Muslim Conquest of Arakan for a Review - myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theMuslim Conquest of Arakan for a Review. Answer: A History of Arakan (Past Present) is an excellent book which explores the history and the present status associated with the Arakans. The book was first published in 1994. The third chapter of this book titled as Chapter III - Muslim conquest of Arakan descriptively and appropriately discusses how that after the Arakanese king Narameikhla was thrown out of his thrown and had to flee to Bengal, how the Muslim sultans of Bengal helped the Arkanese king in conquering the province once again and how, the friendship between these two powers continued for a long time. This paper attempts to critically review this particular chapter. The author has depicted the early introduction of the Arakanese king Narameikhla to Bengal as he lost the thrown. The king was welcome by the Bengal sultan of that time. As the Arakanese king converted to Islam, he became came religiously and culturally closer to the sultan who himself was a Muslim (Yunus, 1994). Later when Jalauddin Mohammad Shah became the sultan of Bengal, he sent forces to the Arakan in order to help the Arakanese king regain the thrown. The author elaborately describes the reason why the Bengal king decided to help the Arakan king and how he eventually helped the king to restore his kingdom. The author has also presented a chronological list of 11 Arakanese rulers who reigned till 1530 (Yunus, 1994). After that, the author has gone on to show how the relationship between these two powers constantly improved and developed under the rules of 6 Muslim kings. The author has presented how the Moghul and Portuguese forces attempted to conquer the Arakanese provinces b ut the support from Bengal had always helped the Arakan kingdom from being usurped by external forces (Yunus, 1994). The author has attempted to establish that the relationship between the Bengal sultans and the Arakanese kingdom was extremely cordial. Since the time when Narameikhla took refuge under the rule of Giyathuddin Azam Shah and converted to Islam, the Bengal sultans developed a friendly connection with the Arakans (Kaladan News, 2012). It is extraordinary to observe that the suddenly built up connection was so friendly that the Bengal rulers even helped the deposed king to regain the power (Leider and Htin, 2015). In this context, it was significant to note that the developed relation between these two powers was indeed the result of the fact that these entities became both religiously and culturally connected after the conversion of Narameikhla to Islam (Lammerts and Griffiths, 2015). It was only after that event when the sultans of Bengal really started to helpthe Arakans. The author has also denounced the claim that the connection between the Arakans and the Bengal sultans deteriorate d after a certain time. He has suggested that there is no historically concrete evidence which can confirm if the Bengal rulers indeed attempted to control certain regions of the Arakan territory (Yunus, 1994). Moreover, the author has presented verifiable proof suggesting that the Bengal sultans always supported and provided aid to the Arakans in order to resist the attacks from Moghuls, Portuguese, and Dutch forces (Yunus, 1994). The author has credibly and verifiably presented the chronological events and rules. It has been found out that several other verifiable documents also speak about the cordially developed relationship among the Arakans and the Bengal rulers. Moreover, sources also suggest that there was no evidence of any deterioration of the relationship amongst these two entities. The selection and use of a number of verifiable, credible, and reliable sources enhance the credibility of the author (ARNO, 2011; (Chan, 2005)). The sources are peer-reviewed journal articles or books written by experts on Arakanese history. It has been suggested that the utilization of peer-reviewed articles and verifiably credible books also establish the credibility of a written work. In this manner both the utilized sources and the author's arguments are valid and credible. A critical review of the chapter suggests that the author has ensured thorough objectivity throughout the work. The focus of the author was completely on comprehensively describing how the Bengal sultans helped the Arakans in resettling their kingdom and how their relationship developed through the years. The author has also presented some claims suggesting a downfall of the relationship between those two entities and then, he presented some valid arguments along with verifiable proof which suggest that those claims are invalid. In this manner, the author thoroughly maintained impartiality and objectivity in discussing the topic. The strength of the work is the detailed presentation of the major events which helped in establishing and developing a cordial connection amongst the Bengal sultans and the Arakanese rulers. The author has comprehensively presented a chronological discussion of the eras ruled by different kings. Although there is not any potential weakness of this work, the only shortcoming is that the author has presented a limited range of critical discussion regarding the impact of the events detailed in the chapter. However, this chapter and the book itself is very useful in understanding how the Muslims had eventually conquered the Arakans province. References ARNO (2011).Muslim influence in the kingdom of Arakan. [online] Rohingya.org. Available at: https://www.rohingya.org/portal/index.php/scholars/65-nurul-islam-uk/293-muslim- influence-in-the-kingdom-of-arakan.html [Accessed 22 Aug. 2017]. Chan, A. (2005). The Development of a Muslim Enclave in Arakan (Rakhine) State of Burma (Myanmar.SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, 3(2), pp.396-420. Lammerts, C. and Griffiths, A. (2015). Connected and Local Histories of Arakan: New Textual and Epigraphic Studies: Introduction.Journal of Burma Studies, 19(2), pp.259-266. Leider, J. and Htin, K. (2015). King Man Co Mvans Exile in Bengal: Legend, History and C ontext.Journal of Burma Studies, 19(2), pp.371-405. Kaladan News (2012).A Brief History of Arakan : From Kingdom to a Colony - Kaladan Press Network. [online] Kaladanpress.org. Available at: https://www.kaladanpress.org/index.php/report/35-rohingya/3526-a-brief-history-of- arakan-from-kingdom-to-a-colony.html [Accessed 22 Aug. 2017]. Yunus, M. (1994). Chapter III - Muslim conquest of Arakan. In:A History of Arakan (Past Present). Chittagong: University of Chittagong, pp.21-32.