Kanyaza Gyi

Kanyaza Gyi ကံရာဇာကြီး
King of Dhanyawaddy
Reign	825–788 BCE
Predecessor	Founder
Successor	Thila Raza
Born	861 BC Tagaung
Died	788 BCE (aged 73) Danyawaddy, Arakan
Consort	Thubadda Dewi (သုဘဒ္ဒါဒေဝီ)
Father	Abhiyaza
Religion	Hinduism

Kanraza Gyi (Burmese: ကံရာဇာကြီး, pronounced [kàɰ̃jàzà dʑí]; also spelled Kanraza Gree) was the legendary founder of the Second Dhanyawaddy Dynasty of Arakan. According to Hmanan Yazawin (the Glass Palace Chronicle), Kanyaza Gyi was the eldest son of King Abhiyaza of Tagaung, a prince of the Sakya clan of the Buddha who came from the ancient kingdom of Kosala (present-day northern India). After his father died in 825 CE, Kanyaza Gyi lost out the throne to his younger brother Kanyaza Nge. He left Tagaung with his followers. He eventually settled at the abandoned capital of Danyawaddy in present-day Rakhine State, and founded the Second Danyawaddy Dynasty.

Reign

Kanraza Gyi was born in Tagaung 861 BC, after his father Abhiyaza died he lost the throne to his younger brother after race to complete pogoda. He left the kingdom eventually settled in Dhanyawdi later founded the Second Dhanyawadi Kingdom of Arakan following through the Chindwin River pass. He married queen Thubbada Dewi of Dhanywaddy. Where his descendants became today known as "Rakhine" or "Arakanese". He ruled for 37 years and was succeeded by his son, Thila Raza.

The story of Abhiyaza, Kanyaza Gyi and Kanyaza Nge appeared for the first time in an official Burmese royal chronicle only in 1832, part of the efforts by the early Konbaung kings to promote a more orthodox version of Theravada Buddhism. The Abhiyaza story linked the Burmese monarchy to the Buddha and superseded then prevailing pre-Buddhist origin story involving one Pyusawhti, son of a solar spirit and a dragon princess.

See also

• History of Rakhine

References

• Charney, Michael W. (2002). 'Centralizing Historical Tradition in Precolonial Burma: The Abhiraja/Dhajaraja Myth in Early Kon-bauung Historical Texts.' South East Asia Research, 10 (2). pp. 185-215.
• Lieberman, Victor B. (2003). Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830, volume 1, Integration on the Mainland. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-80496-7.
• Royal Historical Commission of Burma (1829–1832). Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2003 ed.). Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.
• Than Tun (1964). Studies in Burmese History (in Burmese). Vol. 1. Yangon: Maha Dagon.