big arakan report viii - islam's historic - and present - conquest and destruction of buddhists and...

7/29/2019 Big Arakan Report VIII - ISLAM'S HISTORIC - and PRESENT - CONQUEST and DESTRUCTION of BUDDHISTS and BUD

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VIII - ISLAMS HISTORIC - AND PRESENT - CONQUEST AND

DESTRUCTION OF BUDDHISTS and BUDDHISMOther Buddhist Cultures Have Been Destroyed This Way

n March, 2001, two giant Buddhist statues carved into a

cliff in central Afghanistan, were blown up by the Islamic

Taliban. That area, Bamiyan, was one of the earliest

major Buddhist cultures. Other parts of Afghanistan and

Pakistan have (or had) ancient Buddhist ruins, statues,cliff carvings, etc. Even Persia17(now Iran) especially the

eastern parts, had significant Buddhist peoples, temples,

monasteries, stupas for many centuries - before the

Muslim Arab invasions.

Despite centuries of history there are no Buddhist people

n Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. And, there are no more

Buddhist ruins, except a few that are largely being

destroyed now.

The invading Muslims considered the Buddhists to be idol worshippers and infidels, and had no respect for

Buddhism, and no need to live together with them. The Buddhists were chased out or killed or forced to

convert to Islam (especially captured Buddhist women) until there were no more Buddhists. Following that

he remnants and holy places were destroyed.

While Bangladesh currently has an identity of a thoroughly Islamic country (with a small and rapidly

hrinking number of infidels) Bangladesh actually has had a long and deep history of Buddhism - starting

about 1000 years before Islam even existed. Ancient Bengal (also known as Vanga) had Vedic, Hindu, and

hen Buddhist rulers and empires, starting as early as the 7th century BC. The Golden Age of the Bengal ar

was the great Pala Buddhist Empire which ruled a very large area for four centuries from 750 - 1120 AD anushered in a period of stability and prosperity. There are detailed records by famous Chinese monk scholars

describing many huge monasteries, intricate stone and brick temples and stupas, and many thousands of

monks. When Hindu armies came to conquer and rule (and the Hindus, at that time, were very intolerant of

Buddhists) the Buddhists were pushed to leave, and they moved into the hills and jungles of the distant

Chittagong area. Soon after, Muslim armies invaded and destroyed the monasteries and temples - including

he huge university of Nalanda and its magnificent library of world knowledge - killed thousands of monks

and forced much the population to convert to Islam, flee, or die.

n history, whenever and wherever Islam bordered Buddhism, the Buddhist culture lost everything:

In Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Persian (Iran) areas Buddhism was pushed out, and/or annihilated down to

last Buddhist.

The long Buddhist history of Bangladesh has almost disappeared completely, and is destined to do so as

waves of violence, killing and burning are carried out against the remaining Buddhists (and Hindus and

Christians).

In southern Thailand and Arakan the Buddhists are being violently attacked, killed and driven out by

Muslims, who intend to establish pure Islamic State(s) that will be theirs, and theirs only.

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SOUTHERN THAILAND - Similar in Many Ways

n the southern part of Thailand a jihad is going on and on and on. The Thai Buddhists are being

laughtered, and intimidated to leave. The goal of the minority Muslims of southern Thailand is to have an

ndependent Islamic state, ruled by Sharia law, and they want it to be ethnically cleansed so that the land w

be pure - that is not contaminated with Buddhists or any other non-Muslims.

Over 5000 Thai Buddhists have been killed by the Muslim separatists in the last decade.

About 300 Muslims have been killed as well, but almost all of them were killed as they were attacking

Thai Buddhists, or as they were fleeing or hiding after an attack on Buddhists.

ntentionally targeted are the Buddhist school teachers, civil servants such as postal workers and electrical

ervice workmen, local government officials, police, and Buddhist monks.

The most heinous killings, as Buddhists see it, are the intentional killing of the monks - which is considered

be the worst and most egregious act a person could do (and that doesnt lessen the killings of others).

