Shin Bo-Me Explained

Consort:yes
Shin Bo-Me
ရှင်ဘို့မယ်
Reign:late May 1426 – April 1439
Succession:Queen of the Northern Palace of Ava
Predecessor:Shin Sawbu
Successor:Tanzaung Mibaya
Suc-Type:Successor
Reign1:by 9 November 1425 – 16 May 1426
Succession1:Chief queen consort of Ava
Predecessor1:Saw Min Hla
Successor1:Shin Myat Hla
Suc-Type1:Successor
Reign2: October 1421 – August 1425
Succession2:Queen of the Northern Palace of Ava
Predecessor2:Saw Khway
Successor2:Shin Sawbu
Suc-Type2:Successor
Reign3: August 1408 – October 1421
Succession3:Queen of the Western Palace of Ava
Predecessor3:Shin Mi-Nauk
Successor3:Taungdwin Mibaya
Suc-Type3:Successor
Spouse:Minkhaung I (1408–1421)
Thihathu (1421–1425)
Kale Kye-Taung Nyo (1425–1426)
Mohnyin Thado (1426–1439)
Issue:None
Father:Theingathu[1]
Mother:Saw Salaka Dewi
Birth Date:1390s
Birth Place:Taungdwin
Death Date:?
Death Place:Ava (Inwa)
Religion:Theravada Buddhism

Shin Bo-Me (Burmese: ရှင်ဘို့မယ်, in Burmese pronounced as /ʃɪ̀ɰ̃ bo̰ mɛ̀/; also spelled Shin Bo-Mai) was a principal queen of four kings of Ava in the early 15th century.

Brief

Considered a great beauty, Bo-Me was the favorite queen of Minkhaung I.[2] She was also a half-niece of Minkhaung; her mother Saw Salaka Dewi and Minkhaung were half-siblings.[3] Although the Hmannan Yazawin chronicle states she became the chief queen of Minkhaung in 1407/08,[4] an inscription dated 28 February 1409 by Queen Shin Saw states that Saw was still the chief queen in 1409.[5] She was also the favorite queen of Minkhaung's son and successor Thihathu until Shin Saw Pu became queen. In August 1425, Bo-Me engineered the death of Thihathu by getting Le Than Bwa of Onbaung to assassinate the king. She might have married the successor, eight-year-old Min Hla.[6] Three months later, she poisoned the boy king and put her lover Prince Min Nyo on the Ava throne, and became the chief queen.[7] In May 1426, Nyo was overthrown by Gov. Thado of Mohnyin, who subsequently made Bo-Me a junior queen.[8]

Ancestry

The following is her ancestry as given in the Hmannan Yazawin chronicle.[9] She was a granddaughter of King Swa Saw Ke of Ava, and Kyawswa I of Pinya, and a great granddaughter of King Thihathu of Pinya and King Kyawswa of Pagan.

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 372
  2. Harvey 1925: 93–96
  3. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 373
  4. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 486
  5. Than Tun 1959: 125–126
  6. (Harvey 1925: 97) says Mohnyin Thado was her "fifth crowned consort". But the chronicles do not say that Bo-Me ever married the 8-year-old Min Hla; they say only that she had him poisoned.
  7. Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 57–58
  8. Htin Aung 1967: 93–94
  9. See (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 372). Her mother Salaka Dewi may have married more than once—(Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 404) Salaka Dewi, daughter of Swa Saw Ke was married to Sithu of Myinsaing—or Salaka Dewi's husband had two titles over his career, Sithu and Theinkhathu.