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INDIGENOUS and ENDANGERED - the BUDDHIST PEOPLE,

CULTURE, MONUMENTS, and HISTORY of ARAKAN


by Rick Heizman, May 19, 2017

A Case to Save and Protect This Unique Buddhist Culture


The land long-known as Arakan (Arrakan, Aracan), now known as Rakhine (Rakhaing) State of
Myanmar (Burma), was identified in ancient maps by the famous Greek geographer Claudius Ptolemy
in his compendium, Geography, in the 1st century A.D., and was known as Argyre. The Sanskrit
name of the ruling dynasty was Chandra, pronounced Chada, and Ptolemys rendition became Sada
which he used to also name the capital. From the 1st millennium BC, there were ancient Vedic,
Hindu, and then Buddhist kingdoms in that land. The ancient Chandra dynasty of Dhanyawadi
(Dhannavati) was rooted there, followed by the Lemro, and Vesali (Waithali,) kingdoms. In the 2nd
millennium AD, the land was known to the Burmese kingdoms of Pagan and Ava as Rakhaing, to
Tibet as Rakhan, to Ceylon as Rakhanga, the Portuguese and the early Dutch called it Rachani,
Arrakan, or Aracan, and later Dutch, British, and others used the now standard term - Arakan.
The last dynasty was the powerful and prosperous Buddhist kingdom of Mrauk-U, from 1433 until the
brutal and humiliating conquest by the Burmese in 1784, which put it under Burmese rule until the
present (with the exception of British rule from 1826-1948). The ancient capital, Mrauk-U, with its
many temples and structures spread over a very large area constitute one of the largest ruined
Buddhist cities in the world, and is the heart and soul of the Rakhine Buddhist majority. Dutch, British,
and Portuguese writers complimented Mrauk-U as a city comparable and even greater than
Amsterdam, London, and Venice at that time.

The Portuguese Jesuit, Father A. Farrinha, SJ, who travelled to Mrauk-U in 1639, wrote:
Arakan is a second Venice; its streets are rivers; its gardens, valleys; its ramparts, mountains.
For, as the natives of the country are naturally weak and timid, they have chosen for their city a site
fortified by nature, and impregnable by force of arms.

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The Dutch traveller Gamier Schouren who visited Arakan in 1660 wrote:
As we ascended sufficiently high up the mountain we could descry the city of Aracan
and the golden roofs of the palace, which shone magnificently in the rays of the sun.
Here and there, both on the mountain and in the valleys the eye fell on many
(Buddhist) pagodas, which made the view most enchantingindeed,
it would be difficult to imagine a more entrancing landscape.

The Royal Capital of Mrauk-U

The Augustinian Friar Sebastian Manrique, who


lived in Arakan from !629 - 1637, described the city
and royal palace in Mrauk-U:
. . . the city of Arracan according to general opinion
must have contained one hundred and sixty
thousand inhabitants, excluding foreign merchants,
of whom there was a great influx owing to the large
number of ships trading with this port from Bengala,
Masulipatt, Tenasserim, Martaban, Achem and
Jacatara. There were some other foreigners, too,
some being merchants and some soldiers, the latter
being enlisted on salaries, and were, as I have said,
Portuguese, Pegus, Burmese and Mogors. Besides
these there were many Christians of Japanese,
Bengal and other nationalities.

Mrauk-U, at its highest and most prosperous time,


from the mid-16th to the mid-17th centuries, was a highly developed world city. The Arakanese
trading ships were fast, their sailing techniques were skillful, and their weaponry was advanced - all
due to Portuguese influence and alliances. They traded with neighboring kingdoms in Bengal, Burma,
and beyond. The design and layout of Mrauk-U, and its architecture, temples, and sculptures were as
great as other grand cities such as Pagan, Angor Wat, Ayuttaya, and Prambanan. Mrauk-U had
complex defense systems using the natural hills, streams, and rivers, and incorporating moats,
earthen ramparts, walls, and forts to protect the central city and palace.
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The royal palace, built of wood, is long gone, but images on stone relief sculptures, and depictions by
foreigners at that time indicate its grandeur. The historic palaces of Burma had twelve gates, three at
each of the four directions. 49 kings are said to have resided there, over a period of 354 years.

Friar Manrique comments that the royal palace buildings..


