MINBIN

"It took the kings of Arakan a hundred years thereafter to learn the doctrine of Islam. When it was thoroughly understood, they founded what was known as the Mrauk-U Empire. For the hundred years, 1430-1530, Arakan remained very close to the Muslim Bengal and further learnt its history and politics. In 1531 AD Zabauk Shah under the assumed Magh title of Minbin ascended the throne and founded the Mrauk-U Empire which extended upto Moulmein in lower Burma. Persian was the court language of Mrauk-U since 1430 A.D" 1

Minbin or Minbagyi son of Minyaza (Ili Shah) 1503-13 came to the throne in 1531 under the Muslim title of Jafar Shah (Arakanese pronounce Zabauk Shah). After the death of Basawpyu or Kalima Shah (145982) for 49 years from 1482 to 1531 the Arakan country was in disorder and some kings were assassinated one after another. They kept Muslim titles, and for those coins were struck in Bengal, They were weak kings and during their reigns nothing much noteworthy was recorded except the propagation of Islam by missionaries. During the rule of Jalal Shah (Min Saw U) 1515-1515 three missionaries Kadir, Musa and Hanu Meah came from Bengal to Arakan to propagate Islam. They built mosques in many places from where daily they preached Islam due to which Muslims increased day by day and so Islam spread throughout the country. Kadir built a mosque at Bandarpara while other preachers also built mosques in other places. They continued their preaching of Islam.2 In this period "a very close cultural contact between Bengal (and the rest of India) and Arakan was established. From this time Bengali was accepted at the Arakan court as the chief cultural language, mainly because many of high officials of Arakan came from Chittagong and the other neighbouring territories whose mother tongue was Bengali.3 Arakan's contact with Bengal where Islamic civilization was paramount brought the country's great age.4 The Arakanese had forsaken their old ideas. They had to learn the history of Islam and Muslim rulers of India and westwards beyond who were Mongolian Muslims while the rulers of Further India including Arakan and Burma were Mongolian Buddhists, and they detected the fundamental difference regarding war and greatness of the Muslims and Buddihsits.5 Buddhism by its doctrine of ahimsa had made the rulers of Further India peace loving and unwarlike and for them war was wrong which only happened incidentally, and for the Muslim rulers it was the preoccupation of land as a Muslim is taught to believe that every country to which he came to live permanently is his country because it is the land and the country of his God. The Muslims were united by their religion of Islam which was simple, manly and soldierly, and taught that all members of it regardless of race and rank were brothers. Anyone who accepted Islam, no matter whether he was a slave or nobleman could rise to the highest rank. The Muslims believed in a religion whose outlook on social and political questions was very different from that of the Arakannse. With them they brought a well-defined religion, and a highly developed civilization. Indeed it was an avowed principle with them to maintain their purity and to establish them in lands to which they came to live permanently. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. Rohingyas' Outcry and Demands, pp.31 & 32 by Shamsuddin Ahmad. 2. U Tha Tun Aung ( Rakhine Maha YazawinGyi) The Great History of Arakan, pp.40&41 3. Sukumar Sen, History of Bengali Literature, p.149 4. The 50th Anniversary Publication No. 2 of BRSJ, p. 491 5. Ibid, p.491

