Po Aih Khang

Po Aih Khang
King of Champa King of Panduranga
King of Champa
Reign	1618–1622
Predecessor	Po Jai Paran
Successor	Po Klaong Mah Nai
Born	? Champa
Died	1622 Băl Canar, Panduranga, Champa (in present-day Phan Rí Cửa, Tuy Phong District, Bình Thuận Province, Vietnam)
Father	Po Jai Paran

Po Aih Khang (died 1622) was a King of Panduranga in Champa. The name is also spelt Po Eh Khang. He reigned in the period 1618-1622 (or, according to some chronicles, 1613–1622).^[1]

All information about Po Aih Khang comes from later historical chronicles, such as Mangbalai and Sakkarai dak rai patao. He was the son of the preceding ruler Po Jai Paran and resided in Bal Pangdurang alias Bal Canar (Tinh My village, Phan Ri).^[2] The Mangbalai chronicle, which gives metaphoric descriptions of the Cham kings, says: "Then there is seen a man comparable to a cock, grand, tall, enormous, and with a male beauty. Then reigns Po Aih Khang". The king was remembered as an esteemed person, just and righteous.^[3]

Some accounts place a Patau Dam, "the young king", between Aih Khang's predecessor and successor, so that it is probably question of one and the same person. This Patau Dam was born in the Year of the Rat (1588, 1600, etc.), and is the subject of a romantic story. He once left the palace at night and moved around incognito, meating an orphaned girl with whom he fell in love. The girl did not see his face clearly in the dark and did not know he was the king. Later, when she visited the palace to complain to the king about an act of oppression, she recognized the king among all the court nobles by the touch.^[4]

Po Aih Khang was the last ruling member of the Po Klaong Halau dynasty. The next ruler Po Klaong Mah Nai appears to have usurped the throne in 1622.^[5]

References

1. Po Dharma (2013) "Biên Niên Sử Champa (Sakkarai Dak Rai Patao)", Nghiên Cứu Lịch Sử [1].
2. Po Dharma (2013) "Biên Niên Sử Champa (Sakkarai Dak Rai Patao)", Nghiên Cứu Lịch Sử [2].
3. Étienne Aymonier (1890) "Legendes historiques des Chams", Excursions et reconnaissances 14, p. 171.[3]
4. Étienne Aymonier (1890) "Legendes historiques des Chams", Excursions et reconnaissances 14, p. 171.[4]
5. Keith W. Taylor (2013) A History of Vietnamese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 301.

Preceded by Po Jai Paran 1613–1618

Champa rulers 1618–1622

Succeeded by Po Klaong Mah Nai 1622–1627