Arakan

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the historical region of Arakan. For other uses, see Arakan (disambiguation).
This article is about Arakan as a region. For the division of the British Empire, see Arakan Division. For history of the Rakhine, see History of Rakhine.
Arakan
Third Burmese Empire (18th century)
Division of British Burma (19th century)
Province of Myanmar (1948–present)
CapitalDhanyawadi
Waithali
Pyinsa
Parein
Nareinzara Toungoo
Arakanese, Burmese, Rohingya, Bengali
Religion
Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism

Arakan (/ˈærəkæn/ or /ˈɑːrəkɑːn/[1]) is the historical geographical name of Rakhine State, Myanmar (formerly Burma). The region was called Arakan for centuries until the Burmese military junta changed its name in 1989. The people of the region were known as Arakanese.[2][3][4]

Arakan's first states can be traced to the 4th century. Arakan was one of the first

Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia. It was home to the sacred Mahamuni sculpture of Buddha, which was later transferred to Mandalay by Burmese conquerors in the 18th century. For 356 years between 1428 and 1784, Arakan was ruled by the Kingdom of Mrauk U from the city of Mrauk U. The kingdom was founded as a vassal state of the Bengal Sultanate. It later asserted its independence and adopted the customs of the Bengal Sultanate, including Muslim titles for its kings. Arakan became home to a ethnically and religiously diverse population, with Buddhists making up the majority and Muslims making up the second largest community. It was also home to Hindus and Christians. The Portuguese were active in the region.[3]

Rohingya. The region was the site of the Rohingya genocide
in 2016 and 2017.

Etymology

According to

Claudius Ptolemy.[5] Portuguese records spelled the name as Arracao.[6] The name was spelled as Araccan in many old European maps and publications.[7] The area constituted Arakan Division under British rule in Burma.[8] The name “Arakan” was in use until 1989 when the military government of Burma changed the name to Rakhine State.[9]

Geography

The Arakan Mountains seen from Maungdaw District by the banks of the Naf River.

Arakan is a coastal geographic region in

Lower Burma. It comprises a long narrow strip of land along the eastern seaboard of the Bay of Bengal and stretches from the Naf River estuary on the border of the Chittagong Hills area (in Bangladesh) in the north to the Gwa River in the south. The Arakan region is about 400 miles (640 km) long from north to south and is about 90 miles (145 km) wide at its broadest. The Arakan Mountains (also called Arakan Yoma), a range that forms the eastern boundary of the region, isolates Arakan from the rest of Burma. The coast has several sizable offshore islands, including Cheduba and Ramree
.

The region's principal rivers are the Nāf estuary and the

Mayu, Kaladan, and Lemro rivers. One-tenth of Arakan's generally hilly land is cultivated. Rice is the dominant crop in the delta areas, where most of the population is concentrated. Other crops include fruits, chilies, dha and tobacco.[10]

The main towns are coastal and include

Kyaukpyu and Taungup.[10]

History

Antiquity

A map showing Arakan as a neighbor to the kingdoms of the Ganges delta in 200 CE
A map showing Arakan as a neighbor to the Indian Gupta Empire in 400 CE
"Arracan" shown on an old Dutch map

Arakan has been recognized “as one among other Burmese kingdoms competing for the control of power in Lower Burma”.[11] The cities of Bago, Bagan and Inwa were the centres of political power in Burma proper. In contrast, independent Arakanese states were based in the capital cities of Dhanyawadi, Vesali, Laungyet and Mrauk-U. The ruins of these cities are located in northern Arakan in proximity to the borderland of Bengal.

It is unclear who the earliest inhabitants were; some historians believe the earliest settlers included the Burmese

Mro tribe but there is a lack of evidence and no clear tradition of their origin or written records of their history.[12] Arakanese traditional history holds that Arakan was inhabited by the Rakhine since 3000 BCE, but there is no archaeological evidence to support the claim.[13]: 17  According to British historian Daniel George Edward Hall, who wrote extensively on the history of Burma, "The Burmese do not seem to have settled in Arakan until possibly as late as the tenth century AD. Hence earlier dynasties are thought to have been Indian, ruling over a population similar to that of Bengal. All the capitals known to history have been in the north near modern Akyab".[14]

Arakan came under strong Indic influence from the

Mauryan Empire traveled through Arakan to other parts of Southeast Asia.[15][16] Paul Wheatley chronicled the "Indianization" of Arakan.[17]

