Po Klaong Mah Nai

Po Klong M'hnai (d. after 1627), also spelled Po Klong Menai or Po Klău Manai, was a king of Panduranga Champa, ruling from 1622 to 1627. His short reign is mainly known from later historical traditions, but seems to have been important in terms of demographic and cultural changes.

Accession and reign

He was a Cham officer with the noble rank Maha Taha, and did not belong to the royal family. He was either a Muslim or pro-Muslim and was posthumously commemorated as a Sultan.

Information about Po Klong M'hnai is sparse, but historian Keith Taylor has surmised that he killed his predecessor, the Hindu king Po Aih Khang, in 1622 and seized the throne. He chased off visiting Jesuits who had started proselytizing in mainland Southeast Asia by this time. In the years 1622 to 1630, Dutch merchant ships were attacked by "Malay" soldiers in South China Sea; actually it has been assumed that they were attacked by Chams rather than Malays.

Migrations and religious rivalries

The kingdom had experienced losses against the Nguyễn lords in 1611, and the decline of the coastal Cham population increased the importance of upland tribes in the Cham polity. All this would suggest a period of restoration and increase of manpower. However, other Cham traditions assert that antagonistic relations emerged between the Bani (Muslim) and Kafir (Hindu) groups. The chaos resulting from the bitter rivalry was only resolved by the next king, Po Rome.

According to Cham historical tradition, Po Klaong Mah Nai wished to abdicate his throne after a short reign. By his queen Bia Som, he only had a daughter, and looked around for a male successor. His chief astrologer pointed out a young man who tended the king's buffaloes, Po Rome. He was elevated to the throne and married to the old ruler's daughter Bia Than Chih. This occurred in 1627. Some accounts identify Po Rome as a Churu chief, underlining the increasing role of upland ethnicities in Cham society. He is posthumously known as Sulatan Ya Inra Cahya Basupa (Sultan Jaya Indra, splendour of the Puspa flower).