ROHINGYA CRISIS : Part One : The Ancient Burma and Arakan

Author's Note:

My book ROHINGYA RONGO (Rohingya Crisis) was published in 2019 with a view to encompass the genesis and chronicle of the Rohingya Crisis. The book was written and published in Bengali. However, the English translation is here for international readers. Happy reading!

Human civilization in the Burmese coastal areas and riverine valleys dated 11,000 BC. For centuries, this region used to be considered as the gateway to Southeast Asia, as Burma lies between the land and sea routes connecting ancient China and India.

Pyu City State

In the first century BC, the Pyu people migrated from China's Yunnan Province and formed small and large city-states across the Irrawaddy Valley. They spoke Tibetan-Burman. Shri Kshetra was one of those urban states. Pyu people used to live in wooden houses with roofs made of lead and tin. The men wore blue robes, with gold-stitched hats. And the women used to decorate their hair buns with colorful ornaments. The children were initiated into Buddhism in the monasteries and in that orderly society, the maximum punishment was a few lashes. In the 8th century, they moved their capital from Sri Kshetra to Halingi in the north.

Spread of Theravada Buddhism

Around the same time, Mons from Cambodia settled in the south. They spoke Austro-Asiatic languages and the port of Thaton was their capital. It is said that a group of Buddhist monks went to Thaton in the 3rd century AD as an envoy of Indian Emperor Ashoka . However, based on the history of maritime trade with the Sri Lankans, it is believed that Theravada Buddhism came to Burma from Sri Lanka through the hands of these monks. Again, because of the large influx of Indian merchants, Indian culture developed rapidly among Mons. Gradually, Mons became the preachers of Theravada Buddhism all over the world. They later shifted their capital to Bago, on the banks of the Baro River, 50 miles northeast of Rangoon, from where they controlled the whole of southern Burma.

Pagan Empire (749-1300)

In the early ninth century, Bamars came from Tibet and settled on the banks of the Irrawaddy River in northern Burma. They found the Pagan Empire of Burma in 749 when the Pyu Empire collapsed in the 7th and 9th centuries because of the invasion of the Nanzhao Empire in southeastern China. Then, in 1044, King Anawrahta concentrated on the expansion of the Pagan Empire. In the hands of the pagans, the Pyu city-states gradually fell in the north and the Mon empire in the south. By the middle of the 11th century, almost entire Burma came under the Pagan Empire. But later in 127 the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan defeated the pagans and took possession of this prosperous kingdom.

Ava dynasty (1384-1527)

As the Mongols returned, small kingdoms began to re-emerge throughout Burma. Notable among these states were Ava, Hanthawaddi Pegu, Shan, and Arakan. The expansion of the kingdom of Ava north of the Irrawaddy Valley began in 1384. In the south, the Mons continued to strengthen themselves around Bago, and the area becomes the seat of Theravada Buddhism. In 1527, the northern Shan kingdom invaded the kingdom of Ava.

Tangu Dynasty (1531-1852)

Defeated by the Shan, the people of Ava took refuge in the Tangu area on the southeast bank of the Sitang River. Tangu king Tabinseti gradually accumulated power and conquered almost all the Burmese kingdoms except Arakan and established the Tangu Empire, which lasted till 1752. The Tangu Empire fell in 1752 and the Kongbang Empire began in 1752, following the revolt of the Mon people in 1840, fueled by French merchants.

History of Arakan

At this stage of Burmese history, we will learn a little more about Arakan. Because the main purpose of this book is not to study the history, geography, and politics of the whole of Burma, but to know about the Rohingya extermination and its remedies. And so, for the rest of this book, we will gradually focus on relevant Burmese discussions with the Rohingya.

?Arakan is the original homeland of the Rohingyas in the south and southeast of Bangladesh and has been politically and culturally associated with Bangladesh since time immemorial. Arakan-Yoma, a long mountain range surrounded by the Bay of Bengal and the southwestern estuary of the Naf River, separates Arakan from the rest of Burma. Its ancient name is 'Rakhinpiye'. The word Rakhine comes from Sanskrit 'Rakshas' and Pali 'Yaksha' which means a monster.

Indo-Aryans started settling in Arakan in 3000 BC. Prior to that, small tribal groups like Mru, Sak, and Kumid lived in isolation. However, because of the inaccessible Arakan-Yoma mountains, the language and culture of the people of Arakan were more similar to that of the Indians than to the Burmese, and most of the ancient rulers of Arakan were Hindus. The spread of Islam in Arakan from India and Arabia through sea trade began in the seventh century.

Arakan has been inhabited by Tambukia, Turk-Pathan, Kamanchi, and Rohingya since ancient times. The history of the Tambukias dates back to the 8th century when their ancestors migrated from Arabia to southern Arakan during the reign of King Maha Taing Chandra.