According to Pamela Gutman, "Arakan was ruled by kings who adopted Indian titles and traditions to suit their own environment. Indian Brahmins conducted royal ceremonies, Buddhist monks spread their teachings, traders came and went and artists and architects used Indian models for inspiration. In the later period, there was also influence from the Islamic courts of Bengal and Delhi".[18] Gutman writes that “the maintenance of a state appropriate to kingship required the ministrations of increasing numbers of craftsmen and artisans, the most skilled of whom were often accommodated within the royal compound. It required the labour of a peasantry who contributed the surplus produce of their fields as a kind of tax in kind for the support of the court, and a band of armed retainers who acted as household guards, organised the peasantry as militia and enforced the authority of the ruler. Material defences – walls and moats protecting the palace and the city – were constructed and the city-state, the nagara, evolved. These transformations saw the tribal chieftain replaced by a divine king, shaman by brahmin priest, tribesman as cultivators by peasants, tribesmen as warriors by an army, and favoured the development of occupational specialisation. They were reflected in the conversion of the chief’s hut into a palace, the spirit house into a temple, the object of the spirit cult into the palladium of the state, and the boundary spirits which previously had protected the village into Indianized Lokapalas presiding over cardinal directions. This process can clearly be traced in Arakan, which received Indian culture by land from Bengal and by sea from other parts of India”.[18]

First states and cities

See also: Chandra dynasty, Waithali, and Dhanyawadi
Bengal and Arakan in 1638

Due to the evidence of

Candra dynasty ruled. Waithali became a wealthy trading port.[13]: 18  The Candra-ruled Harikela state was known as the Kingdom of Ruhmi to the Arabs.[19] Evidence points to the use of the ancient Bengali script in Arakan.[20] The Anandacandra inscription recorded the reign of the Candra dynasty.[21]

Since in the 8th century, Arab merchants began conducting missionary activities in southeast Asia.

Myohaung, Toungoo and Launggret.[13]
: 18–20 

Kingdom of Mrauk U

Further information: Restoration of Min Saw Mon
In the 17th century, Mrauk U was home to a diverse population including Buddhists, Muslims, Christians and Hindus; from Arakan, Burma proper, Bengal, North India, Northeast India, the Middle East and Europe
Arakanese coins inspired by the currency of the Bengal Sultanate

Arakan was a kingdom under siege in the 14th and 15th centuries. Mon invaders from Lower Burma conquered southern Arakan, including

Mrauk-U
(erstwhile Mrohaung). The establishment of the capital at Mrauk-U heralded the most significant period in the history of Arakan. A new cosmopolitan kingdom emerged. In Arakanese traditional history, the restoration of the throne is glorified.

Bengali literary texts and coinage are among the chief primary sources to detail the history of Arakan during the Mrauk-U period. Min Saw Mun regained control of the throne with military assistance from the Bengal Sultanate. Arakan emerged as a vassal state of Bengal.[27] Burhanuddin became the first Muslim defense minister of Arakan.

Evidence points to an alliance between Bengal and Arakan to restore Min Saw Mun to the throne. The most significant evidence is that all post-restoration Arakanese rulers adopted Muslim titles in addition to native titles. This indicates a relationship with the Islamic court of Bengal. Restoring the throne of a neighbouring kingdom was not unprecedented for Bengal. The throne of Tripura was also restored by the Bengal Sultanate. Arakanese traditional history states that Arakan was a tributary state of the Bengal Sultanate for a certain period.[27]

The kings of Arakan adopted both Buddhist and Muslim titles after the restoration. In the accounts of foreign travelers like Fray Sebastian Manrique and Bengali members of the Arakanese court, the kings are referred with their Muslim titles. But the kings did not convert to Islam and remained Buddhists. It appears that Arakan’s kings were following ancient footsteps by imitating royal customs from the subcontinent. Arakan not only integrated Hindu-Buddhist rituals from the subcontinent; but it also integrated the influence of Islamic India, particularly the Bengal Sultanate. Between 1430 and 1638, a total of 16 kings are recorded to have used Muslim titles.[28]

Arakan under the Bengal Sultanate in the 15th century
The Mrauk U Kingdom in the 17th century
List of the Kings of Arakan with Muslim titles (1430–1638)[28]
Native name Muslim title Reign
1. Min Saw Mon Suleiman Shah 1430–1434
2. Min Khari Ali Shah I 1434–1459
3. Basawpyu Kalima Shah 1459–1482
4. Min Dawlya Maw Ku Shah 1482–1492
5. Basawnyo Muhammad Shah 1492–1494
6. Ranaung Nuri Shah 1494
7. Salingatha Sheikh Abdullah Shah 1494–1501
8. Min Raza Ilyas Shah 1501–1513
9. Min Saw O Zala Shah 1515
10. Thazata Ali Shah II 1515–1521
11. Kasabadi Jali Shah 1523–1525
12. Min Bin Zabauk Shah 1531–1553
13. Min Palaung Sikandar Shah I 1571–1593
14. Min Raza Gyi Salim Shah 1593–1612
15. Min Khamaung Hussain Shah 1612–1622
16. Thiri Thudamma Raja Sikandar Shah II 1622–1638
Arakan at the Heigh of his area expension in early 16th Century

