Saw Myat Lay

Saw Myat Lay (Burmese: စောမြတ်လေး, pronounced [sɔ́ mjaʔ lé]) was the chief queen consort of King Thado Minsaw of Prome. Prior, she had been the chief wife of Viceroy Mingyi Swa of Prome since c. 1450s.

Saw Myat Lay စောမြတ်လေး
Chief Queen Consort of Prome
Tenure	1482 – ?
Predecessor	herself (as Vicereine of Prome)
Successor	Shwe Zin Gon
Vicenreine of Prome
Tenure	c. 1450s–1482
Predecessor	Atula Thiri Maha Yaza Dewi of Ava
Successor	herself (as Queen consort of Prome)
Born	c. late 1430s Prome (Pyay)? Ava Kingdom
Died	? Prome Prome Kingdom
Spouse	Mingyi Swa of Prome (c. 1450s–1482) Thado Minsaw of Prome (1482–?)
Issue among others...	11 children including Shwe Zin Gon
House	Ava
Father	Saw Shwe Khet
Mother	Saw Min Phyu
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

In this Burmese name, Saw is an honorific, not a surname.

Brief

Saw Myat Lay was the second child of Princess Saw Min Phyu and Saw Shwe Khet,[1] who was governor of Prome (r. 1417–1422; 1442–1446) and Tharrawaddy (r. 1422–1427; 1446–1460). Likely born in the late 1430s,[note 1] the princess was a granddaughter of the famous crown prince Minye Kyawswa of Ava, and a great granddaughter of King Minkhaung I of Ava from her mother's side, and a descendant of King Kyawswa of Pagan from both sides. She had two full siblings: Gov. Minye Kyawswa I of Kalay and Myat Hpone Pyo;[1] and three half-siblings.[note 2]

Though the royal chronicles do not state her place of birth, Myat Lay was raised in Prome where her father was governor between 1442 and 1446,[2] and in Tharrawaddy, the southernmost district of Prome to which her father was reassigned, from 1446 onwards until her marriage.[3][2] She returned to Prome, perhaps in the 1450s, when she was married to Viceroy Mingyi Swa, the second son of then King Narapati I of Ava. She became the vicereine of Prome, and had 11 children with Swa.[4]

Myat Lay became the chief queen consort in 1482. That year, Viceroy Swa died, and his younger brother Gov. Thado Minsaw of Tharrawaddy seized the viceroyalty of Prome, and declared Prome's independence from Ava. In the process, he also raised his sister-in-law Myat Lay as his chief queen.[4] Thado Minsaw's rebellion was successful; Prome became an independent state with territories that included Tharrawaddy in the south and Myede in the north.[5] It was the last mention of Myat Lay in the chronicles. Thado Minsaw lived until 1526[6] but it is unclear if Myat Lay survived him until then.

Family

Myat Lay and her first husband Swa had 11 children (four sons and seven daughters).[4] She did not have any children with her second husband.[6]

Husband	Title	Issue	Reference
Mingyi Swa of Prome	Viceroy of Prome	Pyu Saw Khin Hpone Gyi, queen consort of King Minkhaung II Mingyi Yaukkhamadaw (daughter) Minye Kyawswa Soe Min (daughter) Khin Hpone Htut, wife of Minye Kyawswa II of Kalay Min Taya Hnamadaw Minye Theingathu of Kandwin, husband of Mi Hpone Gyi and Mibaya Khaung Medaw of Tharrawaddy Min Hla Myat, wife of Minye Nawrahta of Tharrawaddy Mingyi Khamedaw, husband of Bodaw Hnamadaw Shwe Zin Gon, Queen of Prome	[4]
Thado Minsaw of Prome	King of Prome	none	[6]

Ancestry

The following is the queen's ancestry according to the royal chronicles.

Ancestry of Queen Myat Lay
8. Min Shin Saw of Thayet 4. Thinkhaya of Pagan 9. unnamed 2. Saw Shwe Khet 10. Thinkhaya of Wadi 5. Saw Min Pu 11. Saw Pale of Wadi 1. Myat Lay 12. Minkhaung I of Ava 6. Minye Kyawswa 13. Shin Mi-Nauk 3. Saw Min Phyu 14. Tarabya I of Pakhan 7. Saw Min Hla 15. unnamed

Notes

1. Given that her mother Saw Min Phyu was born only in 1415 per (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 54), and that her first husband Mingyi Swa was born c. 1435, Myat Lay may have been born in the late 1430s.
2. Per (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 84, 90), Shwe Khet had two children by his first wife Saw Myo Ke; and per (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 53), he had a daughter with Min Hla Htut.

References

1. Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 83–84
2. Hmannan Vol. 2 3003: 84, 86
3. Hmannan Vol. 2 3003: 88
4. Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 327
5. Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 93–97
6. Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 328

Bibliography

• Kala, U (1724). Maha Yazawin (in Burmese). 1–3 (2006, 4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Maha Sithu (2012) [1798]. Kyaw Win; Thein Hlaing (eds.). Yazawin Thit (in Burmese). 1–3 (2nd ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Royal Historical Commission of Burma (1832). Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). 1–3 (2003 ed.). Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.

Saw Myat Lay Prome Born: c. late 1430s
Royal titles
Preceded by herself as Vicereine of Prome	Chief Queen Consort of Prome 1482–?	Succeeded by Shwe Zin Gon