Khame Mi

Khame Mi (Burmese: ခမည်းမိ, pronounced [kʰəmɛ́ mḭ]) was the first chief queen consort of King Swa Saw Ke of Ava.[1] She is regarded as the mother of King Tarabya, the successor of Swa, by the standard Burmese chronicles despite inscriptional evidence to the contrary.

Khame Mi
ခမည်းမိ
Chief queen consort of Ava
Tenure1367 – c. 1390s
PredecessorSaw Omma of Pinya
SuccessorShin Saw Gyi of Sagaing
Bornc. 1330s
Diedc. 1390s
Ava (Inwa)
SpouseSwa Saw Ke
IssueMin Padamya
Saw Sala Dewi
Minkhaung Medaw
Yan Aung Min Ye
ReligionTheravada Buddhism

Brief

The chronicles provide little detail about her background. Given that her brother Thilawa was married to Saw Pale, a granddaughter of King Kyawswa of Pagan,[1] and that she herself was married to Swa Saw Ke, brother of Saw Pale, she was certainly of royal descent. She had at least one other brother, Maha Pyauk.[2] Furthermore, she most probably married Swa some time between 1343 and 1351 during his stint as governor of Yamethin in the Pinya Kingdom before his defection to Sagaing c. 1351.[note 1]

In 1367, King Thado Minbya of Ava died, leaving no heirs. The court first offered the throne to Thilawa but her brother declined, instead recommending Swa for the job. Swa accepted the offer, and Khame Mi became the chief queen with the title of Queen of the Southern Palace.[1] According to the standard chronicles Maha Yazawin and Hmannan Yazawin, she finally bore Swa a child, who later became King Tarabya.[3] However, the Yazawin Thit chronicle, citing a contemporary inscription, says Shin Saw Gyi was the mother of Tarabya but the compilers of Hmannan rejected it nonetheless.[3] (Since Tarabya was born in December 1368, she would have been in her 30s, probably mid-to-late 30s.)

At any rate, the chief queen died some time between 1387 and 1398, and was succeeded by Shin Saw Gyi as the chief queen.[4][note 2]

Notes
  1. Swa returned from Arakan c. 1343 and defected to Sagaing after the death of King Kyawswa I of Pinya in December 1350.
  2. Per inscriptional evidence, Khame Mi was still alive on 18 December 1387 (Wed, 10th waxing of Pyatho 749 ME) per (Taw, Forchhammer 1899: 152), and Shin Saw Gyi was mentioned as the chief queen on 13 June 1398 (Wed, 12th waxing of Waso 760 ME) per (Taw, Forchhammer 1899: 164)

References
  1. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 401
  2. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 434
  3. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 435
  4. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 404

Bibliography
  • Royal Historical Commission of Burma (1832). Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2003 ed.). Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.
  • Taw, Sein Ko; Emanuel Forchhammer (1899). Inscriptions of Pagan, Pinya and Ava: Translation, with Notes. Archaeological Survey of India.
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