Kayin Ba
| Kayin Ba ကရင်ဘ |
|
|---|---|
| Governor of Toungoo | |
|
In office 1325–1342 |
|
| Monarch |
Uzana I of Pinya (1325–40) Sithu of Pinya (1340–42) |
| Preceded by | Saw Hnit |
| Succeeded by | Letya Sekkya |
| Mayor of Toungoo | |
|
In office c. 1300s? – 1325 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
c. February 1253 Sunday, c. late 614 ME East Paunglaung Pagan Empire |
| Died |
c. May 1342 (aged 89) c. early 704 ME Toungoo (Taungoo) Pinya Kingdom |
| Children | one daughter (adopted) |
| Religion | Theravada Buddhism |
Kayin Ba (Burmese: ကရင်ဘ, pronounced: [kəjɪ̀ɴ ba̰]; 1253–1342) was governor of Toungoo (Taungoo) from 1325 to 1342. Prior to his governorship, the commoner had served all the rulers of the frontier state since its creation in 1279, eventually rising to mayor of Toungoo by the 1310s. Taking advantage of the rivalry between King Uzana I and Crown Prince Kyawswa I at Toungoo's overlord Pinya, he seized the governorship in 1325 by assassinating Gov. Saw Hnit. While he remained a nominal vassal of Pinya, Ba ruled the region like a sovereign ruler for the next 17 years, transforming the hitherto minor vassal state into a regional power.
Born in early 1253, Kayin Ba was an athi (အသည်) commoner from a village east of the Paunglaung river (in present-day Taungoo District). Ba grew up to be a strong, athletic and skilled hunter, and had become the chief of his village by 1279. That year, he joined the service of Thawun Gyi and Thawun Nge, the brothers who had just founded the settlement of Toungoo, close to his village. The brothers, as the direct male descendants of their great grandfather Governor-General Ananda Thuriya, had claimed the right to rule the region, and sought allegiance from the regional chiefs.
At Toungoo, the strongly built Ba first became head of prisons. He eventually rose to become the mayor of the growing city, certainly by the 1310s. He was by then known as "Kayin Ba" (lit. "father of Kayin [child]") because he had adopted an ethnic Karen (Kayin) orphan girl. In 1317, he sided with Thawun Nge, who assassinated Thawun Gyi and seized the governorship. Thawun Nge was now in revolt of Toungoo's overlord Pinya, which was facing a serious rebellion by Sagaing in the north. Ba's son-in-law Letya Sekkya, husband of the adopted daughter, subsequently became the chief minister in the rebellious administration. At any rate, Toungoo survived the subsequent siege by Pinya, and negotiated a deal that allowed Thawun Nge to remain in office in exchange for nominal tribute.
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