Binnya Kyan of Martaban

He quickly soured on the plundering Ava forces, reached a power sharing deal with his brothers, and drove back the invaders.

Probably born in the mid 1390s,[note 1] the prince grew up at the royal palace in Pegu (Bago) with two elder half-brothers—Binnya Dhammaraza and Binnya Ran—and a younger (half-?)

Kyan began his military career when the tide of war had decidedly turned to Ava's favor.

[4][5] Under the leadership of Crown Prince Minye Kyawswa, Ava attacks had increasingly threatened to topple the Mon-speaking kingdom.

[4][5] His battalion was however nearly defeated by Minye Kyawswa's cavalry but his brothers came to the rescue, and the Hanthawaddy forces won the day.

[7] In the following year, Razadarit put his sons in charge of key towns en route to the capital Pegu.

At Dala, the king appointed Gen. Smin Awa Naing and 70 military advisers to aid Kyan.

By December, Minye Kyawswa's forces had overcome fierce Hanthawaddy stands at Khebaung, Bassein and Myaungmya, and conquered the entire western delta province.

[10] Ava forces then invaded the central Pegu province, laying siege to Dala, Syriam and Dagon.

The Pegu command finally settled on a battle plan on 22 February 1415, and the armies led by Razadarit himself left for Dala only on 2 March 1415.

[note 7] A few days later, while Minye Kyawswa at the Syriam front, the Hanthawaddy army broke the siege of Dala.

On 13 March 1415, Ava forces returned with Minye Kyawswa himself leading the charge on his favorite war elephant.

Kyan raced to seize Dagon (modern downtown Yangon), the town immediately north of Dala, and northwest of Syriam.

[18] Ran did not take kindly to Kyan's takeover of Dagon, and accepted an offer from Dhammaraza to become crown prince.

[18][19] The looming Ava threat helped Kyan and Ran in their subsequent negotiations with Dhammaraza, who ultimately agreed to share power.

The city of Martaban (Mottama) was not only the original capital of the dynasty, but also a prosperous entrepôt that produced lucrative tax revenues.

He did not interfere in the subsequent power struggle between Dhammaraza and Ran, who brazenly occupied Dala and Dagon, part of the Pegu province, as soon as Kyan left for Martaban.