Nga Tet Pya

A well-known folkloric figure in Burmese culture, he is remembered as a Robin Hood-like character, who robbed the rich, and shared his loot with the poor.

While Nga Tet Pya appears only briefly in the royal chronicles,[note 2] several folkloric versions of his alleged exploits have been retold in popular Burmese culture.

[3][4] Because several southern vassals of Pinya had refused to submit to the new regime, the new king was constantly on the road with his army to suppress the rebellions.

[5][6] It was during the chaotic times that Tet Pya reportedly committed a series of burglaries along the Irrawaddy in Sagaing, across the river from Thado Minbya's newly built capital of Ava (Inwa).

[note 4] Chronicles continue that Tet Pya, a mere commoner, nonetheless remained defiant when he was brought before the young king, known for meting out severe punishments.

[7] (The king had just returned from the Nganwegon front where he had personally executed the rebel leader Baya Kyawthu, and consumed a meal on the chest of the corpse, shocking even his most battle-hardened commanders.

Harvey, Thado Minbya's elevation of an outlaw to high office was not common but not rare in Burmese history: "this method of selection was occasionally used as late as 1885".

In late 1366, he marched with the king and the army to Taungdwin, another southern rebel-held state whose ruler Thettawshay Thihapate had heavily fortified with high walls and a deep moat.

He is commonly portrayed as a daring protagonist who robbed the rich, and shared the loot with the poor, and as a cunning escape artist, who repeatedly evaded capture.

When Tet Pya finally showed up at the river bank after midnight, the disguised king made small talk, and convinced the burglar to have a few drinks at his house nearby.

[15] Another version says during the construction of the Buddhist stupa he is said to have donated, the Ma-Shi Khana Pagoda in his native Sagaing, the funds were constantly running short but Tet Pya always managed to refill the coffers by going back to his old profession.