The separatists want to reestablish the small Islamic kingdom - named Pattani - which existed from roughl

he 16th to the 19th century. However, to others the Pattani Kingdom was largely known as a notorious

pirating kingdom18that preyed on the ship trade that had to get through the rather narrow passage between

what is now Malaysia/southern Thailand and Sumatra. For the other cultures Pattani was a problem, piratin

heir trading ships, stealing their cargo, and killing the sailors. Gradually Thailand gained control of Pattani

Examples of recent news from Thailand:

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n 1947 demands were issued to the Thai Government demanding that the

Pattani province be declared an independent Islamic Sharia law kingdom.

The government refused.

The Islamic faith of the area has hardened even

more strongly in recent years, with Arab

supremacy and bigotry dictating that the people

learn and speak Arab language over their own

languages, and instilling intolerance and hatredthrough the building of many many Islamic schools (madrassas).

Currently, the economy of the Muslim populated provinces of southern Thailand is largely based on, narcot

muggling - especially methamphetamine production and smuggling, illegal logging, smuggling of petrol,

weapons, counterfeit movies and software, and the notorious trafficking of humans - mostly women lured o

kidnapped from minority areas of Burma, Laos and Cambodia.

This is very similar to the struggle in Rakhine State in that it is fueled by

the supremacy, intolerance and violent ideology of the Muslims - who willnot live in harmony with others, and who will seemingly not stop with

their campaign - actually their jihad - to seize land from infidels and to

eliminate all infidels from that land.

Conspicuously, the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) has no

concerns, and no problem with this brutal situation. They have never

demanded that the Muslims stop the relentless killings of Buddhists, and of course, they have never

suggested or demanded that the world should act upon and punish those Pattani Muslims who are

responsible for the killing and terror.

Neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia also have no concern - as long as the victims are Buddhists - but, th

will yell and scream, and threaten to kill, and even kill if any Muslims are hurt or killed.

And, strangely, many activists and human rights defenders seem to show no interest or concern about t

slaughter of innocent Thai Buddhists - and, in fact, will defend the nearby Rohingya who are carrying o

similar brutal campaign against the Rakhine Buddhists in Burma.

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BANGLADESH ELIMINATES ITS BUDDHISTS

Ongoing Slaughter, Ethnic Cleansing, Extermination

Arakan is a Continuation of the Expulsion and Elimination of Buddhists

Historically, the land that is now called BANGLADESHwas Vedic, Hindu, and Buddhist kingdoms for

nearly 2000 years. The great BuddhistPala Empire, centered in Bengal, ruled a very large area from the 8to the 12th centuries. The Pala period is considered as the golden era of Bengal, with stability, prosperity,

colossal temples and exquisite works of art. This remarkable Buddhist Empire eventually disintegrated in th

2th century, most drastically with the invasion of Muslim armies thatswept through India, killing or pushi

Buddhists to the edges of their rule. Bangladesh - for a long time a Buddhist majority land, is now down to

ess than 1% Buddhists, and those remaining Buddhists are subject to attacks, destruction of temples, rapes

killings, burning of homes, kidnapping and converting women to Islam, and more. In the last 6 months ther

have been dozens of Buddhist temples destroyed, hundreds of Buddhist homes burned, many Buddhists kil

The Buddhists of Bangladeshnumber about one million, out of a total population of 160 million people -

almost all Muslim, except for small populations of Hindu, Christian and Buddhists. The Buddhists live alm

entirely in the hills of the southeastern part of Bangladesh, bordering Rakhine and Chin States of Burma, an

Tripura and Mizoram States of India. The British - already ruling most of the surrounding Burmese,

Arakanese, and Indian lands - annexed the hills area in 1860 and created an autonomous district known as

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (also known as the CHT).

From the distant past, before the existence of Islam, the Chittagon

Hill Tracts (hereafter CHT) has been the home of thirteen indigen

ethnic groups: Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Tanchangya, Mro, Muru

Lushai, Khumi, Chak, Khyang, Bawm, Pankhua, and Reang.Collectively they all can be referred to as the Jumma people. Th

are distinctly different from the majority Bengali population of

Bangladesh in terms of race, language, culture, religion and

history. At that time that the British annexed the CHT the populat

of that area was almost 100% Jumma people, and almost entirely Buddhist.

