Binnya Dala (minister-general)
He was the king's most trusted adviser and general,[1][2] and a key figure responsible for the expansion, defense and administration of the Toungoo Empire from the 1550s to his fall from grace in 1573.
[9][10] Bayinnaung in one stroke controlled most of the cis-Salween Shan states from the Patkai range at the Assamese border in the northwest to Mohnyin and Mogaung in the north to Momeik and Thibaw in the northeast to Mone in the east.
In November 1557, Bayinnaung listened to Binnya Dala, and rejected his son Crown Prince Nanda's proposal to acquire the neighboring Chinese vassal Shan states in the north.
[14] Pleased with Binnya Dala's intellect, versatility and battle-field performance, the king recalled him from Chiang Mai, and made him his primary adviser, general, and administrator in 1559.
The trio left Pegu on 2 December 1559 to take command of the invasion force (10,000 troops, 500 horses, 30 elephants, 50 ships), chiefly drawn from Upper Burma and Shan states.
[15] After Manipur, Bayinnaung put Binnya Dala in charge of the intelligence operations to keep track of Siam's defensive preparations.
In 1562, Binnya Dala recommended that trans-Salween Shan states be reduced to secure the rear before starting the Siam campaign.
[18] Following his battle plan, five Burmese armies acquired the aforementioned peripheral regions before converging on Ayutthaya and forcing the Siamese king's surrender in February 1564.
[20]) In August 1565, Binnya Dala returned to a still charred Pegu (Bago), which was burned down earlier in the year by a serious rebellion.
[25] When the newly rebuilt Kanbawzathadi Palace was officially opened on 16 March 1568, an appreciative king seated Binnya Dala in one of the most prominent positions in the elaborate ceremony.
[28] On 8 May 1569, Bayinnaung decisively defeated Setthathirath northeast of the city, after which Lan Xang ceased to be of concern to the siege operations.
[32] In late 1572, Binnya Dala, now styled as Agga Maha Thenapati (Pali: Aggamahāsenāpati),[33] left Pegu with 2000 troops.
Another 2000 troops each from Lan Na and Siam were also to march toward Vientiane from their respective bases,[32] but Binnya Dala and the Toungoo court had grossly underestimated the opposition.
At Pegu, the king, who never forgave a failure, was furious at Binnya Dala who used to be his favorite general, and sent him into exile in central Siam with just five attendants.
[2] Binnya Dala had written in an earlier memoir that "All [of us], his chosen men, in fact, whether Shans, Mons or Burmans... declared ourselves willing to lay down our lives [for him].
Concerned, King Maha Thammarachathirat of Siam moved him to a bigger town of Kamphaeng Phet, five months into the exile, and sent a mission to Pegu to request permission.
His loyal thwethauk blood brother, who won him many a battle, died about a month after the transfer to Kamphaeng Phet.
[5] Notwithstanding his complex duties of his high office, Binnya Dala also wrote many literary works, the most well known and significant of which is the chronicle Razadarit Ayedawbon.