...have great wooden pillars of such length
and symmetry that one is astonished that
trees so lofty and straight can exist. ...those
inside the houses are entirely gilded over.
Such palaces also contain rooms made of
odiferous woods such as white and red
sandalwood and forest or wild eaglewood,
which thus gratify the sense of smell by their
own natural fragrance.... there was one room
known as the 'House of Gold' as being entirely
ornamented from top to bottom in that metal. It
had in it a creeper along the ceiling made of
the finest gold, with a hundred or more gourds
of the same metal... in this chamber were also
seven idols of gold, each of the size and
shape of a man. ..ornamented with many fine
precious stones....

Friar Manrique continues with a description of a ceremonial scene at the royal palace in Mrauk-U:
The Nobles and the other men of rank
gathered at the palace whence,
amongst music of all kinds,
a huge elephant emerged, richly
caparisoned, with his ivory tusks
adorned with rings of gold and jewels.
He was followed in due order by thirty-
two war elephants, dressed in silken
cloths and ornamented with gold,
bearing the usual uncovered howdahs
on their backs, made of wood but
covered with silver plates. They carried
huge silver bells around their necks and
had rings of this same metal on their
tusks. Each elephant had four silken
banners of various colors fastened to
the howdah which trembled in the light
breeze and acted as flapping fans for
their heated bodies.

The Kingdom of Mrauk-U was as large, powerful, and significant as other kingdoms of Asia - the
Pegu, Ava, Shan, Amarapura, Taungoo, and Pagan Kingdoms of the Burmese lands, as well as
kingdoms in the lands of Ceylon, India, Bengal, Java, Thailand and others. The Mrauk-U Kingdom
had trade and alliances with Portuguese, Dutch, and British, and their colonies of Goa, Malacca,
China, Japan, the Dutch East Indies, Ceylon, Formosa, British Malaya, Hong Kong and Aden.

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Minorities of Arakan
As in any other part of the world, there were minorities in Arakan. In the very sparsely populated hills
were, Mro, Daingnets, Kami, Chaw, Kon, Taungtha and other hilltribes, almost all of which were
animist. There were small numbers that became Christian by Portuguese missionaries, and later by
British. In the coastal trading towns were a smattering of Hindus from India, Armenians, Portuguese,
Chinese, Persians, Arabs, and Bengali Muslims. These people may have arrived as traders, slaves,
free mercenaries or captured mercenaries. In Mrauk-U there was a foreigners quarter, where there
was a Christian church, Hindu temple, Chinese temple, and Muslim mosque.
Nowhere in Arakan are there any significant ruins of any of these minorities, approaching even a
fraction of the scale of Mrauk-U, nor is there any evidence of them having any political organization,
or sovereignty. In other words, while the minority presence and history is recognized, and is part of
the history, it is the Rakhine Buddhist culture that is the overwhelmingly dominant, highly developed,
and significant culture that defines the land of Arakan - in the same way that Egypt, Greece, Persia,
China, and other major world civilizations each had minority populations within (whom may or may
not have been accepted, recognized or treated fairly) but the dominant culture is the one named,
studied, admired, or scorned. Just as there were minority Turks in Greece, Greece is the origin and
homeland of the historic and epic Greek culture, likewise there was a Greek minority in Turkey, but
Turkey is the historic cradle of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and the later nation of Turkey.

The Rakhine people and culture do not have historic or current problems with any of these minorities
except with Bengali Muslims. Muslims of other origins have, for the most part, been part of the fabric
of the kingdoms, the history, and the communities in Arakan, and in the nation of Burma / Myanmar.
The Rakhine Buddhists are being aggressively pushed out of their homeland, their villages burned,
their people slaughtered, and this has been happening under a relentless campaign of false media, a
false name (Rohingya) for political trickery and preposterous rewritten history. The Bengali Muslims
want the land only for themselves, they do not want to live in harmony with others, because others
are infidels, and their supremacist and intolerant ideology (Islam) molds them to condemn and
despise infidels, and their infidel religions, and their infidel icons, statues, temples, art, and artifacts.
And, all of them should be destroyed. And, the Bengali Muslims are doing that - to the Rakhine
Buddhists, to the remaining Jumma and Chakma Buddhists in Bangladesh, to the Bodo tribal people
in Bangladesh and Assam, and to the Christian and Hindu minorities.

