No Rohingyas In Arakan History: International Experts!

[Aung Zaya]

Where did you get those excerpts from, nyi lay? I want to have a look.

@Aung Zaya

ka na... bro..!!

 

[Lux de Veritas]

Arakanese Kingdom of Mrohaung, in southern Myanmar (Burma), state whose longevity (1433–1785) provided a strong tradition of independence for the Arakan region, a coastal strip on the Bay of Bengal.

King Narameikhla founded a strong, stable kingdom in 1433. In 1531 the first European ships appeared in the region, and Portuguese freebooters began to settle at Chittagong. Mrohaung’s navy, under the leadership of King Minbin and with Portuguese assistance, was the terror of the Ganges River region. Arakan’s neighbour and traditional antagonist, Bengal, was weak; the freebooters raided there at will, carrying hundreds of slaves off to Arakan. For almost a century Mrohaung retained ... (100 of 209 words)

Arakanese Kingdom of Mrohaung | historical kingdom, Myanmar | Britannica.com


SLAVE RAIDS IN BENGAL or HEINS IN ARAKAN

The Guardian BURMA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
[RANGOON VOL: VII. NO. 10. OCTOBER 1960.]



I wrote about the Roewengyas, the descendants of Arabs, Pathans and the then immigrants from Bengal in a previous article entitled "Roewengyas in Arakan" which was published in this magazines Vol: VII, No. 5 for May 1960. Now I take great pleasure in writing about the North Arakan people who descended from the captives of Bengal who were captured by the Portuguese and the Arakanese pirates.

Slave raids were made by the Arakanese Mughs and Portuguese. The Portuguese were crusaders, conquerors and traders. They came to eastern countries after Vasco da Gama had found the sea route to India. Vasco da Gama with 160 men in threesmall ships sailed to India on the8th of July 1497, and at Melinde on the African coast he engaged an India pilot with whose assistance they crossd the Arabian Sea, and on the 20th May 1498 they arrived at Calicut, the port on the West Coast of India, and the capital of an independent Hindu Kingdom.

He sent a civil message to the king of Calicut. In return a personage came aboard to conduct him into the city. In return a personage came aboard to conduct him into the city. On visiting the city, da Gama presented the King with a letter in which a request was made by King Emanuel of Portugal for trade between the two countries. The King replied that he would return his answer in consultation with his ministers.

The Muslims whose influence was very strong in Calicut heard of what had happened. They formed a deputation and waited on the mayor of Calicut. The mayor told the King that the Portuguese were fugitives and their intentios were piratical. The King summoned his ministers who though supporting the mayor's allegations, he (the King) sent for da Gama who, on his arrival, was permitted to load his ships with cargoes. Da Gama left the King. But he was arrested on his way to the wharf by the mayor's order. He was ordered to leave Calicut at once without cargoes and without compensation for the goods which had been landed. On the ship he consulted with his officers. They made up their mind to get in touch with the King who was unaware of the mayor's action. But their attempt was fruitless because the mayor was on the watch.

On reaching Portugal in 1499 Vasco da Gama advised the King that if a strong force were sent the Muslims could be driven off the sea and the trade diverted from the Persian Gulf to the Cape route. Though Calicut had its own Hindu rulers, Muslim influence was very strong. Muslim merchants controlled the maritime trade between the Persian Gulf and Indonesia, including Arakan. Goa was also in their possession. Their ships were in Calicut harbour and their storehouses on shore. King Emanuel accepted da Gama's advice. In the following years a series of expeditions were sent. Suitable sites were seized and fortresses built on the Asiatic coast. Goa was captured by Albuquerque from the Muslim traders in 1510. He made Goa the centre and the greatest fortress of the Portuguese Asia. The Portuguese became the masters of the seaborne trade between East and West. They became very rich.

Dianga, opposite to Chittagong on the other side of the Karnaphuli River, was seased by the Arakanese king to the Portuguese private merchants as a port had long ceased to be such a place of normal trade. In 1601 Min Yaza Gyi alias Salim Shah I (1593-1612) appointed Philip de Brito, with whose assistance he invaded Pegu, to be the Governor of Syriam, then port of Pegu. Later de Brito united with the Portuguese in Syriam and, driving away the Arakanese from the port, made himself king of Hauthawaddy (Pegu).

