her full title per Razadarit Ayedawbon (Pan Hla 2005: 62) was Thiri Yaza Dewi although she is usually referred to as Yaza Dewi elsewhere in the chronicle.
  4. Pan Hla 2005: 47–48
  5. Pan Hla 2005: 64
  6. Pan Hla 2005: 185
  7. Pan Hla 2005: 62