Thursday, October 16, 2008

Arakan

Arakanese, the real owner of Mahamyatmuni Image.

All Arakanese were strong and pround Buddhist People.

Arakanese chronicle records that more than six million shrines and pagodas flourished in Mrauk-U.


The land that is known as Arakan by the foreigners is called "Rakhaing-pray" by its own peoples, Rakhaing-thar (Arakanese). The Arakanese history records the early Arakanese to migrate in Arakan and settled down in their true land since time immemorial.

The Arakanese (Rakhaingthar) heroically lived in their ancient homeland of Arakan state devoting to safeguard the two essential qualities, namely nationality (Amyo) and morality (Sila).

The detail of Arakanese historical recorded Age has been started from B.C. 3325 by King Marayu.

The word Rakhaing (Rakhine) means, “one who keeps his own race.” They are a strong and proud Buddhist people and claim to be one of the first groups to become followers of the Buddha in Southeast Asia.

Arakan is comprised of the four provinces of Dhanyawady (Mrauk-U), Maegawady (Man Aung), Dwarawady (Sandway), Rammawady (Rann Bray) and 12 Bengal cities including Chittagong (now in Bangladesh). Decca (present capital of Republic of Bangladesh, Dhaka) area as far a field as Mushidabad (near present day Calcutta) was most of the time under Arakanese rule.

The area of Arakan was about 20,000 sq. ml. till the British period. But, Burmese ruler, without the Arakanese people's consent, split up a north western Arakan Hill Tracts area bordering India and a southern most part of Arakan (from Kyauk Chaung River to Cape Negaris) from the Arakan mainland. Due to these partitions, the present day total area of Arakan was reduced to 18, 500 sq. ml and it comprises less than half of historic Arakan.

According to the Arakanese chronicles, the name Rakhaing (Rakhine) was originated from Pali word Rakhapura meaning the land of the people of Rakhasa (Rakhasa > Rakkha > Rakkhaing > Rakhaing) who were titled this name in honour of preservation on their national heritage (Amyo) and ethics or morality (Sila).

"The Zambu among the islands The Rakhine among the nations Such are their fames circulated. Virtuous as they are, and patriotic, Diligent in work and charitable to all- Equally liked deities and men; Let theirs be the coveted Nibbana".

Buddhism was introduced into Arakan during the lifetime of Buddha himself. According to Rakhine chronicles, Lord Buddha in his life time visited the city of Dhannyawadi (Grain Blessed) in 554 B.C. The Rakhine king Sandar Suriya (Sun Moon) requested Lord Buddha to leave the image of Himself. After casting the Great Image Maha Muni (Great Sage) Lord Buddha breathed upon it which resembled the exact likness of the Blessed One.

Arakanese were only believed in Buddhism. They didn't believe any other religions.

So, Arakanese Ethnic group have no Muslim, no Christian, no Hindu and no other religious people.

"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."

Migrated People in Arakan:

The Rohingyas are not an indigenous ethnic group of Myanmar (Burma).We can confidently say that there has never been such an ethnic group throughout the history of Burma and also her state Rakhine. The people called Rohingyas are direct descendents of immigrants from the Chittagong District of East Bengal (present day Bangladesh). The British colonial officials called them Chittagonians in their administrative records. These Muslim people (Rohingyas) are not Arakan (Rakhine Pyay) origin and also can’t be called them as arakanese (Rakhine thar). They migrated into Arakan after the province was ceded to British India under the terms of Treaty of Yandabo concluded at the end of the First Anglo-Burmese War in 1826. Most of them settled down in the Buthidaung and Maungdaw Districts of Arakan State, the frontier areas near Burma’s border with Bangladesh. Their migration in the past usually happened during the agricultural season when Arakan faced the problem of the shortage of agricultural labourers. These Muslims, of mainly Bengali origin, were not culturally integrated and played a part in history of domestic conflicts in Myanmar after 1947. They then claimed an identity of their own and organized themselves in the so-called Rohingya movements. It is obvious that the term “Rohingya” was created in 1950s by the educated Chittagonian descendants from Mayu Frontier area (present day Buthidaung and Maungdaw Districts).

We didn't hear the word rohingyas before 1950 in our region and also didn't find any historical source materials in any language till then. Rohingya name was created by some of the Bengladeshi Muslim Extremist with the aim to occupy Arakan. Bengalis and Rohingyas squatters (people who come to our land to claim it as theirs) are trying to occupy our land. Arakan is our own land and our continent. This is not property of the Bengalis and Rohingyas or their descendants. Bengalis and Rohingyas squatters are today stealing not just our land; they are stealing our farmland, our forests and all of our other resources. They are also stealing our honor, our dignity, and our sense of being one Rakhine nation. And also their aim is to destroy our nation and religion, after that they will try to form Muslim country in our own land.

"So, we must protect our own land for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect our land for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees." Bravenet Hit Counter
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