Gutman Pamela-Power and Religion in the Early Arakanese Kingdoms

Power and Religion in the early Arakanese Kingdoms of Dhanyawadi and VesaliSunday, 08 July 2007 02:12 -

Pamela Gutman Department of Art History and Theory, The University of Sydney

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the nature of power and religion in the early urban centres ofArakan, Dhanyawadi and Vesali, in the light of the Anandacandra inscription, the early coinsand the sculptural remains.

It queries why later chronicles distort this evidence, and discusses the fifth century Mahamunisculptures in the context of Mahayana Buddhism at the time and evidence for the bhagavatacult of Vasudeva, concluding that the cultures of the early cities adopted those Indic elementswhich resonated with the role of the tribal chief in his transformation to a king ruling with theauthority and support of lndian deities.

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The role of the king in ancient Arakan was not dissimilar to the function (or what should be thefunction) of the government today. He was expected to uphold the religion and to protect theland and the people, ensuring their fertility and prosperity.

While the peoples who inhabited Arakan at the beginning of the first millennium had no doubtlong been in contact with their neighbours in India and to the east through trade and otherrelationships, the first five centuries of the Common Era saw the development of urban centreswhich adapted certain Indian cultural traits to suit their environment. In this the ruler sought toassure his people of his right to protect them and to ensure the continuation of the prosperityand fertility of the land through his links with the cosmic forces which controlled the progressionof the seasons and the coming of the rains.

In this paper I examine the evidence for the Indic religions practiced in the first known urbancentres in Arakan and attempt to relate those religions to the functions of kingship. Lateraccounts of the history of the early centres, often compiled by Theravadin monks, tend toobscure the obviously Mahayanist and Hindu practices followed from around the fifth centuryC.E. In doing this it is necessary to look at what was happening in Arakan in the context of

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concurrent developments in India (including the area now called Bangladesh), Sri Lanka and inthe rest of Southeast Asia. Our key sources are the famous inscription of Anandacandra datingto the first half of the eighth century, the earliest local account of the history of the rulers and thereligion, and the coinage and the sculptural and architectural remains we find today, much ofwhich is preserved in the Mahamuni and Mrauk-U Museums.

Many Arakanese, even today, accept the accounts of their history in chronicles written manyhundreds of years after the events they record. Some of these have borrowed fiom the palitraditions brought fiom Sri Lanka. These traditions have often been incorporated into the localhistories or razawin in order to legitimize the power of the ruler at the same time as conveying aperceived religious truth. Jacques Leider in a forthcoming paper states that the local historiesreflect the adaptation and localization of Buddhist teaching, thought and practice.1Given his masterly accormt of later Arakanese historiography in that paper, I will not attempt todiscuss the subject here, but will instead draw from the earliest complete account of the historyof the royal dharmaand its function, the protection of the religion and the people, the Anandacandra inscription of c.729 C.E. on the west face of the Shittaung pillar inscription.

The Anandacandra Inscription1

Fig 1 Anandacandra inscription

While the first three lines of the inscription are largely illegible, the word Bodhisattva has beenread in 1.1, and the word trilocana in 1.2 should refer to Siva in a stanza to Hindu deities. Theinscription then enumerates several dynasties ruling before that of Anandacandra's line. Anexamination of the relevant sections of the inscription gives us a picture of how the king soughtto legitimize his rule through tracing the royal lineage, and also of the nature of the religionspatronized by the elite in the eighth century. It should be recognized that the royal lineage rarelydepends on ancestry, rather, it portends to relate the history of the royal dharmaor law through which the state was maintained and its prosperity guaranteed.