On hearing this news Min Yaza Gyi sent a garrison under the command of his son Min Kha Maung who was taken captive by the Portuguese, but sater was released on compensation. Min Yaza Gyi tied up in mock friendship with de Brito and asked him to send his son as ambassador at Mrohaung. It seemed that Min Yaza Gyi wanted to take reprisals. De Brito agreed and sent his son to Myauk-U (Mrohaung) where in 1607 he and his followers were executed, all his ships captured and the entire crew cut up. De Brito could do nothing because Anauk-phet-lun-min of Ava gave battle to him and he was killed. Five hundred Portuguese from Syriam were carried off and resettled in Shwebo district.

In Dianga also the Portuguese were killed. Some of them fled away. Gonsalves Tibao, one of the Dianga Portuguese, who turned into a pirate, made himself king of Sandwip, an island at the mouth of the Padma River. He became so bold that in 1616 he attempted a raid on Arakan, but was bitterly defeated by Min Kha Maung alias Hussain Shah (1612-1622), son of Min Yaza Gyi, with the help of the Dutch who hate the Portuguese. In this expedition a large number of slaves were brought to Arakan. At that time Moghul power of expansion over India had become stronger and stronger. Before Moghul administration was extended to Bengal, the Arakanese claimed a large part of Bengal. Moghul Emperors established themselves in western and central Bengal, and they confined the Arakanese to the province of Chittagong, the North-west frontier vice-royalty of the Arakanese king who got half the booty from piracy. The Portuguese were formidable fighters. So instead of destroying them the King of Arakan enlistedteh Portuguese in his service as a force to guard his north-west frontier. They were granted estates. They had no subject control from Goa. They served the Arakanese king in holding Sandwip Island, Noakhali, Bakergunje, and the Sundarbans Delta; and they raided up to Dacca and even Murshidabad.

The King of Arakan encouraged them to make slave raids west-wards. The Arakanese Mughs and the Portuguese made slave raids upon delta villages of the Sundarbans. They made Sangar Island at the mouth of the Hooghly River uninhabitable. They sold the Bengalis (Hindus and Muslims), so kidnapped, at the Indian ports and to the Arakanese who used them in ploughing, reaping rice crop, earth-digging and in several hard works which could not be done by the Arakanese. They pierced the hands of their slaves, and passed a strip of cane through the hole. They flung them under the deck strung together like hens. Sometimes the Mughs would sail back to the coast where they had captured their captives and wait till the villagers brought out sufficient gifts to get back their relations. This the Mughs called collecting revenue, and the Portuguese who were also among them would keep regular account books.

Sabistan Manrique, the Portuguese Friar, arrived at Hooghly, near the present Calcutta, after one month's voyage from Goa. After one and a quarter years of stay at Hooghly he was again ordered by the Friar of the monastery of Hooghly to go Dianga to relieve the Vicar of the town. On the 11thSeptember 1629 Manrique embarked on a Portuguese galley which came from Dianga to sell slaves. In the next month he reached Dianga where he stayed nine months, after which he was again transferred to Myauk-U, the capital of Arakan. On the 5th July 1630 he came to Ramu where he was given a promise by the Arakanese Governor of the town that he would be guided to Arakan by 53 chained Bengali slaves who had been captured in the slave raids, together with a guard of 30 soldiers, as the mountain passes were full of tigers and other wild beasts. On the evening of the 7thJuly the captives arrived. They were manacled. They were fastened together with a chain which was attached to their iron collars. They were like bead-stones in a great iron chain. They were old and young innocent Bengalis (Hindus and Muslims) who were going to a disgraceful and perpetual slavery. A slave who was an old man became exhausted on the pass above Peroem, the town on the Mayu River. He could not walk. He was driven on by the cruel Mugh guards. But Manrique took pity on him and protested with the guards not to drive him on. He was unmanacled and give a seat on the elephant by the Friar.

