Setkya Dewi

Setkya Dewi was born Supaya{{sfn|Nyo Mya|1998|p=302}} on 22 December 1813, during the reign of her great-grandfather King Bodawpaya, at the House of Thayet, Amarapura Palace, Amarapura.{{sfn|Than Win Hlaing|2015|p=80}} Her father, the Prince of Thayet (later Tharrawaddy Min),{{refn|group=nb|Tharrawaddy Min received the appanage of Thayet, during Bodawpaya's reign, and of Tharrawaddy during Bagyidaw's reign.}} was a son of Crown Prince Thado Minsaw, Prince of Shwedaung (son of Bodawpaya and the Queen of the Northern Palace) and the Princess of Taungdwingyi (daughter of Bodawpaya and the Chief Queen).{{sfn|Yar Kyaw|1968|p=317}} Her mother, the Princess of Kyapin, was a daughter of Thiha Thura Maha Dhamma Yaza, Viceroy of Pagan (son of Bodawpaya and the Queen of Southern Apartment) and Min Shwe Nan (daughter of Hsinbyushin and the Chief Queen).{{sfn|Yar Kyaw|1968|p=317}} Setkya Dewi had seven siblings, five of whom died young; Pagan Min was her elder brother.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004b|p=54}} Pagan Min eventually became the abdicated predecessor of her husband, Mindon Min, in 1853.

Setkya Dewi was educated at home, and her best subject was astrology;{{sfn|Myint-U|2001|p=109}} she read both traditional Burmese Bedin and the Vedas.{{sfn|Than Win Hlaing|2015|p=80}} She studied the English language under her grandfather the Prince of Mekkhaya{{sfn|Nyo Mya|1998|p=304}} and learned Western astronomy from Charles Lane, an English merchant.{{sfn|Than Win Hlaing|2015|p=80}} She was held in high regard by the British who often brought her gifts related to her interests in modern science.{{sfn|Myint-U|2001|p=109}} Lord Dalhousie described her, in his letter to Major Arthur Phayre on 21 May 1853, as the "Queen with such very blue stockings";{{sfn|Dalhousie|1932|p=70}} Phayre, on his arrival at the Amarapura court on 17 September 1855, presented her a telescope.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004b|p=160}}

Upon the abdication of her paternal uncle Sagaing Min, after about forty-day long{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004a|p=362}} palace revolution starting from 24 February 1837,{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004a|p=337}} her father ascended the throne on 30 April that year;{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004a|p=368}}{{sfn|Myint-U|2001|p=21}} consequently, Setkya Dewi assumed the position of Thameedawgyi{{refn|group=nb|{{langx|my|သမီးတော်ကြီး}}, {{lit|Royal eldest daughter}}}} (the equivalent of Princess Royal).{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004a|p=372}} On 31 May 1837, she was granted the appanages of Sagaing, Myede, Kyangin, Dala and Tharrawaddy.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004a|p=372–3}} Acting as an adviser to her father,{{sfn|Yar Kyaw|1968|p=325}} she was bestowed the newly-established{{sfn|Than Win Hlaing|2015|p=83}} honour of Jīvita Dāna ({{langx|my|အသက်ဒါနဆု}}, Athet Dāna Hsu; {{lit|Life release award}}), the authority to acquit people on death row,{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004a|p=377}}{{sfn|Myint-U|2001|p=69}} a power which she kept till the reign of Mindon Min.{{sfn|Nyo Mya|1998|p=302}} She was the first and only princess in Burmese history to be promoted such an honour;{{sfn|Than Win Hlaing|2015|p=83}} through her intervention, about fourteen people were absolved of their guilt,{{sfn|Nyo Mya|1998|p=304}} including Sagaing Min,{{sfn|Nyo Mya|1998|p=302}} Myawaddy Mingyi U Sa,{{cite news |title=ယိုးဒယားတေးသစ်ပြုတဲ့ စစ်သားစာဆို မြဝတီမင်းကြီး ဦးစ |url=https://www.bbc.com/burmese/in-depth-60376028 |work=BBC News မြန်မာ |language=my}} Hsinbyumashin,{{sfn|Khin Khin Lay|2003|p=43}} Yaw Mingyi U Pho Hlaing and Hlaing Hteik Khaung Tin.{{sfn|Than Win Hlaing|2015|p=83}}