Fig. 2 Wicks 1992 p. 87

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Verses 4-9 refer to six kings with Sanskritic names, each of whom ruled for 120 years,suggesting a Puranic tradition which did not survive in the later chronicles. This is followed by alist of rulers with more realistic reign lengths (verses 10-18), distinguished by a preponderanceof non-Sanskritic proper names, suggesting a semi-historical tradition. The first of these isCandrodaya, whom Johnston was inclined to equate with Candrasuriya of the Chronicles1. Heis followed by the Annaveta kings, whose name indicates an indigenous form of leadership, whoruled for five years, a king whose name is lost who reigned for the unlikely period of 77 years,and then five rulers, one a queen, whose names are mostly not Indian. The lengths of the reignsof the ancestral monarchs is said to have been 1,060 years, although given the information inthe inscription it is not possible to see how this is reached. However it is also recorded that thesucceeding dynasty reigned for 230 years, completed, as we shall see, in 600 C.E. Taking1,060 years to be correct, it appears that the first reign was calculated to begin in c. 690 B.C.,coinciding with the first year of the Einzana era said to have been initiated by GautamaBuddha's grandfather in 691 B.C1. This era, still known in Burma, could have been chosen to illustrate the contemporaneity of theroyal ancestors with those of the Buddha, a tendency often seen in the localization of events inthe Buddhist tradition in later chronicles.

The following section, verses 19-32, deal with the Candra dynasty, whose names can beverified by coins issued by the 4" to the 13" kings and by votive inscriptions. Theinscription states that the 16 kings of the dynasty ruled for 230 years, although only 13 arenamed. A coin issued by a Suriyacandra, paleographically datable to about the beginning of theseventh century may give us another name1. Various chronicles mention that the Candradynasty of Vesali reigned for 230 years, fiom 788 until 1018 AD. None of the names of the kingsmentioned in the chronicles are found in the Anandacandra inscription, and Johnston suggestedthat it would seem that the chronicle lists have ultimately derived fiom an authentic list whichhas survived in a form corrupted beyond recognition. It is possible that when a later traditionsought to localize the Sasanavamsa story of theBuddha Gautama arriving to convert the country to the time of a legendary Candrasuriya whowas probably the semi-historical progenitor Candrodaya of the Anandacandra inscription. Thelength of the Dhannavati dynasty of the chronicles therefore was artificially extended to includeall the kings reigning until the foundation of the Vesali dynasty of the chronicles which is said tohave started in 788 AD.

It is apparent, however, from the inscriptions, coins and architectural and sculptural remainsfound at Vesali that the city was occupied by at least the sixth century. Similar evidenceindicates that Dhanyawadi continued to be occupied in the seventh century and probably muchlater. In Mrauk-U there is evidence of occupation from at least the seventh century, and aninscription on the reverse of an image of Surya, stylistically and paleographically datable to the

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early sixth century mentions kings not listed in the Anandacandra inscription or in the variouslater chronicles1. The linear progression of the urban centres imposed on the history byAnandacandra's prasasti and by the later chronicles must now be reconsideredas archaeological evidence accumulates.

The pre-Indic tradition and early urbanization

Fig 3 Early urban sites of Arakan image: Bob Hudson

The earliest urban site we know of in Arakan is Dhanyawadi situated 96 km. upriver from Sittwe.Like other early urban centres in Southeast Asia it may, in the pre-urban period, have been atrading centre for the exchange of forest and sea products. Before further work is done we canonly speculate on the nature of the religion on to which Buddhism and Hinduism were imposed.By looking at the archaeological record of pre-urban sites and at anthropological parallels inBurma and in India today, we can assume that the people venerated local spirits connected withthe earth: villages, rivers, hills and so on, and that a form of ancestor worship was practiced.Usually scholars see the transition fiom local spirit and ancestor cults to the great Indic religionsas coinciding with the development of an urban society, with the ruling elite the key sponsors1.