The Turk-Pathans established their main residence in the suburbs of Mrohong, the last capital of Arakan. In 1406, Min Saw Mon alias Narameikhla, the founder of the Mrauk-U dynasty of Arakan, was deposed and fled to Gaur, the then capital of Bengal. The ruler of Gaur, Jalaluddin Shah, sent 30,000 Turko-Pathan troops to help Narameikhla overthrow the Burmese king, and Normikhla ascended the throne of Arakan under the name of Mohammad Solaiman Shah. Like the Tambukias, the Turks also settled in Arakan with the approval of the king.

The ancestors of the Kamanchis were Afghans who joined the Mughal army. They arrived in Arakan with the Mughal prince Shah Shuja . Being defeated in a power struggle with his brother Aurangzeb, the Mughal prince Shah Shuja fled to Arakan in 160 via Chittagong-Cox's Bazar by road. The then Rosang king Chandra Sudharma betrayed and killed Shah Shuja and his family and the Kamanchis percolate to different parts of Arakan. Many of their descendants are now found on the island of Ramri.

Despite disagreements about the origin of the Rohingya ethnic group, the most reliable view is that the Indo-Aryans who came to Arakan in 3000 BC are the ancestors of the Rohingyas. Therefore, it is thought that the Rohingya are a hybrid race born of a Bengali-Indian father and an Arakanese mother. The Rohingyas live mainly in northern Arakan. By the year 1000, with the arrival of Rakhine from central Burma, the influence of the Rohingya in Arakan waned.

The name Rohingya is thought to have come from Mrohang, the capital of Arakan: Mrohang> Rowang> Rowingia> Rohingya. However, in medieval Bengali literature, Arakan was called Rosang. Francis Buchanan, a historian who once worked for the Bengal Medical Service in the area, said that in 1899 two major communities originally inhabited Arakan. One group was Muslims who were called Rohingya and the other group was Buddhists who were called Rakhine. The Rohingyas had their own language, and that language was called Ruinga.

Bengal's political and cultural relations with Arakan developed because of its geographical proximity to the southeast of Bengal. Political relations between the two countries were interdependent with the reshuffle of the Mrauk U Empire in Arakan. Although the king of the kingdom of Arakan was a Buddhist, he took the title of Muslim. Kalimah was written in Persian on his coin. Arakan had deep political and economic ties with Bengal, and many Bengali Muslims worked at the Arakan royal court. Rosang Raj Darbar was an important center of Bengali literature in the Middle Ages. The great poet Alaol was the royal poet of the Rosang court.

Taking advantage of the weakness of Sultan Rukunuddin Barbak Shah of Bengal, Ba Saw Phyu captured Chittagong district in 1459 AD and the Arakanese ruled here for about two hundred years until the Mughals expelled them in 1666 AD. The Arakanese built clay forts in Chittagong as a forward defense base in the occupied territories to strengthen their defenses. There were several clay forts built by the Arakanese at Mirsarai, Fatikchhari, and Hathazari in the northern part of Chittagong. They built a wooden fort in Sitakunda. Sandwip, surrounded by the sea, also had a wooden fort. Now there is no sign of those monuments known as Kathgarh.

In 1666 Shaista Khan , the Mughal Subedar of Bengal recaptured Chittagong. After the fall of Chittagong, Shaista Khan continued his expedition and captured up to the Kaladan river in Arakan. As a result, the state of Arakan shrunk into a small region and became politically unstable. 13 kings ruled the kingdom of Arakan between 1731 and 1784, and the average reign of these kings was not over two years. In 1784, Bodawpaya , king of the Kangbang Empire of Burma, conquered Arakan and made it a tributary state of Burma.

But in 1824, in the wake of border disputes with the British in the Manipur and Assam areas, the 1st Anglo-Burmese War broke out and the 3rd Anglo-Burmese War of 1855 brought the whole of Burma under British rule. Thebo, the last emperor of independent Burma, and his family were exiled to Ratnagiri, India.

Bibliography:

●???Myanmar’s Enemy Within: Buddhist Violence and the Making of a Muslim 'Other’ (Asian Arguments)–Francis Wade

●???Myanmar: Democratisation, Foreign Policy and Elections – Amrita Dey

●???The Rohingyas: Inside Myanmar?s Hidden Genocide – Azeem Ibrahim

● History of Rohingya Nation - Mohiuddin Jahangir

● History of the Rohingya Genocide in Burma - Brigadier General M. Sakhawat Hossain (Retd.)

● National and international newspapers and magazines.

● Internet.

Next: (Part Two: From the birth of Union of Burma to the 8888 Movement )