It took the Arakanese more than one hundred years from 1430 to 1546 to learn the doctrine from the Muslims.6 For that hundred years Arakan remained feudatory to Bengal, paid tribute to the Sultans of Gaur and learnt history and politics, and they became proficient in their Muslim studies during the reign of Minbin (1531-53)7. In those hundred years "the court of Arakan had accepted some of the manners and customs of the Bengali court. Bengali poetry and Bengali dance and music became highly popular in the cultured section of Arakan society"8, and in that period of vassaldom Islam developed with startling rapidity and became a strong force in the whole life of the people whom it influenced and it was "a period of Muslim domination in Arakan".9 The Muslims brought a more definite and advanced culture and civilization based on the teachings of Islam which the Arakanese failed to absorb. The Islamic atmosphere prevailing in Arakan in those days were naturally influenced by the Muslims from Bengal Sultanate. They established more mosques with Madrasahs attached to them for the promotion of learning. The Madrasahs became centres of Muslim cultural influence in Arakan, and Persian and Arabic were taught in Madrasahs 10 which were the severe schools of morality and conduct. In 1531 when Minbin was ascending the throne a three men delegation headed by Abdul Kadir was sent to Arakan by the Bengal Sultan Abu Muzaffar Nasrat Shah (1518-32) to witness and observe his coronation and to give the medallion bearing Kalima, the Muslim formula of faith, and his Muslim name Jafar Shah (Zabauk Shah) in Arabic Language; and with this delegation several missionaries came and preached Islam due to which a number of Arakanese became Muslims. Seeing the danger of Islamic missionary works the Arakanese ministers specially Saya U Myawar raised complaints to king Minbin who withdrew all facilities from the missionaries when Arakan regained its full political independence after the occupation of Chittagong in 1546.11 So we can definitely say that whenever the Arakanese kings were ascending the throne delegation and missionaries came to Arakan from Bengal while it was the vassal of Bengal. Before Minbin ascended the throne the Moghul emperor Babar (1526-30) established Moghul dynasty in India winning a decisive victory at Panipat and its territorial expansion was quick. "When he died at Agra in 1530 his empire extended from the river Amu in Central Asia to the Gangetic delta in Lower Bengal"12 But as Humayun (1530-56) was no soldier like his father Babar he could not maintain himself against Sher Shar, the Afghan chief in Bihar who killed Mahmud Shah (1532-38) of Gaur and became the Emperor in Delhi after driving Humayuan out of India 13 in 1540. Sher Shah (1540-45) ruled India for five years during which he showed his capability. He was active, efficient and brilliant organizer who even in his wars started a new and better land-revenue system for levying taxes on the cultivators. He was a stern and hard man and was the ablest and the best of all the Afghan rulers of India14. At this time Chittagong was under Sher Shah. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6. Ibid, pp.491 & 494. U San Shwe Bu, A Brief Note on the Old Capitals of Arakan. 7. Ibid p.p 491 & 494. Islamic Review, April, 1966, p.27 8. History of Bengali Literature, p. 150 9. U Ba Shin, The Coming of Islam to Burma Down to 1700 A.D Asian History Congress, 1961, New Delhi. 10. M.K. Rahman, Burma Muslim, p. 113. 11. The Great History of Arakan, pp.40 & 41.Sayadaw U Nyanna, Dannya Waddi Razawinthit, vol:2,pp.161 & 163. U Hla Tun Pyu, Rakhine Pyi Nay Taiying Thar Myar . p.47 12. G.Allama, Our Freedom fighters, p.11 13. Jawahala Nehru, Glimpses of World History, p.305.L.S.S O' Malley, Chittagong District Gazetteers, p.23 14. Ibid, p.306.

Meanwhile Tabinshweti (1531-50) was the king in Taungu who was aggressive and Arakna's dangerous enemy. He hired the Portuguese with firearms which were unknown in Burma, and no race in Indo-China could stand against them.15 He annexed Pegu in 1541. Minbin foresaw the trouble with his eastern and western neighbours. Though he was a capable and energetic king he lived in perpetual fear of Moghuls and Afghans. So he employed a number of Portuguese adventurers and runaways from the Portuguese settlements.16 Some of them were appointed in higher posts in the fleet due to their superior seamanship and desperate courage to train and equip a mercenary army of different races, foreign and domestic; and to turn Myuak-U, the then capital of Arakan into the strongest fortified city of the Bay of Bengal with walls and deep moats filled with tidal water: and to forge and mount his cannon. With their assistance he built a large fleet manned with his own men and with the hardy Rohingya boatmen under the guidance of the Portuguese mariners. In his way he became master of a powerful modern weapon. This sudden tide of development in Arakan into unprecedented importance in the civilization of the Bay is mainly due to its Islamization and Portuguese assistance.17 The Portuguese were not controlled by the Portuguese Viceroy of Goa. They were free boaters. The served faithfully so long as they were paid. The death of Sher Shah in 1545 broke the whole Indian empire into pieces. His successors were weak kings and the Afghan nobles forgot their unity and made themselves weak by intrigues and quarrels. The quarrel for power between Moghuls and Afghans ( Pathans) had not ceased. The Zamindars (the Bhunyas or land-lords) of Bengal declared independence in their own villages 18 and the military of Bengal rebelled, and the aggressive Portuguese arrived in Bengal 19. People became suspicious of one another, and violence and disorder spread everywhere. Such internal disunity and quarrel and the external danger practically made the Afghan sultans of Bengal weak and interrupted the administration of Bengal and Eastern Bengal lay defenseless. It gave opportunity to the ambition of Minbin who contravened the agreement reached between Nazir Shah and Narameikla, 20 and with the assistance of the Portuguese he openly rebelled the Afghan Sultan Islam Shah (1545-54) son of Sher Shah and in 1546 he brought Chittagong into his possession, and he held it in spite of continual wars with Tippera Rajars, the Thek or Sak kings while he was fighting against the king of Burma, Tabinshweti who after the annexation of Prome, Delta, central Burma and defeating the Shans of the North returned to Pegu in 1546 and crowned himself king of all Burma. He did not want to remain any powerful rival in the region. So he decided to bring Arakan within his empire as the Arakanese king helped the chief of Prome against him in 1542. So at the invitation of Minbin's uncle, Sandoway governor who had a quarrel with Minbin for the succession of the throne Tabinshweti made an attack on Arakan in the cold weather of 1547 by land and by sea. Many of his war canoes were wrecked on the west coast, and all his land forces reached Myauk-U which was strongly fortified by Minbin. He had not the means to storm it. In the meantime news arrived of Siamese sudden and violent attacks in the Tenasserim region. Tabinshweti, therefore, making peace between the Arakanese king and Sandoway governor without losing honour and prestige came back to Pegu quickly. 21 Thus Arakan invasion was proved to be a failure. Since then Arakan had quickly developed into a more powerful kingdom than before. . 15. Harvey, Outline of Burmese History, p.99 16. Chittagong Gazetteer, p.25 17. The 50th, Anniversary Publication No. 2 of BRSJ, p. 493. Rohingyas' Outcry and Demands p.32 18. Parabashi, Part XX11; Vol II,, No. 5 February, 1923. 19. Ibid 20. The Great History of Arakan, pp.40-91 21. Htin Aung, A History of Burma, p.112

