Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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History
Mrauk U (meaning, bizarrely, Monkey Egg) was the last great Rakhine capital for 354
years, from 1430 to 1784, when it was one of the richest cities in Asia. In its heyday, it
served as a free port, trading with the Middle East, Asia, Holland, Portugal and Spain.
The Portuguese Jesuit priest, A. Farinha, who visited in the 17th century, called it 'a
second Venice' while other visitors compared it to London or Amsterdam. Little remains
of the European quarter, Daingyi Phat (about 3 miles south of Mrauk U's current centre),
other than ruins and a Hindu temple.
The Mrauk U dynasty was much feared by the peoples of the Indian subcontinent and
central Myanmar. Japanese Christians fleeing persecution in Nagasaki were hired as
bodyguards for the king. At Mrauk U's peak, King Minbin (1531-53) created a naval
fleet of some 10,000 war boats that dominated the Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Martaban.
Many of Mrauk U's finest temples (Shittaung, Dukkanthein, Laymyetnha and Sh-
wetaung) were built during his reign.
Mrauk U was a successor to three earlier kingdoms in the area: Dhanyawady (circa 1st
to 6th centuries AD); Wethali (3rd to 11th centuries AD), the remains of which are still
visible to the north; and Lemro (11th to 15th centuries AD). All four kingdoms blended
elements of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism with Hinduism and Islam. In the late
18th century, the Konbaung dynasty asserted its power over the region and Mrauk U was
integrated into the Burmese kingdoms centred on Mandalay.
After the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824-26, the British Raj annexed Rakhine and
set up its administrative headquarters in Sittwe, thus turning Mrauk U into a political
backwater virtually overnight.
Sights
The original site of Mrauk U is spread over 17.5 sq miles, though the town today and the
bulk of the temples to visit cover a 2.7-sq-mile area. Most of the temples in the North
 
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