Setkya Dewi

Setkya Dewi was born Supaya on 23 December 1813 at the House of Thayet in the Amarapura Palace, Amarapura, during the reign of her great-grandfather King Bodawpaya. Her father, the Prince of Thayet (later Tharrawaddy Min), was a son of Crown Prince Thado Minsaw, Prince of Shwedaung, and the Princess of Taungdwingyi. Her mother, the Princess of Kyapin, was the daughter of Thiha Thura Maha Dhamma Yaza, Viceroy of Pagan, and Min Shwe Nan, a daughter of Hsinbyushin and his chief queen. Setkya Dewi had seven siblings, five of whom died young; her elder brother was Pagan Min, who later abdicated in favour of her husband, Mindon Min. She and her husband were also half-siblings, as Mindon Min was a son of Tharrawaddy Min and the Queen of the Southern Palace. Setkya Dewi was educated at home, and her strongest subject was astrology. She studied both the traditional Burmese Bedin and the Vedas. She learned English under her grandfather, the Prince of Mekkhaya, and acquired knowledge of Western astronomy from Charles Lane, an English merchant. She was highly regarded by British visitors, who frequently brought her gifts related to her scientific interests. In a letter to Major Arthur Phayre on 21 May 1853, Lord Dalhousie described her as "the Queen with such very blue stockings". When Phayre arrived at the Amarapura court on 17 September 1855, he presented her with a telescope. ==Thameedawgyi (1837–1846)==

Upon the abdication of Setkya Dewi's paternal uncle Sagaing Min following a forty-day palace revolution that began on 24 February 1837, her father ascended the throne on 30 April that year. Setkya Dewi consequently assumed the position of Thameedawgyi (the equivalent of Princess Royal). On 31 May 1837, she was granted the appanages of Sagaing, Myede, Kyangin, Dala, and Tharrawaddy. At her father's Rājjābhiseka coronation ceremony, held from 10 to 12 July 1840—a date chosen by her–Setkya Dewi was conferred the title Thiri Pawara Tilawka Yadana Mingala Dewi (; ). She was styled Princess Tabindaing and her father designated her as the future chief queen of the next monarch. Acting as an adviser to her father, Setkya Dewi was bestowed the newly established honour of Jīvita Dāna (, Athet Dāna Hsu; ). This distinction conferred upon her the authority to grant clemency to individuals sentenced to death, particularly those prosecuted as political prisoners during succession crises. She retained this prerogative into the reign of Mindon Min. She was the first and only princess in Burmese history to receive such an honour. Through her intervention, approximately fourteen people were absolved of their guilt, including Sagaing Min, Myawaddy Mingyi U Sa, Hsinbyumashin, Yaw Mingyi U Pho Hlaing, and Hlaing Hteik Khaung Tin. Ear-boring ceremony A festival honouring the kaṇṇavijjhana maṅgalā (ear-boring ceremony) of Setkya Dewi was held from 8 to 28 November 1840 in Amarapura, beginning with a Thingyandaw bathing rite. At around 8:00 a.m. on 11 November, a ceremony performing the ear-boring, hair-knotting, shawl-wrapping, and necklace-wearing rites for Setkya Dewi took place before the Bhamarāsana Throne in the Glass Palace. Her maids of honour were the Princesses of Hlaing, Pindale, Yinge, Taungtha, Nyaung-oke, and Saw-hla. A simultaneous hair-knotting and ear-boring service was conducted for the Princes of Padein, Tayoke-myaw, and Mindat. As part of the ceremony, forty-two prisoners were released. Bolts of paso, gaung baung, and cotton cloth were distributed to princes, ministers, counsellors, su-yays, and su-gaings. Additionally, pasos, htameins, gaung baungs, scarves, and towels were given in charity to attendees. On 28 December 1840, at the Southern Samote Hall, food offerings were made to 1,200 monks from surrounding kyaungs. Further offerings were made to 1,000 monks on 3 January 1841. ==Hnamadaw (1846–1853)==

Setkya Dewi's brother Pagan Min acceded to the throne following their father's death on 17 November 1846, and Setkya Dewi therefore became Hnamadaw while retaining her position as Princess Tabindaing. At the opening ceremony of the royal hti and throne on 27 February 1847, she was granted the appanages of Sagaing, Singu, Kyaukmyaung, Myede, Kyangin, Tharrawaddy, Dala, and Taungoo. The King further entrusted her with the duty of caring for the Queen Mother on his behalf. Maha Thiha Minhtin was appointed hnamadaw-wun to serve as her private secretary. ==Queen consort (1853–1876)==