In the later Buddhist tradition one of these local earth spirits was transformed into the earth spiritVasundhara who famously wrung water from her hair to drown the army of Mara, thepersonification of evil, at the time of the Buddha Sakyamuni's Enlightenment. A traditionrecorded in a late chronicle, Do We's Maha Razawin, is that as part of the coronation ritual theArakanese king deposited coins struck by him and by his predecessor into the Vasundhara holewithin the Mahamuni temple enclosure. The Sappadanaprakarana(Sawasthanaprakarana)the History of the Mahamuni referred to by Forchhammer, also refers to this hole in the accountof the nine miracles which took place when the Mahamuni image was installed, namely that theVasundhara hole dug in the image’s presence could not be filled with the holy water poured intoit by its votaries. Both these accounts contain memories of a cult relating to an earth spiritconnected with the prosperity of the land absorbed into local Buddhist practice. Neither mentionan image connected to the cult. It is interesting that a Buddha image recently discovered atUrittaung and stylistically datable to around the seventh century has an unusual standingVasundhara at its base, probably the earliest in mainland Southeast Asia. The story ofVasundhara's role in the Enlightenment of the Buddha is not mentioned in the Pali Canon, andappears in Southeast Asia long before Sinhalese Theravada Buddhism became dominant inSoutheast Asia, becoming popular because the story resonated with the pre-Buddhist earth

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spirit beliefs1.

Fig 2 Vasundhara at Urittaung

Fig 3 Vasundhara at Shittaung

Symbolism of Power on the early coins

The coins issued by the early kings illustrate the influence of Indian symbolism in the earlyurban context. The earliest coins from Arakan are usually assumed to have been issued byDevacandra (ca. 454-76). These have a conch, often surrounded by vegetation or flames on theobverse and a srivatsa on the reverse.

Fig 4 coins Wicks 1992 3.5

The coin type appears to have changed during Devacandra's reign, and he and the followingkings, Yajnacandra to Dhrticandra (ca. 476-600) have a bull and the name of the ruler on theobverse, and again the srivarsa on the reverse

Fig 3 Wicks 1992 3.6

No coins were issued by the next five kings who ruled before the founding of Anandacandra'sdynastic line by Dharmavijaya, whose name "Victory of Dharma" suggests thereemergence of state support for Buddhism in ca. 665 C.E. This dynasty and other kingsfollowing it in Arakan, Bengal and Assam continued to use the bull and srivatsa motifs on theircoins.

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Fig. 6 Gutman 1978 pp.223

The early coins of Arakan have many similarities with coins from sites in Burma proper, notablythe "Pyu" and "Mon" sites, and further east, from Dvaravati andpre-Angkorean sites of Funan. Ail the Arakan examples, and most of the others from mainlandSoutheast Asia use the srivatsa on the obverse. I have discussed this in detail elsewhere1, butwill mention its significance briefly again here. The srivatsais the symbol of the abode of Sri, the ancient earth goddess, promoter of fertility and prosperity.The form was widespread in india from the last centuries BC, where it was one of a range ofauspicious symbols primarily associated with prosperity. As the king came to be seen as theabode of Sri, the srivatsawas principally associated with royalty, and was used to indicate both the divine nature of kingsand the royal nature of the gods in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain iconographies. In the earliest coinsof mainland Southeast Asia the srivatsa is usually depicted over a water symbol. In Arakan this is a number of vertical lines suggesting a(lotus) stem, which in later coins becomes a row of dots. The idea of fertility (and henceprosperity) is accentuated by foliage sprouting from the top and sides of the srivatsasymbol. The apex of the svivatsais usually surmounted by the symbols of the sun and moon. This juxtaposition of motifs is neverfound in India but illustrates the concept of kingship as it existed by the fifth century. In earliersociety the chief was concerned with assuring social stability and reproduction and soil fertilitythrough the propitation of the tribe's common ancestor, who could mediate with the territorialand celestial spirits. The advent of urbanization precipitated the need to guarantee the supportof a wider population, probably of diverse origin. The answer was found in the magic powerattained through Indian kingship and religion. Perhaps even more than his Indian counterpart,who controlled a more developed and diverse economy, the king as ruler of an agrarianeconomy had to be seen to regulate the forces of nature in order to assure the fertility andprosperity of the country. Texts such as the fifth century Suvarnabhasottamasutrawhich gained popularity in India and China, may well have been used as models of kingship.Notably the chapter on “Instruction concerning divine kings" has1

The law-abiding king fills the triple world with his fame, and the lords of the gods in the dwellingof the thiry-tfiree will rejoice “In Jambudvipa the law-abiding king is thus our son. He establishespeople in good action.... Asterisms and likewrse moon and son move properly. In due time thewinds blow. In due time the god sends rain. The god provides plenty in the realm...

