Min Khayi

Min Khayi (, ; also spelled Mang Khari, Arakanese pronunciation: ; 1392–1459), also known as Ali Khan or Naranu (နရနု), was the second king of the Mrauk-U Kingdom from 1433 to 1459. His 25-year reign brought much needed stability to the Arakan littoral, and prepared his nascent kingdom for future expansions by his successors

He began his reign as a vassal of the Bengal Sultanate, and successfully unified the entire Arakan coastline (present-day Rakhine State in Myanmar (Burma)) in 1437. He then took full advantage of the political turmoil in Bengal by seizing Ramu, the southernmost territory of his erstwhile overlord, By then, he was known by his title Naranu (or Narathu in Burmese).

At Pegu, King Razadarit agreed to place Khayi to the Launggyet throne as his vassal. Circa March 1408, a 5000-strong Hanthawaddy invaded Arakan, and successfully captured Launggyet. A 16-year-old Khayi was made a puppet king while the real power belonged to Pegu commander, Maung Khwin. But that arrangement was short-lived. Within months, Ava sent an army led by Thray Sithu of Myinsaing and drove out the Peguan troops. Khayi this time fled to the northernmost reaches of Arakan.

For the next two decades, the prince led a quiet life at a village in North Arakan, and did not try to regain the Launggyet throne. He married a daughter of a local rich man and had a son named Saw San-Me. That changed in 1429 when his brother Saw Mon came back with an army from Bengal to retake his throne. En route to Launggyet, Saw Mon got into an argument with Gen. Wali Khan of Bengal, and was imprisoned by the general. The place Saw Mon was imprisoned happened to be near where Khayi had been living in exile, and Khayi broke his brother free. Saw Mon returned to Bengal and returned with another army supplied by the Sultan of Bengal Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. After Saw Mon regained the Launggyet throne in April 1429, Khayi quickly proved his worth and became the heir-presumptive. He took more wives, including Saw Pa-Ba and Saw Pyinsa, both of Launggyet royalty.

The subordinate relationship 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. He also married Saw Yin Mi, the queen of Sandoway. Then, Khayi occupied Ramu, the southernmost territory of his erstwhile overlord Bengal. 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.

In 1458, the king finally appointed one of his sons Ba Saw Phyu heir apparent. Another son of his by Queen Saw Pyinsa, Min Swe, governor of Launggyet, was incensed by the selection, and fled to Kale (Kalay), a Shan state and a nominal vassal of Ava. There, he got the saopha of Kale to attack Mrauk-U. On 12 November 1458 (Sunday, 6th waxing of Nadaw 820 ME), Kale forces reached the outskirts of Mrauk-U. The elderly Khayi nonetheless led the Mrauk-U troops from atop his war elephant. Mrauk-U troops with their elephant and cavalry corps soundly defeated the invaders, many of whom surrendered. The captives were then resettled at a place now called Shan-Ywa (Shan village).

Death The king died not long after the battle with Kale, in early 1459, at age 66. He was succeeded by Ba Saw Phyu.

Cultural works Khayi built the Nyi Taw Temple next to (immediately north of) the Le-myet-hna Temple built by his brother Saw Mon.

The earliest extant work of Arakanese literature in Burmese script, Rakhine Minthami Eigyin ("Lullaby for a Princess of Arakan") appeared in 1455.