page_title: Thibaw Min
section_title: Life in exile
hierarchical_section_title: Thibaw Min / Life in exile
caption_attribution_description: English: Four Princess, daughters of King Thibaw (Myat Phaya Galay (fourth), Myat Phaya Gyi(first), Myat Phaya Lat(second), Myat Phaya(third))
context_page_description: Thibaw Min, also Thebaw or Theebaw was the last king of the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma and also the last Burmese sovereign in the country's history. His reign ended when Burma was defeated by the forces of the British Empire in the Third Anglo-Burmese War, on 29 November 1885, prior to its official annexation on 1 January 1886.
context_section_description: After abdicating the throne, Thibaw, his wife Supayalat and two infant daughters were exiled to Ratnagiri, India, a port city off the Arabian Sea. During their first 24 years in India, Thibaw's family lived at Outram Hall, in Dharangaon, inland from Ratanagiri, but in 1906 the Government agreed to spend over 125,000 rupees (c £9000) to construct a new official residence (Source: W S Desai: "Deposed King Thibaw" (1967) p. 72). The family then moved into a grand two storey brick building, colloquially "Thibaw's Palace," built of laterite and lava rock, on a 20 acres (8.1 ha) property.
  The Government of India initially gave Thibaw an annual allowance varying between 35,000 and 42,000 rupees.  This was increased in 1906 to 100,000 rupees (c £7000) (Source: Desai ibid p.62).  He was reportedly reclusive and did not leave the property during his time in Ratanagiri, but he sponsored local festivals, particularly during Diwali. He died at age 57 on 15 December 1916 and was buried at a small walled plot adjacent to a Christian cemetery, along with one of his consorts, Hteiksu Phaya Galay.
  The surviving exiled royal family were relocated to Burma in 1919 after the kings death.
  The first born daughter, Myat Phaya Gyi, returned to Ratnagiri despite the royal family’s opposition. She had a romance with the Indian driver, Gopal Sawant, during exile which had resulted in a daughter, Tutu. Gyi and Tutu lived in poverty and survived by making paper flowers to sell on the markets because Sawant took all of her pension from the British government; he did however buy them a house. Tutu went on to live in poverty and had 11 children who never knew their past until recent interest in the royal family.
  The second daughter, Myat Phaya Lat, became the pretender to the throne and married her fathers private secretary, Khin Maung Lat, who also was his nephew. They did not have any children but Lat adopted her Nepalese maidservants son.
  The third daughter, Myat Phaya, went on to marry twice. Her first marriage was to a Burmese prince, Hteik Tin Kodawgyi, whom she had a daughter with, Phaya Rita, and after their divorce she got remarried with a Burmese lawyer, Mya U. Phaya Rita married her cousin, Taw Phaya, son of Myat Phaya Galay.
  The fourth daughter, Myat Phaya Galay, married a former Burmese monk, Ko Ko Naing, and had six children one of whom was pretender to the throne, Taw Phaya, who married his cousin, Phaya Rita, daughter of Myat Phaya.
  Both the third and fourth daughter were born in India but died in Burma and two of their children married each other, pretender to the throne Taw Phaya and princess Phaya Rita, they had seven children thus securing the true royal family line.
caption: The four daughters of King Thibaw, Myat Phaya Galay, Myat Phaya Gyi, Myat Phaya Lat, Myat Phaya
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