n 1900, the British enacted Regulation 1 of the 1900 Act19in order to protect the Jumma people and th

cultures from economic exploitation by non-indigenous people, ie: the Bengali Muslims from the greater fl

ands. Throughout the British colonial period the 1900 Act functioned as a safeguard for the Jumma peopl

prohibited land ownership and migrations of non-indigenous peoples into the CHT. Against better judgeme

against the wishes of the Jumma people, and in violation of the principles of partition (the splitting off from

ndia by the Muslims of present day Pakistan and Bangladesh), the CHT was ceded to East Pakistan (now

Bangladesh) at independence from Britain in 1947. The Jumma knew their future would be better if they w

part of India or Burma (other than being independent) and vehemently protested the decision, but to no ava

Since that time, there has been a steady, sustained and brutal campaign to push the Jumma off their land, or

imply kill them, and award the Jumma villages and land to the multitudes of Bengali Muslims whom are

ncreasing very rapidly due to a very high birthrate.

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DISPOSSESSION OF JUMMA LANDThere were various ways in which the Jumma people have been, and still are being dispossessed of their

ands. In some cases, Bangladeshi settlers move into an area and gradually encroach on the lands of their

umma neighbors, in other cases it is done by rounding up and slaughtering the Jummas. A Chakma refuge

from Panchari describes the initial process as follows:

Jumma refugees describe being dispossessed of their ancient homeland:

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RAPE: a Weapon of Shame, Terror, Death, SuicideRape is used frequently as a weapon - a horrific weapon - against Jumma women in

he CHT. Many women are raped or gang-raped by Bangladesh Army soldiers and

Bengali settlers, often in front of their children.

Women who have been raped may be rejected by their husbands or their families, or

may not be able to get married. The trauma of rape remains with these women forever,

and even drives some to suicide.

Many Jumma women have been kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and forcibly married -and murdere

hey refused. One victim tells: "I was walking along the road to go to the fields with my six-year old niece t

plant some seeds. A man appeared before us, bound my mouth with a piece of cloth and took me away on h

cooter. I was kept for three months. I was forcibly converted to Islam and forced to marry."

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Major Massacres of Buddhists in Bangladesh - Ongoing Genocide

These are just 5 of the 13 large massacres of Buddhists in Bangladesh:20

1971 - Bangladesh War of Independence:

3 million people killed in one of the largest genocides in history. The war had nothing to do with the Hind

and Buddhist minorities, but the opportunity was taken to eliminate many many Hindus and Buddhists. Thwere killed by Muslim Pakistanis and by Muslim Bengalis.

June 26, 1981: Banraibari-Beltali-Belchari Massacre:

Bangladeshi settlers (Muslims), under the protection of the Bangladesh army, invaded the Jumma area in t

vicinity of Banraibari, Beltali and Belchari, murdered 500 Jumma men, women and children, then seized

their homes, belongings, and farmland. The Jumma are the indigenous people of the area. They are Buddh

Sept 19, 1981: Telafang-Ashalong-Gurangapara-Tabalchari-Baronial Massacre:

The Bangladesh army and Bangladeshi settlers attacked 35 Jumma villages including Telafang, Ashalong,

Gurangapara, Tabalchari, and Baronial, in the Feni valley of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and plundered andburned the villages, and killed many thousands of Buddhists men, women and children. The surviving

villagers fled to the adjacent forests. Bangladesh was forced by the international community to repatriate

them. These Jumma people were met by hostile Bangladeshi officials and were given the equivalent of $1

and were left to their fate. Return to their native villages was impossible because their homes and

possessions had been appropriated by Muslim Bangladeshis. Many of them died of starvation and of

diseases.

June-August 1983: Golakpatimachara-Machyachara-Tarabanchari Massacre:

Bangladesh armed forces and Bangladeshi immigrants from the flatlands massacred the Jumma people ofvillages of Golakpatimachara, Machyachara, Tarabanchari, Logang, Tarabanya, Maramachyachara,

Jedamachyachara etc. Hundreds of houses were looted and burned, and 800 people were murdered. Most

the victims were old men, women and children. After clearing the area of the Jumma people the governme

settled Bangladeshi families there.

May 31, 1984: Bhusanchara Massacre:

A total of 400 Jumma and Chakma Buddhists including children and women were killed. Many women w

gang raped and later shot dead. Seven thousand refugees crossed the border into the Indian state of Mizora

A villager from Het Baria told Amnesty International: Even now I sometimes wake up in a cold sweat

remembering the sight of the soldiers thrusting bayonets into private parts of our women. They were allscreaming 'No Chakmas will be born in Bangladesh".

