Dabayin Min (), commonly known as Naungdawgyi ( ; 10 August 1734 – 28 November 1763) was the second king of Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar), from 1760 to 1763. He was a top military commander in his father Alaungpaya's reunification campaigns of the country. As king, he spent much of his short reign suppressing multiple rebellions across the newly founded kingdom from Ava (Inwa) and Toungoo (Taungoo) to Martaban (Mottama) and Chiang Mai. The king suddenly died less than a year after he had successfully suppressed the rebellions. He was succeeded by his younger brother Hsinbyushin.
Early life
Naungdawgyi was born Maung Lauk () to Yun San and Aung Zeya (later King Alaungpaya) on 10 August 1736 (Tuesday, 11th waxing of Wagaung 1096 ME) in a small village of Moksobo, about 60 miles northwest of Ava (Inwa). He was the eldest child of the couple's nine children. In 1736, his father became the chief of Moksobo, and the deputy chief of the Mu valley, their home region.
Lauk grew up during the period in which the royal authority of the king at Ava had largely dissipated across the kingdom. He watched helplessly as the Meiteis ransack his home region year after year, and could not understand why the king could not prevent these repeated raids. Their sense of helplessness only deepened in 1740, the Mon of Lower Burma broke away, and founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom centered in Pegu (Bago). Throughout his teens, Lauk and his fellow Upper Burmans watched how Pegu was increasingly winning the war against Ava.
Heir-apparent and commander
By the time Peguan armies captured Ava in March 1752, his father had persuaded the people of Mu valley to join him in his resistance effort, declared himself king with the royal style of Alaungpaya, and founded the Konbaung Dynasty. As the eldest son, Naungdawgyi was appointed the heir apparent although their self-styled "kingdom" consisted of just 46 villages in the Mu valley.
Still just 17, Naungdawgyi fought alongside his father's best commanders against the invading forces of Pegu. Though not as talented as his younger brother Hsinbyushin, two years his junior, Naungdawgyi proved to be a top military commander in his own right, leading armies in the Konbaung military campaigns that defeated the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom in 1757.
He stayed behind managing the kingdom on his father's behalf during Alaungpaya's later campaigns: Manipur in 1758 and Siam (1759–1760). His father died from a sudden illness in the Siamese campaign in May 1760.
Succession crisis
As the heir-apparent, Naugndawgyi was in line to succeed Alaungpaya who had pronounced that all of his six sons by his first wife would become king in the order of seniority. Yet the succession was not smooth. Throughout Burmese monarchy, succession was usually associated with rebellions by vassal kings and governors, coups, and/or bloody purges. Naungdawgyi's accession was no exception.
The first threat to his authority came from his eldest younger brother Hsinbyushin, who sought the army's support for his attempt at the throne. Hsinbyushin did not get the support but Naungdawgyi forgave his brother at the queen mother's intercession. Naungdawgyi was crowned on 26 July 1760 at Sagaing, and ascended the Peacock throne at Shwebo on 9 February 1761 with the reign name of Thiri Pawara Maha Dhammayaza (; ). Following Alaungpaya's wishes, Hsinbyushin was made the heir-apparent.
Rebellions
Naungdawgyi faced multiple rebellions during his short reign: one by Gen. Minkhaung Nawrahta (1761), two separate ones by the vassal states of Toungoo (1761–1762) and Lan Na (1761–1763). Another vassal state Manipur also came under attack by Manipuri rebels in 1763.
Ava
Naungdawgyi forgave Hsinbyushin possibly because he was more concerned with a possible insurrection by the army. He had incurred distrust among the army command because he executed two of the generals he disliked as soon as he became king. One of his father's most trusted generals Minkhaung Nawrahta, with whom Naungdawgyi never got along, decided to rebel when he was summoned to see the new king. The general, who commanded deep respect among the troops, and his followers (12,000-strong) seized Ava on 25 June 1760. It took over five months for Naungdawgyi to retake the city in early December. The general was killed by a musket shot as he fled the city. Naungdawgyi was shaken by this tragedy, and was deeply remorseful at the death of one of his father's brothers-in-arms.