When her father was about to execute her uncle Bagyidaw, she saved his life by saying,{{sfn|Than Win Hlaing|2015|p=83}}

{{Blockquote

|text= (In Burmese): {{lang|my|"အဖနှင့်တူသော နောင်တော်ကိုသတ်လျှင် ပိတုဃာတကံကြီး ထိုက်ကာ အဇာသသတ်ကဲ့သို့ ရာဇဝင်ရိုင်းဖွယ်ရှိသည်။"}}

(Translation): "Killing a brother who looks like father is akin to committing a great sin patricide, like Ajatashatru, and will deserve harsh historical retribution."

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|author= Setkya Dewi

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At her father's Rājjābhiseka coronation ceremony, held from 10 to 12 July 1840, Setkya Dewi was conferred the title of Thiri Pawara Tilawka Yadana Mingala Dewi ({{langx|pi|Sīripavara Tiloka Ratanā Maṅgalā Devī}}; {{langx|my|သီရိပဝရ တိလောကရတနာ မင်္ဂလာဒေဝီ}}).{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004a|p=405}} She was styled Princess Tabindaing and designated the chief queen of the next monarch, by her father.{{sfn|Nyo Mya|1998|p=302}}{{refn|group=nb|The princess designated is sequestered in a separate palace and remained unmarried, for she is expected to be the chief queen when the heir apparent eventually ascends the throne.}}

File:Bumblebee Throne of Myanmar.jpg

A festival in honour of the kaṇṇavijjhana maṅgalā (ear-boring ceremony) of Setkya Dewi was held from 8 to 28 November 1840 in Amarapura, starting with a Thingyandaw bathing rite.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004a|p=408}} At around 8:00 am on 11 November, a service conducting ear-boring, hair-knotting, shawl-wrapping and necklace-wearing rites of Setkya Dewi was performed in front of the Bhamarāsana Throne in the Glass Palace.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004a|p=408}} She was accompanied by Thiri Thu Myatswa Yadana Dewi, Princess of Hlaing, Thiri Thu Manla Wadi, Princess of Pindale, Thiri Thu Nanda Wadi, Princess of Yinge, Thiri Pabawadi, Princess of Taungtha, Thiri Thama Wadi, Princess of Nyaung-oke, Thiri Athawadi, Princess of Saw-hla, on each side as maids of honour. A service of hair-knotting and ear-boring was also carried out for Thado Minye Kyawhtin, Prince of Padein, Thado Minye Kyawgaung, Prince of Tayoke-myaw, Thado Minye Kyawswa, Prince of Mindat, at the same time.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004a|p=408}} As part of the ceremony, a total of 42 prisoners were released; bolts of paso, gaung baung and cotton cloth were given to princes, ministers, counsellors, su-yays{{refn|group=nb|{{langx|my|စုရေး}}; officials responsible for keeping the records of a corps of troops}} and su-gaings;{{refn|group=nb|{{langx|my|စုကိုင်}}; officials entrusted with administering a corps of troops (cavalry, artillery, etc.)}} pasos, htameins, gaung baungs, scarfs and towels were given away in charity to all the audience.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004a|p=408}} On 28 December 1840, at the Southern Samote Hall,{{refn|group=nb|{{langx|my|တောင်စမုတ်ဆောင်}}, Taung Samote Hsaung; {{lit|Southern gatehouse}}}} 1200 monks from kyaungs (monasteries) around the capital were offered food; on 3 January 1841, 1000 monks.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004a|p=409}}

Her brother, Pagan Min, acceded to the throne after the death of Tharrawaddy Min on 17 November 1846,{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004b|p=52}} and Setkya Dewi thus became Hnamadaw,{{refn|group=nb|{{langx|my|နှမတော်}}; {{lit|Royal younger sister}}}} still assuming the position of Princess Tabindaing.{{sfn|Nyo Mya|1998|p=303}} At the opening ceremony of royal hti and throne on 27 February 1847, she received the appanages of Sagaing, Singu, Kyaukmyaung, Myede, Kyangin, Tharrawaddy, Dala and Taungoo;{{sfn|Khin Khin Lay|2003|p=33}} the king ordered her to look after the Queen Mother (their mother) on his behalf.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004b|p=58}}{{sfn|Khin Khin Lay|2003|p=34}} Maha Thiha Minhtin was appointed hnamadaw-wun,{{refn|group=nb|{{langx|my|နှမတော်ဝန်}}; {{lit|Minister of Hnamadaw}}}} to serve as her private secretary.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004b|p=58}}{{sfn|Khin Khin Lay|2003|p=34}}