All of this is relative and important to know, because, this is what is going on in

neighboring Arakan, and this is what the Rakhine Buddhists (and the Burmese

Buddhists) are up against.

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BENGALIS SEIZE THE LAND OF THE BODO PEOPLE IN ASSAM

Same Thing They Are Doing In Arakan

On another side of Bangladesh there is violent conflict that is,in many ways, strikingly similar to the situation in Rakhine State,

Burma/ Myanmar.21

It also involves Bengali Muslims who have migrated, or pushed acro

the northern border of Bangladesh into Indias north-easternmost sta

of Assam and several of the Sister States - primarily Meghalaya

State. This area is even more obscure to most of the world than

Rakhine State / Arakan is. Tourism is heavily restricted and almost

nonexistent, so that there is little information that gets out of that area

The Bodo peopleare one of Assams largest indigenous tribesactually the term Bodo includes nearly 20 different, but related tribes

90% of the Bodo are Hindu, and 9% are Christian. They have fough

not only with Muslim migrants, but battled the State of India, at times

in a bid to gain an independent state through a decades-long

insurgency.

In July 2012, a fresh round of violence erupted - between native

Bodos and illegal Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, causing nearly50 deaths, the displacement of over 200,000 people, and the

destruction or burning of many many villages.

This wave of violence erupted one night

when four Bodo tribeyouthswere killed by persons unknown. In

etaliation, armed Bodos attacked Muslims, which led to a spiraling of

bloodshed between the two groups who have long been in conflict. In

he carnage, cars were overturned and burned, and houses and

schools were set ablaze.

The root cause of this violenceis the joint failure of the federal and Assam state governments t

stop wave after wave of Bangladeshis from swarming into different parts of Assam and drastically

changing the state's demographic profile, especially of the districts close to the border.

n Bodo-populated areas, this 'flood' has caused large-scale violence and seizure of Bodo lands.

The Bodos feel they are being pushed out of their ancient homeland by intolerant, violent and

supremacistinvaders.

There is a well-known word for it -- ethnic cleansing.

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Assam, located on the extreme northeastern edge of India, ishome to some 300 tribal and ethnic groups, with many segments

of the population agitating for separatism.

n this volatile mix are unwanted Muslim migrants from

mpoverished Bangladesh.

Illegal immigration fromovercrowded Bangladesh

presents challenges for all of eastern India, which shares a poro

border with the smaller nation, which had been a part of India, a

then Pakistan.

Since the 1971 war of independence that created the state of

Bangladesh, millions of Bangladeshi immigrants (the vast majori

of them illegal) have poured into neighboring India.

While the Indian government has tried to deport some of these immigrants, their sheer numbers

have made such an enterprise impossible.

A Brief HistoryAssam was annexed by the British in 1826. The big low river valleys and flatlands were mostly

Hindu, and the rugged hills and mountains were populated by many different ethnicities, and they

were variously Hindu, Buddhists, Christian, or Animistic. Initially, the British brought Muslim

peasants from over-populated eastern Bengal to Assam for making tea plantations and other

agricultural projects. (During the same timeframe the British were also bringing and allowing a rat

arge number of Bengali Muslims into Arakan).

n December of 1906, The All India Muslim League(AIML) in its founding conference in Dacca

hatched a long-term plan to increase the Muslim population in Assam in order to improving its

strength in the region. Leaders at the conference exhorted the Muslim population of Eastern Beng

o migrate to Assam and settle there. And, they didnt have any concern for the indigenous and no

Muslim ethnicities and tribes who lived and farmed there.

In a British Census Report of 1931:

Census Superintendent C. S. Mullan, in his Census report of 1931, validated this political

conspiracy of AIML and observed: Probably the most important event in the province

during the last 25 years - an event, moreover, which seems likely to alter permanently the

whole feature of Assam and to destroy the whole structure of Assamese culture and

civilization, has been the invasion of a vast horde of land-hungry immigrants mostly

Muslims, from the districts of East Bengal..