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The symbols on the obverse of the coins represent the issuing ruler. As mentioned before theearliest, ascribed to Devacandra (ca. 454-76C.E.) have a conch or sankha surrounded byfoliage or flames. The conch belongs to an ancient group of water symbols connected with thegoddess Sri and which later became incorporated into the iconography of Kubera, the god ofwealth and of Vishnu. On the Arakan coins the conch may indicate the wealth bestowed by Sri,who, as we have seen, resided in a deserving king. It might also be read as indicatingDevacandra's Vaisnavite affiliations. The recumbent bull appears on all the coins of kings fromDevacandra's secoad issue onwards. Although it often appears on Greek, Roman andpre-Hindu and Hindu Indian coinage, it is otherwise unknown in Southeast Asia, although it isthe most common motif on intaglio found at Pyu sites and also at Vesali1. While the bull is usually described as the vehicle of the god Siva, in Indian iconography thiscan only be traced to the fourth century. The bull in pre- Indianised society could be seen as asymbol of wealth and therefore power, although the Anandacandra inscription tells us that theearliest dynasty of Candra kings sprung from the lineage of Isa, a name of Siva. Saivite remainsfound in Arakan to date, however, are few1.

Thus the king, seen as the source of his realm's prosperity, emphasized this function on thereverse of every coin as a constant reminder to his people. His guarantee of the value of thecoin was likewise illustrated by the dynastic insignia on the obverse, a device which perhapsalso emphasized his lineage. Having established coinage as a major medium of exchange, hewas able to centralize and thereby dominate the economy of the state.

The earliest Mahamuni sculptures: a Mahayanist tradition

It is sometimes assumed that Dvencandra of the Anandacandra inscription is the counterpart ofCandrasuriya, the founder of the Candra line in the chronicles. The inscription describes him asa conqueror of kings and as the builder ofa city surrounded by walls and a moat His date, it isestimated1, lies within the fourth century C.E., and his dynasty lasted until the beginning of theseventh century. The early sculptures and inscriptions found at the Mahamuni shrine andassociated sites, as well as at the Selagiri hill nearby, can be stylistically dated between the fifthand seventh centuries. This may indicate that the site remained inhabited as well as being apilgrimage destination after the centre of power moved to the later city of`Vesali, which thechronicles see as a successor city, or that both cities were occupied simultaneously for aperiod. It is interesting to note that the Mahamuni shrine is situated NE of the palace site, adirection associated with the sun and the dead ancestors in Sri Lankan and certain other

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Southeast Asian traditions 1.

The most important sculptures are those still found at the Mahamuni, most dating to around thefifth or sixth centuries. I have reached this date through a stylistic analysis of the sculptures andalso through a thin shred of epigraphical evidence1. These sculptures are regarded in thechronicles and still today as having a protective function.They represent a system of MahayanaBuddhism unique in the extent of its remains to India and to the rest of Southeast Asia. The keyimages are of Bodhisattvas and guardians of the directions and their attendants. Nagas andNaginis also played a role.

Fig. 7 Gutman (1976) Vol 2, Bodhisattvas at Mahamllni

The bodhisattvas, which can be stylistically connected with Gupta art, are distinguished by theirroyal ornaments: the wing-like projections decorated with rows of coils behind the shouldersillustrating the blazing glory which emanates from the body of a bodhisattva, their ornate kirita-makutasor headdresses and by the elliptical prahhavalis or nimbuses behind their heads. They sit inlilasana, left leg folded under, right knee raised with the foot drawn back to the centre andpointing to the outer side. It is interesting to note that this position is the one in which guardianscontinue to sit in the art of Arakan, of Burma proper and in other parts of Southeast Asia for amillennium or more. Each bodhisattva once carried an attribute in one hand, with the other handresting on the knee. Unfortunately at the Mahamuni the attributes which would identify themhave usually been destroyed, probably by Theravadins after the Mahayana ceased to bepracticed. It would appear that these images represent a bodhisattva mandala,similar in nature to the circle of the eight great bodhisattvas which appear in Indian art in the fifthor sixth centuries1. We can hypothesize their function at Mahamuni through an examination of Buddhist sutrasno longer extant in India but translated fiom into Chinese from the third century C.E.

