View source for Saw Zein

{{Infobox royalty
| type                 = monarch
| name                 = Saw Zein <br/> စောဇိတ်
| image                =
| caption              =
| reign                = <small>by</small> 28 September 1323 – {{circa}} April 1330
| coronation           =
| succession           = [[List of Burmese monarchs#Small kingdoms|King of Martaban]]
| predecessor          = [[Saw O]]
| successor            = [[Zein Pun]]
| suc-type             = Successor
| reg-type             =
| regent               =
| spouse               = [[Sanda Min Hla]] <br/> [[May Hnin Htapi]]
| issue                = Mwei Ne <br/> [[Maha Dewi of Hanthawaddy|Maha Dewi]] <br/> [[Binnya U]] <br/> Mi Ma-Hsan <br/> [[Min Linka]] <br/> Tala Saw Lun
| issue-link           = #Family
| full name            =
| house                = Wareru
| father               = [[Min Bala of Myaungmya|Min Bala]]
| mother               = [[Hnin U Yaing]]
| birth_date           = 19 May 1303 <br> Sunday, 4th waxing of [[Nayon]] 665 [[Burmese calendar|ME]]
| birth_place          = [[Hanthawaddy Kingdom|Martaban Kingdom]]
| death_date           = {{circa}} April 1330 (aged 26) <br/> {{circa}} [[Kason]] 692 ME
| death_place          = [[Mottama|Martaban]] (Mottama) <br/> [[Hanthawaddy Kingdom|Martaban Kingdom]]
| date of burial       =
| place of burial      =
| religion             = [[Theravada Buddhism]]
| signature            =
}}
{{Contains special characters|Burmese}}
{{Burmese name|Saw}}
'''Saw Zein''' ({{langx|my|စောဇိတ်}}, {{IPA-my|sɔ́ zeiʔ}}; also known as '''Saw Zeik''' and '''Binnya Ran De'''; 1303–1330) was king of [[Hanthawaddy Kingdom|Martaban]] from 1323 to 1330. He inherited a newly independent kingdom from his elder brother [[Saw O]] but spent much of his reign putting down rebellions. Although he regained the [[Mon language|Mon]]-speaking provinces of Lower Burma, he could not recover the Tenasserim coast from Martaban's former overlord [[Sukhothai Kingdom|Sukhothai]].
Zein was assassinated in 1330 in a coup organized by [[Zein Pun]], one of his senior commanders. Zein Pun seized the throne only to be killed a week later.
==Early life==
[[Burmese chronicles|Chronicles]] provide little information about his early life. [[Burmese honorific|Saw]] Zein was born on 19 May 1303 to Princess [[Hnin U Yaing]] and Gov. [[Min Bala of Myaungmya]].<ref name=npl-41>Pan Hla 2005: 41</ref> He had two other full brothers,<ref name=npl-38>Pan Hla 2005: 38</ref> and at least one half brother.<ref name=npl-42>Pan Hla 2005: 42</ref> He was presumably brought up in [[Myaungmya]], a key port in the [[Irrawaddy delta]], where his father was governor. His whereabouts during the reign of his eldest brother King [[Saw O]] (r. 1311–1323) is unknown except that Zein was married to his first cousin Princess [[Sanda Min Hla]], and had three children by 1323.<ref name="nph-40">Pan Hla 2005: 40</ref>
==Reign==
===Accession===
The prince was suddenly thrust into the spotlight in September 1323 when the 39-year-old O died. With O's eldest son, [[Saw E]], still just about 10 years old, the 19-year-old Zein ascended the [[Hanthawaddy Kingdom|Martaban throne]].<ref name=npl-39>Pan Hla 2005: 39</ref> At his accession, he made Sanda Min Hla his chief queen but also raised his sister-in-law [[May Hnin Htapi]], who was a Siamese princess, as a principal queen.<ref name=npl-39>Pan Hla 2005: 39</ref>
===Reunification campaigns===
At his accession, Zein inherited a fully independent kingdom. O had broken with his nominal overlord [[Sukhothai Kingdom|Sukhothai]] since 1319, and taken [[Lamphun]] and the [[Tenasserim coast]] by 1321.<ref name=npl-38/><ref name=app-66>Phayre 1967: 66</ref> However, in the tradition of the prevailing [[Mandala (Southeast Asian political model)|Southeast Asian administrative model]], every new high king had to establish his authority with the vassals all over again. The 19-year-old king garnered no initial support, and the vassal rulers in the Pegu province and delta promptly revolted.<ref name=npl-39/>
Zein had to rebuild the kingdom all anew. His first target was the Pegu province (present-day [[Yangon Region]] and southern [[Bago Region]]). He left the capital [[Mottama|Martaban]] (Mottama) with a strong garrison, and marched north with the army.<ref name=npl-39/><ref name=app-66/> The inaugural campaign was successful; he took [[Bago, Myanmar|Pegu]] (Bago), [[Dagon Township|Dagon]] (modern Central Yangon), [[Twante Township|Dala]] (modern [[Dala Township|Dala]]-[[Twante Township|Twante]]) and Watanaw.<ref name=npl-39/>
His next target was the Irrawaddy delta province, which remained in revolt. He did not return to Martaban, and instead affixed a temporary capital north of Pegu. He went on elephant hunting trips to gather more war elephants for the next campaign. With the renewed force, Zein then invaded the delta, and got the lords of Myaungmya and [[Pathein|Bassein]] (Pathein) to submit.<ref name=npl-39/>
