Min Bin, within a year of his …

Years: 1535 - 1535

Min Bin, within a year of his conquest of Bengal, had had to send a five thousand-strong army to Dhaka to defend against Tripuri raids.

After the rainy season of 1533, he personally led the army to drive out the Tripuri raiders.

He was successful, and returned to Mrauk-U on February 24, 1534.

Despite the success this time, Min Bin will never fully solve the problem of raids by Tripuris.

By Min Bin's reign, the Portuguese seamen and mercenaries have 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, have grown increasingly daring.

In 1535, the Portuguese bring war to the fortified capital of Mrauk-U itself.

According to Arakanese chronicles, a small but well-armed army of Portuguese mercenaries landed on February 22, 1535, and advanced to up the Kaladan river by boats, reaching Kandaza, a few miles away from Mrauk-U, by February 26.

After defeating an Arakanese force at Kandaza on February 27, the Portuguese then proceeded to attack Mrauk-U the following day.

With the king himself leading the defense, the Arakanese forces drive back the better armed but much smaller Portuguese army.

The Portuguese fall back to a few marches away, and stick around for another week until a combined army and flotilla of Arakanese forces drives them out to the sea on March 7.

Like many rulers in the region, Min Bin realized that the Portuguese problem is not going away, and decides to hire Portuguese mercenaries to his armed forces.

In the following years, Min Bin will enlist many Portuguese mercenaries and their firearms, and with their help, will establish well-armed naval and army forces.

To commemorate his victory in Bengal, Min Bin begins the construction of a massive temple complex that will become the Shitthaung Temple (eventually containing eighty thousand Buddha Images) on November 9, 1535.

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