In early Mahayana literature eight bodhisattvas are regarded as providers and protectors. Oneof the oldest texts in which they are named is the Bussetsu-hachi-kichijo-jin-kyo (Taisho 427),first translated into Chinese by the Yueh Chih monk, Chi Ch'ien in the third century C.E. In thisbrief sutra the eight Buddhas and the eight Buddha-lands protected by the Four Deva Kings aredescribed. In the concluding passages, eight bodhisattvas appear and vow to aid all beings onthe path to Buddhahood, saying that they will support the needy in times of illness, and at the

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moment of death will rush to meet the departing devotee1. Granoff has noted that the cult of the eight bodhisattvas, whose identity changed over time andplace, was closely associated with securing mundane benefits for the faithful through therecitation of their names.

Fig 8 Huntington PI.12.37

Fig. 8 shows an early depiction in Cave 12 at Ellora, usually dated to the seventh century. Herethe bodhisattvas sit in an identical position to those at the Mahamuni, and each carries anidentifling attribute such as a lotus, a sword on a lotus, a vajra on a lotus, a book on alotus and so on. The central Buddha is identified with Sakyamuni, the main object of worship atthe Ellora and Ajanta caves1

Fig. 9 Gutman 2001 Pl. 6,

The power of the eight bodhisattvas was not within their identity as one or other bodhisattva butis more related to conceptions of directional and astrological symbolism. The bodhisattvas wereclosely related to the Four Deva Kings or guardians of the directions, the Sanskrit lokapalaswho participate equally in the protection of the worshipper. Five images representing the Devakings and members of their retinue survive at the Mahamuni.

Fig 10 Gutman 2001 pl 21, 1976 pl xlv b,e

While resembling the Bodhisattva images in their asanas, ornaments, and crowns they aresmaller in size indicating their inferior role in the hierarchy. They each carry a sword in onehand, the other being held at waist level, palm facing outward. Like the bodhisattva figuresradiance emanates from behind their shoulders, here depicted as winged projections.

By the fifth century the four guardians of the directions who guard the four quarters of the earthwere also seen to protect the kingdom as illustrated by the 'Sutras of National Safety".

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Recitation of the Suvarnabhasottamasutra1 was believed to bring immediate aid from the fourguardians, who will arrive on earth accompanied by countless hosts of demons and can thusprotect a country against national perils such as famine, invasion, plague, revolutions and soon. The Guardians also became part of a neatly worked out law-enforcement apparatus,headed by Indra in his heaven. In the Sutra on theFour Celestial Monarchs1the four are Indra's adjutants, dividing up the world between them and making inspections onBuddhist fast days to examine the conduct of all living creatures from the king to the humblestinsect. Those reported to Indra and his gods as righteous reaped rewards such as theappointment of guardian spirits to watch over their welfare.

Another related group comprises smaller-scale figures with high back-slabs. Their ornamentsare similar to those of the guardians of the directions but they lack a crown and have a flagflying over the head. One has the remains of an inscription behind giving the name"Yaksa-senapati Panada" in Gupta script of the late fifth century. Ponada was one ofthe 28 Yaksa generals led by Kuvera or Vaisravana, guardian of the north.

Fig.11 Gutman 1976 II PI. XLVIa

Also represented at the Mahamuni are nagas and nagis, crowned figures with serpent hoodsThese male and female demi-gods absorbed into Buddhism from earlier times lived in thebowels of the earth and were associated with underground wealth.

Fig. 12 Gutman 2001 pl,20

It would appear that the Candra killgs were seen as the mediators between the people and thecelestial and territorial forces governing the prosperity of the land and maintaining the socialorder, Indra's counterparts on earth. The Suvarnabhasottamasutra, for instance, states that theking was blessed by the thirty-three divine kings (Indra and the thirty-two gods presiding onMount Meru, the earth's axis) hence becoming a divine son of the gods, magically created torule on earth. The textual basis for the transformation of the role of the tribal chief into adivinely-ordained king is found in accounts of Brahmanical abhisekaceremonies, notably the aindramahabhiseka

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, the Indra consecration of the king described in the Aihreya Brahmana (VIII.9ff). During thisceremony the king enters into a contract with his people, pledging to maintain the rajadharmain order to assure the continuance of the cosmic and moral order and thus the prosperity oftheland.

