THIS REPORT SHOWS, CLEARLY, THAT THERE WERE ESSENTIALLY

NO BENGALI PEOPLE LIVING IN ARAKAN IN THE LATE 1880s!

[Note: The writer of this report is referring to the tract of agricultural land along the Kaladan
River in Arakan (later Rakhine State). As the British saw it the land was underpopulated to do
the massive agricultural business that they envisioned. The indigenous Buddhist Arakanese
were not so eager to cooperate with the British plans for their land. The British, without any
concerns for the well-being of the indigenous Buddhists, advocated that the British get
settlers / laborers from nearby Bengal in neighboring British India to bund (construct dikes
and embankments to manage the water efficiently) and cultivate the land, with financial
incentives.]

Extract from 1888 Report for 1886-7 (Land Tax) Settlement by Settlement Officer H Richardson

The great want in this tract is population. The land if bunded is very productive, and if
Bengalis could be induced to squat on it, I have no doubt that in a short time it would
assume the same appearance as the Naaf [River] has now. I think that District Officers might
well devote attention to getting Bengali setters here. Thee are large tracts of land that have
passed out of cultivation and large tracts that have never been cultivated that only require
bunding to make them productive. The present inhabitants [the Arakanese Buddhists] would
no doubt object to grants on the ground of interference with grazing, prior claim, old
possession, etc. But any claims of this nature not entered in the settlement registers should
be received with caution. Five years’ exemption from revenue and second class soil rates on
new pottas [potassium fertilizer] would, I think, induce Bengalis to settle.

THIS REPORT SHOWS, CLEARLY, THAT THERE WERE ESSENTIALLY

NO BENGALI PEOPLE LIVING THERE AT THAT TIME!
The British officers were advocating bringing Bengalis from OUTSIDE the area - BENGAL - to
labor and settle in Arakan - and that is the beginning of a massive population shift which
accelerated decade by decade - AT THE EXPENSE OF THE INDIGENOUS BUDDHISTS
LIVING IN THEIR OWN HISTORIC HOMELAND.

By Rick Heizman, June 28, 2019 Facebook: Arakan Eagle 7 Twitter: @FrankSmitherma1
Photos and Videos of Arakan at: arakan-reality.smugmug.com Papers at scribd.com/rheizman

email: rickmusic4@gmail.com burmafriend88@gmail.com