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Kyaswa of Sagaing (Burmese:ကျစွာ,pronounced[tɕa̰zwà]; also known asKyawswa; 1323–1349) was king ofSagaing from 1339 to 1349. The eldest son of the founder of the kingdomSaw Yun (r. 1315−27) was placed on the throne by Chief MinisterNanda Pakyan who ran the country.

Kyaswa was born to QueenSaw Hnaung and KingSaw Yun ofSagaing on 9 April 1323.^[1] He was the second of the couple's four children, and a grandson of kingsThihathu ofPinya andKyawswa of Pagan. His father died in February 1327.^[2] Because Kyaswa, the eldest son, was not yet four years old, his half-uncleTarabya I succeeded the throne, marrying Saw Hnaung as his chief queen.^[3] Though it is unclear if Tarabya ever planned to hand over the reins to Kyaswa when the latter became an adult, Kyaswa, as the eldest son of Saw Yun and as the eldest son of Tarabya's chief queen Saw Hnaung, was at least the heir presumptive.

The arrangement lasted until 1335/36 when Tarabya's own sonShwetaungtet overthrew his father and seized the throne.^[2] Fearing the life of her children, Saw Hnaung with the help of Chief MinisterNanda Pakyan sent the children (andThado Hsinhtein, the husband of the eldest childSoe Min) toMindon, deep inside Pinya's territory.^[3] For the next three years, Saw Hnaung, who may have even become a lover of Nanda Pakyan, kept bribing the powerful minister to keep quiet.^[4]

Then a series of events led Kyaswa to the throne. In 1339, Shwetaungtet, having discovered their whereabouts, came to Mindon with an expeditionary force, and brought them back to Sagaing.^[4] But upon return to the palace, loyalists of the deposed king Tarabya ambushed and killed Shwetaungtet although they were later defeated by the palace guards.^[4] Nanda Pakyan had Tarabya executed, and placed Kyaswa on the throne.^[5] Kyaswa took the reign name ofThiri Tri Bhawanaditya Pawara Dhamma Yaza at his accession.^[5]

His first act as king was to reappoint Nanda Pakyan as the Chief Minister and Commander-in-Chief with the title ofThubarit. The 16-year-old monarch essentially allowed Nanda Pakyan's court to continue running the kingdom. His reign was largely peaceful. In Central Burma, he secured peace with Sagaing's cross-river rivalPinya by marryingSaw Pa Oh, daughter of KingUzana I of Pinya.^[6] (The peace between the two kingdoms was maintained even after Uzana I was pushed out byKyawswa I between 1340 and 1344.) In the north, theShan states were still fighting a war of independence against theirMongol overlords, and were not yet the threat they would become to Central Burmese states in the late 1350s.^[7]

His reign lasted over nine years. Surviving inscriptions from the era report no particular issues during his reign. Kyaswa left an inscription in 1343/44 at the Thamanda Pagoda (on the route between Mindon and Sagaing) where he and his two queens donated land and a monastery.^[5] The inscription also recounts his exile in Mindon and the attack by Shwetaungtet.^[6] Another contemporary inscription states the king gave presents to his nephew PrinceRahula (future King Thado Minbya) on 24 January 1347.^[8] He diedc. March 1349.[note 1]

Kyaswa had at least two queens.^[5] One of his queens was Saw Pa Oh; their daughterSaw Sala later became a queen of KingUzana II of Pinya.^[6]

Theroyal chronicles do not agree on his birth and death dates.

• Royal Historians of Burma (c. 1680). U Hla Tin (Hla Thamein) (ed.).Zatadawbon Yazawin (1960 ed.). Historical Research Directorate of the Union of Burma.
• Kala, U (1724).Maha Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2006, 4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Maha Sithu (2012) [1798]. Myint Swe; Kyaw Win; Thein Hlaing (eds.).Yazawin Thit (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3. Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Royal Historical Commission of Burma (1832).Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2003 ed.). Yangon:Ministry of Information, Myanmar.
• Than Tun (December 1959). "History of Burma: A.D. 1300–1400".Journal of Burma Research Society.XLII (II).
• Than Tun (1964).Studies in Burmese History (in Burmese). Vol. 1. Yangon: Maha Dagon.

• Myinsaing dynasty
• Sagaing dynasty
• 1349 deaths
• 1323 births
• 14th-century Burmese monarchs

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