Consolidation Min Bin ascended to the throne on Saturday, 27 May 1531, with the royal styles of
Thiri Thuriya Sanda Maha Dhamma Yaza and
Zabuk Shah. As someone who came to power by force, the new king immediately issued a decree to raise the defenses of Mrauk-U. (In the following decade, the capital Mrauk-U would get an elaborate defensive works consisted of massive stone walls and a deep moat filled with tidal waters. The defense works were later extended to the rest of the kingdom, as after 1532, the coastal areas of the kingdom were liable to pillage by Portuguese pirates.) He also worked to consolidate his rule, and was to face no opposition. Lords from around the kingdom came to pledge their allegiance on 16 September 1531 at the coronation ceremony at the new palace at Mrauk-U. According to chronicles, one notable absence at the coronation ceremony was
Chittagong which had paid tribute to strong Arakanese kings
Ba Saw Phyu (r. 1459–1482) and
Dawlya (r. 1482–1492). Min Bin was determined to restore what he called his forebears' rightful realm, which according to him, included all of Bengal, not just Chittagong.
Acquisition of Bengal (1532–1533) If his claim that all of Bengal belonged to ancient Arakanese kingdoms is unfounded, it was nonetheless used by Min Bin as the pretext to exploit the growing weakness of Bengal. The sultanate had been in long decline due to its wars with the
Delhi Sultanate and the
Ahom Kingdom. On 7 October 1532 (9th waxing of Tazaungmon 894 ME), he led a combined invasion force of 12,000 (three armies of 11,000 men in a three-pronged attack, and a flotilla of war boats carrying 1,000 troops), and invaded Bengal. According to Arakanese chronicles, the combined invasion force defeated a Bengal army of 10,000 men and took Chittagong. The armies then pressed on toward
Dhaka on 1 December 1532 (5th waxing of Pyatho 894 ME). The Bengal army made a last stand outside Dhaka but was defeated. The sultan's defenses collapsed afterwards, and Arakanese forces entered Dhaka on 11 December 1532 (15th waxing of Pyatho 894 ME) without a fight. At Dhaka, on 8 February 1533 (Saturday, 15th waxing of Tabaung 894 ME), he received tributes from local lords of Bengal, and raised a 16-year-old princess of Bengal royalty to queen. He then paid a pilgrimage to
Bodh Gaya on 26 March 1533 (2nd waxing of Kason 895 ME). He left Dhaka for Mrauk-U on 13 April 1533 (5th waning of Kason 895 ME). He appointed governors of the new acquired territories on 14 May 1533 (6th waning of Nayon 895 ME). Min Bin’s administration was militarily formidable. He commanded a highly organized and stratified army, including 40,000 royal guards, 20,000 palace troops, and 10,000 elite warriors led by capable commanders like Thado Min Hpu and Da Byi (ဒါးပိုင်ကြီး). According to Arakanese chronicles, Min Bin aimed to conquer twelve Bengali cities. For this campaign, he dispatched 50,000 troops under the leadership of Minister Da Byi. A pagoda was to be built on Wa-thaik Mountain (ဝသဲတောင်) to commemorate the victory. Despite the success this time, Min Bin never fully solved the problem of raids by Tripuris.