There is little or no evidence of Mahayana Buddhism in the rest of Southeast Asia in the fifthcentury, although we know that fiom as early as the third century certain kings of Sri Lankaregarded themselves as bodhisattvas1 and supported the Mahayana. They continued to do sountil at least the ninth century. One early Sri Lankan king, Kasyapa I, styled himself anembodiment of Kuvera, the guardian of the north, in an effort to gain the support of the populace1The style of the few images of Mahayana deities remaining in Sri Lanka is usually connected tothe art of South India rather than the North, as is the case at Dhanyawadi.

The Anandacandra inscription does not allude to the religious beliefs of the Candra kingsbetween the fourth and seventh centuries, nor to their successor Ilings. However, the kings whoruled from ca.639 A.D. (interestingly, the first year of the Culasakaraj era) obviously followed theMahayana, although they did not neglect other religions. Anandracandra calls himseIf upasaka,a Buddhist lay worshipper, and records the commission of inter aliagold and silver caityas containing the relies of the Buddha, Bodllisattvas, Cunda and others1. No images of Cunda, in Northern Buddhism considered an emanation of the AdibuddhaVajrasattva or Tathagatha Vairocana, have been found in Arakan, two eighth century bronzesshowing north indian influence have been discovered in Sri Lanka1 That a Mahayana tradition, or a Theravadin lineage venerating Avalokitesvara and otherbodhisattvas, existed until the eighth century is seen by a number of representations ofBodhisattvas1.

There are, of course, a number of Buddha images discovered at both Dhanyawadi and Vesaliwhich cannot be attributed to any particular Buddhist tradition. As Peter Skilling has stated1, thevital difference between the Mahayana and the Sravakayana (the eighteen Vinaya nikayaor schools) is not one of doctrine but aim. What defines Mahayana is its orientation: out of

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compassion for sentient beings, a bodhisattva aims for ultimate awakening. The cults of relics, stupasand Buddha images are shared by all schools and most movements.

Vishnu

Anandacandra tells us in his inscription (vv. 54-56, 60) that he built four monasteries forBrahmans and provided them with fields and servants, musical instruments and musicians. Twowere named after him: the Anandamadhava where the Somatirtha brahmans, possibly fromIndia, resided and another called Anandesvara.Moreover, he restored deva (i.e. non-Buddtrist)temples and holy places built by former kings. No Hindu god is mentioned by name in thiscontext, however the sculptural remains suggest that Vaisnavism predominated. At Vesali thereare more Vaisnavite remains than Buddhist, although an important, possibly earlier imagecomes from Dhanyawadi.

Fig. 13 Vishnu from Dhanyawadi

As in other parts of Southeast Asia, Vishnu appears to have played an important role inkingship. Recent research1 in Cambodia, Vietnam, South Sumatra and West Java shows that arelated group of mitred Visnu images dating from the early fifth to early seventh centuries wereintroduced through a merchant network, several centuries after the development of traderelations between India and Southeast Asia. Like the Dhanyawadi Vishnu and others found atVesali 1,their iconography identifies them as Vasudeva, hero deity ofthe Bhagavata cult espoused by the Gupta emperors whose power the Southeast Asian rulerswished to emulate. Vaisnavltes believe iri an absolute and universal god. Like Buddhists theyare inclined to proselytize. The universaIist doctrine of bhakti

whichthey were promoting at the time of the early "Indianisation" of Southeast Asiaallowed salvation for all, not only those belonging to high castes, and in introducing forms ofdevotion accessible to all, particularly non-Brahmans, they were a force for integration andassimilation.

Vishnu's attributes reflect his sovereignty: the discus is a weapon in battle, the conch is used forsignaling in battle and the mace is emblematic of rulership, all of which declare his sovereigntyover all life he has created. He is the apotheosis of the Great Hero1.

