Social
Social
Religion
Arakan, the land of the great image is the practice in Theravada Buddhism. Almost 100% of the Arakanese are Buddhists that are showing an important element of Arakan and its national. The Arakanese have learned the Buddhism since Gautama Buddha visted to Arakan during the reign of King Chandra Surira in 6th century BC. Bddhism in Arakan was flourishing and shining during its Kings governed with the ten laws incumbent on Kings to practise. For the sake of religion, King Sri Chandra, a famous King of Waethali, held as prize a convener of the fourth Arakanese synod for three Pitakas. This assembly were composed of the 1,000 Rahats including 500 Rahats from Sri Lanka. Arakan has evidently being of extra-ordinary religious relation with India and Sri Lanka. In 1784, Burmese King Maung Waying invaded into Arakan and set on fire all the religious buildings included 30 major and 3700 minor monasteries in Mrauk-U, a last Capital of Arakan.
Culture
Basically, Arakanese cultural and traditional life and its civilization of Arakan has absolutely abided to instruction of Buddhism as well as the cultural of Aryans has also absorbed in spirit of Arakanese society. According to Aryan rule, a group of family and in each family the father is the head of the household. The ruler or Raza or King's law was usually passed down from Father to Son. Evidently,the traditional lifestyle and culture of Arakan can more study from temples of Shitethaung, Htukkant Thein, Anndaw Thein, Mum Khamoung and pagodas in Laungbwannbrauk, Maha Bodi Shwegu,Sakya Manaung, Zina Manaung, Loka Manaung, Pitaka Library, Konawang, Prasoegri Phara and the Museums of Mrauk U and Akyab(Sittwe).
Education
An education system of ancient Arakan not only provided to learn the style of school in Monastery but also traditional style which meaned from senior generation to junior generation hand by hand in practice of teaching. All major Buddhist Monasery as University in Arakan Kingdom taught the every kinds of profession also known as the eighteen arts and sciences. On the other hand some professions such as priests, scholars,religious teachers, Kings, warriors, chieftains, landowners, land labourers and craftsmen were taught by senior to junior accordence with its caste system.
Health
The medicare health system in ancient Arakan totally had depended the traditional physician who expertly trained the skill of medicines and treatment the medicare with one of the four grand elements, namely, earth, water, fire and air. There were different physician who prescribed the traditional medicine cured by diet without medicine.
Literature
Sports
There were verious traditional sports in Arakan like art of self-defence, kyun ( Arakanese style of wrestling and self-defence),elephat ride back and horse ride back race, bow match, sword with sword and spear with spear competition and boats race. The purpose of all race were produced skilled warriors of the Kingdom for the Royal Army Both major sports of Kyun wrestling and boat race have remained and popularized amoung the public of Arakan. The several kinds of sport were lost throughout under the colonial rule.
The Anandacandra Inscriptions Pillar
This pillar, a monolith inscrib with Sanskrit stanzas and housed in a grille structure on the left side of the main stairway of the Shitethaung Temple, may be considered as the earliest history book in Myanmar. Originally the pillar was in Vesali from where it was moved here by King Mong Ba Gree (also called Mong Bong), the 13th King of the Mrauk U Dynasty, in 1536.This square pillar rises 3.3 m (9ft 7in) from ground and its each side is 0.7m(2ft 4in) broad. The material used is the fine-grained sandstone common at Dhanyawaddy and in the early sculpture of Vesali. Three of its four faces are inscribed.
The eastern face has about one hundred lines of illegible inscriptions which contain account of earlier dynasties. This script closely resembles that of 6th century Gupta copper plates of Bengal and, like the earlier of these, retain some 5th century characteristics. 5th century forms are noticed in the vowels. The inscription may therefore be palaeographically dated to the ead of 5th or beginning of the 6th century, and was presumably written during the reign of either Bhumicandra or Bhuticandra, who ruled between 489-520 AD. It is evident that the script had been in used for sometime before possibly for as long as a century.
The archaeological evidence from this period suggests that this was the time of the transfer of the capital from Dhanyawaddy to Vesali.
The western face inscription has 72 lines of text which is the most important one and is also the most read portion of all. It is aprasasti of King Anandacandra who ruled Arakan about 720AD.(In thechronicles Anandacandra is known as Htulacandra who may be credited as Asoka of Rakhine Vesali). The inscription was recorded in 51 verse, describing the King's(Anandacandra's) ancestral rulers.Dr E.H.Jonston(An Englishman, Professor of Oriental Studies of Bailiyaw College, Oxford University, England.) and Dr D.C. Sircar(former Superintendent of Archaeological Department of India) dated this, palaeographically to be the beginning of the 8th century AD. Dr Johnston's reading reveal a list of kings which he considered reliable begining from the Candra Dynasty.