About these slave raids we have an excellent description written by the Moghul historian Shahbuddin Talish, which is quoted by Maurice Collis, "The Arakan pirates, who were both Portuguese and natives, used constantly to come by water and plunder Bengal," he writes. "They carried off such Hindus and Muslims as they could seize, pierced the palms of their hands, passed thin slips of cane through the holes and shut them huddled together under the decks of their ships. Every morning they flung down some uncooked rice, as we do for fowl…Many noblemen and women of family had to undergo the disgrace of house eventually was left inhabited on either side of the rivers leading from Chittagong to Dacca."

From the above facts and figures it is no wonder that the early Kings of Bengal considered the Arakanese Mughs wild and cruel.

The descendants of these captives of Bengal are known as HEINS ([defvlrsKd;rsm which means a low caste. M.K.Rahman wuote that they were settled at the two villages of Dass Para (slave village) and Pebin-Yin Ywa of Mrohaung Township, where they are found to this day. And they are looked down upon by other people of Arakan who never intermarry and intermix, nor even interdine with them, saying that they are of low caste descent. As the distinctions of colour, caste, race, wealth and poverty are unknown in the ranks of Islam it is not right to look down uponthem. Muslims are all brothers and sisters. The Heins' ancestors consisted of many noblemen and women though once they had to undergo the disgrace of slavery. They also call themselves Roewengyas. As they had to work in the Arakanese houses and palaces, they imitated the Arakanese habit, such as ear-boring custom. They bored their ears. So they are also known as ear-boring Roewengyas. People say that it is in memory of their ancestors, whose hands were pierced by their slave raiders, that they now bore their ears. However, they are just as good Muslims as the Arakanese of the same faith, while the Hindus from among the Heins are now assimilated into the Mugh community.

Like the Roewengyas- the descendants of Arabs and Pathans – the Heins are also strict in their religious performances, and in every village there is at least one Mosque.in dress, in gabit, and in the social customs they are not distinct from the other Arakanese except in their religious performances. They use Burmese as a written language just as the Roewengyas did with Urdu which, during the British rule, supplanted the ancestral literature of the satter. But, R.B.Smart wrote that among themselves the Heins use the colloquial language of their ancestors. Unlike their ancestors they are indolent and extravagant as the Arakanese because they have lived for centuries together with the latter. They are, therefore, dependent on the Chittagonian labourers who help them in their several hard works such as ploughing, reaping and earthwork. "Since 1879 immigration has taken place on a much larger scale and the descendants of the slaves are resident, for the most part, in the Kyauktaw and Myohaung townships," writes R. B.Smart. these immigrants were men who came down only for the working season from Eastern Bengal, but they were not bona-fide or permanent residents because they were not an indigenous race of the country. In the Second Great World War they sacrificed their lives and property, and fought with blood and sweat against their enemies for the freedom of Burma.


View attachment 227454

clear..!! Not permanent resident..!! Not indigenous race..!! just for working reason from EB......
before 1960 there is no such a name Rohingya in Arakan History..
3. The well known author and scholar, Maurice Collis, who wrote many articles and books about Arakan, also never mentioned the word "Rohingya".

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"The fact that there has never been a "Rohingya" ethnic group in Burma is quite evident. There is no such name as "Rohingya" in the Census of India, 1921 (Burma) compiled by G. G. Grantham, I.C.S., Superintendent of Census Operations Burma, or in the Burma Gazetteer, Akyab District (1924) compiled by R. B. Smart.

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in Hobson-Jobson. "A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive" published by British Colonial Officers of British East India Company, Col. Henry Yule and A. C. Burnell (First Published 1886) the word "Rohingya" was not mentioned. Since this book was published by the Bengal Chamber Edition, Calcutta, India, and is an indispensable dictionary for those who want to study the history of India during the last 300 years and its impact on the East and West, it should be considered as a standard literature.

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Start creation of new name by a people from Budetoung at that time as i said all time before ..These bangali start creation of new name 'Rohingya" at 1960s !! there is no such a " hein " people in Arakan history.. if u dont believe ... search above books.. especially notable writter Maurice Collis,.. thz

It is clear that mass bangala migration occurred only recently, and the Rohingya 4 generation were swimming along Bangali Bramaputra. There is also no evidence that there is large number of Sino Tibetan present in Northern Arakan, else books will record that Bangala drove yellow away.