Wheresoever the carcass, there the vultures will be gathered together

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As the large-scale influx of Muslims continued the All India Muslim League established great

nfluence on the Muslim population of Assam, and latter coached the Muslim migrants to

aggressively supported the demand for Pakistan to be created. (As the British

were preparing for the granting of independence the Muslims of India agitated for

a separate state). In 1947 the leader of the Muslims of India demanded that

Assam also be a part of the soon-to-be Muslim country of Pakistan. This was only

stopped due to the intervention of the great and exemplary Mahatma Ghandi.

Even after partition, illegal migration from East Pakistan to Assam, West Bengal and bordering

areas of Bihar continued to increase. Pakistan lacked any population planning or any social

movement for creating awareness of the benefits of controlling the population, and the liabilities o

not doing so. The way the Pakistanis largely saw the population issue was to see the lesser

populated neighboring countries as available to them, by divine right, because they themselves

were Muslim, and the people in the other areas were not.

In December of 1943, Lord Wavel, the Viceroy of India, said: The chief political

problem is the desire of Muslim Ministers of Assam to increase the immigrations into

uncultivated Government lands in Assam under the slogan of Grow more food but

really its Grow more Muslims.

Bodo Girl Raped by MuslimsBodo Men killed by Muslims

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Justice M.C.Chagla, former Education former Education Minister once said: We have our

constitution, we have citizenship laws. There are decisions by the highest courts to indicate who i

national and who is a foreigner. What does it matter when a person came to Assam if he is not a

national but a foreigner? The year of his entry does not change his legal status. Unnecessary

complications have been introduced by talking of the cut off year.

The Bodo-Muslim problem, is very similar to the conflict in Arakan, Burma.

The Bengali Muslims pour across the border, and with their religious intolerance and supremacy

hey will cause friction that will rise to intolerable levels. In both of these cases, there are citizensh

ssues, controlling the border issues, crimes against women, and more.

Muslim aggression

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Muslim immigrants will remain a perpetual problem - unless the government develops a stronge

political will, and will use that to take tough stands on the issues when needed.

The Muslim violence and intolerance cannot be tolerated, at a certain point.

What is happening in Assam, and it has been happening for decades now, is a vicious plan to driv

out or kill all the Buddhists, Hindus and others.

As stated before: this isethnic cleansing.

Bhupen Hazarika, Assam's greatest cultural icon who passed away last year, hadexpressed his people's anguish: 'Today's Assamese must save themselves or else theywill become refugees in their own land'.

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NALANDA: The Greatest Universityand its Magnificent Library - Destroyed

At the time that the historic Buddha - Siddhartha Gautama- walked the earth in the 6thcentury BC,

Nalanda was an influential and prosperous town, and a place the Buddha himself knew and visited. One ofearliest Buddhist Shrines was built in Nalanda, after the passing away of the Buddha. In the 3rdcentury BC

he great Emperor Asoka (a Hindu who became a dedicated Buddhist) expanded this shrine, and added a

monastery for monks. This monastery become a well-known Buddhist learning center and by the 5th centu

AD, it had expanded many times and had become the first university in the world - Nalanda Internationa

Buddhist University.

According to records from scholars at that time, the University was an incredible

architectural masterpiece. There were 8 separate compounds, colossal

buildings, 10 temples, many classrooms and meditation halls, and a magnificent

ibrary. As well, the campus included lakes, parks, gardens, sculptures and art.

The curriculumincluded virtually the entire range of world knowledge and

every field of learning available, including: all branches of Buddhism, Vedic and

Hindu knowledge, Medicine, Astronomy, Geography, Mathematics, Logic,

Philosophy and other arts and science subjects of the day - whether sacred or secular, foreign or native.

As the university was run by the Sangha (the community of Buddhist monks), Buddhist Studies were

outstanding and Nalanda was greatly renowned, far and wide.

The great Buddhist Pala Empire, centered in nearby Bengal, ruled frothe 8th to the 12th centuries. The Pala Kings were devout Buddhists and

supported Nalanda greatly. The Pala period is considered as the golden

of Bengal, with stability, prosperity, colossal temples and exquisite work

of art. This remarkable Buddhist Empire eventually disintegrated in the

12th century, most drastically with the invasion of Muslim armies.

