| Reconquest of Arakan | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Bengal Sultanate | Ava Kingdom Hanthawaddy Kingdom | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah Wali Khan Min Saw Mon (Suleiman Shah) | Minkhaung Binnya Ran I | ||||||||
The restoration of Min Saw Mon was a military campaign led by the Bengal Sultanate to help Min Saw Mon regain control of his Launggyet Dynasty. The campaign was successful. Min Saw Mon was restored to the Launggyet throne, and northern Arakan became a vassal state of the Bengal Sultanate.
In 1406, [1] Burmese forces from the Kingdom of Ava invaded Arakan. The control of Arakan was part of the Forty Years' War between Ava and Hanthawaddy Pegu on the Burmese mainland. The control of Arakan would change hands a few times before Hanthawaddy forces drove out Ava forces in 1412. [2] Ava would retain a toehold in northern Arakan until 1416/17 but did not try to retake Arakan. [3] The Hanthawaddy influence ended after King Razadarit's death in 1421. [note 1]
The former Arakanese ruler Min Saw Mon received asylum in the Bengal Sultanate and lived there in Pandua for 24 years. Saw Mon became close to the Bengal Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah, serving as a commander in the king's army. Saw Mon convinced the sultan to help restore him to his lost throne. [4]
In 1429, Saw Mon aided by troops "largely made up of Afghan adventurers" invaded Arakan. [5] The first attempt at the invasion failed because Saw Mon got into an argument with Gen. Wali Khan of Bengal, and was imprisoned by the general. Saw Mon escaped, and the sultan agreed to another attempt. The second invasion went well. Saw Mon was proclaimed king at Launggyet on 18 April 1429 (Thursday, 1st waning of Kason 791 ME). [4]
Saw Mon finally regained control of the Arakanese throne in 1430 with military assistance from Bengali commanders Wali Khan and Sindhi Khan. He later founded a new royal capital, Mrauk U. His kingdom would become known as the Mrauk U Kingdom. Arakan became a vassal state of the Bengal Sultanate and recognized Bengali sovereignty over some territory of northern Arakan. In recognition of his kingdom's vassal status, the kings of Arakan received Islamic titles, despite being Buddhists, and legalized the use of Islamic gold dinar coins from Bengal within the kingdom. The kings compared themselves to Sultans and employed Muslims in prestigious positions within the royal administration. Saw Mon, now styled as Suleiman Shah died in 1433, and was succeeded by his younger brother Min Khayi.
The subordinate relationship with Bengal did not last long. Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah died in 1433, and was succeeded by a string of weak sultans. In 1437, Khayi took over the throne of Sandoway (Thandwe), unifying the Arakan coast, probably for the first time in history. [6] He also married Saw Yin Mi, the queen of Sandoway. [7] Then, Khayi occupied Ramu, the southernmost territory of his erstwhile overlord Bengal. [8] [9] The Arakanese chronicles say that Khayi successfully seized Chittagong in 1450. [10] However, the first confirmed successful occupation of Chittagong came only nine years later in 1459 when King Ba Saw Phyu seized the port from Sultan Rukunuddin Barbak Shah. [9]
The Kingdom of Mrauk-U was a kingdom that existed on the Arakan littoral from 1429 to 1785. Based out of the capital Mrauk-U, near the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal, the kingdom ruled over what is now Rakhine State, Myanmar and parts of Chittagong Division, Bangladesh. Though started out as a protectorate of the Bengal Sultanate from 1429 to 1531, Mrauk-U went on to conquer Chittagong with the help of the Portuguese. It twice fended off the Toungoo Burma's attempts to conquer the kingdom in 1546–1547, and 1580–1581. At its height of power, it briefly controlled the Bay of Bengal coastline from the Sundarbans to the Gulf of Martaban from 1599 to 1603. In 1666, it lost control of Chittagong after a war with the Mughal Empire. Its reign continued until 1785, when it was conquered by the Konbaung dynasty of Burma.
Min Bin was a king of Arakan from 1531 to 1554, "whose reign witnessed the country's emergence as a major power". Aided by Portuguese mercenaries and their firearms, his powerful navy and army pushed the boundaries of the kingdom deep into Bengal, where coins bearing his name and styling him sultan were struck, and even interfered in the affairs of mainland Burma.
Narameikhla Min Saw Mon was the last king of Launggyet Dynasty and the founder of Mrauk-U Dynasty of Arakan.
Min Khayi was the second king of the Mrauk-U Kingdom from 1433 to 1459.
Ba Saw Phyu was king of Arakan from 1459 to 1482. He acquired Chittagong in 1459, and put down a rebellion there in 1481. He established religious contacts with Ceylon and built the Mahabodhi Shwe-Gu Temple. Though he was beloved by his subjects for his enlightened rule, the king was assassinated by a servant of his eldest son Dawlya.
Min Raza was king of Arakan from 1502 to 1513. He was the father of King Min Bin.
