Forging Buddhist Credentials as a Tool of Legitimacy and Ethnic Identity: A Study of Arakan’s Subjection in Nineteenth-Century Burma

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The kingdom of Arakan was conquered by the Burmese in 1785 and annexed by the British after the first Anglo-Burmese War (1824-6). Resistance to the occupation was followed by campaigns of pacification that entailed social disruption. Starting with an analysis of the religious motives for King Bodawphaya’s quest to conquer Arakan, this article focuses onthe use of local religious traditions to bolster ethnic self-identification and resist the processof integration. Based on little explored indigenous and Western primary sources, this essay attempts to make a contribution to the social history of Buddhism in Arakan.