By Mohamed Ashraf Alam
INTRODUCTION
ARAKAN
is the modern name, in the ancient times the country was known as
Rohang or Rakhapura or Rakhaingpryi. The Rohingya Muslims of Arakan
played a glorious role in the establishment and consolidation of the
great Arakanese Empire known as Mrauk-U Empire. Unfortunately for us
this part of history has been subjected to utter negligence. As a
result, the glorious chapter of the history of the Rohingya Muslims of
Arakan has up till now remained unexplored. In the previous chapter we
have discussed the geographical features of Arakan. In this chapter, we
are going to discuss first the population and people of Arakan and then
the etymology of Arakan, Rohang, Rohingya, Rakhine and the Magh. Then we
will discuss the historical background of Rohingya Muslims of
