1.Arakan was a prosperous Sultanate owing allegiance to the Caliph at Baghdad/Damascus till the King of Ava invaded the country in 1784-85. King Bodapaway destroyed the thriving Muslim capital Mrak-U (named after Morocco) physically massacring Muslims and Buddhists alike. He took away the Mohamuni statue of Buddha which is most sacred to the Rakhines of Arakan. The greatest loss to the Muslims was the destruction of the famous library built on the lines of the one at Cordoba.
2. There was a great exodus into what had then become Bengal Presidency under the E I Company. From present Southern Chittagong the Arakanese carried on an armed struggle against the occupation forces. Appreciating that they would invariably have to wage war on Burma, the clever English raised The Arakan Light Infantry (ALI), as a Regt in the Bengal Army. The men were mostly Rohingyas with some Muslim Monipuris. Because of their knowledge of the ground and ability to traverse jungles and hills fast, ALI had played a crucial role in the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26).
3. The Burmese were ousted from Arakan, and the English went on to fight two more wars to annex Burma through Proclamation. Arakan now was ruled by the Company from Calcutta. During WW II the British again raised an irregular force of Rohingyas to fight the Japanese and their Burmese allies.
4.But all such display of loyalty counted for nothing. In their policy of dividing, and thus weakening the Muslims, they dished out Arakan to the Burmese. The Rohingya leaders had lobbied long with AIML to include them in Pakistan, even sending a delegation to attend the famous Lahore convention, 1943 where the LHR Resolution was passed.
