Yazathingyan (14th-century minister)

Yazathingyan (ရာဇသင်္ကြန်, ; also known as Nga Mauk, (ငမောက်; ); d. c. October 1400) was a senior court minister under the first three kings of Ava, in what is now Myanmar, from c. 1365 to 1400. He also served as governor of Sagaing at least from 1383 to 1400.

He was the sixth and last husband of Queen Saw Omma, and thus a brother-in-law of King Swa Saw Ke of Ava (r. 1367–1400). He was given Queen Omma as a prize after he successfully put down the 1367 coup attempt by his brother, Commander Nga Nu, and the queen herself. Thirty three years later, it was Yazathingyan who attempted to seize the throne from King Tarabya (r. 1400). This attempt ended when he accidentally drowned en route to a confrontation with Tarabya.

Early life and career
According to the royal chronicles, he was of commoner background and his personal name was Nga Mauk. He had at least one younger brother named Nga Nu. By 1367, both brothers were in the service of King Thado Minbya (r. 1364–1367). Mauk had risen to be a minister at the Ava court with the title of Yazathingyan while Nu had become the commander of the Inner Royal Household Guards.

Succession crisis of 1367
The brothers however were in the opposite camps in the succession crisis of 1367. After Thado Minbya's sudden death from smallpox, his chief queen Saw Omma persuaded Commander Nu, who had come to execute her on the king's last order, to take the throne for himself. But the powerful court did not accept the usurping couple. When asked to choose between his brother and the court's nominee Swa Saw Ke, Yazathingyan sided with the court. He even agreed to lead an expedition to capture the couple, who had fled to Sagaing directly across the Irrawaddy river from Ava (Inwa). For his part, Swa had promised to grant the minister the districts of Taungbyon and Wayindok in fief, as well as give Queen Omma, who happened to be Swa's youngest sister, in marriage.

Yazathingyan went on to capture the city by guile. Instead of storming the heavily fortified city, which used to be the capital of the Sagaing Kingdom, he asked Nu to meet him outside the city to accept his defection. When Nu came out to meet his older brother with a few guards, Yazathingyan and his men promptly arrested him. He is said to have admonished his brother, "You're not of royal line; neither are your parents." The city fell with no resistance. Queen Omma too was captured. However, Nu soon escaped to Myadaung in the Shan states in the north, likely with Yazathingyan turning a blind eye.

Though he suspected Yazathingyan of willful negligence in Nu's escape, Swa kept his promise. The king gave the minister the fiefs of Taungbyon and Wayindok as well as Saw Omma in marriage. However, when Nu began raiding Ava's northern regions in 1369–1370, Swa was furious, and seriously considered purging Yazathingyan. The minister was saved only when one of the youngest and newest advisers at the court, Nga Nyo, gently advised the king that keeping one's word even in times of great adversity would engender trust and confidence in the king's future interactions with others. Swa accepted the advice, and decided to keep Yazathingyan at the court as well as allowed him to retain the two fiefs and his marriage to Saw Omma.

Later career


Yazathingyan apparently regained the king's trust in later years. Sometime between 1380 and 1383, he was appointed governor of Sagaing by the king. As the lord of a major fief, he dutifully went to the front as the commander of the Sagaing Regiment throughout the Ava–Hanthawaddy War (1385–1391), twice under the command of Crown Prince Tarabya (1385–1386, and 1390–1391), and once under the command of King Swa (1386–1387).

Attempted coup and death
His loyalty did not extend to Tarabya, who succeeded Swa in 1400. According to the chronicles, Yazathingyan was one of the pretenders who began jockeying for power soon after the new king went insane just five months into his reign. While chronicles do not explain why Yazathingyan, a commoner, would have even tried, he nevertheless was the first one to attempt a coup. He and his forces crossed the river by military transport boats from Sagaing to Ava. But as his boat was about to dock at the Ava pier, a strong, sudden gust of wind pushed him and the chair he was sitting on into the river, and he subsequently died in the river.

Military service
The following is a list of military campaigns in which Yazathingyan is explicitly mentioned in the royal chronicles as a commander.