After the occupation of Chittagong in 1546 Arakan" regained its full political independence. But the influence of the Bengali language did not suffer; on the contrary it grew.. the literary tradition which Pragal Khan and his son Nasrat Khan had started in South-east Bengal reached the court of Arakan by the end of sixteenth century"22 when Arakan was "under the cultural influence of Begal".23 According to this literary tradition Bengali was written in Haraful Quran with an admixture of Arabic, Persian and Urdu words and phrases. It was developed in Arakan and known as Rohingya Bengala or Roshang Panchali literature while it was known as Muslims Bengali in Bengal. The administration of Chittagong province was left in the hands of a governor at Chittagong where Minbin issued coins which styled him Sultan 24 bearing the word "Sultane Cahtgam Mubarek" in Persian script as the influence of Persian Language and literature did not cease." So Arakan had turned into a Sultanate. The court was shaped on Gaur and Delhi",25 and the Arakanese kings kept" The eunuchs and seraglio, the slaves and the executioner" 26 in the palace. Many Bengali musicians most of whom were Muslims, were brought by Minbin to Arakan, and appointed some of them as court Musicians.27 This shows that the Arakanese court and society were saturated with Muslims culture and civilization. One evening while king Minbin and the Center Queen were in a pavillion which stood by an ornamented water the Queen took the opportunity of communicating the news of the Descent of God on Taung Ni, the Red Mount of Man-aung Island, which was heard of by her through the prior of the Three Baskets Monastery of the Island. This news was not reported by the Taung Shin, Southern Lord, a nobleman of independence and active nature who, before the end of 1553, had been appointed by Minbin to be the Governor of the Crown to administer the Island, the classical name of which is Maygahvati, while the British name is Cheduba. When the Queen was telling the news, the tunes of Bengali music were heard of.28 " Musicians from Bengal had been giving a concert, the classical music of old India. Such music is sometimes heart-breaking, and the melody they played was a lament that may still be heard at twilight on the Ganges, coming from boats far out on the stream."29. The king was much affected by the music. He turned to the center Queen and in mournful cadences he said that the melody reminded him of one night when he was encamped on the shore of Maghna river. He had fought a battle all day on the other shore where so many of his soldiers lay dead. It was like the wailing of his wounded men crying at their pitiful fate. It was also as if the souls of his dead men were flying in the wind. He was much troubled and anxious and was thinking of death. At that time the king was over sixty and the Queen was a young lady who did not think of death.30 Minbin had brought 4000 Muslims from Bengal and resettled them in Arakan.

22. History of Bengali Literature,pp.149+ 150 23. Ibid, p.119 24 Harvey, History of Burma, p.140 25 The 50th Anniversary Publication, No.2 of BRSJ, p.494 26 Ibid, p.494 27 Maurice Collis, The Descent of the God, p.72 28 Ibid, p.72 29 Ibid,p.72 30. Ibid, p.72

After his death in 1553 three kings such as Teikkha (1553-55), Sawhla (1555-64) and Minsekya (156471) followed one another at Myauk-U. They were inefficient kings and there were troubles in the country. They could not retain Chittagong against the Tippera rajas and the Afghan king of Bengal Mohammed Shah (1554-57) who conquered Chittagong in 1554 and issued coins in the name of Arakan in 1555. But after his death in 1557 it fell to the hands of Tippera raja Dhanya Mamikya. Then Minpahalaung (1571-93) the youngest son of Minbin ascended the throne of Arakan. He conquered whole of Chittagong province and several parts of Noakhali and Tippera in the same year of his ascension in 1571. His Muslim title was Sikandar Shah31. Since then Arakanese Kings kept Chittagong for 95 years till 1666 when it was finally annexed by the Moghuls.32 Minbin embellished Myauk-U with pagodas such as Shitthaung, Dukkanthein, Lemyethna, Shwedaung and Andaw. 31. Prabashi Part XXII, Vol:II, No.5, February 1923. 32. The 50th Anniversary Publication No. 2 of BRSJ, p 494

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DATED: 1 July 2005