Binnya U (, , ; 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 the initial rebellions and an invasion by Lan Na by 1353. But from 1364 onwards, his effective rule covered only the Pegu province, albeit the most strategic and powerful of the kingdom's three provinces. Constantly plagued by poor health, U increasingly relied on his sister Maha Dewi to govern. He formally handed her all his powers in 1383 while facing an open rebellion by his eldest son Binnya Nwe, who succeeded him as King Razadarit.
King Binnya U is best remembered in Burmese history as the father of King Razadarit. One enduring legacy of his reign was Pegu's (Bago's) emergence as the new power center in Lower Burma. The city would remain the capital of the Mon-speaking kingdom until the mid-16th century.
Early life
Born late 1323,The Razadarit Ayedawbon chronicle (Pan Hla 2005: 161): Binnya U died in his 61st year (at age 60) on the 10th waxing of Tabodwe 745 ME (2 January 1384), meaning he was born between the 11th waxing of Tabodwe 684 ME (17 January 1323) and the 10th waxing of Tabodwe of 685 ME (5 January 1324). The chronicle (Pan Hla 2005: 40) suggests that his father was already king when U was born. Per (Pan Hla 2005: 41), Saw Zein became king in Thadingyut 685 ME (31 August 1323 to 28 September 1323). Thus, U was probably born sometime between Thadingyut (September 1323) and 10th waxing of Tabodwe 685 ME (5 January 1324). Binnya U (Schmidt 1906: 116) was the only son of Queen Sanda Min Hla and King Saw Zein (r. 1323–1330) of Martaban. He was a grandnephew of the founder of the dynasty King Wareru. He had two elder sisters Mwei Ne and Mwei Na although the eldest sister Ne died young. He also had two younger half-siblings: Mi Ma-Hsan and Min Linka.Pan Hla 2005: 40
As the eldest son, U was the heir-presumptive until his father was assassinated in 1330. But he remained an important prince as his mother remained a powerful, feared kingmaker in the following years. After eliminating the usurper and the next successor in the following eight weeks, the queen placed her half-brother Binnya E Law on the throne, and made herself the chief queen.Pan Hla 2005: 41–42 Probably in deference to the queen's sensitivities, E Law did not name an heir-apparent. The rivalry between E Law's son Binnya E Laung and U escalated in the 1340s when E Law's health declined. The half-cousins ended up fighting an elephant-back duel in which U defeated E Laung. The king was furious, and had U arrested.Pan Hla 2005: 43 But Sanda Min Hla intervened, and E Law released U. At any rate, E Laung died from smallpox soon after, and U emerged as the heir-presumptive. E Law himself died in 1348, and the 25-year-old prince succeeded.Pan Hla 2005: 44Phayre 1967: 67 He ascended the throne with the title of Hsinbyushin (ဆင်ဖြူရှင်, "Lord of the White Elephant") because he possessed a white elephant, a propitious symbol of Burmese monarchs.
Early reign Initial consolidation The new king's hold on power was tenuous at best. He would spend the next five years consolidating power, overcoming external and internal threats. He bought the allegiance of the court through a series of marriage alliances. He himself married three daughters of Minister Than-Bon, and married off his sister Maha Dewi to Bon-Lan (later known by his title Byat ), son of Minister Than-Daw, and his half-brother Min Linka to the youngest daughter of Than-Bon.Pan Hla 2005: 45
Lan Na invasion (1351–1352) His attempts to gain control of the vassal regions were not as successful. Although he was able to appoint Linka to the key governorship at Pegu (Bago), other key vassal rulers remained unimpressed. In 1351, the ruler of Donwun, about 100 km north of Martaban, openly revolted, and invited Lan Na forces to attack Martaban. In the dry season of 1351–52, an 8000-strong army from Lan Na (or a northern Tai-Shan state) invaded.(Fernquest 2006: 4–5): The Chiang Mai Chronicles have no record of this invasion. The actual invaders may have been from another northern Tai State. The invasion force quickly overran the northern Martaban (present-day northern Mon State), and reached the outskirts of Martaban and Moulmein (Mawlamyaing).