Arakan became home to a growing Muslim community. They included Muslim traders from the

Sufi missionaries who established themselves along the coasts of Arakan. More Muslims were found among the thousands of inhabitants of Bengal who were forcibly deported to Arakan. They included artists, craftsmen, soldiers, and highly educated people who were employed by the royal court.[29] The slave trade was the backbone of the Arakanese economy. Leider explains that “Arakan was sadly famed as the main provider of slaves in the Bay of Bengal” unlike Bengal's trade in muslin, silk, shipbuilding, and saltpeter.[30]

The kings imported labour, bureaucrats and artisans by raiding Lower Burma and southeast Bengal. They provided the craftsmen, guards, and artists at the palace; the rowers for the fleet, or the farmers on the royal lands. Some became ministers in the royal court. The heavy presence of

Pegu; they formed a group which could still be identified until the end of the eighteenth century. Afghan soldiers fleeing the Mughal advance and Portuguese traders and adventurers settled in Arakan. They accepted appointments in the army. The hill chiefs of northern and southern Arakan provided troops who were ethnic Thet, Mrung, Chin, or from other small minority groups. The elite were ethnically and culturally diverse.[31]

Syriam in the early 1600s, Arakan appointed the Portuguese mercenary Philip De Brito e Nicota as the governor of Syriam. But Nicota later transferred Syriam to the authority of Portuguese India.[13]
: 21  Even after independence from the Sultans of Bengal, the Arakanese kings continued the custom of maintaining Muslim titles.
libraries.[13]: 22  Syed Alaol and Daulat Qazi were prominent poets of Arakan.[35] The Santikan Mosque was built in Mrauk U.[36]
Indian and Muslim influence continued on Arakanese affairs for 350 years.

In 1660,

Mughal Bengal
during the Battle of Chittagong in 1666, when Mrauk U lost control of southeast Bengal. The Mrauk U dynasty's reign continued until the 18th century.

Burmese conquest

Arakan and the Burmese Empire in 1767
The Burmese Empire in 1824 covering Arakan

The

Konbaung Dynasty conquered Arakan in 1784. Mrauk U was devastated during the invasion.[13]: 22  The Burmese Empire executed thousands of men and deported a considerable portion of people from the Arakanese population to central Burma.[38] The independence of Arakan ended in 1784 when Burmese forces conquered Mrauk-U. The Arakanese royal court was deported to central Burma. The religious relics of the kingdom, including the sacred Mahamuni sculpture of Buddha, were seized and transferred to Amarapura in Mandalay
.

Rakhine rebellions were suppressed. Many Rakhine Buddhists fled by sea to the Barisal region of Bengal, where their descendants continue to live today.[39] It is also likely that Arakanese Muslims became dispersed across Burma and Bengal as either deportees or refugees due to the conflict. Arakan experienced a demographic vacuum as a result of the Burmese conquest. There were several uprisings against Burmese rule, including a rebellion by Chin Bya in 1811.[40] The uprisings caused recurrent Burmese raids into British India, which led to the First Anglo-Burmese War.

British Empire

See also: Arakan Division
First Anglo-Burmese War
Arakan was incorporated into the Bengal Presidency immediately after British conquest in 1829
British Arakan Division in 1931

The Burmese Empire ceded Arakan to the

British East India Company in the 1826 Treaty of Yandabo. Arakan became one of the divisions of British India. Initially governed as part of the Bengal Presidency, it received many settlers from neighboring Chittagong Division
. The settlers became influential in commerce, agriculture and shipping.

