A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in The University of Michigan 1999.....1. INTRODUCTION: Arakan, "The Palestine of the Farther East"; Previous Historiography; Structure of Argument... 2. IN THE REALM OF DANGERS AND STRANGERS: THE ROOTS OF ARAKANESE CULTURE AND SOCIETY: The Five Zones of the Arakanese Kingdom; The Realm of Dangers: Environmental Threats in Danra-waddy and Banga; Responses to the Natural Environment: Human Settlement, Mobility, and Migration; The Realm of Strangers: Migrations From the Irrawaddy Valley; Coping With the Human Environment: Charisma and Patron- client Ties; The Familial State and Political Devolution in Early Modem Arakan; Summary... 3. BUDDHIST OR MUSLIM RULERS? MODELS OF KINGSHIP IN ARAKAN IN THE FOURTEENTH TO SIXTEENTH CENTURIES: Strengthening Central Kingship; The Spread of the Irra-waddy Valley (Burman) Model of of Rulership; Sultanship: Islamic or Bengali Model of Rulership? Summary... 4. MONKS, TEXTS, AND SECTS: THE EMERGENCE OF THERAVADA: The Introduction of Buddhism into the Arakan Littoral; Arakanese Buddhist Interaction With Sri Lanka and the Irra-waddy Valley; Maritime Connections; Trans-Roma Connections; The Troubled Sangha: Tensions Between Gama-vasi and Aranya-vasi Sect;s Gama-vasi Monks; Aranya-vasi Monks; Min-raza-kri and Sasana "Reform"; Summary... 5. RELIGION BEYOND THE ROYAL CITY: THE EMERGENCE OF THERAVADA BUDDHISM AND ROYAL PATRONAGE IN THE RURAL: Expansion of Theravada Buddhist Influence; Bringing the People to Buddha; Bringing Buddha to the People; Forest Monks and Village Monks; Buddhist Festivals; Making the Buddha Local; Royal Patronage in the Countryside: Embedding Royal Authority; The Catholic Priest as Pawn: Royal Patronage and Coastal Luso-Arakanese Communities; Summary... 6.FROM CAPTIVES TO LORDS AND LABORERS: MUSLIMS IN ARAKAN IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES: Early Muslims and Itinerant Muslim Traders in the Arakan Littoral; Captive Raids; The Purposes and Organization of the Luso-Arakanese Slave-Raids; The Demographics of Slave-Raiding: the Banglacization of Danra-waddy; Original Locale and Religious "Identities" of the Captives; Muslims in Danra-waddy; Servants to the Soil; Muslims in the Court and Capital; Summary... 7. THE TIME OF TROUBLES: THE DECLINE OF CENTRAL KINGSHIP AND RELIGIOUS PATRONAGE, 1630s-1690s: Arakan: Within or Without the Islamic World? The Decimation of Mrauk-U?s Upper Elite Strata in the Late 1630s; Shah Shuja and the Muslim "Other"; Mughal Conquest of the Northern Littoral; Heightened Royal Patronage of Buddhism under Sanda-thu-dhamma-raza and Ukka-bala; Decline of the Central Court and the Rise of the Ko-rans; Summary... 8. WHEN THINGS FALL APART: THE DEVOLUTION OF POLITICS AND RELIGIOUS PATRONAGE IN THE LATE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES : The Aggrandizement of the Rural Gentry; When Things Fell Apart: Rural Rebellion and Warfare in the Arakan Littoral; Natural Chaos; Forging New Communities; Flight and External Religious and Cultural Influence; Religious Devotion and Millennialism; The Rural Gentry as New Centralizers; Order From the Outside; Summary... 9. THE BURMANIZATION OF ARAKAN, 1780s-1820s : Burman Interest in the Arakanese and Arakanese Buddhism; From Attraction to Rule: The Political Impact of Burman Expansion Into Arakan, 1784-5; Dismantling the Attractive Center; From Attraction to Political Centralization; Religious Centralization and Control; Colonizing Tradition; Summary... 10. ONE LAND, TWO PEOPLES: THE EMERGENCE OF RELIGIOUS COMMUNALISM IN NINETEENTH CENTURY ARAKAN: Continuity and Change of the Rural Gentry; Competition for Agricultural Land; British Colonial Favoritism in Land Settlement; Necessity of Collective Action; Collective Action; Changes in Religious Patronage; Communalism; Summary... 11. CONCLUSION... APPENDICES... BIBLIOGRAPHY.