In the aftermath of the Second Anglo–Burmese War, Mindon Min ascended the throne following a succession conflict with his half-brother Pagan Min. Mindon Min and his brother Kanaung Min, accompanied by their immediate family and retainers, left the capital through Laygyun Gate of the northernmost front moat after 6 p.m. on 18 December 1852. They fled to Shwebo, the ancestral seat of King Alaungpaya, arriving shortly after midday on 21 December 1852. The succession dispute was resolved on 17 February 1853, with Pagan Min being overthrown and placed under house arrest. Setkya Dewi, the Queen Mother, Ayeedaw Myingun Mibaya, Thiri Tilawka Maha Yadana Dewi, and the Princesses of Hlaing, Pindale, and Yinge were brought to pandals in the court of Shwebo on 10 March 1853. Around 1:36 a.m. on 26 March, Setkya Dewi was installed as the chief queen consort in front of the Great Audience Hall. During the ugindaw bwint () ceremony of 16 June 1854 at the Amarapura Palace, she assumed the regnal title Thiri Pawara Maha Yazeinda Yadana Dewi. She was two years older than her husband, and Mindon Min referred to her affectionately as Amadaw or Ma-phaya (). Mindon Min and Setkya Dewi's coronation ceremony was held on 14 May 1857 at the newly built Mandalay Palace. ==Illness and death==

On 26 August 1876, Setkya Dewi fell ill the day after accompanying her husband on a visit to the royal gardens by royal boat. She had previously fallen ill on 7 August that year but recovered after ten days. This second illness proved more serious. Eight physicians, together with her personal doctors Naymyo Thekka Nawratha and Meikhtila Saya, attended her. Their work was supervised by Mingyi Maha Mingaung Thinkhayar, Myosa (Duke) of Hlaingtet and Wundauk of Kinnzin, and Mingyi Minhla Maha Sithu, Myosa of Wetmasut and minister for Shwepyi. Later, a German physician, Minkyaw Theiddi Bithekka Pyinnnyar, who served as minister for forestry, was added to the medical team. The Myosas of Yaw and Myothit presented the Queen with eight golden htis, which her brother Pagan Min, the former king, brought to the southern royal garden where she resided. As acts of merit for Setkya Dewi's recovery, a budget of 170,000 kyats was allocated from the royal treasury. Sixty-five bridges were repaired, and sixty-five prisoners were released. Beginning on 2 October 1876, daily food offerings were made to sixty-five monks at the Zetawun Hall. Ten sayadaws from the city presided over a three-day recitation of the Paṭṭhāna, Bojjanga Sutta, and Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, which Setkya Dewi listened to attentively. The Queen died on 12 November 1876 at around 11:06 a.m., reportedly while listening to the recitations of the sayadaws. ==State funeral==

Setkya Dewi's remains were prepared for lying in state, overseen by her husband, her brother Pagan Min, and her sister the Queen of the Western Palace. Her body was placed in the coffin on 14 November. A statue of Setkya Dewi was created under the supervision of the Myosa of Khanpet, using 5.55 viss of gold. Mindon Min himself supervised the daily construction of the royal tomb in the northern royal garden, and the Myosas of Khanpet and Hlaingtet were instructed to oversee the work. The procession to the royal tomb took place on 2 December 1876. The bier was carried first by the elder princes to the Western Samote Hall, including the Princes of Thonze, Mekkhaya, Nyaungyan, Nyaungok, and Thibaw. From there, it was borne by the Princes of Taungnyo, Myinsaing, and Htantabin and other sons and grandsons of Kanaung Min to the royal tomb. From the tomb itself, the body was carried by the Queen of the Central Palace, the Queen of the Western Palace, and other mibayas and princesses to the funeral pyre. Mindon Min held royal audience at the royal tomb for three months following her death and thereafter wore white cloth exclusively. ==In popular culture==

Her personality and role were adapted into a character in the Thai television drama The Royal Fire, where she was portrayed as Queen Sekkharadevi by Priyanuch Panpradab in 1996 and by Chiranan Manochaem in 2017. ==Ancestry==