ADVISORY COMMISSION ON RAKHINE STATE 2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND While the Rakhine Advisory Commission is forward-looking – and strongly emphasises the need for all communities to move beyond entrenched historical narratives – the Commission was also mandated to explore the historical background of Rakhine’s current challenges. Two recurring themes of conflict dominate that narrative: First, the conflicted relationship between the people of Rakhine and the central government; and second, the tense and sometimes violent relations between Rakhine and Muslim communities. The Commission recognizes that both the Rakhine and Muslim communities harbour deep-rooted historical grievances, shaped by the experience of violence, injustice and neglect. The Commission also acknowledges that history is highly contested, and that Muslim and Rakhine communities have different – and sometimes mutually exclusive – historical narratives. Rakhine State – separated from the rest of Myanmar by a rugged chain of mountains – has for most of its history been a distinct political entity. While there are records of independent kingdoms since antiquity, the final Rakhine kingdom was established in 1430, with its capital in Mrauk U. Situated on the border between Buddhist and Muslim Asia, the kingdom had strong economic, trade and other relations with the Sultanate of Bengal. For the next 350 years, Mrauk U thrived as a prosperous trading hub, until it came under Burmese control in 1784-85. The annexation of Rakhine was shortlived, as the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-1826) brought the area under British control and subsequent incorporation into British India. While there has been a Muslim community in Rakhine since before the Burmese invasion, its size increased rapidly during colonial times. British colonial policies to expand rice cultivation in Rakhine required significant labour, a need which was largely filled by Muslim workers from Bengal. While many came on a seasonal basis, some settled down permanently – altering the ethnic and religious mix of the area. From the 1880s to the 1930s, the size of the Muslim community (as part of the total population of the state) seems to have doubled, increasing from about 13 to 25 percent.2 Since then, the relative increase of the Muslim population has slowed down significantly, and is now estimated to be around a third of the state’s total population. For sustained periods, Rakhines and Muslims have lived peacefully together in Rakhine. Yet, since the mid-19th century, periods of Buddhist-Muslim 2 Report on the Census of British Burma, Part I: The Enumeration and Compilation of Results, 1881; Census of India 1931, Vol XI: Burma, Part I: Report, 1933. 18 Towards a Peaceful, Fair and Prosperous Future for the People of Rakhine