In the aftermath of the Second Anglo–Burmese War, Mindon Min took the throne following a conflict of succession with his half-brother, Pagan Min. Mindon Min and his brother Kanaung Min, with their immediate family and retainers,{{sfn|Myint-U|2001|p=105}} left the capital– through Laygyun Gate of the northernmost front moat– after 6 pm on 18 December 1852{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004b|p=93}} and fled to Shwebo, the seat of their ancestor, King Alaungpaya,{{sfn|Khin Khin Lay|2003|p=91}} after 12 at noon on 21 December 1852.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004b|p=98}} The issue was resolved on 17 February 1853,{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004b|p=111}} Pagan Min being overthrown and kept under house arrest.{{sfn|Myint-U|2001|p=105}}

Setkya Dewi, the Queen Mother, Ayeedaw{{refn|group=nb|{{langx|my|အရီးတော်}}; {{lit|Royal paternal aunt}}}} Myingun Mibaya, Thiri Tilawka Maha Yadana Dewi, the Princess of Hlaing, the Princess of Pindale, and the Princess of Yinge were brought to pandals in the court of Shwebo on 10 March 1853.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004b|p=114}} At around 1:36 am on 26 March, Setkya Dewi was made the chief queen consort at the front of the Great Audience Hall.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004b|p=114}} The ugindaw bwint ({{lit|opening the royal palace}}) ceremony of Mindon Min was held on 16 June 1854, at Amarapura Palace, at which the chief queen assumed the regnal titles Thiri Pawara Maha Yazeinda Yadana Dewi respectively.{{sfn|Maung Maung Tin|2004b|p=143-4}}

She died in 1876 and was buried in the Mandalay Palace stockade.{{cite book|title=List of Ancient Monuments in Burma (I. Mandalay Division)|publisher=Office of the Superintendent, Government Printing, Burma|location=Rangoon|date=1910|volume=1|url=https://archive.org/details/listofancientmon01burm}} After her death, King Mindon paid her the respect of allowing no one to either enter her palace or comb his hair. As signs of grief he dressed in pure white and lived near her tomb, which was the third erected within the sacred precincts of the palace, the first being that of Khin The (the Queen of the Northern Palace), the favourite wife of King Mindon.

Her personality and role have been adapted into character in Thai television drama named The Royal Fire in the name Queen Sekkharadevi in 1996 Portrayed by Priyanuch Panpradab and 2017 Portrayed by Chiranan Manochaem.https://pantip.com/topic/36333216https://www.dek-d.com/board/knowledge/3730589/http://oknation.nationtv.tv/blog/print.php?id=415685

{{Ahnentafel

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|1= 1. Thiri Pawara Atula Tilawka Maha Yazeinda Adhipati Yadana Dewi

|2= 2. Tharrawaddy Min of Burma

|3= 3. Thiri Pawara Tilawka Maha Yadana Paduma Dewi, Queen of the Southern Palace

|4= 4. Crown Prince Thado Minsaw, Prince of Shwedaung

|5= 5. Thiri Tilawka Maha Thubhatta Yadana Dewi, Princess of Taungdwingyi

|6= 6. Thiha Thura Maha Dhamma Yaza, Viceroy of Pagan

|7= 7. Min Shwe Nan

|8= 8. King Bodawpaya of Burma

|9= 9. Thiri Maha Sandabhi Yadana Dewi, Queen of the Northern Palace

|10= 10. King Bodawpaya

|11= 11. Thiri Pawara Maha Yazeinda Mingala Yadana Dewi, Queen of the Southern Palace

|12= 12. King Bodawpaya

|13= 13. Thiri Maha Mingala Dewi, Queen of the Southern Apartment

|14= 14. King Hsinbyushin of Burma

|15= 15. Thiri Atula Yadana Padumma Dewi, Queen of the Southern Palace

}}

{{reflist|group=nb}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Dalhousie |first1=Lord |author-link=James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie |title=The Dalhousie-Phayre Correspondence, 1852-1856 |date=1932 |publisher=Oxford University Press, H. Milford |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlygAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}

