Rakhine people
The Rakhine or Arakanese are a Southeast Asian ethnic group in Myanmar forming the majority along the coastal region of present-day Rakhine State, although Rakhine communities also exist throughout the country, particularly in the Ayeyarwady and Yangon Regions. They constitute approximately 4.61% or more of Myanmar's total population. Rakhine communities also exist in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts and India's Northeastern states.
Rakhine people consist of seven different ethnic groups, namely Rakhine, Kamein, Kwe Myi, Daingnet people, Maramagyi, Mru people and Thet. Among them, Rakhine ethnic are the majority in Rakhine State and have long been influenced by their proximity to India and have formed trading links with the sub-continent. Thet, Kamein, Daingnet and Marma people are the minority ethnic groups living in the hills.
The Rakhines are predominantly Theravada Buddhist. Their language contains similarities with the Burmese language and they are very close to Burma in culture and traditional dress. They have developed their own kingdoms, dynasties, scripts, coins, costumes, culture, and dialects. They also have their own ethnic armed group in Myanmar's Rakhine State known as the Arakan Army.
file:Chimui.jpg|thumb|Marma dancers
The Rakhine people have a variety of appearances, showing a mix of traits from both South Asian and East Asian backgrounds. Rakhine men mostly wear a sarong called lungyi, while the women also wear a sarong called thabein. The Rakhine people celebrate several key festivals including Sangrain and Buddha Purnima.
Ethnonyms
"Rakhine" is the contemporary ethnonym and name of the region in Rakhine, Burmese, and English today. The word is extant to the mid-11th century, appearing on a pillar inscription at Shite-thaung Temple, and also appears in European, Persian, and Ceylonese accounts by the 15th century.The term Rakhine may have come from the Pali word "Rakkhapura" from "Rakkhita" meaning the land of the people of Rakhasa who were given this name in honor of their preservation of their national heritage and ethics or morality. The word Rakhine means, "one who maintains his own race." In the Rakhine language, the land is called Rakhinepray, the ethnic Rakhine are called Rakhinetha.
U Kala's Maha Yazawin traces the word's etymology to Alaungsithu's conquest of the region during the Pagan era, but epigraphic evidence to support the underlying theory remains scant. Arthur Phayre traces the etymology to the Sanskrit or Pali words for 'monster' or 'demon' respectively, which is more likely. Some Rakhine inhabitants now prefer the alternative spelling of ရက္ခိုင်.
Between the 17th and 18th centuries, the Rakhine began calling themselves Mranma and its derivatives, as attested by texts like the Rakhine Minrazagri Ayedaw Sadan and the Dhanyawaddy Ayedawbon. The word, which is also cognate with Bamar and is the Rakhine pronunciation of "Myanmar," continues to be used by their descendants in Bangladesh, who are known as the Marma. By this period, the Bamar began to call the Rakhine the Myanmagyi, as attested by contemporaneous Burmese and foreign sources. The ethnonym reflected their common ancestral kinship ties with the Buddhist-professing Bamar, with whom the Rakhine identified.
By 1585, European, Persian, and Bengali accounts began describing the Rakhine and Buddhist groups like Barua people as the Magh and its derivatives. The word's etymology is likely to derive from Magadha, the name of an ancient Buddhist kingdom. The term Magh has historically been used in Bengali accounts to refer to the Marma people and the Arakanese/Rakhine. With the rise of the Shunga dynasty and the decline of Buddhism in Magadha, many local Buddhists are believed to have migrated east, settling between Chittagong and the Arakan Yoma mountains. This eventually lead to the growth of the Arakan Kingdom, which expanded into Chittagong.
British authorities adopted the ethnonym Arakanese for the Rakhines by the late 19th century. After 1991, the Burmese government changed the official English name of the ethnic group to Rakhine, as part of a broader effort to indigenize the country's English ethnonyms and place names.
History of Rakhine
The Rakhine State, also known as Arakan, in Myanmar is the home to the Rakhine people. The history of Rakhine is divided into seven parts – the independent kingdoms of Dhanyawadi, Waithali, Lemro, Mrauk U, Burmese occupation from 1785 to 1826, British rule from 1826 to 1948 and as a part of independent Burma from 1948.Ancient Kingdoms (4th century CE – 1429)
is considered the first Kingdom of Arakan. The earliest recorded evidence indicates that the kingdom was established around the 4th century CE. It served as a significant cultural and political center in the region. The kingdom was known for its flourishing trade, connecting Southeast Asia with the Indian subcontinent. According to legends, the Gautama Buddha is said to have visited the city of Dhanyawadi during his travels to spread Buddhism in 554 BC. The remnants of Dhanyawadi's architecture and artifacts offer insights into the early history and society of Arakan.It is later estimated that the Arakanese world shifted from Dhanyawadi kingdom to Waithali kingdom. The Anandachandra Inscription, dated to 729 AD, reveals that the people of the Waithali Kingdom practiced Mahayana Buddhism.