But the invasion force could not overcome the defenses of Martaban. After the attackers had become a spent force, Binnya U himself led the counterattack atop his favorite white elephant, a highly propitious symbol of Burmese sovereigns, and successfully drove back the invasion force. U was so pleased by the victory and attributed the victory to the good fortune brought by his white elephant.Pan Hla 2005: 46 He actually built a Buddhist pagoda, housing a holy relic he had received from Ceylon, at the hilltop where he atop his elephant began the counterattack.Pan Hla 2005: 47
Pegu rebellion (1352–1353) U's job was not finished. His half-brother Gov. Min Linka of Pegu never sent any help during the invasion. In 1352–53, he sent his army to retake Pegu. The mission was successful. Linka was brought back to Martaban, and subsequently executed. Linka's wife, Mwei Daw, became a queen of U. He was now the undisputed ruler of the Mon-speaking kingdom.Htin Aung 1967: 338Harvey 1925: 368
Golden years (1353–1363) The decade between 1353 and 1363 were the golden years for Binnya U. The country was at peace, and prosperity returned at least to the capital Martaban. He governed the kingdom with the help of his Chief Minister Pun So, and his brother-in-law Gov. Byat of Dagon.Pan Hla 2005: 49
His regime was able to steer the kingdom out of the troubles that were enveloping his northern and eastern neighbors. Martaban's former overlord Sukhothai had been eclipsed by the emerging Ayutthaya Kingdom. The northern Pinya had no effective control over its southern vassals at Prome and Toungoo. U established direct relations with Toungoo's restive governor Theingaba.Sein Lwin Lay 2006: 22 When Theingaba formally revolted against Pinya in 1358, he stayed on good terms with the rebel governor but did not want Toungoo to become too strong either. U readily gave shelter to Theingaba's son Pyanchi in Pegu when Pyanchi sought refuge.Sein Lwin Lay 2006: 23 By the early 1360s, both Pinya and Sagaing kingdoms had been under repeated raids by the northern Shan state of Maw. Martaban was an island of stability. In 1362, the king raised the height of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Dagon to 20 meters (~66 feet).Harvey 1925: 112
Middle reign Coup The end to Martaban's tranquil years came not from the widespread instabilities that surrounded the kingdom but from within. According to the chronicle Razadarit Ayedawbon, the main cause was the king's penchant for months-long elephant hunting trips away from the capital. U had been trying to find another "propitious" white elephant since the death of his first white elephant in 1354/55, believing that the late elephant was the reason he defeated the 1351–52 Lan Na invasion.Pan Hla 2005: 48 In the dry season of 1363–64, he with over 2000 troops went on a hunting trip. Four months into the trip, February 1364,The Razadarit Ayedawbon (Pan Hla 2005: 48) says the hunting trip lasted about four months. The trip most probably began after the end of the Buddhist Lent on 22 September 1363 (full moon of Thadingyut 725 ME). It means the earliest he learned of the rebellion would be around January 1364. If he began the trip only after the rainy season was over, November 1363, he might have learned of the rebellion only in March 1364. he received news that a coup led by princes Byattaba and his brother Laukpya had taken place at the capital.Pan Hla 2005: 49 He rushed back to the capital, and ordered two separate missions to retake Martaban. But he did not have enough manpower, and both missions failed. In the Irrawaddy delta too, Laukpya's forces reigned supreme.Pan Hla 2005: 53–55
Donwun years (1364–1369) U now set up camp at the dynasty's ancestral home Donwun. His realm had suddenly been reduced to the Pegu province and the northern tip of the Martaban province. His hold over the Pegu province was helped by the effective rule of his elder sister, Maha Dewi, whom he appointed governor of Dagon in 1364.Pan Hla 2005: 54
Lan Na continued to loom large in the politics of Lower Burma. When he heard that Byattaba was seeking Lan Na's help, U tried to repair relations with the Tai kingdom by sending his eldest daughter Tala Mi Thiri to Chiang Mai in a marriage of state.Pan Hla 2005: 62 It apparently did the job as Lan Na did not interfere. (Queen Thiri would have a terrible time at Chiang Mai, and constantly urged her father to bring her back. U would bring her back 1371.Pan Hla 2005: 62–63)
What followed was a stalemate for the next five plus years. U did not try to regain the rebellious regions but neither did the rebel brothers try to dislodge U from Donwun. U heavily relied on his chief minister Pun-So, who kept the remaining territories intact. Then in 1369, Pun-So died. Taking advantage of the ensuing commotion, Byattba sent 700 warriors disguised as mourners, who managed to get inside Donwun, and seize U's palace. The king barely escaped to the nearby woods, and fled to Pegu,Pan Hla 2005: 57–58 about 120 km northwest of Donwun, across the Bay of Martaban. Byattaba now controlled the entire Martaban province. Laukpya also raided Dala several times although U loyalists held the line.Pan Hla 2005: 60
Reign at Pegu Emergence of Pegu U's realm was now reduced to just the Pegu (Bago) province (present-day southern Bago Region and Yangon Region). It turned out to be a fortuitous move for him. Not only was Pegu strategically located between the other two provinces but the province was also the most populous. Then ongoing sedimentation and silting since 1300 had increased the once swampy province's "agricultural and demographic potential".Lieberman 2003: 130 On the other hand, Martaban was located on the upper Tenasserim coast, and too close to the Tai kingdoms to the east.Aung-Thwin and Aung-Thwin 2012: 119 By 1370, Pegu was "ready to supplant Martaban as regional leader".Lieberman 2003: 130 Indeed, all subsequent monarchs of the Wareru dynasty would remain at the more strategic Pegu even after Martaban returned to the fold. The kingdom would be known as the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, after Pegu's classical name Hanthawaddy—the academic and popular name by which the dynasty which lasted from 1287 to 1539, inclusive of the Martaban years, is known.Colonial era scholarship (Harvey 1925: 368), (Htin Aung 1967: 338), et al simply call the entire period Hanthawaddy or Hanthawaddy Pegu even though Pegu became the capital only in 1369. (Lieberman 2003: 129) calls the kingdom Ramanya.
Peace treaty with Ava U's first actions at Pegu was to stabilize his reduced realm. In 1370–71, he quickly signed a peace treaty with King Swa Saw Ke of the emerging Ava Kingdom in the north.Harvey 1925: 82 Both monarchs wanted a quiet border: U was dealing with his ongoing rebellions; Swa was focused on securing his northern border against the Maw Shans. Swa wanted U to acknowledge Toungoo (Taungoo) as part of Ava's sphere of influence. The Ava king did not trust his nominal vassal Gov. Pyanchi I of Toungoo, who was educated and lived in Pegu for several years.Sein Lwin Lay 2006: 23Htin Aung 1967: 87 The two kings met in 1370/71 at the frontier, and signed a treaty demarcating the border.Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 408Pan Hla 2005: 59−60 History shows that the treaty was an act of political expediency. The two kingdoms would fight a proxy war over Toungoo in 1375–76.
Treaty with the rebels