• {{cite book |last1=Khin Khin Lay |first1=Dagon |author-link=Dagon Khin Khin Lay |title=ရတနာပုံ၏ နိဒါန်းနှင့်နိဂုံး |trans-title=Beginning and Ending of Yadanabon |date=2003 |publisher=Tawwin Myoma Publishing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LnJuAAAAMAAJ&q=%E1%80%9B%E1%80%90%E1%80%94%E1%80%AC%E1%80%95%E1%80%AF%E1%80%B6%E1%81%8F+%E1%80%94%E1%80%AD%E1%80%92%E1%80%AB%E1%80%94%E1%80%BA%E1%80%B8%E1%80%94%E1%80%BE%E1%80%84%E1%80%B7%E1%80%BA+%E1%80%94%E1%80%AD%E1%80%82%E1%80%AF%E1%80%B6%E1%80%B8 |language=my}}

• {{cite book |last1=Maung Maung Tin |first1=U |title=ကုန်းဘောင်ဆက် မဟာရာဇဝင်တော်ကြီး |trans-title=Chronicle of the Konbaung Dynasty |date=2004a |volume=2 |publisher=Department of Universities History Research, University of Yangon |location=Yangon |edition=4th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YGNuAAAAMAAJ |language=my}}

• {{cite book |last1=Maung Maung Tin |first1=U |title=ကုန်းဘောင်ဆက် မဟာရာဇဝင်တော်ကြီး |trans-title=Chronicle of the Konbaung Dynasty |date=2004b |volume=3 |publisher=Department of Universities History Research, University of Yangon |location=Yangon |edition=4th |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-DXDE7KLPj9d6-naxzQQ2M6S-f0Kt-Wj/view?usp=drivesdk |language=my}}

• {{cite book |last1=Myint-U |first1=Thant |author-link=Thant Myint-U |title=The Making of Modern Burma |date=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511613661 |isbn=978-0-521-78021-6 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511613661}}

• {{cite book |last1=Nyo Mya |first1=U |author-link=Nyo Mya |title=ကုန်းဘောင်ရှာပုံတော် |trans-title=The Quest for Konbaung |date=1998 |publisher=Myawaddy Publishing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8l3UzgEACAAJ&q=%E1%80%80%E1%80%AF%E1%80%94%E1%80%BA%E1%80%B8%E1%80%98%E1%80%B1%E1%80%AC%E1%80%84%E1%80%BA%E1%80%9B%E1%80%BE%E1%80%AC%E1%80%95%E1%80%AF%E1%80%B6%E1%80%90%E1%80%B1%E1%80%AC%E1%80%BA |language=my}}

• {{cite book |last1=Than Win Hlaing |title=ရာဇဝင်ထဲမှ ထင်ရှားသော မင်းမိဘုရားများ |trans-title=Famous Queens in Burmese History |date=2015 |publisher=Moe Kyaw Sarpay |language=my}}

• {{cite book |last1=Tin Naing Toe |title=ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ် မင်းမှုထမ်းများ အဘိဓာန် |trans-title=Dictionary of Konbaung Officials |date=2012 |publisher=Ah-Man-Thit sarpay |edition=1st |language=my}}

• {{cite book |last1=Yar Kyaw |first1=U |title=မြန်မာမဟာမင်္ဂလာမင်းခမ်းတော် |date=1968 |publisher=Paññcāuptuik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Th3JzgEACAAJ |language=my}}

• {{cite book |last1=Yule |first1=Sir Henry |author-link=Henry Yule |title=A Narrative of the Mission Sent by the Governor-general of India to the Court of Ava in 1855: With Notices of the Country, Government, and People |date=1858 |publisher=Smith, Elder and Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=13wsAAAAYAAJ |language=en}}

• Konbaung dynasty
• List of Burmese consorts

{{Authority control}}

Category:Konbaung dynasty

Category:1813 births

Category:1876 deaths

Category:Burmese Buddhists

Category:Chief queens consort of Konbaung dynasty

Category:Daughters of kings