Kumara Kassapa or Kumara Kathapa (, ) was the Yuan dynasty-installed King of Pagan, who reigned for ten weeks in 1301. The second son of King Kyawswa of Pagan sought Mongol intervention after his father was overthrown by the Myinsaing brothers in 1297. Declared the rightful king of Burma by Emperor Temür Khan in 1300, Kumara Kassapa returned to Pagan (Bagan) with a Mongol invasion force in 1301, only to retreat after the Mongol general staff accepted a bribe.
Background Kumara Kassapa was born to Princess Saw of Thitmahti and Prince Kyawswa, Viceroy of Dala (modern Twante), during the last days of the Pagan Empire.Than Tun 1959: 119 According to contemporary inscriptions, he had one full elder brother Theingapati.(Ba Shin 1982: 47) includes a genealogy chart that shows Min Lulin (Saw Hnit) as a son of Kyawswa and Pwa Saw of Thitmathi. But it is most probably a mistake. A few pages earlier, (Ba Shin 1982: 42) says Saw Hnit made Pwa Saw of Thitmathi the chief queen, which means he was not Saw of Thitmathi's son. (Than Tun 1959: 120) and (Than Tun 1964: 137) suggest Saw Hnit was a half brother of his. He grew up in the south but in 1289, two years after the fall of the Pagan Empire, he moved to the capital Pagan (Bagan). His father had been handpicked by the dowager queen Pwa Saw to succeed his grandfather King Narathihapate, who was assassinated two years earlier.Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 359
At Pagan, his father presided over a greatly shrunken kingdom; his control barely extended outside the capital. In the following years, his authority was increasingly challenged by the three brothers of Myinsaing who led the defense of the Irrawaddy valley against the Mongol invaders in 1283–87.Than Tun 1959: 122 Kyawswa sought Mongol vassalage with the hope of getting their protection, and officially became a Mongol vassal on 20 March 1297.Wade 2009: 22Than Tun 1959: 119–120 Kyawswa was subsequently removed from power nine months later by the Myinsaing brothers.Htin Aung 1967: 74 About a year and a half later, on 10 May 1299, the Myinsaing brothers executed Kyawswa and Theingapati.Than Tun 1959: 120–121
Mongol vassal king Kumara Kassapa somehow escaped the execution. He managed to travel to Yunnan, reaching there in September 1299. The Mongol provincial government, which did not have enough spare troops, initially ignored his pleas to intervene.Than Tun 1964: 137 They changed their mind only after the Myinsaing brothers seized two southernmost Mongol garrisons in northern Burma in January 1300. They finally sent him to Beijing where on 22 June 1300 the prince was declared the rightful king of Burma by Emperor Temür Khan. The vassal king accompanied a 12,000-strong invasion force in the following dry season. He entered Pagan without difficulty as the main invasion army reached nearby Myinsaing on 25 January 1301. (His half-brother Saw Hnit, the Myinsaing-installed King of Pagan, had evacuated the city, and was in Myinsaing.)Than Tun 1959: 122
Kumara Kassapa's reign was short-lived. A month into the siege, the Mongols launched a major assault on Myinsaing on 28 February 1301. But Myinsaing defenses held, and by 12 March 1301, ceasefire negotiations began.Than Tun 1964: 278 The two sides came to an agreement that called for a Mongol withdrawal in exchange for a bribe of 800 taels (30 kg) of gold and 2200 taels (83 kg) of silver.Harvey 1925: 77 Kumara Kassapa returned with the Mongol withdrawal that lasted from 6–8 April 1301.
It was the last known event involving the prince. The Mongols did not have much use with him afterwards as they pursued a policy of retrenchment from the peripheral regions. As such, they sent no more expeditions although they were unhappy with the withdrawal.(Harvey 1925: 78): The Yunnan government executed the top two commanders of the invasion army for the failure. The Mongols completely evacuated northern Burma two years later on 4 April 1303. He certainly was not well regarded by the Myinsaing brothers. A stone inscription, inscribed a year after the war in 1302, calls him Taruk Pyi La Thaw Tet-Taw-Mu Mingyi ("The King who Came from the Land of the Taruk [China]").
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