{{Short description|Burmese military leader}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Infobox royalty | type = | name = {{ubl|Saw Maha-Rit |{{nobold|စောမဟာရာဇ်}}}} | image = | caption = | reign = | coronation = | succession = | predecessor = | successor = | reg-type = Monarch | regent = | spouse = Tala Mi Kyaw | issue = | issue-link = | issue-pipe = | full name = | house = | father = | mother = Tala Hnin Thiri | birth_date = {{circa|1380s}}{{efn|His grandparents Binnya Thein and Tala Mi Saw were married only in the reign of King Binnya U ({{r.|1348|1384}}).<ref name=nph-204/>}} | birth_place = Hanthawaddy kingdom | death_date = {{circa|lk=no|April 1402}} | death_place = Dala-Twante, Hanthawaddy Kingdom | date of burial = | place of burial = | signature = }} {{Contains special characters|Burmese}}
'''Saw Maha-Rit''' ({{langx|my|စောမဟာရာဇ်}},{{efn|The ''Razadarit Ayedawbon'' calls him စော မဟာရာဇ် (Saw Maha-Rit).<ref name=nph-224>Pan Hla 2005: 224</ref> The ''Maha Yazawin'' and ''Hmannan Yazawin'' chronicles identify him as မဟာရတ် (Maha-Rat).<ref name=my-1-318>Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 318</ref><ref name=hy-1-456>Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 456</ref> The ''Yazawin Thit'' calls him စောမရှက် (Saw Ma-Shet).<ref name=yt-1-218>Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 218</ref>}} {{IPA|my|sɔ́ məhà ɹɪ̀ʔ}}; d. 1402) was a Hanthawaddy royal and a military commander. A son-in-law of King Razadarit, Maha-Rit led the first siege of Prome (Pyay) during the Second Ava–Hanthawaddy War. He was executed for leaving behind his wife Princess Tala Mi Kyaw at the battle scene.
==Background== According to the ''Razadarit Ayedawbon'' chronicle, Maha-Rit was the elder son of Princess Tala Hnin Thiri. Through his mother, he was a great-grandson of King Saw Zein (r. 1323–1330) and a grandson of Binnya Thein, a former Lan Na court minister who later served as a senior minister under successive Hanthawaddy kings from Saw Zein to Binnya U.<ref name=nph-204>Pan Hla 2005: 204</ref> Furthermore, his mother was a first cousin of King Razadarit (r. 1384–1421).<ref name=nph-203-204>Pan Hla 2005: 203–204</ref> His personal name was '''Bauk Kan Baru''' (ဗောက်ကန်ဗရူး), and he had one younger brother Baw Chi (ဘောချီ), who later became governor of Lagunbyi with the titles of Byattaba and Einkama.<ref name=nph-204/>
Baru's ties to the royal family were further reinforced in 1392 when all three of his maternal aunts (Yaza Dewi, Lawka Dewi, and Thiri Maya Dewi) became queens of King Razadarit.<ref name=nph-203>Pan Hla 2005: 203</ref> By 1401, he himself was married to his second cousin Princess Tala Mi Kyaw, one of Razadarit's daughters, and was now known by the title, Saw Maha-Rit.<ref name=nph-204-206>Pan Hla 2005: 204, 206</ref>
==Siege of Prome (1401–1402)== thumb|300px|Map of Lower Burma in the early 15th century
Maha-Rit is best remembered in Burmese history for his failed siege of Prome (Pyay) during the first dry season of the Second Ava–Hanthawaddy War. In late 1401, he was given command of an army to take Prome, Ava's main garrison in Ava's south, by King Razadarit himself. While Razadarit continued with his invasion of the upcountry, Maha-Rit laid siege to the heavily fortified city. Meanwhile, his wife came to join him at his main headquarters at a place called Khaunglaunggya, outside Prome.<ref name=nph-205-206>Pan Hla 2005: 205–206</ref><ref name=yt-1-213>Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 213</ref><ref name=hy-1-447>Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 447</ref>