Portuguese By Min Bin's reign, the Portuguese seamen and mercenaries had established themselves as a serious force in Asia. They had seized trading ports of
Goa since 1510 and
Malacca since 1511, and controlled important sea lanes in South and Southeast Asia. The Arakanese coastline had not escaped their raids, which by Min Bin's reign, had grown increasingly daring. In 1535, the Portuguese brought war to the fortified capital of Mrauk-U itself. According to Arakanese chronicles, a small but well-armed army of Portuguese mercenaries landed on 22 February 1535, and advanced to up the
Kaladan river by boats, reaching Kandaza, a few miles away from Mrauk-U, by 26 February. After defeating an Arakanese force at Kandaza on 27 February, the Portuguese then proceeded to attack Mrauk-U on 28 February. With the king himself leading the defense, the Arakanese forces drove back the better armed but much smaller Portuguese army. The Portuguese fell back to a few marches away, and stuck around for another week until a combined army and flotilla of Arakanese forces drove them out to the sea on 7 March. Like many rulers in the region, Min Bin realized that the Portuguese problem was not going away, and decided to hire Portuguese mercenaries to his armed forces. In the following years, Min Bin enlisted many Portuguese mercenaries and their firearms, and with their help, he established well-armed naval and army forces. To commemorate his victory in Bengal, he began the construction of a massive temple complex that would become the
Shitthaung Temple (80,000 Buddha Images) attributed to
Emperor Ashoka on 9 November 1535 (Full moon of Tazaungmon 897 ME). The design incorporated "elements from
Burmese Buddhism and the late Buddhism of northwest India in its iconography, illustrating the power of the king and his religion." He also restored the
Andaw-thein Ordination Hall between 1534 and 1542.
Wars with Toungoo Prome (1542) By the late 1530s, Min Bin had turned Mrauk-U into a serious regional power. Not only did he control the entire Arakan littoral to Chittagong but he also had built up a powerful navy and an army that included many Portuguese mercenaries. But he closely monitored the developments in mainland Burma with great concern, especially after
Toungoo's unlikely
victory over Hanthawaddy that gave upstart Toungoo control of
Lower Burma. He did not want to see a strong, united Irrawaddy valley, which in the past had interfered with the coastal kingdom. When King
Minkhaung of Prome, the only holdout in Lower Burma and a vassal of the
Confederation of Shan States, asked for an alliance by presenting his sister, the former queen of Hanthawaddy, Min Bin readily agreed. When 17,000-strong Toungoo armies laid siege to
Prome (Pyay) in November 1541, Min Bin in early 1542 sent a 5,000-man army through the Padaung Pass across the
Arakan Yoma range, and a 7000-man, 700-boat flotilla by the coast to break the siege. However, the army, as it came out of the pass, walked into a trap, and was wiped out by a 6000-strong Toungoo army led by Gen.
Kyawhtin Nawrahta. The navy had taken
Pathein but retreated after hearing that the army had been annihilated.
Toungoo invasion (1545–1547) After the setback, Min Bin reinforced the defenses of Mrauk-U and forts around the kingdom. History shows that his preparations proved prescient. In October 1545, four Toungoo regiments (4000 men, 100 horses, 10 elephants) intruded into southern Arakan, and marched toward Thandwe, Arakan's second city, which was led by the king's brother Min Aung Hla. On 12 October 1545 (8th waxing of Tazaungmon 907 ME), the king sent a well-armed force, which proceeded to drive out the intruders. The incursion turned out to be an initial probe by Toungoo, which by then controlled all of Lower Burma and parts of Upper Burma to the ancient capital of
Pagan. A year later, on 28 October 1546 (4th waxing of Tazaungmon 908 ME), Toungoo invaded by land and sea with a much larger force (19,000 men, 400 horses, 60 elephants, 80 war boats, 50 armored war boats, 10 cargo ships). Toungoo forces quickly overran southern Arakan. Mrauk-U's land and naval forces put up spirited stands but could not stop the advance. Toungoo forces reached environs of
Launggyet, the former capital not far from Mrauk-U, on 23 January 1547 (2nd waxing of Tabodwe 908 ME). The next day, Toungoo forces began their final push, driving out the Mrauk-U army from Launggyet and surrounding the heavily fortified Arakanese capital. They even breached the eastern
outworks of Mrauk-U but were flooded out when Min Bin opened the sluices of the city's reservoirs. After the war, he sent a force to drive out Tripuri marauders who were pillaging Ramu and Chittagong districts. Despite the truce with Toungoo, Min Bin remained very much concerned about the Toungoo threat for the remainder of his reign. He sent 3000 troops to aid King
Sithu Kyawhtin of Ava, the enemy of Toungoo, put down rebellions. ==Government==