Min Dikkha (, ; 1515–1556, also known as Bahadur Shah, in the

Arakanese language Rakhine (; , MLCTS: ), also known as Arakanese, is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in western Myanmar, primarily in the Rakhine State, and parts of south-eastern Bangladesh. Closely related to Burmese, the language is spoken by the Rakhine a ...

as Mong Tikkha) was ruler of the

Kingdom of Mrauk U The Kingdom of Mrauk-U (Arakanese language, Arakanese: မြောက်ဦး ဘုရင့်နိုင်ငံတော်) was a kingdom that existed on the Arakan coastal plain from 1429 to 1785. Based in the capital Mrauk-U, near t ...

from 1554 to 1556. He was the heir-apparent of the kingdom for 22 years during the reign of his father, King

Min Bin Min Bin (Arakanese language, Arakanese and , , Arakanese pronunciation: ; also known as Min Ba-Gyi (မင်းဗာကြီး, , Meng Ba-Gri, Arakanese pronunciation: ); 1493–1554) was a king of Mrauk-U Kingdom, Arakan, a former Adminis ...

. Dikkha was an able military commander who led the Arakanese navy in Min Bin's conquest of Bengal in 1532–1533.Sandamala Linkara Vol. 2 1999: 38 He led the Royal Arakanese Navy in the Taungoo–Ava War (1538–45),The Burmese chronicle ''

Hmannan Yazawin ''Hmannan Maha Yazawindawgyi'' (, ; commonly, ''Hmannan Yazawin''; known in English as the ''Glass Palace Chronicle'') is the first Burmese chronicle, official chronicle of Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar). It was compiled by the Royal Histori ...

'' (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 207) identifies the admiral as "upayaza". Typically, ''Upayaza'' means the crown prince, who would have been Dikkha. Note however that Min Bin had a son by concubine Saw Nandi named Upayaza per (Sandamala Linkara 1999: 34). Still, "Upayza" in the standard chronicles means crown prince, not as a proper name. In fact, ''Hmannan'' (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 227) explicitly refers to the Mrauk-U crown prince as "Upayaza the son of the king (Min Bin)". and in the Taungoo–Mrauk-U War (1545–47).Sandamala Linkara Vol. 2 1999: 42 During his short reign,

Islam Shah Suri Islam Shah Suri (born Jalal Khan; 1507 – 22 November 1554) also known as Salim Shah Suri, was Sur Empire#List of rulers of the Sur Empire, Sultan of Hindustan from 27 May 1545 until his death in 1554. He was the second ruler of the Sur Empire ...

of the brief but influential

Sur Empire The Sur Empire was an empire ruled by the Afghan (ethnonym), Afghan-origin Sur dynasty in North India, northern India for nearly 16 or 18 years, between 1538/1540 and 1556, with Sasaram (in modern-day Bihar) serving as its capital. It was fou ...

died, creating a power vacuum leading to the re-emergence of the

Bengal Sultanate The Bengal Sultanate (Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a Post-classical history, late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges- ...

. Based on coinage issued by the new Bengal Sultan

Muhammad Khan Sur Muhammad Khan Sur, also known by his regnal title Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah Ghazi, was the Sultan of Bengal from 1553 to 1555. He was initially appointed as a governor of Bengal by Emperor Islam Shah Suri of the Sur Empire in 1545, but after his ...

, some historians believe that Bengal pushed its influence into Arakan, far beyond the usual contestation over

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

. The extent of this is contested since the coinage uses the term "Rakanj" rather than "Mrauk U", which could either be an early use of the later word "Arakan" or an atypical coin issued for the Chittagong province and no the capital at Mrauk U. He built the

Koe-thaung Temple Kouthaung ( ''kui:saung:bhu.ra:'' ''Koùthaùñ hpăyà'') is the largest Buddhist temple in Mrauk U, Myanmar. The name means "Temple of 90,000 Buddha Images". The temple was built between 1554 and 1556 by King Min Dikkha, Dikkha.Gutman 2001: 1 ...

, the largest of all temples in

Mrauk U Mrauk U ( ) is a town in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Mrauk-U Township, a subregion of the Mrauk-U District. Mrauk U is culturally significant for the local Rakhine people, Rakhine (Arakanese) people and is the location ...

during his short reign.Gutman 2001: 106–107 He died from a

kidney In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...

disease.Aye Chan 2017: 81

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Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dikkha, Min Monarchs of Mrauk-U 1515 births 1556 deaths 16th-century Burmese monarchs