Min Taya Medaw

Min Taya Medaw မင်းတရား မယ်တော်
Queen of the Western Palace
Tenure	10 October 1581 – 19 December [O.S. 9 December] 1599
Predecessor	Maha Dewi
Successor	vacant
Born	in or before 1553/54[note 1] in or before 915 ME Prome (Pyay)
Died	c. 1610s Ava (Inwa)
Spouse	Nanda
Issue	none
House	Toungoo
Father	Thado Dhamma Yaza II
Mother	Salin Mibaya
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Min Taya Medaw (Burmese: မင်းတရား မယ်တော်, pronounced: [mɪ́ɴ təjá mɛ̀dɔ̀]) was a principal queen of King Nanda of Toungoo Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1581 to 1599. Nanda was her first cousin.^[1] The queen was described in a well-known eigyin-style poem/song by the famous poet Nawaday, who served at the Prome court.^[2] She and the king had no children.^[1]

After Nanda lost power in 1599, she spent ten years in Toungoo in exile until 1610. On 4 September [O.S. 25 August] 1610, King Anaukpetlun, who had just defeated Natshinnaung, the self-proclaimed king of Toungoo, ordered that the queen, Min Htwe, and Natshin Medaw be sent to Ava (Inwa) with the full royal regalia befitting their former status.^[3]

Ancestry

From her mother's side, she was descended from Ava and Prome royal lines.^[4] She was the younger daughter of Thado Dhamma Yaza II, Viceroy of Prome, and a niece of King Bayinnaung.

Ancestry of Queen Min Taya Medaw

8. Taungkha Min                       4. Mingyi Swe                             9. Kayenawaddy                       2. Thado Dhamma Yaza II of Prome                                   10. Kywe Sit Min                       5. Shin Myo Myat                             11. (unnamed)                       1. Min Taya Medaw                                         12. Thado Minsaw of Prome                       6. Bayin Htwe of Prome                             13. Myat Hpone Pyo                       3. Salin Mibaya                                   14. Mingyi Swa of Prome                       7. Shwe Zin Gon                             15. Saw Myat Lay

Notes

1. According to the editors of (Minye Deibba 1967: 6), the poem Min Taya Medaw egyin describing the ancestry of the princess Min Taya Medaw was composed in 915 ME (1553/54). The egyin poems were usually composed in the same year or a few years after the birth of the poems' namesake royal child.

References

1. Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 103
2. Ni Ni Myint 2004: 17
3. (Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 141): Monday, 3rd waning of Tawthalin 972 ME = Saturday, 4 September 1610 NS
4. Maha Yazawin Vol. 3 2006: 89

Bibliography

• Kala, U (1724). Maha Yazawin (in Burmese). 1–3 (2006, 4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Ni Ni Myint (2004). Selected Writings of Ni Ni Myint. Yangon: Myanmar Historical Commission.
• Than Kho, Shin (1615). Minye Deibba Egyin (in Burmese) (1967 ed.). Yangon: Hanthawaddy Press.