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Hsinbyumashin (; 22 November 1821 – 26 February 1900) was a senior queen of King Mindon Min of Burma during the Konbaung dynasty. She was known for the Bronze Hall Massacre. She was the daughter of King Bagyidaw and his consort Nanmadaw Me Nu (Chief Queen of King Bagyidaw). She was one of the most influential queen consorts in Burmese history, and often regarded as the power behind the throne.
Later, she was wedded to Mindon Min, the penultimate king, who made her the high-ranking "Queen of the Central Palace" (အလယ်နန်းမတော်မိဖုရားကြီး). Her full regnal title upon ascending the throne was Sīripavaratiloka Mahārājindādhipati Padumaratanādevī (သီရိပဝရတိလောက မဟာရာဇိန္ဒာဓိပတိ ပဒုမရတနာဒေဝီ). On 25 November 1877, she received the title Hsinbyumashin, which translates to "mistress of the white elephants", upon receiving a white elephant named Sīrimahāsubhatta from King Mindon. King Mindon and Hsinbyumashin had seven children, but they did not survive– only Supayagyi, Supayalat and Supayalay were alive.
Hsinbyumashin dominated significant influence during the final days of King Mindon's reign. Following King Mindon's death, she became a kingmaker and orchestrated a massacre that claimed the lives of more than 100 members of the royal family, including nearly all potential heirs to the throne. After this brutal event, she chose to install Prince Thibaw on the throne as her puppet and offered her eldest daughter, Supayagyi, to be his queen. During the royal Aggamahesi coronation, Supayalat pushed in next to her sister to be anointed queen at the same time, breaking an ancient royal custom. This resulted in two queens being anointed in parallel, a situation that had never occurred before in the history of Burma. After Thibaw ascended the throne, she was regarded as the queen dowager and granted the appanages of several territories including Amyint, Salin, Talok, Bhamo and Wuntho. However, Supayalat later opposed her and successfully removed her influence over King Thibaw. This led to Hsinbyumashin's anger, and she secretly plotted to dethrone King Thibaw and replace Prince Nyaungyan on the throne, with the intention of arranging a marriage between him and her astute daughter, Supayagyi. However, Prince Nyaungyan died after falling ill. In the absence of Prince Nyaungyan, she planned to throne his younger brother, Prince Nyaungok. Hsinbyumashin sent a representative with a letter to Prince Nyaungok, who was residing in Calcutta. However, the letter did not reach Prince Nyaungok but ended up in the hands of Colonel Edward Bosc Sladen. Sladen's knowledge of the Burmese court politics, as revealed through the Queen's letter, presented a valuable opportunity for the British. Therefore, during the Third Anglo-Burmese War, the British disguised Maung Ba Than, the son of Rangoon Governor U Ohn, as Prince Nyangok and transported him on board a British ship along with several British troops to conquer Mandalay.
The female lineage of Hsinphyumashin, her mother Nanmadaw Me Nu, and her daughter Supayalat in the male-dominated Burmese monarchy presents a fascinating aspect of the end of Burmese independence and the monarchy.
However, during this period, Kenni Princess, elder sister of Mekkhaya Prince, strongly disagreed with the proposed union. She insulted Supayagyi by saying,
News of this incident quickly spread throughout the royal court, causing immense embarrassment to Hsinbyumashin. Due to this embarrassment, the queen harbored resentment toward Kenni Princess and her family. As Hsinbyumashin's power in the court grew, she ordered the arrest of Kenni Princess and her family during the Bronze Hall massacre. Shortly after their arrest, Kenni Princess, her mother, her brother Mekkhaya Prince, and the entire family were executed.
Meanwhile, in 1887, a rebellion against British rule erupted in Tavoy. The British feared that the Queen would be encouraged by this rebellion. Consequently, along with his daughter Supayagyi and Kawlin Prince, she was sent to Rangoon and then Calcutta by sea. On June 10, 1887, the group arrived in Calcutta. The Queen expressed her desire to live in Calcutta, but the Governor-General informed her that she would be accommodated in a private mansion upon her arrival in Ratnagiri. Due to health issues, she stayed in Calcutta for approximately two months before taking a train to Bombay and finally arriving at King Thibaw's mansion in Ratnagiri on 22 August 1887. After residing in Ratnagiri for approximately a year, the Queen returned to Rangoon and purchased a house on Winsa Road (now Shin Sawbu Road), located near the Government House, Rangoon.
The British government granted 1,000 kyats for the Queen's funeral expenses. With the permission of the British government, the body was transported to Mandalay via a sea voyage through Rangoon. During the journey, the ship made stops in towns and villages, where people made offerings to pay their respects to the queen's body. Upon arrival in Mandalay, the Queen's body was not immediately buried. Instead, it was laid out in Nyang Shwe Sawba’s courtyard (presently located between 75-76 Streets, near Kyaw Moe Gate, south of Mandalay) for a duration of approximately one month. In preparation for the final entombment, her body was carried to the palace through the southern middle gate of the palace. Her remains were interred at the Mandalay Palace enclosure (see Konbaung tombs).
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