[citation needed] Prior to his predecessor Min Sanay's ascension, King Thiri Thudhamma had inadvertently elevated the importance of the Laungkrakca, the governor of Launggyet.
[1] When Sanay died from smallpox, Narapati seized the throne for himself with the help of Sane's mother Nat Shin Mae- who also happened to be his lover.
[citation needed] Historian Jacques Leider ascribes the mysterious death of Thiri Thudhamma and Sanay as a coup d'état by Narapati.
This effectively destroyed the importance of Chittagong as a trade centre and created deep division in Arakan as the Dutch East India Company and various nobles protested the move.
The sceptics of the king's plan were eventually proven correct as the resettled craftsmen were decimated by a famine in 1645 caused by the sudden change in population, effectively destroying Arakan's textile industry as well.