Mahadhammaraza Dipadi

The future king was born to Prince Taninganway and his chief queen Thiri Maha Mingala Dewi. He was the fifth child and fourth son of the couple. He was given Singu in fief in his youth. He became the heir presumptive because all three elder brothers died young. He was made the heir apparent on 6 May 1727 (1st waning of Kason 1089 ME).Hmannan Vol. 3 2003: 362

Five years into his reign, the armies of Manipur invaded and plundered the northern Burmese provinces. The Burmese were unable to suppress them.

Since the move of capital from Pegu to Ava by King Thalun in 1635, Pegu had become the rallying point for the Mon revival and insurgency. The Burmese governors were readily hated due to heavy corrupted taxation. Taking the advantage of weak royal authority after the Manipur invasions, a Burmese governor rebelled and proclaimed himself the King of Pegu in 1740. The Mons, unwilling to have a Burmese king in Pegu, rioted and murdered the new king. Mahadhammaraza Dipati then installed his uncle as the new governor of Pegu.

Yet the Mons were still unsatisfied and went on to kill Burmese officials in Pegu. The king was then enraged at the Mons and ordered a massacre of the Mons at Pegu. The Gwe Shans (the Shans who were taken as captives from their northern homelands to Pegu by King Bayinnaung in the 16th century) took this opportunity to stage their own rebellion. The Shan armies with supports from the Mons took Pegu in 1740. A popular monk of Shan origin was proclaimed Gwe Min the King of Pegu.

As Ava was largely distracted by another Manipur invasion. The Peguan armies invaded Prome and Ava but failed. They were able to take Toungoo. Thado Minkhaung, the viceroy of Prome and Mahadhammaraza Dipati’s brother, hurried south and took Syriam but was soon repelled. Prome eventually fell to the Mons in 1745. The Mons tried to take Ava again without success.

In 1747, Binnya Dala was proclaimed the King of Pegu. The two sides were unable to overcome each other until 1751 when the crown prince of Pegu (Binnya Dala’s brother) marched the Peguan armies into Upper Irrawaddy and laid siege on Sagaing and Ava. Ava fell to the Mons on 22 March 1752 (Wednesday, 8th waxing of Late Tagu 1113 ME) and Maha Dhammaraza Dipati was taken as captive down to Pegu.Hmannan Vol. 3 2003: 392–395 Mahadhammaraza Dipati had survived for another two years before being executed in 1754 due to a suspected rebellion.

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• {{cite book | last=Htin Aung | author-link=Htin Aung | first=Maung | title=A History of Burma | publisher=Cambridge University Press | location=New York and London | year=1967}}
• {{cite book | author=Royal Historians of Burma | title=Zatadawbon Yazawin | year=c. 1680 | edition=1960 | editor=U Hla Tin (Hla Thamein) | publisher=Historical Research Directorate of the Union of Burma}}
• {{cite book | author=Royal Historical Commission of Burma | author-link=Royal Historical Commission of Burma | title=Hmannan Yazawin | volume=1–3 | year=1829–1832 | location=Yangon | language=Burmese | edition=2003 | publisher=Ministry of Information, Myanmar}}

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{{s-hou|Toungoo Dynasty|c. 29 March|1714|13 October|1754}}

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{{s-bef|before=Taninganway}}

{{s-ttl|title=King of Burma|years=14 November 1733 – 22 March 1752}}

{{s-aft|after=Alaungpaya}}

{{s-bef|before=Taninganway}}

{{s-ttl|title=Heir to the Burmese Throne|years=6 May 1727 – 14 November 1733}}

{{s-aft|after=Naungdawgyi}}

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{{Burmese monarchs}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahadhammaraza Dipadi}}

Category:Rulers of Toungoo

Category:1714 births

Category:1754 deaths

Category:18th-century Burmese monarchs