Toungoo

The Toungoo were the ruling house of the frontier principality of Toungoo on the Sittaung river. The brothers Thawun Gyi and Thawun Nge founded the town in 1279 as Pagan power collapsed. Kayin Ba, an athi commoner, rose from prison officer to mayor; in 1325 he exploited a succession struggle in Pinya, killed the young governor Saw Hnit and ruled like a sovereign.

He repaired irrigation works and kept 150 war elephants, turning Toungoo into a regional power before his death in 1342. The governors broke free of Pinya in 1358. Ava reincorporated Toungoo in 1470, but Mingyi Nyo became governor in 1485 and declared independence in 1510.

His successors Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung built the First Toungoo Empire. After its collapse the Nyaungyan restoration ruled from Ava until the Mon revolt of 1740 and the fall of Inwa in 1752 ended the dynasty.