King Mingyi Nyo မင်းကြီးညို
Statue of Mingyi Nyo inTaungoo
King of Toungoo
Reign	16 October 1510 – 24 November 1530
Coronation	11 April 1511
Predecessor	Narapati II (as King of Ava)
Successor	Tabinshwehti
Viceroy of Toungoo
Reign	c. April 1485 – 16 October 1510
Coronation	11 November 1491
Predecessor	Min Sithu
Successor	Mingyi Swe
Born	c. July 1459 Wednesday, 821ME Ava (Inwa)?
Died	24 November 1530(1530-11-24) (aged 71) 5th waxing ofNadaw 892 ME[1] Toungoo (Taungoo)
Burial	Toungoo
Consort	Soe Min Hteik-Tin Thiri Maha Sanda Dewi Yadana Dewi Maha Dewi Yaza Dewi
Issue	Tabinshwehti Atula Thiri
Regnal name Mahāsīrijeyyasūra (မဟာသီရိဇေယျသူရ)
House	Toungoo
Father	Maha Thinkhaya
Mother	Min Hla Nyet
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

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Mingyi Nyo (Burmese:မင်းကြီးညို; also spelledMinkyi-nyo;pronounced[mɪ́ɰ̃dʑíɲò]; 1459–1530) was the founder of theToungoo dynasty ofBurma (Myanmar). Under his 45-year leadership (1485–1530),Toungoo (Taungoo), grew from a remote backwater vassal state ofAva Kingdom to a small but stable independent kingdom. In 1510, he declared Toungoo's independence from its nominal overlord Ava. He skillfully kept his small kingdom out of the chaotic warfare plaguing Upper Burma. Toungoo's stability continued to attract refugees from Ava fleeing the repeated raids of Ava by theConfederation of Shan States (1490s–1527). Nyo left a stable, confident kingdom that enabled his successorTabinshwehti to contemplate taking on larger kingdoms on his way to founding theToungoo Empire.

Mingyi Nyo was born toMaha Thinkhaya andMin Hla Nyet.^[2] His father was a descendant ofKyawswa I of Pinya, who himself was a descendant of kingsNarathihapate ofBagan andThihathu ofPinya.^[2] His mother was a daughter of ViceroySithu Kyawhtin of Toungoo, a descendant of KingSwa Saw Ke.^[3]

Nyo was most likely born inAva (Inwa) as his maternal grandfather Sithu Kyawhtin did not become viceroy until 1470, and prior to 1470 served at KingThihathura I's court at Ava. He was born in 1459.^{[note 2]} He was likely about eleven or twelve years old when his entire family moved to Toungoo with Sithu Kyawhtin's appointment as viceroy. After Sithu Kyawhtin's death in 1481, his eldest sonMin Sithu inherited the viceroyship. (The viceroyships in that era were hereditary, and were a primary cause of endemic rebellions that plagued Ava. The Restored Toungoo kings (1599–1752) would later eliminate the hereditary rights of viceroys.) Nyo wanted to marry his first cousin,Soe Min Hteik-Tin. But because his uncle Min Sithu repeatedly rejected Nyo's numerous requests, he murdered his uncle, took his cousin as wife.^[4] He seized power inc. April 1485.[note 3]

After assassinating his uncle and seizing the viceroyship, Nyo sent a present of two young elephants to KingMinkhaung II of Ava. In normal times, killing a governor was a serious crime. But Minkhaung II was facing a serious rebellion nearer to Ava (by his brotherMinye Kyawswa of Yamethin)–Prome farther south had already revolted in 1482–did not want another rebellion. He gave Nyo recognition as governor of Toungoo, and solicited Toungoo's help in the rebellions. Nyo also received recognition fromHanthawaddy andLan Na, and received propitiatory tribute from theKarenni.^[5]

Mingyi Nyo, now styled asThiri Zeya Thura, eagerly assisted Ava in its fight against Yamethin. (His grandfather Sithu Kyawhtin died in 1481 fighting against the Yamethin rebels.) Even with Toungoo's help, the Yamethin rebellion was intractable and remained a stalemate. (It would remain so until Minye Kyawswa's death in August 1500). With Ava chiefly preoccupied by Yamethin, Nyo grew more confident and on 11 November 1491^{[note 4]} built a new fortified city calledDwayawaddy (still near Toungoo), at the estuary of the rivers Kabaung and Paunglaung.^[6]

Nyo soon tested his power by meddling into the accession affairs ofHanthawaddy Kingdom, the much larger kingdom to the south. In 1491–1492, Hanthawaddy's new kingBinnya Ran II came to power by killing off all the royal offspring. Taking advantage of the chaos in the southern kingdom, Nyo sent a probing raid into the territory of Hanthawaddy without Minkhaung II's permission. At Kaungbya, he killed its Shan governor in single combat by jumping onto his elephant and cutting him down.^[5] Hanthawaddy's response was swift. In late 1495, Binnya Ran II sent in a combined land and naval force of 16,000, which ultimately laid siege to the new built Dwayawaddy itself.^[7] Toungoo barely survived the siege but Nyo would not make war against the larger neighbor for the remainder of his life.^{[citation needed]}

