TWO MUSLIM KINGS OF ARAKAN BY DR ABID BAHAR

By Dr Abid Bahar

Muslims are not strangers to Arakan. In addition to their influence from the 8th century through Arab traders, and Pathan king makers, at least twice Arakan had Muslim kings. The first one was General Wali Khan in 1431 and another time it was King Kalah Thuratan Raza in 1737.

Arakan looks West

"1406 Burmese King Min Khaung Yaza invades Arakan and Noromi-kala the king of Arakan along with his followers took asylum at Gaur the court of Bengal sultan Gaisuddin Azam Shah.

General Wali Khan the first Muslim King of Arakan
"Sultan Jalal uddin Khan sent "Wali Khan as the head of 20 thousand Pathan army" to restore Noromikla to his throne. Noromikla takes the name Sulauman Shah and becomes the king.

"1431 General Wali Khan removes Noromikla and rules Arakan as an independent Muslim ruler for couple of years. He introduced Persian as the official language of Arakan. Another time, in 1737 Kalah Thuratan Raza or Kalah Ketiya Min became the king.

"1433 Nadir Shah sent General Sindhi Khan with 30,000 solders helped restore Noromi kla as the king. This time Arakan becomes a province of Bengal. Wali Khan was killed in the battle and his followers were allowed to settle near Kalander River. In return for the help, the Arakani king promised to return the twelve towns of Bengal, which most likely be the the whole of southern Chittagong with perhaps twelve small feuds then under Mogh rule.

"Arakan began to pay annual taxes and Persian began to be used as the court language. 1433 Foundation of the Mrauk U dynasty in the city of Mrohaung near Lamro River. Mrohaung became a populous sea port, "built on hillocks amid the rice plain and intersected by canals which served as streets.” "Sindi Khan's followers settled in Mrohaung and its suburban areas.

"When king Sanda Thudamma died in 1684, the Rakhine kingdom became prey to internal disorder. Another 25 kings came to the throne, but none could maintain stability in the Kingdom. So, finally the army of the Burmese king Bodaw Pya invaded the kingdom and deposed the last king in 1785.

Muslim King in Late Mrauk-U Period

"Sanda Wiziya was murdered in 1731 A.D. He was succeeded by ten kings, all of whom except Nra Abya had short reigns. The country was gradually falling into anarchy. Chaos arose. The massacre of Muslims by Sanda Thudamma in 1664-1665 were fresh in the mind of Muslims. The Kaman palace guards who were deported to Akyab and Ramree were still active. Here one thing questionable is if the Kaman units of Arakan kings consist of Rakhine Buddhists too, as said by the Rakhine historians, why all the deportees were Muslims? There was an organized uprising of Muslims in 1738 all over the country. We find this fact in the history book, complied by Rakhine State Council. We can say it is an authentic chronicle because Rakhine State has always been very much cautious to mention any role of Muslims in their official documents. Yet that very book mentions: The kings after Sanda Wiziya were more unqualified. So there in 1738, was a countrywide revolt by Kalahs (Muslims). [Rakhines use the term Kalah for Muslims]. It was almost uncontrollable. Only when king Nra Abya (1742-1761) came in power, he tried to stabilize the country, to get rid of the rebellion. It further emphasize it was only in the reign of Abya Maharaza (1764-1773) the country got some stability. In the very Rakhine State Council’s chronicle on page 127, the 19th king of third Mrauk-U dynasty is shown as Kalah Thuratan Raza or Kalah Ketiya Min in 1737. Arthur Phayre in his History of Burma notes that a foreigner, Katra, rules for a short time. Here Kalah Thuratan Raza of 1737 and Kalah rebellion of 1738 might of course had some relationship. It indicates, there was a Muslim king indeed, though his reign, in that chronicle, is shown to be only for months.

Abu Anin says: "Here we can postulate, only when and where there were substantial population, they could try to make a king of their own. The Muslim group who attempted to make a king of their own clans in Mrauk-U was not intruders from any other country. They were permanent settlers of Mrauk-U and neighboring towns. So these permanent settlers are, according to Burmese Constitutions and Citizenship Laws, indigenous race of Burma. Nowadays many without historical background of these people, just judge them by seeing their features and culture, as aliens.

References:

Abu Anin, Towards Understanding Arakan History(Part I)