The siege lasted until March/April 1402;{{efn|Razadarit received the news of the fall of Khaunglaunggya soon after the new year had turned [on 30 March 1402].<ref name=nph-224/>}} by then, the tide of war had turned. Razadarit, who had blockaded the royal capital of Ava (Inwa) with his naval armada, had begun an orderly withdrawal down the Irrawaddy River. It was then that coordinated Ava counterattacks attempted to lift the siege. Maha-Rit's army at Khaunglaunggya came under attack from a regiment led by Gov. Nawrahta of Salin from the outside and from Gov. Letya Pyanchi of Prome's forces from inside the perimeter. Totally surprised by the attacks, Maha-Rit barely escaped on horseback, leaving behind his wife and his troops.<ref name=my-1-318/><ref name=hy-1-456>Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 456</ref> Ava forces lifted siege, and sent the captured princess to King Minkhaung I in Ava.<ref name=my-1-318/><ref name=hy-1-456/><ref name=geh-88>Harvey 1925: 88</ref>
==Death== Maha-Rit awaited the return of Razadarit's forces from Dala (modern Twante–Dala). The news of the fall of Khaunglaunggya, and the loss of the princess reached Razadarit only a few days later when the king was still directing a raid of Sale, some 300 km north of Prome. When he received the news, a furious king ordered an immediate full withdrawal, and sailed down to his country.<ref name=my-1-318/><ref name=hy-1-456/> Throughout the journey, according to the ''Razadarit Ayedawbon'' chronicle, the king was "burning with anger" for Maha-Rit fleeing the scene, and leaving his daughter behind, and responded little to his staff, as though he had "poison in his mouth".<ref name=nph-224/> Upon arriving at Dala, Razadarit summarily ordered Maha-Rit's execution<ref name=yt-1-218/><ref name=geh-88/> by cutting him up into pieces.<ref name=nph-224/> The pleas for clemency by the monks had little effect. The king only slightly changed the order to cut off only the limbs before drowning him.<ref name=nph-224/>
Maha-Rit's gruesome death did little to placate the king. To avenge for his daughter's abduction, Razadarit launched another invasion later in the year.<ref name=geh-88/><ref name=jf-11>Fernquest 2006: 11</ref>
==Ancestry== The following is Maha-Rit's ancestry as given in the ''Razadarit Ayedawbon'' chronicle.{{efn|Maha-Rit's maternal grandfather was Binnya Thein, a former official of the Lan Na court, who fled Chiang Mai after a disagreement with the king of Lan Na, also titled Saw Maha-Rit, in the 1320s. During King Binnya U's reign, Thein married Zein's daughter (U's half-sister) Tala Saw Lun. The union produced a son (Saw Ye-Bein) and a daughter (Mwei A-Khin-Lei), also known by her title Tala Hnin Thiri.<ref name=nph-204/>}}
{{ahnentafel |collapsed=yes |align=center |title=Ancestry of Saw Maha-Rit |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; |1= 1. '''Saw Maha-Rit''' |2= 2. ''unnamed'' |3= 3. Tala Hnin Thiri |4= 4. |5= 5. |6= 6. Binnya Thein of Chiang Mai |7= 7. Tala Saw Lun |8= 8. ''unnamed'' |9= 9. ''unnamed'' |10= 10. ''unnamed'' |11= 11. ''unnamed'' |12= 12. ''unnamed'' |13= 13. ''unnamed'' |14= 14. King Saw Zein |15= 15. ''unnamed'' }}
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite journal | last=Fernquest | first=Jon | title=Rajadhirat's Mask of Command: Military Leadership in Burma (c. 1384–1421) | journal=SBBR | volume=4 | issue=1 | date=Spring 2006 | url=http://web.soas.ac.uk/burma/4.1files/4.1fernquest.pdf| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219063323/http://web.soas.ac.uk/burma/4.1files/4.1fernquest.pdf | archive-date=19 February 2009 }} * {{cite book | last=Harvey | first=G. E.| author-link=G.E. Harvey | title=History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824 | publisher=Frank Cass & Co. Ltd | year=1925 | location = London}} * {{cite book | last=Kala | first=U | author-link=U Kala | title=Maha Yazawin | publisher=Ya-Pyei Publishing | location=Yangon | orig-year=1724 | year=2006 | edition=4th printing | language=my | volume=1–3}} * {{cite book | last=Pan Hla | first=Nai | author-link=Nai Pan Hla | title=Razadarit Ayedawbon | language=Burmese | orig-year=1968 | edition=8th printing | year=2005 | location=Yangon | publisher=Armanthit Sarpay}} * {{cite book | author=Royal Historical Commission of Burma | title=Hmannan Yazawin | volume=1–3 | orig-year=1832 | location=Yangon | language=my | year=2003 | publisher=Ministry of Information, Myanmar}}
Category:Hanthawaddy dynasty Category:Burmese Shan people Category:1402 deaths Category:1380s births