Minkhaung II nonetheless upgraded Nyo's title toMaha Thiri Zeya Thura for surviving the Hanthawaddy attack (although it was Nyo who without his permission provoked the attack). Minkhaung had little choice but to retain Nyo as he was one of the remaining loyal vassals of Ava. In return, Toungoo participated Ava's campaigns against Yamethin and Prome for the remainder of the 1490s.^[8]

By the turn of the 16th century, Nyo's Toungoo was equally powerful as its nominal overlord Ava. Nyo, though still loyal to Minkhaung, nonetheless accepted about a thousand Yamethin rebels, who fled to Toungoo after their leader died in August 1500. When Minkhaung II also died in April 1501, Nyo was ready to assert his independence.^[8] He readily gave shelter to those who attempted on the life of the new kingShwenankyawshin.

Despite Nyo's thinly veiled insurrection, the new king wanted to retain Toungoo's loyalty as he faced a new even more pressing problem of Shan raids from the north. In 1502, he bribed Nyo by giving him his first cousinMin Hla Htut (styled as Thiri Maha Sanda Dewi)^[9] for marriage and theKyaukse granary, the most valuable region in Upper Burma. Nyo accepted the region, and deported much of the population between Kyaukse and Toungoo–Yamethin,Meiktila, etc.–to his capital. But not only did he not provide any help to Ava but he actively joined in the rebellions by the princes of Nyaungyan and Prome. Together with the rebel forces, he raided far north as Sale. In 1509,Taungdwingyi also came under his authority.^[5]

In 1510, he founded Ketumati, the present-day Toungoo, complete with fortified walls. On 16 October 1510 (Full moon of Tazaungmon 872ME)^{[note 5]} Nyo formally announced Toungoo's independence. At his coronation ceremony on 11 April 1511, he was crowned king with the regnal title ofMaha Thiri Zeya Thura Dhamma Yaza Dipadi.^[10] Ava was in no position to contest the decision, as it had more pressing problems with the Shan raids from the north. At any rate, the announcement was a mere formality. Toungoo had been de facto independent since 1501. After the formal declaration of independence, Nyo largely stayed out of the endemic warfare between Ava and theConfederation of Shan States that consumed much of Upper Burma between 1501 and 1527. When Ava was on the ropes, he did move up his forward base toYamethin andTaungdwingyi, former Ava territories, on 15 March 1523 (New Moon of Tabaung 884 ME).^[11] Ava responded by unsuccessfully laying siege to Toungoo for a month in April–May 1525. Otherwise, the kingdom was largely peaceful.^{[citation needed]}

When the Confederation finally defeated Ava in March 1527, Nyo deliberately devastated the countryside between Ava and Toungoo, filling the wells and breaking down the channels in the hope of making an impassable belt between Toungoo and the Confederation. The Burmese bureaucracy and population at Ava largely fled to Toungoo.^[5]

Mingyi Nyo died on 24 November 1530, and was succeeded by his sonTabinshweti.^[1]

Mingyi Nyo's 45-year reign was one of the few stable regimes in Upper Burma in the era. Toungoo's remote location (nestled between theBago Yoma mountain range and the Karen Hill country, and cut off from the mainIrrawaddy river valley) proved a vital advantage. It took effort to march to Toungoo. The stability of his kingdom attracted many refugees, and the flow of refugees accelerated after Ava's fall. The increased manpower allowed Tabinshwehti and his deputyBayinnaung to imagine an offensive war against larger kingdoms. Tabinshwehti's improbable victory over Hanthawaddy had its beginnings in Mingyi Nyo's long stable rule.^{[citation needed]}

• Fernquest, Jon (Autumn 2005)."Min-gyi-nyo, the Shan Invasions of Ava (1524–27), and the Beginnings of Expansionary Warfare in Toungoo Burma: 1486–1539"(PDF).SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research.3 (2).
• Harvey, G.E. (1925).History of Burma. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
• Kala, U (2006) [1724].Maha Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Maha Sithu (2012) [1798]. Kyaw Win; Thein Hlaing (eds.).Yazawin Thit (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2nd ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Royal Historical Commission of Burma (2003) [1832].Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3. Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.
• Sein Lwin Lay, Kahtika U (2006) [1968].Mintaya Shwe Hti and Bayinnaung: Ketumadi Taungoo Yazawin (in Burmese) (2nd printing ed.). Yangon: Yan Aung Sarpay.

• Monarchs of Toungoo dynasty
• Rulers of Toungoo
• 1459 births
• 1530 deaths
• 16th-century Burmese monarchs

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