The One and Only Homeland of the Buddhist Rakhine Culture


The proper natives of Arakan, call themselves Yakain. (Yakain = Rakhaing = Rakhine)
Francis Buchanan, A Comparative Vocabulary of Some of the Languages Spoken in the Burma Empire

It will be the Arakanese who will be ousted from their ancestral land and if they cannot win over (the
Muslims) in time, then there can be no hope of their salvation.
C.E. Lucas Phillips, Brigadier General in the British 14th Army, India Office Records R/8/9GS. 4243

That the Arakanese are gradually being pushed out of Arakan before the steady waves of
Chittagonian immigration from the west is only too well known. The influx from Chittagong is still
continuing gradually driving all the natives of Arakan further east. Maungdaw township has been
overrun by Chittagonian immigrants, Buthidaung is not far behind and new arrivals will be found in
almost every part of the district.
The Burma Gazetteer by R.B. Smart - Deputy Commissioner Settlement Officer of the Akyab District

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Buddhist Ruins, Relics, Caves, and Temples Throughout Arakan
The land of Arakan is strewn with Buddhist artifacts and relics. There are, undoubtably, many more
objects and structures hidden under the earth and jungles, in this tropical environment with very high
rainfall the jungles can conceal nearly anything in only a short number of years. There is much
archeology to be done, and histories to be uncovered.

The unique Buddhist caves of Arakan, the temple designs, the stylings of the Buddha statues, the
mythological figures depicted by statues and in bas-relief, the histories, chronologies, stories and
legends carved into stones in archaic languages - these are the defining elements of Arakan culture
and history. These things are unique to Arakan - these styles dont exist outside Arakan. These are
the treasures and the soul of a world culture, and especially a glorious chapter in the history of
Buddhism, and the continuing traditions of a Buddhist culture. An ancient Buddhist culture meeting
the modern world, with challenges and issues to deal with.

Arakan has suffered and endured the conquest by their ethnic cousin, the Burmese; the colonization
by the British, whom unknowingly created the conditions of their current dilemma; the savage and
destructive years during WWII, which also fueled the current plight; and the hopelessness and
insanity of the thuggish military dictatorships, under whose boot nothing progressed, and everything
regressed. And, now the Rakhine people are in a deadly struggle - not of their choosing - with an
enemy who will, if they can, destroy everything of the Rakhine people: their homeland, their
Buddhism, the treasures of Arakan, and even their history. Arakan is a treasure of the world, and
deserves to be seen as an invaluable treasure, which now needs some assistance, and protection.

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The Unique Buddhist Caves of Arakan
This style is purely of Arakan, and only found in Arakan. There likely are ones like these in northern
Arakan, in the Maungdaw and Buthidaung areas that may be destroyed due to the Bengali Muslims
burning the Buddhist villages, destroying the Buddhist temples, monasteries, and statues, forcing the
Buddhists to flee, or slaughtering them in the many massacres that have happened there.

One hour by road from Sittwe

Near Kyaukpyu

At Gudaung Village, near Rathedaung

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Near Zeekyaing Village near Rathedaung

Mythical figures, unique to Arakan

Buddhist Artifacts Found in Fields and Villages


Out in the rice fields and villages there are many precious artifacts: small Buddhist shrines and
temples, carefully carved stone pieces of ruined pagodas, old pagodas in various states of disrepair.

In GaPaingChaung area, 3 hours by boat from Kyaukpyu

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In GaPaingChaung area

in Mrauk-U Up the Lemro River, near the Chin State border

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The Royal Capitals of Previous Kingdoms,
the Heart and Soul of Arakan

The ruins of Mrauk-U comprise one of the largest ruined cities in the world, and there is still a
tremendous amount to uncover, carefully restore, and learn about. As well, previous royal capitals -
Vesali, Dhanyawadi, and others are awaiting further excavations.

As Mrauk-U is the heart of Rakhine culture, Mahamuni is the soul of the land.
Mahamuni is the holy site of Arakans most revered object - the great Mahamuni Buddha statue,
which the Burmese took to Mandalay upon conquering Arakan in 1784. The statue is still in Mandalay,
and Mahamuni is still an important spiritual site for Rakhine people, waiting someday, for the
Mahamuni statue to return to its homeland.

Mrauk-U

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Mrauk-U

Mahamuni

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The Threat, the Challenges, the Possiblities

This is a both a historic and a living culture of the world,


a pearl in the family of Asian cultures,
and a facet of Buddhist history and future.

The Rakhine people are not encroaching on any other peoples land. They live with harmony and
respect with Hindus, Christians, animist tribal people, and others. There are Muslims of other origins
with whom there are no issues, and they are part of the fabric and diversity of the State and the
Country. However, the Bengali Muslims are different. They come with their minds twisted by their
religion to have only contempt and supremacist views of the lands rightful culture, and they will not
tolerate nor assimilate with the indigenous culture, and that creates a grave problem.

