2017-09-22 Fri

Arakan is situated in the coastal region of Burma (Myanmar) on the Bay of Bengal sharing its north borders with China. Today this Kingdom is called Rakhine, its Buddhist Arakanese trace their history back to 4500 years.

The kingdom of Arakan surrendered to the Burmese King Bodawpaya in 1784. The coin issued from this State was issued by the governor of Arakan bearing the inscription ‘Amarapura, Kingdom of the Lord of Many white Elephant’.

The above-shown image depicts a silver Tankah of King Thirithudhamma which has a nearly same legend on its obverse flan. The legend reads ‘Lord of White elephants, Lord of Red elephant, great Thirudhamma Raja’. This coin was minted in BE (Burmese Era) 996 / AD 1634.The weight of this coin varies from 9.95 to 10.5 grams.

Arakan ceded to British as reparation by the Burmese to the British in 1826 after the first Anglo –Burmese war. This region has seen many battles during the Second World War, most notably the Arakan Campaign 1942-1943 and the Battle of Ramree Island.

In 1948, Burma attended Independence and Rakhine (Arakan) became a part of this new federal republic.

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