Arakanese kingdoms
are lesser known to the outside world compare to those of Pagan and Pyu sites
despite their long history and abundant archaeological remains. Poor
transportation facilities, torrent monsoon weather and notorious malaria were
among the reasons preventing Arakan researches. Pamela Gutman, an enthusiastic
young scholar to fill into the shoes of G. H. Luce in the old Burma studies,
went to Arakan in 1970s for her Ph.D thesis[1].
“Burma’s Lost Kingdoms:Splendours of Arakan” is a result of
long committed work on art history and archaeology of Arakan. Gutman said “Arakan played a pivotal role in
the exchange of cultures and religions between India and Southeast Asia” (page
3). Art and architecture used in temples and sculptures confirm this. Arakan’s
proximity to India’s Bengal helped the kingdom probably became the first in
Southeast Asia to receive Indian influence in many aspects of culture,
religion, administration and politics beginning from early centuries of the
first millennium. Notwithstanding the Indianization patterns found in other
parts of Southeast Asia, Arakan kings said to have adopted Indian titles,
appointed Brahmins as ritual advisors and took Buddhism as prime religion. Like
in Pagan, Buddhist monuments closely entwined with Arakan’s history. Temples
and pagodas became not only the symbols of religion but also the carriers of
Arakan art and tradition.
Gutman said
Arakan’s present day dominant group, the Rakhaing as the “advance guard of
Burmans” (page 5) who moved across the Arakan mountains in the 9th
century, a suggestion which agrees with Luce’s “Coming of the Burmans” theory[2] but breaks away with local beliefs of Marayu
ancestry and the traditions of Shit-thaung
pillar, which was inscribed by Arakan kings “from the 6th century
and carried from capital to capital until it reached Mrauk-U in the 16th”
(page 5-6). Moreover, Gutman does not really discuss origin of the people who
built early Arakan kingdoms of Dhanyawadi and Vesali, making her “9th
century Burman migration” a less plausible hypothesis despite some linguistic
evidence with regard to the appearance Burmese script during Le-mro cities era.
Dhanyawadi
Like Indianized
cities in other parts of Southeast Asia, Dhanyawadi (Pali Dhannavati, literally meaning of “gained-blessed” – page 7) had
walls and motes in physical structure. There was also the evidence of a divine
king and Brahmin priests in political structure. The 4th century statues of
Lokapalas found at Dhanyawadi site would support this. Dhanyawadi city wall,
Gutman describes, was an “irregular circle with a perimeter of about 9.6
kilometres” [3]
(page 9). There was also an inner wall, which could have been the palace wall,
covering 0.26 square kilometres within the city. Gutman wrote “the city would
have controlled the valley and the lower ridges, supporting a mixed wet-rice
and taungya (slash and burn) economy,
with local chiefs paying allegiance to the king.” (page 9)
The Mahamuni shrine at Dhanyawadi was the
first evidence of Buddhism in Arakan. Sculptures were made of warm red sand
stone. Mahamuni image was believed by
locals as a true replica of the Lord Buddha and well maintained over dynasties
until Burmese king Bodawphaya allegedly moved the statue to his palace Amarapura after his 1784 conquest of
Arakan. Despite local legends suggesting an earlier date for the age of the Mahamuni shrine, protective deities
found at the ruins of the shrine site indicates the influence of late Gupta
period art of 5th and 6th century India and Mahayana
Buddhism.
Vesali
Named after the
Indian city of Vaisali in Buddhist
traditions, Vesali is located 9 kilometres south of Dhanyawadi. Excavations at
Vesali site in the 1980s found a Buddhist temple and a royal shrine including
stone image of a bull, which was the royal insignia of the Candra dynasties.
Although the Shit-thaung pillar inscription did not suggest when, the capital
was moved from Dhanyawadi to Vesali, archaeological remains suggest 6th
century the earliest for Vesali establishments. Two lintels found at Mrauk-U
appear to belong to the Vesali period, and have strong resemblance to the 7th
century lintels found in Thailand and Cambodia (page 46). The most valuable
evidence for modern day scholars could be the finding of Candra dynasty coins
which obverse bears a recumbent bull and the name of the king in Sanskrit as
dynastic emblem and the reverse bears a Srivatsa,
emblem of fertility and prosperity. Other findings at Vesali include two bronze
Buddhas, one sitting in vitarkamudra
and the other standing in abhayamudra,
stylistically related to earlier Dhanyawadi period, and also showed connections
with the late Gupta, Pyu and Dvaravti Mon styles. Arakan was invaded by
Tibeto-Burmas in 10th century and the cultural centre was shifted to
the Burmese kingdom of Pagan for several centuries until the rise of Mrauk-U
era in mid 16th century.