MUSLIM INVASION: Destruction and Supremacy

n the year 1193, theseinvaders led by Mohammad Bakhtiar Khilji, attacked and burnt down and

demolished this great center of learning and knowledge that had existed for some 700 years. They destroye

he magnificent buildings and massacred its resident scholars and Buddhist monks.

Mirjah-i-Siraj, the famous Persian Muslim historian, in his chronicle Tabaquat-I-Nasiri left a detailed

and horrid account of Khiljis vandalism and violence. He reported that the burning of over 9 million

nvaluable books, manuscripts, and other items from the gigantic library complex continued for over six

months.

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Mirjah-i-Siraj reports that thousands of Buddhist monkswere burned alive and thousands beheadedas

Khilji tried his best to uproot Buddhism and plant Islam by the sword.Mirjah-i-Siraj notes that Buddhism

virtually disappeared under the brutal impact of Muslim fanaticism. The ruthless Muslim invaders were

ntolerant of other religions and cultures. They took delight in destroying the culture, the monuments and th

eligions they encountered.

This invaluable collection of knowledge that was destroyed was the product of centuries of scholastic studiNalanda, the greatest center of Buddhist learning (and other subjects) in the world for 7 centuries became a

deserted and desolate place, eventually its ruins were covered by jungle and nearly entirely forgotten.

All of the compassion, metta, love, humanity, virtue, wisdom, and morality that was

defined, explored, and taught at Nalanda could not save Nalanda from the onslaught of

absolute intolerance, inhumanity and supremacy.

The world lost an absolute treasure of human thought, wisdom, and achievement.

BUDDHISM UNDER ATTACK: Declines and Disappears

Buddhism was under attack, and started declining. In 1193 Muslim invaders seized control of Delhi, enabli

hem to strike the very heart of Buddhist India. The invaders destroyed Buddhist temples and monasteries a

mercilessly killed Buddhists, including and especially monks.

The Muslim ruler Aurangzeb, and following rulers, destroyed Buddhist temples and monasteries and

eplaced them with Islamic mosques. Intimidation and threats pressured or forced many to convert to IslamWomen and girlswere taken and converted to Islam.

Buddhism became virtually extinct in Indiaby the end of the 19th century, excluding small isolated

communities in eastern Bengal (now Bangladesh) and Nepal.

ronically, it was the British who discovered the

overgrown ruins of Nalanda, and after beginning

excavation realized its tremendous importance

and significance.

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THE PANTHAY MUSLIMS:

Silk Road to Yunnan, eventually to Burma

Panthay(Burmese:) is a term used to refer to

he predominantly Muslim Hui people of China, who

eventually migrated from China into Burma. The name

Panthayis a Burmese word, which is said to be identical

with the Shan wordPang hse. It was the name by which the

Burmese called the Chinese Muslim traders who came with

caravans to Burma from the neighboring Chinese province

of Yunnan. In Burma, they predominantly reside in Upper

northern) Burma, particularly Mandalay, and Shan State

owns. While Muslims (all types) make up about 4% of thepopulation of the country, the Panthay Muslims in Shan

State (where most Panthay are) are most likely much less than 4%.

ThePanthay migrated to Yunnan Province, and other parts of China around the 1400s, as traders along the

Silk Road caravan routes. They became excellent long distant traders and virtually dominated the southern

pur caravan route that connected to Yunnan - and from there to Burma. As the French and British arrived a

he fringes of Yunnan, they found the caravan network of the region dominated by these Chinese Muslims.

The merchandise they traded included silk, tea, metal utensils,clothing, walnuts, opium, wax, preserved fruits and foods, and drie

meat. Goods from Burma included raw cotton, raw silk, amber, jad

rubies, betel-nuts, tobacco and gold-leaf. Burmese merchandise w

often transported up the Irrawaddy River to Bhamo, sold to Chines

merchants, and loaded onto mules in caravans of between 50-100

mules, with 10-15 'drivers'.

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17/21

The Panthay Rebellion (18561873)in Yunnan, China

Things were not always harmonious in Yunnan, and in other parts of China. Between 1648 and 1878, there

were ten uprisings, by the Muslims, in various parts of China, totaling millions of Chinese killed, and then

millions of Muslims killed when the Chinese Imperial Army would come to crush the rebellion and reestab

order.

