Binnya E Law

Binnya E Law ဗညားအဲလော
King of Hanthawaddy
Reign	c. May 1330 – 1348
Predecessor	Saw E
Successor	Binnya U
Born	13 March 1308 [1]
Died	1348 (aged 40) Pegu
Consort	Sanda Min Hla
House	Wareru
Father	Hkun Law
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Binnya E Law (Burmese: ဗညားအဲလော, pronounced: [bəɲá ʔɛ́ lɔ́]; 1308–1348) was the seventh king of Hanthawaddy Pegu, who reigned from 1330 to 1348. Placed on the throne by his half-sister Queen Sanda Min Hla, this son of King Hkun Law defeated Sukhothai Kingdom's invasion in 1330–1331, and freed Hanthawaddy from its tributary status to Sukhothai. He moved the capital to Pegu, and reigned the kingdom for 17 years.^[2]

Background

Binnya E Law was a son of King Hkun Law, and a nephew of King Wareru, the kingdom's founder. Like his predecessors, he was of Shan and Mon descent.^[3] (He was at least a quarter Shan as his father Hkun Law, was half-Shan.) He became the governor of Pegu in 1330, following the death of King Saw Zein.

Reign

Binnya E Law was placed on the throne by Queen Sanda Min Hla, who had engineered the death of two previous kings, Zein Pun and Saw E within a few months following Saw Zein's death in April 1330. Sanda Min Hla, who was also queen consort of Saw Zein and Saw E, was Binnya E Law's half-sister. (Their father was Hkun Law.)

His immediate task as king was to stave off an attack from Sukhothai. The king of Sukhothai sent in an army to avenge for Sanda Min Hla's assassination of Saw E, his grandson. Binnya E Law defeated the invasion force near Martaban. From then on, Hanthawaddy formally threw off its nominal vassal status to Sukhothai, and was free from further foreign attacks.^[2]

Binnya E Law moved the capital back to Pegu (as Saw Zein had done), and reigned from there until his death in 1348. He made his half-sister Sanda Min Hla his chief queen. (He probably did not have a choice. According to the Burmese and Mon Chronicles, when summoned by Sanda Min Hla to take over the throne, Binnya E Law went to Martaban without any of his concubines. Sanda Min Hla had killed the previous king Saw E supposedly because he spent too much time with his concubines.)

He died at age 40, in 1348 (most likely the second half of 1348).^{[Notes 1]} He was succeeded by his nephew Binnya U

Notes

1. (Pan Hla 2004: 44) only states he died in 710 ME (March 1348 to March 1349) at age 40 (41st year), having completed 18 years of reign. Since he came to power c. May 1330, Binnya E Law must have died after May 1348. Moreover, (Pan Hla 2004: 161) states that Binnya U, the successor of Binnya E Law, died in January 1384, having reigned for 35 years. It means some time between May 1348 and January 1349, Binnya E Law died and Binnya U succeeded.

References

1. (Pan Hla 2004: 44): Wednesday, 5th waning of Old Tagu 669 ME = 13 March 1308
2. Phayre 1967: 67
3. Htin Aung 1967: 78–80

Bibliography

• Harvey, G. E. (1925). History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
• Pan Hla, Nai (1968). Razadarit Ayedawbon (in Burmese) (8th printing, 2004 ed.). Yangon: Armanthit Sarpay.
• Phayre, Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur P. (1883). History of Burma (1967 ed.). London: Susil Gupta.