Puspa of Shadra

Puspa of Shadra (11 April 959 - 27 June 979), was Princess of Maharapura as daughter of King Kratmaung I and sister of Iven IV and Queen consort of Maharapura as the first wife of Suriya I. Her daughter Jahanne was also queen of Maharapura later. Suriya II, the son of Queen Jahanne, inherited Maharapura's throne, which made Puspa the king's daughter, the king's sister, the king's wife and the king's grandmother (posthumously).

Early life
Born Puspa Mi, she is the only daughter of King Kratmaung I and Queen Henterine of Seteidhu. She has two brothers, Kratmaung and Iven, who will be king Iven IV in the future. Puspa and her brothers were brought up by their powerful grandmother, Madhri of Salin. However, Puspa did not learn from her grandmother's ambition. She was quiet, gentle and always lenient, which was quite similar to her honest mother. Madhri didn't mind her granddaughter's self-discipline. In her opinion, it was the quality of a princess and queen. Since childhood, Puspa had received a lot of love from her grandmother and parents. Her two brothers were also very patient with their little sister. When Puspa was 4 years old, Kratmaung I canonized her as Princess of Nyaungyi (Nyaungyi Minsaw), which showed his love for his daughter.

As early as Kratmaung I was still alive, Queen Henterine planned to marry her daughter to Jakigan, the new heir of the Eadien Empire, so that her daughter could become the future empress. However, Kratmaung and Madhri did not agree, because they did not want Eadien to get Nyaungyi and other territories from Maharapura through the marriage to Puspa. In 966, there was a plague in Maharapura. Prince Kratmaung and Kratmaung I died of the plague. The young prince Iven ascended the throne, namely King Iven IV. The Royal family immediately moved to Shwelin to avoid the epidemic. The queen dowager, Madhri became the regent for her young grandson to deal with the tough situation at that time. The king and Puspa lived in the Thido Temple with their mother. In order to ensure their safety, they stayed in the temple until the next October. After the plague subsided, the king and queen dowager Madhri returned to the capital Ratha in the early spring of 968, while Henterine and Puspa stayed in Shwelin, where they lived a rich and isolated life. In 973, the king married Princess Rioanna of Hsindra. At that time, he had lived with his concubine Ismeila de Melina for more than two years, but Ismeila had never given birth to a child. Ismeila once told Madhri and Henterine that the king might have some diseases, which made it difficult for him to have a child, but Madhri still wanted to have a try. Unfortunately, there was no sign that Rioanna was pregnant after she married the king. It was said that the queen was very dissatisfied with this, especially after communicating with Ismeila, she learned that the king may have a sexually transmitted disease. In August 974, Queen Rioanna publicly announced that she could not give birth to an heir for the king, but it was not clear what happened at that time that made the queen do such a thing.

Marriage and queenship
Iven IV knew that he was facing the situation of no heir. He was the only direct male heir of the Shadra dynasty, so he had to pass the throne to the side line. Suriya, Duke of Ingen, was the presumed successor to the throne, and his great great grandfather was Prince Chandra, the younger brother of King Iven III. Madhri also agreed to make Suriya the king's successor. She also believed that the king's sister Puspa should be married to Suriya to prevent other monarchs from threatening his future rule through Puspa's marriage.

On 23 October 974, Puspa and Suriya got married in the Malla Shin Temple in Ratha. Puspa became the Duchess of Ingen. The king issued a royal edict to officially confirm Suriya as the successor, and appointed Madhri and Henterine as regents after Suriya ascended the throne; besides, after Suriya ascended the throne, he had to allow Queen Rioanna to remarry and provide her with the corresponding dowry. On 18 May of the following year, Iven IV passed away. It is said that the king really suffered from venereal disease and died of it. Suriya ascended the throne and was crowned King Suriya I of Maharapura on 10 June. Puspa became Queen of Maharapura. Her coronation ceremony was held on 31 October of that year, later, according to the custom, Puspa with a gorgeous dress, a golden crown and a large sedan chair entered and hosted the harem. Her grandmother and mother, the queen dowagers of Maharapura, curtseyed to salute her. The former queen Rioanna handed her the golden feather, which symbolized the queen's power. It represented that the new queen officially began to take charge of the harem and exercise the power of the first lady of the kingdom.

Suriya I was very playful and merciful. He had many mistresses. Until 979, the year of Queen Puspa's death, there were 34 lovers of the king. However, in order to show his respect for the queen, the king did not appoint any mistress as his concubine, which meant that only Puspa's children can inherit the throne. Unfortunately, Puspa did not give birth to a son. She has only two daughters, Sirica and Jahanne. Later, Jahanne became Queen, and her son succeeded to the throne. Therefore, the later kings of Maharapura are still the descendants of Puspa.

Most of the time, Puspa lived a quiet life in the harem. The affairs of the harem were mainly handled by her mother, Queen dowager Henterine, because she was not interested in these things, and she didn't care about her husband's romantic affairs. She only hoped to give birth to the heir of the kingdom as soon as possible. Some historical materials show that she once persuaded the king to marry several mistresses with childbearing experience to make them royal concubines, so that an heir may be born soon, but was rejected by the king. It was not until a few years after the death of Puspa that the king had his first concubine, Henterine di Calovre, the future fourth queen.

Death
On 19 June 979, Puspa gave birth to her second daughter, Jahanne. But after her daughter was born, her condition was very bad. She had a high fever all the time and had symptoms of postpartum hemorrhage. Although the doctor handled it properly and stopped the hemorrhage, she could not get rid of the fever. Eight days later, Queen Puspa died at the age of 20. The cause of death was postpartum disease and improper recuperation. After learning the news of the queen's death, Suriya I cried out. Queen dowager Henterine, who had lost all her children, was greatly hit and died two months later.

After antiseptic treatment, the body of Queen Puspa was placed in the Malla Shin Temple, and her internal organs were placed in the garden of the royal palace, which were cremated after 20 days. On 14 December 980, Puspa was buried in the Phan Mo Lay Palace in Ratha, and her husband was buried beside her later. The Phan Mo Lay Palace was destroyed in 1266, and the coffins of Suriya I and Puspa were also lost at that time. It was not until 1870 that a farmer in Ratha rediscovered the coffins of the royal couple while farming. After experts confirmation, they were sent to the Imperial Museum of Nanwa. Now the coffins of Suriya I and Puspa are stored in the second floor of the basement of Ratha Museum.