Dein Mani-Yut


Dein Mani-Yut or as Amat Tein ) was co-chief minister of Hanthawaddy during the reign of King Razadarit. He was also a senior general, and held key governorship posts at Syriam, Bassein and Sittaung. Along with his colleague Byat Za, Dein was instrumental in Razadarit's reunification campaigns of the Mon-speaking kingdom in the late 1380s, as well as the Forty Years' War against the Burmese-speaking Ava Kingdom.

Early career

According to the chronicle Razadarit Ayedawbon, he was a senior minister of the court of King Binnya U at the king's death in 1384. He was then known as Tein Nge or Amat Dein/Tein. Dein or Tein was the title which he received when the king appointed him governor of Syriam. The appointment probably took place no earlier than the mid-1370s.
Dein lost control of Syriam in mid 1383 when Binnya U's son Binnya Nwe raised a rebellion during the king's long illness. He belonged to the faction of the court that remained loyal to the king while another faction, led by Senior Minister Zeik-Bye, secretly supported Nwe's rebellion. Dein did not offer support to Nwe even when the dying king handed over the power in October 1383 to his elder sister Princess Maha Dewi. It was only after the king's death that the court, including Dein, offered the throne to Nwe who ascended the throne with the title of Razadarit.
In a famous episode, the 16-year-old new king reportedly questioned why Dein offered support only now, and why he should not be executed. The minister famously replied that his only "crime was being a servant of your father, the king." He continued that because he had sworn to be loyal to Binnya U, he would have fought Razadarit or anyone else to death to defend Binnya U; however that after his lord's death, he acknowledged Razadarit as the rightful successor, and was willing to serve the new king with the same kind of loyalty and resolve. The reply won him a stay. After deliberating with his advisers, the young king decided that he needed the support and expertise of the court, and restored Dein's post at Syriam.

Razadarit years

Gaining Razadarit's trust

In the beginning, Dein was not yet part of Razadarit's inner circle. The new king continued to rely on his advisers from the rebellion days to face off several challenges to his authority. When Viceroy Laukpya of Myaungmya invited the northern Ava Kingdom to invade the south to touch off what would become known the Forty Years' War in 1385, Dein was yet not part of the leadership. It was only in the second campaign of 1386–1387 that Dein was given command of a 500-strong force to defend Hlaing; he outlasted Ava attacks on the town for over a month. In 1388, Dein, along with Byat Za, finally entered the king's inner circle after the duo's performance in the military campaign that conquered the Martaban Province on the upper Tenasserim coast. The duo further cemented their position when they successfully conquered the Irrawaddy delta in 1389–1390, giving Razadarit full control of all three provinces of the kingdom.

Co-chief minister–general (1388–1413)

From then on, Dein and Byat Za became the king's chief ministers and generals. The chronicle Razadarit Ayedawbon contains several episodes that portray Byat Za and Dein as the adults who guided and tempered the ambitious, brash king. Dein and Byat Za were the most senior members of the regime after the king, and often represented the kingdom. They were the ones Razadarit sent to Siam to receive the white elephant presented by the king of Ayutthaya. In general, the king relied on the duo for their advice even if he did not always listen to them. For their part, Dein and Byat Za dutifully carried out the tasks even when they did not fully agree with the decision. In one famous episode, in 1390, the king assigned Dein the ignominious task of asking Razadarit's first wife Queen Tala Mi Daw to give up her family heirlooms to be given to his favorite Chief Queen Piya Yaza Dewi. Dein did not want the task; he was sobbing before Tala Mi Daw when he asked for the heirlooms. A deeply hurt Tala Mi Daw committed suicide.
Dein and Byat Za complemented each other. While Dein was the more experienced court administrator, he was second-in-command to Byat Za in military matters. The Razadarit reports a rare disagreement between Dein and Byat Za in 1408 over Pegu's defensive formations against the upcoming invasion by Ava; the king chose Dein's more conservative formation over Byat Za's, and appointed Dein as co-commander. After the successful defense, the king upgraded Dein's title to Dein Mani-Yut,.
In addition to their ministerial duties, Dein and Byat Za were also responsible for the defense of their fiefdoms. In 1408, Razadarit transferred Dein from Syriam to Bassein, a strategic delta port, and gateway to the western kingdom of Launggyet. The appointment came right after Hanthawaddy forces had dislodged Ava-appointed king Anawrahta of Launggyet. Dein and Byat Za, who had been governor of Myaungmya, another key delta port, were now responsible for defending the delta against upcoming Ava invasions. The duo successfully fended off Ava's reinvigorated invasion of the delta by Crown Prince Minye Kyawswa in 1410–1411.

