Min Bin

Min Bin
မင်းပင်
Zabuk Shah (ဇာပေါက်သျှာ)
Min Bin, depicted as a god, in the Shitthaung Temple, Mrauk U[1]
King of Arakan
Reign27 May 1531 – 11 January 1554
Coronation16 September 1531
PredecessorMinkhaung
SuccessorDikkha
Bornc. February 1493
Saturday, c. Tabaung 854 ME[note 1]
Mrauk-U
Died11 January 1554(1554-01-11) (aged 60)
Thursday, 8th waning of Tabodwe 915 ME[2]
Mrauk-U
Burial
Shitthaung Temple
ConsortSaw Min Hla
Saw Kauk Ma II
Minkhaung Medaw
Saw Mae Kyi
Saw Shin
Issue10 children including Min Dikkha and Min Phalaung
Names
Thiri Thuriya Sanda Maha Dhamma Yaza

Siri Sūriya Canda Mahā Dhamma Rājā

သီရိ သူရိယ စန္ဒ မဟာ ဓမ္မ ရာဇာ
FatherRaza
MotherSaw Nandi[3]
ReligionTheravada Buddhism

Min Bin (Arakanese and Burmese: မင်းဘင်, Burmese pronunciation: [mɪ́ɰ̃ bɪ̀ɰ̃], Arakanese pronunciation: [máɰ̃ bàɰ̃]; also known as Min Ba-Gyi (မင်းဗာကြီး, Burmese pronunciation: [mɪ́ɰ̃ bàjí], Meng Ba-Gri, Arakanese pronunciation: [máɰ̃ ɡɹí]); 1493–1554) was a king of Arakan from 1531 to 1554, "whose reign witnessed the country's emergence as a major power".[4] 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.[5]

After his initial military successes against Bengal and Tripura (1532–34), Min Bin began to regard himself "as a world conqueror or cakravartin", and in commemoration of his victory in Bengal he built the Shitthaung Temple, one of the premier Buddhist pagodas of Mrauk-U.[6] His expansionist drive was to run into serious obstacles however. His control of Bengal beyond Chittagong was largely nominal and he, like the sultans of Bengal before him, never solved Tripuri raids into Bengal. Moreover, his interference in Lower Burma (1542) against Toungoo provoked Toungoo invasions in (1545–47) that nearly toppled his regime. He survived the invasions and later provided military aid to Ava, hoping to stop Toungoo's advance into Upper Burma.

The king died in January 1554, and was succeeded by his eldest son and heir apparent Min Dikkha. His legacy lived on. The defensive works he built up throughout the kingdom would deter another Toungoo invasion until 1580. He is also credited with creating a naval fleet that dominated the Bay of Bengal, which in the following century would enable Arakan to control the entire 1600-km coastline from the Sundarbans to the Gulf of Martaban.[7] His 22-year reign transformed Mrauk-U into a major regional power, a status which Mrauk-U would maintain well into the second half of the 17th century.

  1. ^ Gutman 2001: 105
  2. ^ Sandamala Linkara Vol. 2 1999: 48
  3. ^ Sandamala Linkara Vol. 2 1999: 26
  4. ^ Seekins 2006: 295
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference hj-171 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference pg-96 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Topich, Leitich 2013: 21


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