A Topographical Plan of the City and Fortifications of Arracan(Arakan) by Brigade General Joseph Wanton Morrison, British Army in 1825

During British rule, Arakan Division was one of the largest rice exporters in the world.[41] Arakan was the pioneer of the rice industry in British Burma. The emergence of Burma as a global rice exporter in the 20th century can be traced to Arakan. As one of the earliest regions to be conquered by the British, Arakan saw the removal of export restrictions imposed by the Burmese Empire. Rice was exproted to Bengal and beyond.[42] Akyab (now Sittwe), the divisional capital of Arakan, was located in proximity to the Chittagong Division of British Bengal. In 1840, Akyab exported 74,500 tons of rice valued at an estimated 1.2 million rupees. In 1855, Akyab exported 162,000 tons of rice valued at an estimated 3 million rupees. The growth in rice exports was driven by the expansion of farmland – by clearing out jungles and cultivating paddy fields.

Annual Average Exports of Rice from Burma to Europe[43]
Period In Thousands of Tons
1865 to 1870 308
1871 to 1875 484
1876 to 1880 557
1881 to 1885 707
1886 to 1890 657

Agriculturalists from

Calcutta, Chittagong, Narayanganj, Goalundo and Dacca. By the 20th century, Akyab enjoyed shipping links with Europe, Malaya, China, Ceylon and the Dutch East Indies. Arakanese rice was being exported to many parts of the world. The American Civil War disrupted the rice supply chain from the southern states of the United States of America. European traders and millers looked for an alternative location for rice imports. British Burma, with its expanding and low cost rice production, provided a lucrative alternative to the United States. The arrival of leading European banking and shipping companies in Burma propelled the rice trade into the single most important cash crop sector of the Burmese economy. In 1864, Liverpool imported an estimated 1000 tons of rice from Burma.[44] The opening of the Suez Canal
lowered the cost of shipping from Burma. European firms began to set up rice mills in Burma itself. Indian and Chinese merchants proliferated Burma’s ports. The rice economy supported the development of infrastructure, public services and other sectors of commerce. Rice from Lower Burma and Arakan became the backbone of the Burmese economy.

In 1869, Muslims constituted 12.24% of the population in Arakan. In 1931, they constituted 25.56%. In the divisional capital Akyab, the share of the Muslim population increased from 20.67% in 1869 to 38.41% in 1931. The British administration considered Chittagonian migration from Bengal as a key factor in the growth of the Muslim population. The colonial government encouraged Chittagonian migration as part of its policy to expand the rice economy in Arakan. The northern part of Arakan received the largest influx of settlers. The township of Naaf (now Maungdaw), which bordered Chittagong Division, became an extension of farmlands in

Burma Province, which was separated from India into a distinct crown colony
.

World War II

See also:
Burma Campaign
Allied forces crossing a river during the Third Arakan Campaign in 1945

During

Burma Campaign by Allied forces
.

The division's seaport and capital Akyab were dominated by

Legislature of Burma. In the 1940s, Arakanese Muslims appealed to Muhammad Ali Jinnah to incorporate the townships of the Mayu River valley into the Dominion of Pakistan.[47]

Burmese independence

See also: Mayu Frontier District and Rakhine State

Arakan became one of the

Rangoon in the early 1960s. Known as the Mayu Frontier District, it covered townships near the border with East Pakistan
.

In 1982, the Burmese

Burmese nationality law which did not recognize Arakanese Indians as one of Burma's ethnic groups, thereby stripping them of their citizenship. In 1989, the Burmese government altered the country's name from Burma to Myanmar. In the 1990s, the State Peace and Development Council changed the name of Arakan State to Rakhine State. The province was renamed after the Rakhine ethnic group. However, the new name is not accepted as legitimate by many in both the Rakhine and Rohingya
communities, instead preferring the historical term Arakan.

Rakhine-led groups like the

Rohingya persecution in Myanmar (2016-present)
.

Demographics

The people of Arakan have historically been called the Arakanese.

Uppu and Chakma.[48]

The

Rohingya
.

Arakan Division had the largest percentage of Indians in

British Burma.[49]