Chief minister (1413–1421)

After Byat Za's death in 1413, Dein became the most senior minister. He officially remained an active general at least until the 1414–1415 dry season. He may also have officially given up his gubernatorial position at Bassein in 1412 to Prince Binnya Bassein although Dein remained responsible for the administration and defense of Bassein and the northern delta until 1415. He still commanded respect from the Ava high command; Crown Prince Minye Kyawswa called him an "old, wise general". The crown prince immediately launched an attack on Bassein after learning that Dein was no longer guarding Bassein.
At any rate, most of his responsibilities in the 1410s were as the king's chief minister and adviser. In 1413, he reaffirmed the alliance with the northern Shan state of Hsenwi, and sought an alliance with Chiang Mai by sending diplomatic missions. He was the king's main military adviser in the 1414–1415 campaign. After having received intelligence of Ava's planned massive invasion, Dein in October 1414 successfully convinced the king to leave the capital Pegu until things settled down. Later, in March 1415, when Pegu's first counterattack on Dagon failed, Dein persuaded the king not to execute the two commanders of the mission, but instead to give them a second chance to lead another attack again, which was successful. The battle of Dagon set up the famous battle of Dala–Twante in which Crown Prince Minye Kyawswa fell in action. After the battle, Dein tried to get a senior Ava commander Nawrahta of Salin, a son of Viceroy Laukpya of Myaungmya, to defect by promising the governorship of Myaungmya. But his overtures were rejected by Nawrahta, who reaffirmed his allegiance to Ava.
Dein spent the rest of the years mostly at Pegu. He was reassigned to Sittaung as governor by the king who wanted his old minister to be close to the capital. He remained chief minister for the rest of the reign of Razadarit, who died in 1421. According to the Mon Yazawin chronicle by Shwe Naw, Chief Minister Dein did not take sides in the subsequent power struggle between Prince Binnya Dhammaraza and Prince Binnya Ran; as the chronicle puts it: the old minister left the "two main gates of the capital open". It was the last mention of him in the chronicle; it does not state whether Dein remained in office in the following years.

Family

Chronicles do not mention any immediate family members of Dein. He did have a nephew named Sanda-Yathi, who served under him at Bassein.

List of campaigns

The following is a list of Dein's military campaigns as reported in the chronicles.
CampaignDurationTroops commandedNotes
Forty Years' War: Second Campaign
Ava invasion of Pegu		1386–13871 regiment Successfully defended Hlaing; the battle lasted for over a month.
Martaban1387–13881 regiment Commanded one of two 1000-strong rearguard regiments that defeated the rebel governor Byattaba's army outside the city.
Irrawaddy delta and southern Arakan1389–1390unknown
1 regiment 		Co-commanded the army and navy with Byat Za that took the Irrawaddy delta. Deputy commander of a 700-strong regiment that chased Gov. Lauk Shein of Bassein to Sandoway in southern Arakan, and got Sandoway to give up the governor.
Forty Years' War: Third Campaign
Ava invasion of Pegu		1390–13911 regiment Commanded a thousand-strong regiment of the main Pegu army that defended Pankyaw that successfully stopped Ava army.
Forty Years' War: Fourth Campaign
Pegu invasion of Ava		1401–14031 flotillaCommanded one of the four flotillas of the combined fleet that invaded Ava by the Irrawaddy.
Forty Years' War: Fifth Campaign
Ava invasion of Pegu		140810 regiments
Became co-commander-in-chief when the king chose Dein's defensive formation over Byat Za's.
Forty Years' War: Sixth Campaign
Ava invasion of Pegu		1409–1410unknown
Forty Years' War: Seventh Campaign
Ava invasion of Pegu		1410–1411unknownCo-commanded Pegu's defense of the Irrawaddy delta with Byat Za. Successfully defended Bassein against a siege by Crown Prince Minye Kyawswa of Ava.
Forty Years' War: Eighth Campaign
Battle of Arakan		1411–1412N/ADid not participate
Forty Years' War: Ninth Campaign
Ava invasion of Pegu		1412–1413unknownMilitary adviser to the king. Sent diplomatic missions to Hsenwi to reaffirm alliance with the Shan state, and to seek an alliance with Chiang Mai. Organized a flotilla from the 17 districts north of Bassein.
Forty Years' War: Tenth Campaign
Ava invasion of Pegu		1414–1415unknownCo-commanded the defenses at Panko in the delta, along with Prince Binnya Dhammaraza, early in the campaign. Later joined Razadarit's sojourn to Martaban.