Shin Bo-Me

Queen of the Northern Palace of Ava
Shin Bo-Me
ရှင်ဘို့မယ်
Queen of the Northern Palace of Ava
Tenurelate May 1426 – April 1439
PredecessorShin Sawbu
SuccessorTanzaung Mibaya
Chief queen consort of Ava
Tenureby 9 November 1425 – 16 May 1426
PredecessorSaw Min Hla
SuccessorShin Myat Hla
Queen of the Northern Palace of Ava
Tenurec. October 1421 – August 1425
PredecessorSaw Khway
SuccessorShin Sawbu
Queen of the Western Palace of Ava
Tenurec. August 1408 – c. October 1421
PredecessorShin Mi-Nauk
SuccessorTaungdwin Mibaya
Born1390s
Taungdwin
Died?
Ava (Inwa)
SpouseMinkhaung I (1408–1421)
Thihathu (1421–1425)
Kale Kye-Taung Nyo (1425–1426)
Mohnyin Thado (1426–1439)
IssueNone
FatherTheingathu[1]
MotherSaw Salaka Dewi[1]
ReligionTheravada Buddhism

Shin Bo-Me (Burmese: ရှင်ဘို့မယ်, [ʃɪ̀ɰ̃ bo̰ mɛ̀]; also spelled Shin Bo-Mai) was a principal queen of four kings of Ava in the early 15th century.

Brief

Considered a great beauty, Bo-Me was the favorite queen of Minkhaung I.[2] She was also a half-niece of Minkhaung; her mother Saw Salaka Dewi and Minkhaung were half-siblings.[3] Although the Hmannan Yazawin chronicle states she became the chief queen of Minkhaung in 1407/08,[4] an inscription dated 28 February 1409 by Queen Shin Saw states that Saw was still the chief queen in 1409.[5] She was also the favorite queen of Minkhaung's son and successor Thihathu until Shin Saw Pu became queen. In August 1425, Bo-Me engineered the death of Thihathu by getting Le Than Bwa of Onbaung to assassinate the king. She might have married the successor, eight-year-old Min Hla.[note 1] Three months later, she poisoned the boy king and put her lover Prince Min Nyo on the Ava throne, and became the chief queen.[6] In May 1426, Nyo was overthrown by Gov. Thado of Mohnyin, who subsequently made Bo-Me a junior queen.[7]

Ancestry

The following is her ancestry as given in the Hmannan Yazawin chronicle.[note 2] She was a granddaughter of King Swa Saw Ke of Ava, and Kyawswa I of Pinya, and a great granddaughter of King Thihathu of Pinya and King Kyawswa of Pagan.

Ancestry of Queen Bo-Me
8. Thihapate I of Taungdwin
4. Theinkhathu Saw Hnaung
9. Saw Pale of Pinya
2. Theinkhathu of Taungdwin
10. Min Shin Saw of Thayet
5. Saw Myat
11. Shin Myat Hla of Prome
1. Bo-Me
12. Min Shin Saw of Thayet
6. Swa Saw Ke
13. Shin Myat Hla of Prome
3. Saw Salaka Dewi
14. Kyawswa I of Pinya
7. Saw Min Hla of Nyaungyan
15. Mway Medaw of Pinya

Notes

  1. ^ (Harvey 1925: 97) says Mohnyin Thado was her "fifth crowned consort". But the chronicles do not say that Bo-Me ever married the 8-year-old Min Hla; they say only that she had him poisoned.
  2. ^ See (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 372). Her mother Salaka Dewi may have married more than once—(Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 404) Salaka Dewi, daughter of Swa Saw Ke was married to Sithu of Myinsaing—or Salaka Dewi's husband had two titles over his career, Sithu and Theinkhathu.

References

  1. ^ a b Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 372
  2. ^ Harvey 1925: 93–96
  3. ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 373
  4. ^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 486
  5. ^ Than Tun 1959: 125–126
  6. ^ Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 57–58
  7. ^ Htin Aung 1967: 93–94

Bibliography

  • Harvey, G. E. (1925). History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
  • Htin Aung, Maung (1967). A History of Burma. New York and London: Cambridge University Press.
  • Royal Historical Commission of Burma (2003) [1832]. Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3. Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.
  • Than Tun (December 1959). "History of Burma: A.D. 1300–1400". Journal of Burma Research Society. XLII (II).
Shin Bo-Me
Born: 1390s Died:  ?
Royal titles
Preceded by Queen of the Northern Palace of Ava
May 1426 – May 1439 		Succeeded by
Tanzaung Mibaya
Preceded by Chief queen consort of Ava
August 1425– May 1426 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Queen of the Northern Palace of Ava
c. October 1421 – August 1425 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Queen of the Western Palace of Ava
August 1408 – c. October 1421 		Succeeded by
Taungdwin Mibaya