The last big Muslim uprising is known as the Panthay Rebellion, (known in Chinese sources as the Du

Wenxiu Rebellion), which began, in 1853, after a conflict between Han Chinese and Hui/Panthay Chinese

Muslim tin miners. In the following year, the Chinese suppressed the revolt, and massacred many Muslims

However, the religious hatred of the Panthay Muslims was aroused, and, as well, there were anti-Muslim ri

by many Chinese who were fed up with the Muslims for bringing about so much death and destruction, and

many mosques, homes, and shops of the Muslims were burned and destroyed.

Then, the Panthay Muslims, with a widespread desire for revenge against those who 'insulted' their religion

plotted a large and well-planned uprising.

The rebellion started as silver mine workers of Li'nanxian village in Yunnan rose up against the Chinese. Th

Chinese Governor of Yunnan sent an urgent appeal to the central government in Beijing for troops, howeve

he Imperial Government was burdened by many problems in various parts of the sprawling empire. They

underestimated and sent a force that was not big enough. The Muslims were victorious and caused them toetreat. Afterwards, the Muslims were quickly conquering villages, towns, and city after city. The homes an

buildings were pillaged and looted, the male populations were massacred, and the Chinese women were pri

for the Muslim fighters who could do anything they wish with the women.

The ancient holy city of Tali-fu (Dali) was captured in 1857, and the Muslims declared themselves a separa

political entity from China. The rebels identified their nation as Pingnan Guo(Chinese) which

ranslates literally as Pacified Southern Country. Du Wenxiu, leader of the Panthay/Hui Muslims, made D

his capital and assumed the regal title of Sulayman ibn `Abd ar-Rahman, and was also known as Qaid Jamal-Muslimin('Leader of the Community of Muslims') He was known more simply as Sultan Suleiman.

Among other rules and edicts, he banned pork - which is the most common meat among Chinese - and

mandated the use of Arabic language in his sultanate. The eight years from 1860 to 1868 were the glory day

of the Sultanate. The Muslims had either taken or destroyed 40 towns and around 100 villages.Muslim reb

forces besieged the large, and old, city of Kunming repeatedly: in 1857, 1861, 1863, and 1868, but were no

able to conquer it. During this period, Sultan Suleiman, on his way to Mecca as a pilgrim, visited Rangoon

and from there went to Calcutta where he had a chance to see the power of the British.

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Sultan Suleiman, saw the opportunity and future advantage of

having a Chinese Muslim mosque in the Burmese King's (King

Mindon) capital of Mandalay. He sent one of his senior military

officers, as his special envoy, to Mandalay with the important

mission of constructing the mosque. The mosque took about two

years to finish and was opened in 1868.

The Sultanates power began to decline after in the years just

after 1868. In those years the Chinese Imperial Government

ucceeded in settling some of its issues in parts of China, and

he government reinvigorated itself and regained its strength.

Finally, they were determined to retake the land that the

Muslims had conquered. A large Imperial Army was formed and trained and eventually was on its way to

conquer the Pingnan Guo Sultanate. By 1872, town after town fell under well-organized attacks made by th

mperial troops. Dali itself was surrounded and under a long siege by the Imperial Chinese Army. Sultan

Suleiman was becoming desperate. He turned to the British for military assistance.He had seen the British

might in India on his pilgrimage to Mecca some years earlier, and was impressed by it. Britain was the only

western power with whom the Sultanate was on friendly terms with (up to then) and had contacts with. The

Sultan also had the hubris to think that British would even want to assist him.

He sent his adopted son, Prince Hassan, to England, with a personal letter to Queen Victoria, requesting

British military assistance, however, the British politely, but firmly, refused to intervene militarily in Yunna

against Peking. The mission failed, and well before Prince Hassan returned, Dali was captured by the Impe

roops in January 1873, and Sultan Suleiman was killed.

Panthay Mosque (; Q!ngzh"n S), Mand

Capture of Dali, the capital of the Pingnan Guo Sultanate

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The Imperial Government had waged an all-out war against the Panthay/Hui Muslims and also had the help

French artillery experts. With a highly trained and disciplined fighting force, numerical superiority, and

advanced artillery, the Imperial Army was unstoppable for the ill-equipped and ally-less Panthay Muslims.

