The largest historical archeological site is Mrauk U, the last great Rakhine capital (1430-1784) at it’s time one of the richest cities in Asia.
Bangladesh is a new country (1971), originally part of various ancient ‘Indian’ Hindu or Buddhist kingdoms, later Muslim conquests brought Islam, then it became part of the British Indian Empire, gained independence in 1947 as East Pakistan (as one country linked with West Pakistan 1000 miles away) and became independent as Bangladesh in 1971.
Moral and æsthetic capital is not expended all at once, but gradually; it is run down steadily until none remains.
HISTORY, ISSUES, AND TRUTH in ARAKAN/RAKHINE STATE, WESTERN BURMA by Rick Heizman I am disturbed to see that there is so much deception, fraud, and manipulation of the media about the situation in Rakhine State, Burma.
The second largest ruined city and temple site in Burma – Mrauk U – is in Rakhine State, and is the spiritual center of the Rakhine identity.
Now I’ll skip up to the British days, and how the British, unknowingly, helped create the present problems.
So many people – even those who seem to know a lot about Burma – don’t know the history, and the truth and reality of the Buddhist Rakhine people.
I am writing this to explain the real reasons, and the truth about what is happening in Rakhine State, in the western part of Burma/Myanmar.
THE HISTORY The Rakhine area has a history of kings and kingdoms dating back over 2000 years.
It has had a deeply Buddhist tradition from the early centuries AD.
The British, in Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, and other places, brought in Indian and/or Chinese men to be the plantation or other business managers.