Shin Myat Hla of Ava


Shin Myat Hla was the chief queen consort of King Mohnyin Thado of Ava from 1426 to 1439. She was also a junior queen of King Minkhaung I of Ava for five months in 1409–10. She was the mother of kings Minye Kyawswa I and Narapati I of Ava. She was also an eight-times great grandmother of King Alaungpaya of Konbaung Dynasty.

Brief

Myat Hla was descended from Pinya and Pagan royal lines. Her father Thihapate II was a grandson of King Thihathu of Ava, and her mother was a great-great granddaughter of King Kyawswa of Pagan. She was born in early 1388. She grew up in Taungdwin which her father had ruled since at least 1364. She had at least one elder half-brother, the father of Shin Bo-Me.
Her cloistered upbringing changed drastically in 1409. She was married off to King Minkhaung I of Ava. But five months into the marriage, in late 1409/early 1410, the king gave her to Min Nansi, then a commander in his army, as a reward for the commander's performance in then ongoing war with Pegu. Furthermore, the couple was sent off to Mohnyin, a rebellion-prone Shan state, where her new husband was appointed sawbwa. Over the next 16 years, her husband came to be known as "Mohnyin Thado". The couple had four children : Minye Kyawswa, Narapati, Shin Hla Myat of Pakhan, and Saw Hla Htut of Pagan.
Myat Hla became queen of Ava again—this time as the chief queen, succeeding her niece Bo-Me—in 1426 when Mohnyin Thado seized the Ava throne. She remained the chief queen for the entire duration of Mohnyin's reign.
Her two sons became kings of Ava. Her eldest child Minye Kyawswa reigned from 1439 to 1442 while her second child Narapati reigned from 1442 to 1468. In all, her descendants ruled Ava until 1527. King Alaungpaya, the founder of Konbaung Dynasty, was an 11th generation descendant of the queen.

Ancestry

The following is her ancestry as given in the Hmannan Yazawin chronicle.