When did the Kingdom of Pinya exist?

The Kingdom of Pinya existed 1313–1365. On this map it is drawn 1314–1374.

Southeast Asia · Tai kingdoms and Majapahit

Kingdom of Pinya

Kingdom (central Burma; capital Pinya) · 1313–1365

The Pinya kingdom was the direct successor of the Myinsaing regency. Thihathu, last of the three Myinsaing brothers and self-proclaimed king since 1309, founded a new capital at Pinya in the Kyaukse valley — closer to the Mu valley granary than old Pagan — and was crowned there on 7 February 1313 by the Pagan dowager queen Pwa Saw herself, lending the commoner dynasty Pagan's legitimacy.

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Type: Kingdom (central Burma; capital Pinya)
Existed: 1313–1365
Shown on the map: 1314–1374
Peak area: ~195,000 km² at founding, shrinking to ~80,000 km² (dataset: 195k)
Region: Southeast Asia

Origins & foundation

Political history & notable rulers

The kingdom was divided from birth. Thihathu named his stepson Uzana (a Pagan royal by blood) heir-apparent and his own son Kyawswa governor of Pinle, while slighting his eldest son Saw Yun — who seceded at Sagaing in 1315–17 and split the kingdom formally in 1325. The rump Pinya was then crippled by the Uzana I–Kyawswa I rivalry (1325–1344), in which the half-brothers kept private armies and Pinya could not even answer attacks on its own vassals. Kyawswa I (r. 1344–1350) briefly reunified the military, but after his sudden death the kingdom slid: vassals like Toungoo slipped away, and the northern Shan state of Maw (Möng Mao) raided repeatedly. King Narathu (r. 1359–1364) broke the Sagaing alliance and joined the Maw attack on Sagaing — only for the Maw to sack Pinya itself in May 1364 and carry him off.

Economy, culture & religion

Pinya was an agrarian state holding two of Burma's three great granaries (Kyaukse and Minbu), but it inherited Pagan's fiscal disease — up to two-thirds of cultivated land donated tax-free to religion — worsened by a drier 14th-century climate driving population south. Its 1359 land survey (sittan) decree is the earliest extant in Myanmar. Religion was Theravada Buddhism alongside the heterodox Ari tradition and animism.

Peak & territorial extent

At its 1313 founding Pinya nominally claimed ~140,000–195,000 km² from Tagaung to Tharrawaddy; effective power rarely exceeded 150 km around the capital, and shrank to ~100,000 km² after Sagaing's secession (1325) and ~80,000 km² after Toungoo's revolt (1358).

Decline & end

After the Maw sack, Thihathu's great-grandson Thado Minbya seized both ruined capitals in 1364 and founded the city and kingdom of Ava on 26 February 1365, absorbing Pinya and Sagaing alike.

Legacy & modern connections

Pinya exemplifies Burma's "small kingdoms period" (1287–1555): its failure taught its successor Ava the need for tighter control, and Ava's reunification of Upper Burma was built on the Pinya–Sagaing inheritance. The ruined walled site near the Irrawaddy–Myitnge confluence remains in Mandalay Region.

Common questions

What was the Kingdom of Pinya?: The Pinya kingdom was the direct successor of the Myinsaing regency. Thihathu, last of the three Myinsaing brothers and self-proclaimed king since 1309, founded a new capital at Pinya in the Kyaukse valley — closer to the Mu valley granary than old Pagan — and was crowned there on 7 February 1313 by the Pagan dowager queen Pwa Saw herself, lending the commoner dynasty Pagan's legitimacy.
When did the Kingdom of Pinya exist?: The Kingdom of Pinya existed 1313–1365. On this map it is drawn 1314–1374.
How large was the Kingdom of Pinya at its height?: At its 1313 founding Pinya nominally claimed ~140,000–195,000 km² from Tagaung to Tharrawaddy; effective power rarely exceeded 150 km around the capital, and shrank to ~100,000 km² after Sagaing's secession (1325) and ~80,000 km² after Toungoo's revolt (1358).
Who ruled the Kingdom of Pinya?: The kingdom was divided from birth. Thihathu named his stepson Uzana (a Pagan royal by blood) heir-apparent and his own son Kyawswa governor of Pinle, while slighting his eldest son Saw Yun — who seceded at Sagaing in 1315–17 and split the kingdom formally in 1325.
How did the Kingdom of Pinya end?: After the Maw sack, Thihathu's great-grandson Thado Minbya seized both ruined capitals in 1364 and founded the city and kingdom of Ava on 26 February 1365, absorbing Pinya and Sagaing alike.
What did the economy and culture of the Kingdom of Pinya rest on?: Pinya was an agrarian state holding two of Burma's three great granaries (Kyaukse and Minbu), but it inherited Pagan's fiscal disease — up to two-thirds of cultivated land donated tax-free to religion — worsened by a drier 14th-century climate driving population south. Its 1359 land survey (sittan) decree is the earliest extant in Myanmar.
Why does the Kingdom of Pinya still matter?: Pinya exemplifies Burma's "small kingdoms period" (1287–1555): its failure taught its successor Ava the need for tighter control, and Ava's reunification of Upper Burma was built on the Pinya–Sagaing inheritance. The ruined walled site near the Irrawaddy–Myitnge confluence remains in Mandalay Region.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia: Pinya Kingdom en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinya_Kingdom

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 10 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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