Prome kingdom

The Prome kingdom (Burmese: ဒုတိယ သရေခေတ္တရာ နေပြည်တော်, lit. "Second Sri Ksetra kingdom") also known as Pyay kingdom was a kingdom that existed for six decades between 1482 and 1542 in present-day central Burma (Myanmar). Based out of the city of Prome (Pyay), the minor kingdom was one of the several statelets that broke away from the dominant Ava kingdom in the late 15th century. Throughout the 1520s, Prome was an ally of the Confederation of Shan States, and together they raided Avan territory. After Ava fell to the Confederation armies in 1527, Prome itself became a tributary of the Confederation in 1532. In the late 1530s, Prome became ensnarled in the Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War (1534–1541). Despite military assistance from the Confederation and the Mrauk U kingdom, the small kingdom fell to the Toungoo (Taungoo) forces in 1542.

The Burmese name for the kingdom is ဒုတိယသရေခေတ္တရာနေပြည်တော် which is equivalent to Prome kingdom in English language.

For much of the first half of the second millennium, Prome was a vassal state of Upper Burma-based kingdoms–Pagan, Pinya and Ava. During the Ava period (14th–15th centuries), Prome was the southernmost region abutting the rival Hanthawaddy kingdom. The region was a frequent battlefield during the Forty Years' War (1385–1424) between Ava and Hanthawaddy. Avan kings considered the region the most strategic, and appointed only the most senior princes as viceroys of Prome (Pyay). For example, Crown Prince Minye Kyawswa, King Thihathu of Ava and King Narapati of Ava were once governor of Prome.

The Forty Years' War, which ended in a stalemate, left Ava exhausted, and its vassals restless. From the 1420s to the 1480s, each new king of Ava had to put down rebellions. In 1469, Prome's long-time governor, Mingyi Swa (r. 1446–1482) rebelled against his brother, when the latter ascended to the Ava throne as Thihathura. But the new king laid siege on Prome, and Mingyi Swa submitted to his brother. Mingyi Swa was forgiven, and reappointed to his former position.

Thihathura died in 1480, and Mingyi Swa died in 1482. The new king Minkhaung II faced a multitude of rebellions–the most serious one by his younger brother, Gov. Minye Kyawswa of Yamethin. Unlike the usual unrest in remote regions, the Yamethin rebellion was so close to Ava itself, and was a grave threat to the new king. Taking advantage of the power struggle between his two nephews, the governor of Tharrawaddy, Thado Minsaw, seized Prome and declared himself king.

Thado Minsaw raised his brother Mingyi Swa's chief queen as his chief queen. Minkhaung managed to send an army to reclaim Prome. But the Avan army could not take Prome, and retreated. Ava could not send another force again as the much more serious Yamethin rebellion (and rebellions by the Shan States of Mohnyin and Kale) consumed its resources for the next two decades. Prome became an independent kingdom with territories up to Tharrawaddy and Myede.

Thado Minsaw largely stayed out of the fighting in Upper Burma. He forged a peaceful relationship with Hanthawaddy, the most powerful kingdom in the region.

Thado Minsaw changed his policy in the 1520s when Ava was on its last legs suffering from the sustained assaults by Confederation of Shan States. He entered into a league with Sawlon, the confederation's leader. In March 1525, the combined armies of Confederation and Prome sacked the city of Ava. The king of Ava, Shwenankyawshin, who was Thado Minsaw's grandnephew, escaped. Prome and Confederation forces looted the city. The Prome armies brought back the famed poet monk Shin Maha Rattathara. Prome remained in a league with the Confederation, which continued its attacks on Ava.