His job was far from over. While Zein was campaigning in Lower Burma, his nominal vassals on the Tenasserim coast also revolted.<ref group=note>The ''Razadarit Ayedawbon'' (Pan Hla 2005: 39) says the Tenasserim vassals revolted. But (Phayre 1967: 66) says that Siam retook the region. Both events are not mutually exclusive.</ref> Zein sent a force led by Gen. Bon-Yin to retake the coast. The army regained [[Dawei|Tavoy]] but was driven back at [[Tanintharyi Township|Tenasserim]] (Taninthayi).<ref name=npl-39/> He sued for a truce with Sukhothai. The king of Sukhothai treated him like a vassal, giving him the title '''Binnya Ran De''' (ဗညား ရံဒယ်, {{IPA-my|bəɲá jàɴ dɛ̀}}).<ref name=npl-39/>
===Later campaigns===
After the truce with Sukhothai, Zein tried to pick off [[Pyay|Prome]], then a nominal vassal of the northern [[Pinya Kingdom]]. He sent a sizable force led by his half-nephew Saw E Pyathat but the invaders were driven back. Pyathat died in action.<ref name="nph-40"/> The defeat in the north augured renewed hostilities in the south. The truce with Sukhothai had ended by the late 1320s when Martaban again lost control of Tavoy. Zein sent his nephew Saw E to retake Tavoy but the campaign ended badly. Zein blamed the failure on E, and sent his nephew to prison near the frontier with [[Pyay|Prome]].<ref name="nph-40"/>
==Death==
Zein was assassinated in a coup by one of his trusted officers [[Zein Pun]] {{circa}} April/May 1330.<ref group=note>He died sometime between 29 March 1330 and 20 May 1330. (Pan Hla 2005: 41): Zein died at age 26 (27th year) in 692 ME, which began on 29 March 1330. Since he was born on 4th waxing of Nayon 665 ME, Zein must have died by 3rd waxing of Nayon 692 ME (20 May 1330).</ref> The chronicle says that Pun, the commander of a special 500-man battalion, invited the king to a housewarming ceremony of Pun's new residence, and had his men assassinate the unsuspecting king as he entered the house.<ref name=npl-41/><ref group=note>According to (Phayre 1967: 66), Zein died in action in 1330 while attacking Prome, then a largely independent polity immediately north of the Pegu province. But the ''Razadarit'' (Pan Hla 2005: 40) states that the commander killed in action was Saw E Pyathat, not Saw Zein.</ref> Zein Pun seized the throne. But the usurper was killed a week later in a putsch organized by Zein's chief queen Sanda Min Hla.<ref name=npl-41/>
==Family==
According to the ''[[Razadarit Ayedawbon]]'' chronicle, the king had two principal queens and five children by them.<ref name="nph-40"/> He had at least another daughter, Tala Saw Lun by a concubine.<ref group=note>(Pan Hla 2005: 203–204): Lun's three granddaughters later became queens of King Razadarit.</ref>
{| width=100% class="wikitable"
|-
! style="background-color:#B9D1FF" | Queen
! style="background-color:#B9D1FF" | Rank
! style="background-color:#B9D1FF" | Issue
! style="background-color:#B9D1FF" | Reference
|-
| [[Sanda Min Hla]]
| Chief queen
| Mwei Ne (died young) <br/> [[Maha Dewi of Hanthawaddy|Maha Dewi]], Regent of Hanthawaddy (r. 1383–84) <br/> [[Binnya U]], King of Hanthwaddy (r. 1348–84)
| <ref name=nph-40>Pan Hla 2005: 40</ref>
|-
| [[May Hnin Htapi]]
| Principal queen
| Mi Ma-Hsan, wife of [[Byattaba]] of Martaban <br/> [[Min Linka]], Gov. of Pegu (r. 1348–{{circa}} 1353)
| <ref name=nph-40/>
|}
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book | last=Htin Aung | first=Maung | title=A History of Burma | author-link=Htin Aung | url=https://archive.org/details/historyofburma00htin | url-access=registration | publisher=Cambridge University Press | location=New York and London | year=1967}}
* {{cite book | last=Pan Hla | first=Nai | author-link=Nai Pan Hla | title=[[Razadarit Ayedawbon]] | language=my | orig-year=1968 | edition=8th printing | year=2005 | location=Yangon | publisher=Armanthit Sarpay}}
* {{cite book | last=Phayre | first=Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur P. | author-link=Arthur Purves Phayre | title=History of Burma | orig-year=1883 | year=1967 | publisher=Susil Gupta | location=London}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Hanthawaddy Dynasty|Wareru Dynasty]]|19 May|1303|{{circa}} April|1330}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Saw O]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Burmese monarchs#Hanthawaddy .281287–1539.29|King of Martaban]]|years=by 28 September 1323 – {{circa}} April 1330}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Zein Pun]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Burmese monarchs}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zein, Saw}}
[[Category:Hanthawaddy dynasty]]
[[Category:1330 deaths]]
[[Category:1303 births]]
[[Category:14th-century Burmese monarchs]]