| Suphankanlaya | |
|---|---|
| Princess of Ayutthaya | |
.jpg) Statue of Suphankanlaya at Wat Chan Tawan-ok,Phitsanulok Province | |
| Consort of the Burmese monarch | |
| Tenure | 22 January 1567 – 10 October 1581 |
| Born | in or before 1554 Phitsanulok |
| Died | ? |
| Spouse | Bayinnaung |
| Issue | Min A-Htwe |
| House | Sukhothai Dynasty |
| Father | Maha Thammarachathirat |
| Mother | Wisutkasat |
| Religion | Theravada Buddhism |
Suphankanlaya (Thai:สุพรรณกัลยา,Suvarṇakalyā;Burmese:ဗြဣန္ဒဒေဝီ) was a 16th-centurySiamese princess who was a queen consort of KingBayinnaung ofBurma. There are very few historical records of her life, but legends about her are widespread inThailand. Many Thais revere her as a national heroine or even as apopular deity.
She was the daughter ofMaha Thammaracha, viceroy ofPhitsanulok and later King ofAyutthaya and his wifeWisutkasat; elder sister of the princesNaresuan andEkathotsarot who later both became kings of Ayutthaya, too. On her maternal side she was a granddaughter of KingChakkraphat and QueenSuriyothai. In 1564, her father became a vassal of KingBayinnaung of Pegu in Burma. Her brothers were taken to the Peguan court to serve as pages and guarantee for the loyalty of their father, as was usual at the time.
According to the common narrative in Thailand, in 1571, Suphankanlaya agreed to marry Bayinnaung to become one of his minor wives. This bond, too, should consolidate her father's allegiance to the Burmese king. Her brothers, instead, could return home. She had two children with Bayinnaung. After the king's death in 1581, she became the wife of his son and successorNanda. In 1584, her father revolted against Nanda. He revoked the oath of allegiance to the Burmese king and it came to war. After her father's death in 1590, her brother Naresuan carried on the fight. In 1593, Naresuan defeated and killed Nanda's sonMingyi Swa in a legendaryduel on elephants' backs. When Nanda learnt of his son's death, according to the common narrative in Thailand, he became enraged and struck Suphankanlaya, who was eight months pregnant with his child, dead.[1]
TheBurmese chronicles mention her only in passing. According to the records, her title was Bya Eindra Dewi (ဗြဣန္ဒဒေဝီ,[pʰjáʔèiɴdɹàdèwì])[note 1] and her personal name was Amyoyon (အမျိုးရုံ,[ʔəmjójòʊɴ]). She was presented to the king at the Pegu court on 22 January 1567.[2] They had a daughter named Min A-Htwe (မင်းအထွေး,[mɪ́ɴʔətʰwé]).[3] Moreover, the chronicles make no mention of her subsequent marriage to Nanda. Her name does not appear in the chronicles' list of queens, junior queens or concubines of Nanda.[4]
In official accounts of the Siamese and Burmese history, Suphankanlaya is only mentioned in passing, if at all. However, her story entered the Thai national mythology. Legends of her have often been depicted in popular culture. During and after the1997 Asian financial crisis, she became part of the "pantheon" of Thai national deities. A businesswoman first claimed that Suphankanlaya had saved her from bankruptcy. She then asked a historian to research the chronicles for accounts of the princess and a successful romantic novelist to popularise Suphankanlaya's story in an easy-to-read way. The historian insisted that historic depictions of the princess are very sparse and the story of her gruesome death rather legend than historically traceable. This did not stop large parts of the Thai public from developing a cult around the supposed heroine, worshipping her images and votive objects. As no authentic portrayal of the historic person has survived, the pictures were modelled on the look of formerbeauty queens.
Suphankanlaya, like her brother Naresuan, was established as a symbol of national assertiveness and self-sacrifice. In Thai folk beliefs, the spirits of murder victims are attributed exceptional powers.[5] The spread of Suphankanlaya worship has to be seen in the context of the rise ofThai nationalist (particularly anti-Burmese) sentiments at that time of economic crisis.[6] It is similar to the emergence of a cult around her grandmother QueenSuriyothai who is (ahistorically) venerated as a strong warrior heroine who sacrificed herself for the sovereignty of the nation, as well. The popular reverence for Suphankanlaya was seized on by Thai authorities and the military. The Third Army command in her presumed native city ofPhitsanulok was the first to erect a monument to her and commissioned a biography in 1998, in which the alleged cruelty of her Burmese husband was emphasised.[7] In 2004, a film was made of her legend.