Supayalat

Queen of Burma

Supayalat (Burmese: ??????????, pronounced [s?p??já la?]; 13 December 1859 – 24 November 1925), also spelt Suphayalat, was the last queen of Burma who reigned in Mandalay (1878–1885), born to King Mindon Min and Queen of Alenandaw (literally Middle Palace, also known as Hsinbyumashin or Lady of the White Elephant).

The British corruption of her name was "Soup Plate".She was married to her half-brother, Thibaw, who became the last king of the Konbaung dynasty in 1878, upon Mindon Min's death.

She is best known for engineering a of 80 to 100 royal family members, to prevent potential rivals from usurping Thibaw's power, although she had always denied any knowledge of the plot, which may have been hatched by her mother together with some of the ministers, including the chancellor Kinwon Min Gyi U Kaung.

U Kaung had traveled around the world and seen for himself the power of the British military.When U Kaung pleaded to the King Thibaw at the Royal court that the kingdom should not go to war with the British, Supayalat angrily says, "This old man is always timid.

He should wear a woman's htamein.Sent a htamein and a thanaka grinding stone to U Kaung's house this evening." King Thibaw was known for his reliance on Supayalat.

Although Thibaw was king, many historians say it was Supayalat who actually ruled the country.The bloody coup that brought her and Thibaw to power associated her name with cruelty, brutality and barbarity.

As a greatest achievement of Supayalat, she changed the royal tradition of polygamy to monogamy on a Burmese king for the first and the last time in history and never allowed her Thibaw to take another woman as a consort.