Minye Kyawswa I of Ava

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Minye Kyawswa I of Ava (Burmese: မင်းရဲကျော်စွာ, pronounced [mɪ́ɰ̃jɛ́ tɕɔ̀zwà]; also known as Hsinbyushin Minye Kyawswa Gyi (ဆင်ဖြူရှင် မင်းရဲကျော်စွာကြီး, lit. 'Lord of the White Elephant Minye Kyawswa the Elder'; c. December 1410–c. January 1442) was king of Ava (Inwa) from 1439 to c. 1442. In less than three years of rule, the second king from the royal house of Mohnyin (မိုးညှင်းဆက်) had recovered four major former vassal states of Ava: his native Mohnyin, Kale (Kalay), Taungdwin and Toungoo (Taungoo), and was about to capture a fifth, Mogaung, which was achieved shortly after his death. Despite the successes farther afield, his attempt to capture the closer districts of Pinle and Yamethin failed.

His reign marked Ava's first attempt to forcefully reclaim the former vassal states that it had lost since the mid-1420s. As king, Minye Kyawswa implemented a more aggressive policy against the rebel states, which he had advocated for since his days as crown prince of Ava (1426–1439) but could not get his father King Mohnyin Thado to prioritize. He launched a major military campaign in every dry season of his short reign.^[1] Ava's campaigns in the kingdom's north benefited greatly from Ming China's campaigns against the powerful Shan-speaking state of Mong Mao.^[2] King Minye Kyawswa I's expansionist policy would be continued by his successor and brother King Narapati I under whose leadership Ava would reach its height of power in the early second half of the 15th century.^[3]