Dr. Swapna Bhattacharya (Chakraborti)

Introduction and Problematic: Reflections from Indian Perspectives

The history of Arakan or the Rakhine State ofMyanmar is matchless due to various, partly, very complex, factors. The foremost among the factors which makes the history of Arakan so complex, at the same time, unique, is the region's close contact with the Indian civilization. Unless the pulse of the interaction between the Buddhist world of Arakan and the Hindu-Buddhist civilization of India (especially Eastern  India)  with  Islam  of India  in  between  is  not  felt,  Arakan  remains unintelligible.

Further, to estimate the nature of Islam in Arakan in the medieval period, we have to place Arakan in the context of Bengal-Delhi ( Bengal regionalism versus Mughal imperialism) tussle for power in the Bay of Bengal region. The epic Padmavati by poet Sayyid Alol has so far been read as a masterpiece of a romantic literature of A class;  however,  it has been studied  mostly by literature experts from West Bengal,  and discussed in the context of Bengali literary tradition only. It is often stated in the numerous books ( all written by literature experts) that the Padmavati is unique since in this epic for the first time, the change of theme—from religious to secular ( romance) - is directly visible. The theme of divine love between Ratnasena of Chitor and Padmavati of Simhala makes a landmark, besides all others, alone for the selection of the theme. Prior to that, Gods and Goddesses and religious matters made the bulk of the Bengali literature. According to my understanding, thestory otPadmavati is only an occasion. The complex political background behind its translation in the Arakanese court, however never attracted any attention of scholars. In my earlier contribution " Myth and History of Bengali identity in Arakan " (Amsterdam 2002) I tried to discover the political implication behind this so called Bengali Renaissance at the court of Arakan, under Arakanese patronage. It is strange that in India, the perception about the might of this kingdom is very vague. But, who can deny that in the 16th and 17th centuries it was only Arakan which had the  courage and means to challenge the Mughals. I am happy that my humble research on Arakan has drawn some attention among experts whose knowledge on the Arakanese history is no match to my limited knowledge on this region.