Min Phalaung was king of Arakan from 1572 to 1593. He presided over the continued rise of Arakan, begun under his father King Min Bin. He extended his realm to Tripura (1575) and northern Bengal (1586–1587), and withstood a major invasion by Toungoo Burma (1580–1581). He completely stayed out of the chaos in Toungoo Burma in the following years. Phalaung left a prosperous and confident kingdom to his son Raza II, who succeeded him in 1593.
Min Razagyi, also known as Salim Shah, was king of Arakan from 1593 to 1612. His early reign marked the continued ascent of the coastal kingdom, which reached full flight in 1599 by defeating its nemesis Toungoo Dynasty, and temporarily controlling the Bay of Bengal coastline from the Sundarbans to the Gulf of Martaban until 1603. But the second half of his reign saw the limits of his power: he lost the Lower Burmese coastline in 1603 and a large part of Bengal coastline in 1609 due to insurrections by Portuguese mercenaries. He died in 1612 while struggling to deal with Portuguese raids on the Arakan coast itself.
Min Sanay, was a king of the Mrauk-U Dynasty of Arakan. When Thiri Thudhamma died on May 18, 1638, Min Sanay succeeded the throne. After ascending the throne, Min Sanay suffered from smallpox and his mother Nat Shin Mae advised him to move to "Winzama", northeast of Mrauk U, for a short period of time to cure his disease. Min Sanay followed the advice of his mother and moved to Winzama. There, he was poisoned to death by his own mother Nat Shin Mae. He ruled the kingdom only 20 days. After the death of Min Sanay, Nat Shin Mae enthroned her secret lover Ngakuthala (Narapati). Many nobles who disagreed her were murdered and some escaped.
Min Dawlya was king of Arakan from 1482 to 1492. He came to power by having his father King Ba Saw Phyu assassinated after his father had chosen another son as his heir apparent. Dawlya proved an able king, however. Known as Hsinbyushin for possessing a white elephant, the king "extended Mrauk-U control to the east and west". He died on the war elephant after having returned from a failed expedition to the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Min Ran Aung was king of Arakan for six months in 1494. The eldest son of King Dawlya was only 8 when he was put on the throne by the ministers after his granduncle King Ba Saw Nyo's death. The ministers also married the young boy to Saw Shin Saw, daughter of Ba Saw Nyo and his cousin. Still a child, the king had no interest in governing and spent much of the time playing. However, the ministers' belief that they could control the boy king was greatly shaken when the young king on a whim had one of the ministers drowned in a well. Concerned by the erratic behavior and for their own safety, the remaining ministers beheaded the king and handed the throne to his maternal uncle Salingathu.
Minkhaung of Mrauk-U was king of Arakan from 1521 to 1531. He was a son of King Dawlya, and succeeded his elder brother King Thazata. He ascended the throne and married his brother's chief queen, Saw Nan-Hset. He was overthrown and killed by Min Bin, then governor of Sandoway (Thandwe) in 1531.
Min Dikkha was ruler of the Kingdom of Mrauk U from 1554 to 1556. He was the heir-apparent of the kingdom for 22 years during the reign of his father, King Min Bin. Dikkha was an able military commander who led the Arakanese navy in Min Bin's conquest of Bengal in 1532–1533. He led the Royal Arakanese Navy in the Taungoo–Ava War (1538–45), and in the Taungoo–Mrauk-U War (1545–47). He built the Koe-thaung Temple, the largest of all temples in Mrauk U during his short reign.
The Toungoo–Mrauk-U War was a military conflict that took place in Arakan from 1545 to 1547 between the Toungoo Dynasty and the Kingdom of Mrauk U. The western kingdom successfully fended off the Toungoo invasions, and kept its independence. The war had a deterrence effect: Mrauk U would not see another Toungoo invasion until 1580.
Saw Pyei Chantha was the chief queen consort of Arakan for a few months in 1408. After she and her first husband King Anawrahta of Launggyet were captured by the Hanthawaddy forces in 1408, she became a junior queen consort of King Razadarit of Hanthawaddy.
Anawrahta Minsaw was king of Launggyet Arakan from 1406 to 1408. He was appointed to the position by his overlord King Minkhaung I of the Ava Kingdom. He later married Minkhaung's eldest daughter Saw Pyei Chantha. He was overthrown in 1408 by the Hanthawaddy Kingdom army, and subsequently executed on the order of King Razadarit of Hanthawaddy. He is one of two historical personalities that make up the Shwe Nawrahta nat spirit in the Burmese pantheon of nats.
Min Hti was king of Launggyet Arakan from c. 1279 to 1373/74. He is best known for being the longest reigning monarch in history.
Saw Sit of Mrauk-U (Arakanese:စောစစ်; was the first queen of the Mrauk U Dynasty of Arakan and last chief queen consort of the Launggyet Dynasty of Arakan.
Saw Yin Mi, was a queen regnant of Sandoway from 1420s until 1437 when it was annexed by newly formed Mrauk U Kingdom. She later she married King Khayi, the second king of Mrauk U, and became the queen consort of the central place of Arakan. She is one of the few queens in Arakanese history that held the title of queen regnant.