Hanthawaddy military commander (active 1389–1413)
Native name သၟိင် သာံကြာယ် (also သၟိင် သာံကြာဲ)
Allegiance Royal Hanthawaddy Armed Forces Service / branch Navy, Army Years of service by 1389–1413 Rank Commander Battles / wars
Smin Than-Kye (Mon : သၟိင် သာံကြာယ် or သၟိင် သာံကြာဲ ;[ note 1] Burmese : သမိန် သံကြယ် , Burmese pronunciation: [θəmèiɴ θàɰ̃ dʑɛ̀] ) was a Hanthawaddy military commander who fought in several campaigns of the Forty Years' War against Ava forces at least between 1389 and 1413. He is best remembered for his successful defense of Gu-Htut against much larger forces led by King Swa Saw Ke of Ava in 1390–1391.
Military service
The following is a list of military campaigns in which Than-Kye is explicitly mentioned in the royal chronicles as a commander.
Campaign
Duration
Troops commanded[ note 2]
Notes
Hanthawaddy conquest of the Irrawaddy delta
1389–1390
?
Co-commanded the Hanthawaddy force that occupied Gu-Htut.[ 3]
Battle of Gu-Htut
1390–1391
5000 troops, 150 war boats
Overall commander of Gu-Htut Corps consisted 1 regiment and 4 naval squadrons.[ 4] [ 5] [ 6] [ 7]
Invasion of Ava
1401–1402
1 flotilla
Commanded one of the 13 flotillas that invaded along the Irrawaddy[ 8]
Conquest of Arakan
March 1408
One of two deputy commanders in 1st Division of the strike force[ 8]
Pursuit of Ava Army
August 1408
Commanded a regiment in the 2nd army that pursued the retreating Ava forces.[ 9] [ 10] [ 11]
Battle of Khebaung
late 1410
Successfully defended Fort Khebaung against Minye Kyawswa 's forces[ 2] [ 12] [ 13] [ 14]
Siege of Prome
late 1412
1 regiment
Commanded one of the eight regiments that laid siege to Prome[ 15] [ 16] [ 17]
Siege of Talezi
December 1412–March 1413
1 regiment
Commanded one of the eight regiments that defended Fort Talezi (across the river from Prome) against Minye Kyawswa's forces[ 15] [ 16] [ 17]
Notes
^ (Pan Hla 2005) provides two Mon spellings: သာံကြာယ်[ 1] and သာံကြာဲ[ 2]
^ Chronicle reported troop levels reduced by an order of magnitude per (Harvey 1925: 333–336)
References
^ Pan Hla 2005: 240
^ a b Pan Hla 2005: 273
^ Pan Hla 2005: 197
^ Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 301
^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 202
^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 429–430
^ Pan Hla 2005: 198
^ a b Pan Hla 2005: 205
^ Maha Yazawin Vol. 1 2006: 340
^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 233
^ Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 484
^ Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 29
^ Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 237
^ Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 6
^ a b Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 32–33
^ a b Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 239
^ a b Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 10
Bibliography