King Min Hti is one of the famous Arakan kings, known for being one of the longest reigning monarchs in world history, although the exact length of his reign is unknown. During the Le-Mro period, it is known that he ruled the Launggyet Dynasty of Arakan from c. 1279 to 1373/74.
The Arakan kingdoms have always been predominantly Buddhist, with the majority known today as the Rakhine people. Although some of the kings had Muslim titles during the Kingdom of Mrauk U, as it was under Bengal Sultanate influence, none of them adopted the religion; they remained as Buddhists.
Mrauk-U Kingdom (1429–1785)
The Kingdom of Mrauk U was the largest kingdom of the Arakan Kingdom, encompassing the Chittagong region of Bangladesh and the Rakhine State of Myanmar. Arakanese chronicle records that more than six million shrines and pagodas flourished in Mrauk-U. A British archaeologist, Emil Forchhammer noted that "in durability, architectural skill, and ornamentation the Mrauk-U temples far surpass those on the banks of Irrawaddy." Illustrative examples of Mrauk U period architecture include the Shite-thaung and Htukkanthein Temples.Mrauk-U Kingdom started initially as a part of the Bengal Sultanate from 1429 to 1437 and later they got independence from Bengal. Chittagong was later conquered by Mrauk-U Kingdom around 1542. The kingdom gained full control over the Bay of Bengal coastline. However, in 1666, after a war with the Mughal Empire, it lost control of Chittagong.
The Arakanese king Min Razagyi conquered the areas and styled himself as the highest and most powerful king of Arakan, Chacomas, and Bengal in a 1607 letter to Portuguese mercenary Filipe de Brito e Nicote.
In 1546 CE, while the Arakanese king Min Bin was fighting a battle with the Burmese, the Sak king attacked Northern Arakan Roma and occupied the Arakanese-controlled Chacomas of the Northern Arakan Mountains. After his initial military successes against Bengal and Tripura, Min Bin began to regard himself "as a world conqueror or cakravartin", and in commemoration of his victory in Bengal he built the Shitthaung Temple, one of the premier Buddhist Pagodas of Mrauk-U. His expansionist drive was to run into serious obstacles however. His control of Bengal beyond Chittagong was largely nominal and he, like the sultans of Bengal before him, never solved Tripuri raids into Bengal. Min Bin also led to the Toungoo–Mrauk-U War which resulted in Mrauk U successfully defending its territory and maintaining independence, deterring further Toungoo invasions for decades. He survived the invasions and later provided military aid to Ava, hoping to stop Toungoo's advance into Upper Burma.
Colonial Period (World War II)
After the Bamar's Konbaung Dynasty's annexation of Arakan in 1785, the Mrauk U Kingdom came to an end and an estimated 35,000 people from Arakan sought refuge in the Chittagong region of British Raj and parts of northeastern India by 1799. They fled to find protection under the British Raj. Many Rakhine Buddhists also escaped by sea to the Barisal region, where their descendants still live today.In 1826, following the Bamar's defeat in the First Anglo-Burmese War, Arakan became a part British Burma. Sittwe was subsequently established as the new capital of the region.
Arakan was occupied by Japanese forces in 1942 during World War II as part of the Burma campaign. Several military operations, including the Arakan Campaign of 1942–1943, were conducted in the region. Arakan was granted autonomy under Japanese occupation and was provided with its own military force known as the Arakan Defence Force. The Rakhine Buddhists allied with the Japanese forces against the British. But early 1945, the Arakanese switched allegiance to the Allies and fought against the Japanese. British forces, with Allied support, recaptured Arakan in 1945. Sayadaw U Ottama, a prominent Rakhine Buddhist monk and nationalist leader, had played a significant role in the anti-colonial movement against British rule.
Wages in Arakan Division were much higher than in British India. The area was known for producing a lot of rice, and Sittwe became one of the top ports for rice exports, with ships coming from Europe and China.
Rakhine State (1948 – present)
After the British Raj's decline, Arakan was incorporated into Burma. In 1989, the Burmese military junta changed the region name of Arakan to Rakhine State.Rakhine State is one of the poorest regions in Myanmar. Off its coast lies some islands like Ramree, Cheduba, and Myingun.