Gazapati

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Gazapati (Burmese: ဂဇာပတိ, pronounced [ɡəzàpətḭ]; 1497–1515) was king of Arakan from 1513 to 1515. He additionally took on the traditional title of Ilias Shah II.^[2]

Gazapati was the eldest son of King Raza by a concubine. He was placed on the throne by the ministers after he had successfully put down a rebellion, which his father had been unable to take on. However, the young king quickly proved to be a tyrant. He had his father killed soon after his accession, and mistreated everyone at the court. With his confidants running amok, the kingdom is said to have suffered a great economic crisis due to their mismanagement.^[3] During his reign, he received diplomats and qadis from the Bengal Sultanate, who built mosques as a gift to Gazapati in the Baungduk river port district of Mrauk U. This created discontent within the court who saw it as eroding the Buddhist state religion and allowing missionaries into the capital.^[4] The young king is also said to be a womanizer, sleeping with wives of generals whom he had sent to the front at the Bengal border. The ministers had him beheaded in January 1515, and placed Saw O, a granduncle of his, on the throne.^[3]