Nawrahta of Kanni

Nawrahta of Kanni (Burmese: ကန်းနီ နော်ရထာ,^[1] pronounced [káɴnì nɔ̀jətʰà]; also spelled ကန္နီ နော်ရထာ,^[2] [kàɴnì nɔ̀jətʰà]) was a senior Myinsaing prince, who held important governorship positions in the rival Burmese-speaking kingdoms of Pinya and Sagaing. He was the youngest child of King Thihathu and his chief queen Mi Saw U, and the youngest brother of kings Uzana I and Kyawswa I of Pinya.^[3]

Nawrahta of Kanni ကန်းနီ နော်ရထာ
Governor of Kanni
Reign	1349 – 1364?
Governor of Pinle
Reign	29 March 1344 – c. April 1349
Predecessor	Kyawswa I (as Viceroy)
Successor	Min Letwe
Governor of Shisha
Reign	7 February 1313 – 29 March 1344
Born	c. 1300s Pinle
Issue	Thettawshay of Dabayin
Father	Thihathu
Mother	Mi Saw U
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Nawrahta was given the town of Shisha (ရှိရှား) in fief on 7 February 1313 by Thihathu.^[3] He remained loyal to his father's Pinya faction when the Myinsaing Kingdom split into Pinya and Sagaing kingdoms in 1315. He remained loyal to Pinya throughout the reigns of Uzana I and Sithu. On 29 March 1344,^{[note 1]} Kyawswa I succeeded the Pinya throne and appointed his younger brother Nawrahta governor of the important city of Pinle, their ancestral base.^[1] But two brothers became rivals, and in 1349,^{[note 2]} Nawrahta fled west to Sagaing where his nephew Nawrahta Minye had just become king. Nawrahta Minye appointed Nawrahta governor of Kanni.^[1]

All royal chronicles from Maha Yazawin (1724) onward identify Nawrahta of Kanni as an ancestor (maternal great-great-great grandfather) of King Bayinnaung of Toungoo Dynasty.^[4]

Notes

1. Chronicles (Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 380) say Kyawswa I came to power in 704 ME (28 March 1342 to 27 March 1343). But inscriptional evidence (Than Tun 1959: 124) shows he came to power on 29 March 1344.
2. Per inscriptional evidence (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 175, footnotes 5 and 6), Nawrahta Minye reigned for seven months and was alive on 8 November 1349 (Sunday, 13th waning of Tazaungmon 711 ME).