Arakan, from Eisel

Bhante,

   A few weeks ago I read the article on Arakanese Buddhism (and its
connection to Sinhalese Buddhist revivals) contained in that issue of
the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (of Sri Lanka).

   As I know I left you with a copy of the same publication, I was
wondering what your latest thoughts were on the subject?

   I know you're very busy, but I also know this is a special research
interest of yours; the 18th & 19th century political history of that
region is truly baffling, and it has come up in some of my recent
reading on the history of the region --one wonders how this served to
preserve or destroy Buddhism in Arakan's recent history.

   It seems to me that this would have been discussed by Niharranjan
Ray in some of his works (somewhere) --this is the same N. Ray who
wrote your book on Sanskrit Buddhism in Burma (and also wrote a very
good general history of Buddhism in Burma) --perhaps he had an article
dealing with Arakan specifically in some obscure publication?  His own
interest seems to have been primarily in comparing Burmese & Mon
Buddhism (and this is the interaction that proved definitive for
Buddhism in the region as we have it today) --he could actually read
Mon --but I think the questions you've raised of the connections to
Chittagong are doubtless very important, and likely very much
neglected.

   Perhaps you or I should write a carefully worded request for
information on this to the SOAS Bulletin of Burmese studies?  They
might have a bibliography of the field that they could search for
salient articles.

E.M.