When a Buddhist village becomes surrounded by Bengali Muslims, and sharpened bicycle spokes
are being shot by slingshots through the thatch walls, eventually a baby, a child, a mother, or a father
is wounded. When Buddhist farmers are hacked to death in the far fields, and Buddhist women are
raped and killed as they are fetching water or firewood, the situation becomes intolerable. When the
neighboring Buddhist village is set afire, and Bengali men and boys are hacking people to death,
while shouting in Bengali, Cut the heads of the Buddhist infidels, when the Buddhist temples are
atttacked, and the statues of Buddha have their heads cut off, and Buddhist monks have to fight for
the first time in their lives, because they are being attacked and killed, the Buddhist men must do
whatever it takes to stop the violence against them, their families, their villages, and their culture.

Peter Murray, a Civil Aairs Ocer with the Bri8sh Army in Northern Arakan during WWII, wrote:
The Arakanese are Buddhists, speaking a strongly differentiated form of the Burmese language. In
the 16th and 17th centuries, Arakan was a powerful and important kingdom, stretching to Chittagong
in the north, where there was an Arakanese Viceroy, and preying on the shipping of the Mogul Empire
in Bengal. The kingdom was subdued by the Burmese at the end of the 18th century, and came under
British rule in 1825. Before the war there was a small but powerful and influential Arakanese
aristocracy who provided many of Burmas ablest politicians and civil servants, and most of her few
successful native business men.
The Chittagong Moslems are an off-shoot of the Bengali race, speaking a debased form of Bengali
interlarded with Portuguese, Arabic and Arakanese words. They are much more hard-working and
prolific than the Arakanese, and fanatically religious. For the last several hundred years, they have
been moving southwards, gradually displacing and over-running the Arakanese.
Excerpts from a memo he wrote in January 1949, to the Foreign Oce outlining and explaining the
racial religious troubles in Arakan due to the Bengali Muslims relentless intrusion into Burma.

Most of these Bengalis were influenced, at that time (mid and late 1800s), by the Islamic Faraidi
movement in Bengal based on the ideology of the Wahhabis of Arabia (pre Saudi Arabia).
Wahhabism was, and is, one of the most fundamental and intolerant sects of Islam advocating strict
Sharia Law and the elimination of all other faiths.

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Robert Mole, a Bri8sh ocer serving in Arakan, during WWII, had spent decades in Burma and spoke
Burmese and Arakanese languages. From his book, The Temple Bells are Calling:
North Arakan had been peopled by a mixture of Arakanese Buddhists and Muslims of Chittagongian
origin. As a result of the communal disturbances which occurred in 1942 after the British evacuation
from Arakan, the entire population of this area was now Muslim. They were Chittagonian by race and
spoke a type of Bengali. Only a very few could speak Arakanese, The area occupied by the
Chittagongians now became so Indian that the Burmese and Arakanese languages were no more
understood; and all Buddhist pagodas and monasteries were destroyed.

If the Bengali Muslims get their way, all the places and artifacts pictured in this paper will be
desecrated, defaced, and destroyed. Arakan would become a land with no diversity, no Buddhists, no
Hindus, no Christians, no Arakanese language, no Arakanese festivals, and eventually, no Arakanese
history. And, this is a real, present and growing concern, with most of the Muslim world believing the
fraudulent and demonizing Muslim media, and the supremacist and war-mongering calls to wage
jihad on Arakans Buddhists, Myanmars Buddhists, and even Buddhism itself.

The better way is for the Buddhist countries of Asia, European countries, the US, and other non-
Muslim countries to recognize the reality of the issue, provide assistance and protection, and
recognize the consequences of not helping - not only could Arakan be lost, but the front line of Islams
ever-ongoing conquest of Buddhist lands would advance to the next Buddhist countries.

Let us assist, protect, and preserve this unique place - Rakhine State of Myanmar -
historic Arakan.

Hoping for peace and harmony, in diversity, with metta (loving kindness)
Rick Heizman, April 20, 2017, San Francisco, photos by Rick Heizman
PLEASE SEE MY PAPERS AND REPORTS ABOUT THIS CONFLICT AT: scribd.com/rheizman PHOTOS

AND VIDEOS HERE: arakan-reality.smugmug.com

burmafriend88@gmail.com

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