Cities of the Le-Mro Valley
Le-mro period left
little remains of city walls and motes. Capitals were moved around the Le-mro river
at least for five times over the five centuries of its period. Recovered Buddha
images of this era show a strong connection with Pagan. Burmese script also
started to appear in inscriptions of this period. Here I’m inclined to believe
that Burmese script was introduced due to Pagan’s dominance rather than a
proposed “9th century Burman migration”. Use of Bengali and Persian
scripts in Maruk-U era coins until to the mid of 16th century proves
this further. Gutman suggests that Indian craftsmen could have found their way
to the Le-mro cities and to Pagan following the onslaught of the Islamic Turks
on the monasteries of Bihar and Bengal in the late 12th and 13th
centuries (page 62). More bronze statues found are believed to bear Le-mro
style but continuous use of this style with minor changes in Mrauk-U period
made difficulty in dating (page 65). Influence of Mahayanist bronzes of late
Yuan dynasty China was also found in a local made Buddha statue. On the other
hand a small bronze reliquary found at the first Le-mro city followed Sri
Lankan style. Fusion art from the region and beyond began to shape as the
influence was seen later in late Le-Mro and Maruk-U sculptures.
Mrauk-U
Mrauk-U era was the
most glorious period of Arakan as well the last kingdom of Arakan. The city
architecture believed to have drawn from regional neighbours and beyond.
Hydraulics and complex defense systems using rivers and tanks as well as
ramparts and forts to protect central palace complex prove that, the author
claims (page 78). 1997 excavations confirmed the king Min Saw Mun’s 1430s
founding of the city and twice rebuilds in the middle and at the end of the
sixteenth century. Since then 49 kings said to have ruled the Mrauk-U dynasty
for 354 years until Bodawphaya of Burma sacked the Arakan reign in 1784.
Many great temples
were built during Mrauk-U dynasty although only few monuments of early era
remain today. The earliest was the Sindhi Khan (also known as Santikan) mosque
built by the Muslim followers of Min Saw Mum. Larger Buddhist temples of
Mrauk-U era include, Le-Myet-Hna (four sided pagoda) built by Min Saw Mum,
Nyi-Daw (younger brother pagoda) built by Min Khari the younger brother of Min
Saw Mum, Mahabodhi Shwe-Gu build by Ba Saw Pru, Shit-Thaung (80 thousands images
pagoda) build by Min Bin in 1536, Koe-Thaung (90 thousands images pagoda) build
by king Dikkha the son of Min Bin in 1553-1556 and Andaw-Thein pagoda build by
king Sajata in 1515-1521 later restored by successive kings.
There is little
discussion about Islamic junctures in early Maruk-U throne which I think are
indispensable elements in the Arakanese history (page 18). So Min Khari was
king Ali Khan and Ba Saw Pru wad Kalimah Shah. In fact there were a total of
fifteen Maruk-U kings who bore Muslim name despite being Buddhist devotees,
according to Jacques Leider(1998)[4].
Sebastian Manrique, the Portuguese Jesuit who was in Arakan from 1629 to 1637
recorded that “ the city of Arracan
according to general opinion must have contained one hundred and sixty thousand
inhabitants, excluding foreign merchants,… the large number of ships trading
with this port from Bengala, Masulipattam, Tenasserim, Martaban, Achem and
Jacatara. There were some other foreigners …, Portuguese, Pegus, Burmese and
Mogors. Besides these there were many Christians of Japanese, Bengal and other
nationalities.” (page 21) Though some claims by Manrique are questionable,
it is no doubt that Mrauk-U was a major port city of Southeast Asia in 16th
and 17th centuries.
The Shit-Thaung Pagoda of Mrauk-U
Shit-Thaung pagoda
is probably the most famous temple of the Mrauk-U dynasty. It was built by king
Min Bin in 1536 after his conquest of Bengal. It was a symbol of Buddhist
statement of Min Bin the Buddhist king who saw himself as a cakravartin, who triumphed over the
forces of Islam. Architecture of Shit-Thaung incorporates both Burmese elements
and late north-west Indian Buddhism. The solid turret-like stupas at the temple
platform are remarkably similar to the mosque architecture of 16th
century Bengal capital, “the Lattan Masjid and the Bara Sona Masjid, for
instance”, Gutman observed (page 95). Inner galleries of similar Buddha statues
were also known in 15th century Sukothai thus indicates parallel
development and religious exchange.
Conclusion
Pamela Gutman’s
“Burma’s Lost Kingdoms: Splendours of
Arakan“ is an authoritative work of Arakan history in the form of art,
monuments and archaeology. It is also a great accomplishment as an art
historian. Gutman informs us on how restoration works are done in Arakan
throughout the history till to date (page 27, 129). Author’s exploration on the
foreign enclave is rather brief (page 135), and almost no mention is made on
non-religious artifacts except for the coins. There could have been other
worthy discussions on cultural artifacts such as musical instruments.
Nevertheless, “Burma’s Lost Kingdoms: Splendours of Arakan” is the best we have
to date out of the solemn historiography centered at Buddhist monuments.
[Dated 13th
October 2006]
[1]
Gutman, Pamela. Ancient Arakan : with special
reference to its cultural history between the 5th and 11th centuries.
PhD Thesis, ANU, 1977
[2] Luce, G. H, Old Kyaukse and the coming of the Burmans. The Journal of Burma Research Society,
Vol XLII, page. 75–109. 1959b.
Ref: Wheatley, P., 1983. Negara and Commandery. Chicago: University of Chicago, Geography Department Research Papers 207-208, page
173-180.
[4] Leider, Jacques P. "These Buddhist Kings with Muslim
Names - A Discussion of Muslim Influence in the Mrauk U period", Etudes birmanes en hommage à Denise Bernot,
Paris : Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, 1998, pp.189-215.
