The History of the Kingdom of Mrauk U

Burmese history is often overshadowed by its Asian neighbours, China and Japan. For westerners, China and Japan offer an exotic and fascinating insight to the ancient world of martial arts, samurai, emperors, food, architecture, history and religion. However, Burma has just a long and fascinating history as its eastern neighbours.

The kingdom of Mrauk U was founded around 1431 CE in the modern country of Burma (Myanmar) by the Arakanese king Narameikhla (r. 1404-1434). Narameikhla had taken refuge in Gaur since 1404 due to Mon and Burman invasions and finally returned to central Arakan with the Sultan of Bengal. The creation of a new capital at Mrauk U (located in Rakhine state in western Burma) was to promote his new dynasty.

Within 150 years, his successors had successfully created a powerful maritime kingdom. By the end of the 17th century this kingdom encompassed not only the entire eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal up to Tippera, but also the Lower Burmese coast from Cape Negrais to what is now Moulmein.

Prior to the Burmese rulers, the region of Mrauk U came under the rule of the Indian cultural complex. The Burmese people had a separate cultural identity to these Indians and inherited the name, "Arakanese”.

The kingdom of Mrauk U encouraged a personal and particularistic form of political control. “Generally, the Early Mrauk-U polity may be conceived of as a mandala or galactic polity, with central control dissipating commensurately with increasing distance from the royal court”.

During its early years, Mrauk U was built upon maritime trade and resources, such as commercial revenues and increasingly access to firearm. “Through the monopolization of significant amounts of these resources, and further empowered by the agricultural and demographic superiority of the Danya-waddy delta, early Mrauk-U rulers brought the Arakanese littoral under their sway and then proceeded to expand their control beyond the littoral both east and west”.

Throughout the years, the rulers of Mrauk U adopted many Islamic traditions, mainly due to the amount of Muslim traders that the kingdom was connected with. However, Theravada Buddhism became the popular religion and “thus Muslim dress and cultural activities and nominal patronage of Muslim traders and courtiers was not inconsistent with early Mrauk-U patronage of Theravada Buddhism”.

The collapse of the kingdom of Mrauk U after many years of expansion. The Portuguese, around the beginning of the 17th century, cut of lower Burma’s trading links with the Muslim world, forcing the Islamic traders to go to Syriam (a port on the east coast of Burma). The Portuguese attacked Mrauk U several times, destroying the trade vessels found there.

The rulers on Mrauk U were forced to send raiding parties on lower Burma and Bengal for supplies. However, under the rule of Min-kamaun (c. 1612-1622), Muslim trade with Mrauk-U quickly revived. Later, they were able to start trading with the Dutch East India Company who established a permanent base in the 1620’s. For the next 50 years, Mrauk U traded rice and slaves with the Europeans, continually raiding Lower Ben- gal as far as Hughli and Jassor for slaves and labour.

However, there were a series of events that led to the downfall of the kingdom. These included a series of rebellions in Burma and with India, the Dutch and Portuguese withdrawal and religious and ethnic diversities. The rulers of Mrauk U dropped the Muslim patronage and had to contend with a series of local bids for their throne.

The decline of maritime trade due to the Portuguese blockades and the growth of a new port, as well as the other mentioned events, all contributed to the downfall of the kingdom. At the height of her power, though, Mrauk U was one of the greatest maritime kingdoms.

Bibliography:

Charney, Michael W. (1998) Crisis and Reformation in a Maritime Kingdom of Southeast Asia: Forces of Instability and Political Disintegration in Western Burma (Arakan), 1603-1701, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, BRILL.