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Early Bengali Muslim Settlers
Only after the British annexed Burma and placed under the umbrella
of the British Indian Empire did a lot of Bengalis, especially from
Chittagong, came to settle in Arakan, particularly in the north.
After the First Anglo-Burmese War which broke out in 1824 and ended
in 1826, some parts of Burma were annexed by the British. These
areas became part of British India since 1826. Hence, since 1826
people from the Subcontinent were able to come to Burma freely,
unconditionally and some were brought by the British for various
reasons. However, the volume of Indian immigration before the middle
of the nineteenth century, though continuous, was never on a very
large scale compared to what it came to be from 1852 onwards. A new
chapter in the history of Indian immigration into Burma began after
the British annexation of Lower Burma after the Second Anglo-Burmese
War (1852), and the whole of Burma after the Third War in 1886. The
opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 marked a turning point in the
economic and administrative history of British-Burma. The British
government wanted to export Burmese rice and they extended the rice
fields in Arakan, Tenassarim and Lower Burma, and they also wanted
to construct railway lines. As they needed peasants and coolies they
imported tens of thousands of Indians.
There were five types of Indian immigrants: (1) Permanent settlers;
(2) Long-term settlers, who came to seek their fortune in the then
most prosperous country in Southeast Asia, but for retired life they
preferred to stay in India rather than in Burma; (3) Seasonal
workers who came for a fixed short period; (4) Government servants
and traders who wanted to earn and save money so that they and their
offspring could settle permanently in Burma as rich people; and (5)
People brought by the British for various reasons.
Because of that the famous archaeologist in Burma Prof. E. Forschhammer had predicted that generally Burma, particularly Arakan
would become the 'Palestine of the Far East'13
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