Thus, in less than 20 years from its rise, the power of the Panthay Muslims in Yunnan collapsed. The death

was staggering - around one million people were killed. For a period of perhaps ten to fifteen years

following the collapse of the Panthay Muslim Rebellion, the Panthay minority was widely discriminated

against by the Chinese, especially in the western areas bordering Burma. Once again, the Chinese were fed

with the Muslims for bringing about so much death and destruction, and subsequently many mosques, hom

and shops of the Muslims were burned and destroyed. Wholesale massacres of Muslims followed. Many fle

with their families across the Burmese border and took refuge in the Wa State where, about 1875, they set u

he exclusively Panthay town of Panglong. During these years the refugee Panthay who were in Burma, bu

till close the the border with China, gradually established themselves in their traditional callings as

merchants, caravaneers, miners, restaurateurs, smugglers and mercenaries.

Impact on Burma

The rebellion had a significant negative impact on the Burmese Konbaung Dynasty (1782-1885). After losi

ower Burma to the British in 1826, Burma lost access to vast tracts of rice-growing land, but at least it cou

mport rice from Yunnan. During the Panthay Rebellion, the Burmese kingdom - not wishing to upset Chin

agreed to refuse trade with the Pingnan Guo rebels in accordance with China's demands. Without the ability

mport rice from China, Burma was then forced to import rice from the British - which ironically was actua

from the lower part of Burma that the British had annexed from the Burmese Kingdom! In addition, the

Burmese economy had relied heavily on cotton exports to China, and because of Chinas demands to not trwith the Pingnan Guo Sultanate, Burma suddenly could not sell the lucrative commodity - cotton - to the va

Chinese market.

King Mindon and the Panthay Muslims

Panthay Muslims started to settle in the royal capital of Mandalay, Burma, particularly during the reign of

King Mindon (1853-1879). Although their number was small, a few of them got into the royal court as jade

assessors. They lived in the Chinatown part of Mandalay along with non-Muslim Chinese. The non-Muslim

Chinese had started settling in Mandalay considerably earlier than the Panthay and were more established,

with their own bank, companies, warehouses and, organized social life. Some of them were also jade-

assessors in the royal court. Rivalry between the Chinese and Panthay jade-assessors led to fighting, resulti

n a number of deaths.King Mindon did not really know about the religious and social differences between

Muslim Panthay Chinese and the non-Muslim Chinese. He had treated the two more or less alike. But after

violence between them, the king wisely separated them, mandating each group to live at opposite sides of

Mandalay.

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Panthay Muslims in Burma

The demise of the Sultanate had shattered the hopes of all the Panthay for their own Islamic kingdom in

Yunnan. The bloody retaliation against them, by the Chinese who suffered from their destructive rebellion,

made many Panthay decide to flee China - if they could - and the Panthay who were outside Yunnan realize

hey should give up any plans to go back to Yunnan. After the mass exodus from Yunnan, the number of

Panthay residing in Mandalay increased. The new arrivals, usually families, came by way of Bhamo or via Wa State.

Over the next thirty or so years the Panthays of Panglong continued to prosper, though by the early 1920s a

feud had begun to develop between them and the neighboring Wa (who were generally Buddhist) which

erupted into the local Wa Panthay War in 1926. The Panthay were victorious and their dominance over th

rade routes of the region was reinforced. In addition to legitimate trading, the Panthay of Panglong were

ecurely in charge of the opium business in the region now commonly known as the Golden Triangle. The

Panthay organized large, well-armed, long-distance caravans to transport the drugs far into Siam, Laos, TonVietnam) and Yunnan, and these were often financed by wealthy Singaporean Chinese.

Meanwhile, other Panthay moved further into Burma, as miners exploiting the ruby mines of Mogok, the

ilver mines of Namtu, and the jade mines of Hpakant. Panthay restauranteurs and innkeepers, merchants a

raders settled in towns of Shan and Kachin States mainly Lashio, Taunggyi, Kengtung, Pyin-Oo-Lwin,

Mogok, Bhamo, and Myitkyina.

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UMMARY of ISLAMS HISTORIC CONQUEST AND DESTRUCTION OF BUDDHISM

big arakan report viii - islam's historic - and present - conquest and destruction of buddhists and...

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