At 19th century Northern arakan native is Bangali tiger and obviously, bangala came first.

So it wont be nice to chase first comer away.

 

[bluesky]

-deleted-

 

[ManUNITEDglory]

Do you see above the Muslim people migrated during Marak u of Arakan. Not by the British. Burmese people also migrated there by expelling the Rakhine people.

Is this so simple? Chittagong is 90% muslim adjacent to northern arakan rohingya dominated area. Now suppose chittagong was part of Arakan now. As in the history Marak U ruled the place. Was it necessary for the chittagonian people to prove also they are migrant or original tribe?

With more new information on history we now have a more clear understand of the historical settlement of Arakan state. Rohingya were Indo-Aryan people that descended from Arabs, Bengali and Indo-Aryan population that had lived in Arakan state long before any Mongoloid or any Burmese tribal population.

The Rakhine Burmese Bhuddist arrived in 10th century while the Bamar/Burmese dominant
ethnic group conquered Arakan in 18th century. The ancient population of Arakan was like today's Rohingya. While it's true many Rohingya today have origins from 19th century many also have origins with hundreds to thousand years history


Early history

The Rohingya population is concentrated in the historical region of Arakan, an old coastal country of Southeast Asia. It is not clear who were the original settlers of Arakan. Burmese nationalist claims that the Rakhine inhabited Arakan since 3000 BCE are not supported by any archaeological evidence. By the 4th century, Arakan became one of the earliest Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia. The first Arakanese state flourished in Dhanyawadi. Power then shifted to the city of Waithali. Sanskrit inscriptions in the region indicate that the founders of the first Arakanese states were Indian. Arakan was ruled by the Chandra dynasty.[88] The British historian Daniel George Edward Hall stated that "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".[89]

(Daniel George Edward Hall (1891-1979) was a British historian, author, and academic. He wrote extensively on the history of Burma. His most notable work is A History of Southeast Asia, said to "...remain the most important single history of the region, providing encyclopedic coverage of material published up to the time of its 1981 revision."[1] He held professorships in Southeast Asian history at both Cornell University and the University of London - where he eventually became professor emeritus. )


Arrival of Islam (8th-9th century)

Due to its coastline on the Bay of Bengal, Arakan was a key center of maritime trade and cultural exchange between Burma and the outside world, since the time of the Indian Mauryan Empire.[90] Arab merchants had been in contact with Arakan since the third century, using the Bay of Bengal to reach Arakan.[76] Starting in the 8th century, Arab merchants began conducting missionary activities, and many locals converted to Islam.[91]Some researchers have speculated that Muslims used trade routes in the region to travel to India and China.[92] A southern branch of the Silk Road connected India, Burma and China since the neolithic period.[93][94] Arabtraders are recorded in the coastal areas of southeast Bengal, bordering Arakan, since the 9th century.[95] The Rohingya population trace their history to this period.[96]

Besides locals converting to Islam, Arab merchants married local women and later settled in Arakan. As a result of intermarriage and conversion, the Muslim population in Arakan grew.[76] Modern day Rohingya believe they descended from these early Muslim communities.

Settlers from Burma proper (9th-15th century)

The Rakhines were one of the tribes of the Burmese Pyu city-states. The Rakhines began migrating to Arakan through the Arakan Mountains in the 9th century. The Rakhines established numerous cities in the valley of the Lemro River. These included Sambawak I, Pyinsa, Parein, Hkrit, Sambawak II, Myohaung, Toungoo and Launggret. Burmese forces invaded the Rakhine cities in 1406.[88] The Burmese invasion forced Rakhine rulers to seek help and refuge from neighboring Bengal in the north.[88]

 

[Svantana]

Departure and Arrival of Humanitarian Assistance Indonesia to Myanmar

5th and 6th sorties of Indonesian humanitarian assistance for Rohingya refugees arrived at Chitagong, Bangladesh.