- published: 17 Apr 2016
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Shin Sawbu (Burmese: ရှင်စောပု, pronounced: [shɪ̀ɴ sɔ́ pṵ]; Mon: သေဝ်စါဝ်ပေါအ်; 1394–1471) was the 15th monarch of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom in Burma from 1454 to 1471. Queen Shin Sawbu was also known as Binnya Thau (ဗညားထောဝ်) or Old Queen in Mon. Queen Shin Sawbu and Queen Jamadevi of Haripunjaya are the two most famous among the small number of queens who ruled in mainland Southeast Asia.
Various Burmese chronicles do not agree on the key dates of the queen's life. Hmannan Yazawin, the last of the main chronicles, corrects previous dates.
Shin Sawbu was the only daughter of the Mon King Razadarit who had two sons as well. She was born on 11 February 1394 (Wednesday, 12th waxing of Tabaung of 755 ME) to the chief queen Thuddhamaya (သုဒ္ဓမာယာ). At birth she was given the name Viharadevi (from Sanskrit and Pali: vihara "monastery" + devi "goddess" or "queen" ), which likely means "queen of the monastery". At age 20 she was married to Binnya Bwe (Smin Chesao), Razadarit's nephew and had a son, Binnya Waru and two daughters, Netaka Taw and Netaka Thin. Her husband died when she was just 25.