Annexation
The Konbaung king Bodawpaya invaded Arakan in late 1784. After a short campaign, the independent kingdom of Mrauk-U was extinguished and Arakan was incorporated into the Burmese empire. The Mahamuni Buddha image — one of Arakan's most sacred objects — was carried off to Mandalay, where it remains today.
A demographic shock
The conquest was followed by years of harsh rule, conscription, forced labour, and reprisal raids. Historians estimate that tens of thousands of Arakanese — both Muslim and Buddhist Rakhine — fled across the Naf river into British-controlled Bengal during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Whole districts were depopulated.
From kingdom to borderland
The annexation transformed Arakan from a sovereign kingdom into a contested borderland. When the British East India Company fought the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26), Arakan became the first major Burmese territory to fall under British control — setting the stage for the colonial reshaping of the region.