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In early Vaisnavism Vishnu was considered to enter all kings, and by identifying himself withVishnu the king would be able to coIrquer the three worlds. All cakravavtins, or paramountsovereigns were regarded as bearing a portion of Vishnu's personality. That the king should beseen as representing Vishnu was also understandable given that the ruler's key function was toguarantee the furtherance of vegetation and thus the fertility of the land. It was the king's duty tomake rain and to cause the crops to thrive, and the same functions are attributed to Vishnu whois always concerned with generation and fertility1.The belief that Vishnu entered the body of the king came to be emplzasized from Gupta timesin India' and under the Pallavas at the time of Narasimhavarman the association with Vishnubecame quite apparent as the kings associated their ceremonies and rituals with those of thedeity in the temple.

An important Vishnu image was recently found at Dhanyawadi in a ruined shrine onChinmadaung hill east of the Mahamuni shrine, just inside the city wall. The image, 046m highand made of a grayish sandstone, stands erect, Like most of the Mahamuni images, it has anunornamented oval prabhavali or halo rising above the shoulders. Vishnu is four-armed. Aspherical object is held in his upper right hand while the lower rests on a cakra or wheel atop asquare pillar on a three-tiered base. His upper left hand holds a conch and the lower is placedon a gada or mace. He wears a two-tiered kirita-makulta toppedwith a knob and princely ornaments: a three-stranded necklace with a medallion in fiont, upperarm-hands and belts around the waist and hips. A brahmanical thread falls over the leftshoulder and around the right thigh. A scarf drawn over the hips is draped again at mid-thighlevel, knotted at each side with the loops and ends falling gracefully down, and a lower garment,not visible at the front, falls to above the ankles. It is interesting to note that the Vishnu imagesat Vesali are identically adorned, and that the Bodhisattva images from the now-destroyed stupa on Selagiri hill opposite Kyauktaw are remarkably similar. While iconographically the image isclosely related to the early Visnus in Southeast Asia mentioned above, elements of the costumeand ornaments recall Andhra art of the third century1while the depiction and arrangement of the ayudhyasclosely resembles Gupta period examples from north and northeast India1.

In conclusion, Arakan was the Southeast Asian polity nearest to India, and it was among thefirst to display the characteristics of the earliest Southeast Asian urban centres in terms of cityplanning and, possibly, state organization. Bob Hudson will show in his paper how the planning

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of Dhanyawadi and Wethali had more in common with the Pyu centres of Burma proper, and ithas been shown that their culture shared many characteristics with those further west,Dvaravati and Funan1 than with any known Indian models. Arakan's earliest urban culture wasgrounded in that of its original inhabitants -possibly the Sak (Thet) and Chin-related peopleswho, like others throughout the region revered local spirits such as an earth spirit which wastransformed into Vasundhara by the sixth or seventh century. From at least the time of thebronze age the peoples of Arakan had been acquainted with the cultures of India and otherparts of Southeast Asia through trade, and around the beginning of the Common Era wereappropriating symbols of power and prosperity.

Thus the symbolism behind the "lndianized" art of the early cities reinforces pre-Indictraditions connecting the people to the soil, the need to preserve water and to guarantee itsannual reappearance. The kings of Dhanyawadi and Vesali appropriated those elements oflndian culture which would enhance their power in the eyes of their people. They sought to gainthe support of the people through guaranteeing their protection and their prosperity. Theywelcomed Buddhist monks and Brahmans from India and Sri Lanka and adapted their teachingsto suit local conditions. The cultural elite developed a refined aesthetic and unique art forms.Anandracandra and his predecessors, like their counterparts elsewhere in Southeast Asia wasopen to Indian concepts which would enhance their hold on power,choosing those which wouldserve them best.

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This paper was submitted at "Arakan History Conference", Bangkok 23.11 -25.11.2005, organised by the Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University,Bangkok, Thailand.

(Draft only. Please don't quote)

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Gutman Pamela-Power and Religion in the Early Arakanese Kingdoms

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