See also

References

  1. ^ Columbia Encyclopedia, s.v. "Rakhine State".
  2. ^ a b c "The long history of the Rohingyas that Myanmar refuses to acknowledge". 29 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Arakanese | Definition, Location, & Ancient Kingdom | Britannica".
  4. ^ Sheikh, Nur-Mohammad (19 March 2023). "The return of the Arakanese Muslims: Could this be the beginning of a resolution to the Rohingya crisis?". Dhaka Tribune. Archived from the original on 13 Feb 2024. Retrieved 13 Feb 2024.
  5. ^ Lieut.-General Sir Arthur P. Phayre G.C.M.G, K.C.S.I., AND C.B., ‘Chapter V: Arakan’, History of Burma including Burma Proper, Pegu, Taungu, Tenasserim, and Arakan: From the Earliest Time to the End of the First War with British India (2nd edn, 1967). 42
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  9. ^ Jacques Leider, Territorial Dispossession and Persecution in North Arakan (Rakhine), 1942–43 (2020) <https://www.toaep.org/pbs-pdf/101-leider/> accessed 5 August 2021.
  10. ^ a b The Editors (1959-08-21). "Arakan | state, Myanmar". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2017-09-18. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  11. ^ Jacques Leider, 'Arakan's Ascent During The Mrauk U Period', Recalling Local Pasts: Autonomous History in Southeast Asia (Silkworm Books 2002). 58
  12. ^ Beniison, J.J (1933). Census of India, 1931: Burma Part I – Report. Rangoon: Office of Superintendent, Government Printing and Stationery, Burma. p. 149.
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  14. ^ D. G. E Hall, A History of South East Asia, New York, 1968, P. 389.
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  16. ISBN 9788131304051
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  17. ^ Pamela Gutman and Zaw Min Yu, Burma's Lost Kingdoms: Splendours of Arakan (Orchid Press 2001). 3
  18. ^ a b Pamela Gutman and Zaw Min Yu, Burma's Lost Kingdoms: Splendours of Arakan (Orchid Press 2001). p. 8
  19. ^ "Harikela – Banglapedia". En.banglapedia.org. 2014-05-05. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  20. ^ “Three medallions above the head contain sacred syllables in proto-Bengali script”. Pamela Gutman and Zaw Min Yu, ‘Vesali’, Burma's Lost Kingdoms: Splendours of Arakan (Orchid Press 2001). p. 57
  21. ^ Pamela Gutman and Zaw Min Yu, Burma's Lost Kingdoms: Splendours of Arakan (Orchid Press 2001). p. 3
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  23. ^ "The thoroughfare of Islam – Dhaka Tribune". www.dhakatribune.com.
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  26. ^ Jacques Leider, 'Arakan's Ascent During The Mrauk U Period', Recalling Local Pasts: Autonomous History in Southeast Asia (Silkworm Books 2002). 63
  27. ^ a b In the Arakanese tradition, we find that “The restored king agreed to be tributary to the king of Bengal”.” Mohammad Ali Chowdhury, ‘Bengal-Arakan Relations at the turn of the 15th century’, Bengal-Arakan Relations (1430–1666 A.D.) (1st edn, 2004). 32
  28. ^ a b Bengal-Arakan Relations (1430–1666 A.D.) by Mohammed Ali Chowdhury
  29. ^ Jacques Leider, 'Arakan's Ascent During The Mrauk U Period', Recalling Local Pasts: Autonomous History in Southeast Asia (Silkworm Books 2002). 55
  30. ^ Jacques Leider, 'Arakan's Ascent During The Mrauk U Period', Recalling Local Pasts: Autonomous History in Southeast Asia (Silkworm Books 2002). 79
  31. ^ Jacques Leider, 'Arakan's Ascent During The Mrauk U Period', Recalling Local Pasts: Autonomous History in Southeast Asia (Silkworm Books 2002). 81
  32. ^ Yegar 2002, pp. 23–24.
  33. ^ a b Yegar 2002, p. 24.
  34. ^ Aye Chan 2005, p. 398.
  35. ISBN 978-1-78374-102-1
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  36. ^ "The Hidden City of Myanmar".
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  38. ^ Aye Chan 2005, p. 399.
  39. ^ "Rakhain, the – Banglapedia".
  40. ^ "Burma/Bangladesh: Burmese Refugees in Bangladesh – Historical Background".
  41. ^ Georg Hartwig (1863). The Tropical World: a Popular Scientific Account of the Natural History of the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms in the Equatorial Regions. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green. p. 159.
  42. ^ Cheng Siok Hwa, 'The Development of the Burmese Rice Industry in the Late Nineteenth Century' (1965) 6 Journal of Southeast Asian History. 69
  43. Journal of Southeast Asian History
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  44. ^ Cheng Siok Hwa, 'The Development of the Burmese Rice Industry in the Late Nineteenth Century' (1965) 6 Journal of Southeast Asian History. 74–75
  45. ^ Jacques Leider, 'The Chittagonians In Colonial Arakan: Seasonal And Settlement Migrations', Colonial Wrongs and Access to International Law (Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher 2020).
  46. ISBN 978-0-674-01748-1
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  47. ^ Yegar 1972, p. 10.
  48. ^ Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Myanmar – Languages". Ethnologue. SIL International.
  49. ^ Robert H. Taylor (1987). The State in Burma. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. pp. 126–127.
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Sources

External links

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