Nga Nu

This article is about the pretender to the Ava throne. For other people with the Burmese name Nu, see Nu (Burmese name).

Commander Nga Nu
Adviser
In office April 1364 – September 1367
Monarch	Thado Minbya
Personal details
Born	Nu 1340s Sagaing Kingdom
Spouse	Saw Omma of Pinya (1367)
Profession	Commander (Atwinthin Hmu)
Military service
Allegiance	Ava Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Burmese Army
Years of service	1364–67
Rank	Commander
Commands	Inner Royal Household Guards
Battles/wars	Sagu (1367)

In this Burmese name, Nga is an honorific, not a given name.

Commander Nga Nu also known as Athwinthin Hmu Nga Nu (Burmese: အတွင်းသင်းမှူး ငနု, [ʔətwɪ́ɴθɪ́ɴ m̥ú ŋə nṵ]) was a military commander in the service of King Thado Minbya of Ava, and a close adviser to the king. After the death of Thado Minbya in September 1367, the commander tried to seize the throne with the help of Queen Saw Omma. He got Saw Omma to his side by telling her that Thado Minbya had ordered him to kill his chief queen lest she should pass to another man. With the threat, he got Saw Omma to marry him.

The coup failed despite he and his men having tried killing off anyone who opposed them at the palace. The court was not ready to accept Nga Nu, a commoner from both sides, as king. The couple fled to Sagaing where they hoped to revive the old Sagaing Kingdom. But they never gained the support of former vassals of Sagaing. When the new king Swa Saw Ke sent a battalion commanded by Nga Nu's brother Yazathingyan Nga Mauk, Nga Nu fled while Saw Omma was captured.

He and his men remained active at the northern edges of the kingdom for the next few years. From their base in Lahu (present-day Myataung in Katha District), they raided northern towns from time to time.

Bibliography

• Harvey, G. E. (1925). History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
• Royal Historical Commission of Burma (1832). Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2003 ed.). Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.