Kanyaza Gyi

Kanyaza Gyi (Burmese: ကံရာဇာကြီး, pronounced [kàɴjàzà dʑí]; also spelled Kanraza Gri) was the legendary founder of the Second Danyawaddy 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.[1]

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

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 The Abhiyaza story linked the Burmese monarchy to the Buddha and superseded then prevailing pre-Buddhist origin story involving one Pyusawhti, son of a solar spirit and a dragon princess.[2][3]

See also

• History of Rakhine

Notes

1. Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 153–155
2. Lieberman 2003: 196
3. Than Tun 1964: ix–x

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). 1–3 (2003 ed.). Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.
• Than Tun (1964). Studies in Burmese History (in Burmese). 1. Yangon: Maha Dagon.