Min Saw Mon

The future king was born in 1380/81 (742 ME) to Prince Razathu II (ရာဇသူ) and Princess Saw Nyet Htwa (စောညက်ထွား) of Launggyet Kingdom, located in modern northern Rakhine State.

[1] The young prince's teenage years were drawn into court politics, and his fortunes were closely tied to those of his father.

When Saw Mon ascended to the throne in April 1404 after his uncle's assassination by a monk, the Arakanese (Rakhine) kingdom had been on its last legs for three decades.

[2] However these events are not recorded in the Arakanese Chronicles, neither does it mention court political influence from Ava and Pegu.

King Min Hti died in 1385, his three sons whom reigned for short period until Razathu proclaimed the throne in 1395 and 1397 until his death in 1401.

Pegu finally got the upper hand in Arakan in 1412, and placed its nominees in Launggyet and Sandoway (Thandwe).

[4] Meanwhile Saw Mon had entered the service of Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah of Bengal, and proved to be a good commander.

In February/March 1429 (Tabaung 790 ME),[5] Saw Mon aided by troops "largely made up of Afghan adventurers and Bengali muslims invaded Arakan.

[6] The first attempt at the invasion failed because Saw Mon got into an argument with Gen. Wali Khan of Bengal, and was imprisoned by the general.

He decided to move the capital from Launggyet as the old crumpling city destroyed by the Burman-Mon Conflict for decades.

[8] The King paid homage to the Mahamuni Temple and from his way he built road linking between new capital and old Waithali city.

According to the Arakanese chronicles, the king was warned by court astrologers that he would die within a year of foundation of the new capital.