Jacques P Leider
Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, Bangkok/Yangon, Department Member
- Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, Paris, Department Memberadd
- Buddhism, Bangladesh, Theravada Buddhism, Chittagong, Burmese/Myanmar history, Statelessness, and 12 moreIslam in the Southeast Asia, Religion and Violence, Veterans, Paris, Southeast Asian history, Religious Studies, Religion and Violence/Nonviolence, Southeast Asian Studies, Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Politics of Victimhood, Military Ethics, and Rohingya Muslimsedit
The policy brief contextualizes the foundational period of the Rohingya movement between approximately 1947 and 1964. It presents political and cultural aims, mobilization, achievements, and implications of the territorialization and... more
The policy brief contextualizes the foundational period of the Rohingya movement between approximately 1947 and 1964. It presents political and cultural aims, mobilization, achievements, and implications of the territorialization and selfidentification process. The brief does not aim at giving an exhaustive account, but puts forward a concatenation of contexts and events as a basis for further discussion.
Research Interests: Southeast Asian Studies, South Asian Studies, Islam in the Southeast Asia, History of Bengal, Islamic History, and 10 moreBangladesh, Burma Studies, Arakanese History, Myanmar, Ethnicity and National Identity, Southeast Asian Studies/ Myanmar, Rohingya Muslims, Rohingya, Etnis Rohingya, and Rohingya Issue
Muslim Chittagonians formed the dominant group of seasonal labourers and new settlers in north and central Arakan (now Rakhine State in My-anmar) during British colonial rule in Burma (1826–1948). The consider-able growth of their... more
Muslim Chittagonians formed the dominant group of seasonal labourers and new settlers in north and central Arakan (now Rakhine State in My-anmar) during British colonial rule in Burma (1826–1948). The consider-able growth of their settlements in the late nineteenth century was the de-fining factor which transformed Arakan’s small pre-colonial Muslim community into the biggest Muslim group in Burma, concentrated in a densely populated border zone. The present chapter looks at these signifi-cant demographic and social changes, and responds to Morten Bergsmo’s observation that the International Criminal Court Prosecution’s legal ap-proach in its request for a designated pre-trial chamber to authorize an investigation into alleged crimes in Rakhine State of 4 July 2019 “turns the spotlight on the demographic background of the conflict in northern Rakhine”
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This brief looks at the departures of 1942, 1948-49, 1959, 1976-78 and 1991-92, happening in different political contexts from World War II to the end of Myanmar’s military regime in 2011. Yet each crisis was triggered and unfolded within... more
This brief looks at the departures of 1942, 1948-49, 1959,
1976-78 and 1991-92, happening in different political contexts
from World War II to the end of Myanmar’s military regime in
2011. Yet each crisis was triggered and unfolded within the same
area at nearly identical locations in Cox’ Bazaar district (Chittagong
Division) and Maungdaw sub-district (in the former Akyab
district). Mass departures were cyclic with recurrent acts of
atrocity and destruction of livelihood perpetrated against Muslim
civilians. But they were also singular events to be explored within
their own contexts of overlapping complexity of territorial and
identity politics.
1976-78 and 1991-92, happening in different political contexts
from World War II to the end of Myanmar’s military regime in
2011. Yet each crisis was triggered and unfolded within the same
area at nearly identical locations in Cox’ Bazaar district (Chittagong
Division) and Maungdaw sub-district (in the former Akyab
district). Mass departures were cyclic with recurrent acts of
atrocity and destruction of livelihood perpetrated against Muslim
civilians. But they were also singular events to be explored within
their own contexts of overlapping complexity of territorial and
identity politics.
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This brief describes how communal tensions rooted in prewar territorial frictions were exacerbated by nationalist forces while persecution was condoned but not investigated by Japanese or British military authorities. It contends, but... more
This brief describes how communal tensions rooted in prewar
territorial frictions were exacerbated by nationalist forces
while persecution was condoned but not investigated by Japanese
or British military authorities. It contends, but does not
explicate, that the impact of intra-civilian violence committed in
1942–43 was the (1) political awakening of competing ethno-religious
groups and the rise of Buddhist and Muslim sub-nationalisms,
(2) the process of ethnification of North Arakan Muslims and the birth of the modern ‘Rohingya movement’, and ultimately (3) an entrenched hostility and mistrust which eased State-centric control over both groups after 1948.
territorial frictions were exacerbated by nationalist forces
while persecution was condoned but not investigated by Japanese
or British military authorities. It contends, but does not
explicate, that the impact of intra-civilian violence committed in
1942–43 was the (1) political awakening of competing ethno-religious
groups and the rise of Buddhist and Muslim sub-nationalisms,
(2) the process of ethnification of North Arakan Muslims and the birth of the modern ‘Rohingya movement’, and ultimately (3) an entrenched hostility and mistrust which eased State-centric control over both groups after 1948.
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The name Rohingya denotes an ethnoreligious identity of Muslims in North Rakhine State, Myanmar (formerly Burma). The term became part of public discourse in the late 1950s and spread widely following reports on human rights violations... more
The name Rohingya denotes an ethnoreligious identity of Muslims in North Rakhine State, Myanmar (formerly Burma). The term became part of public discourse in the late 1950s and spread widely following reports on human rights violations against Muslims in North Rakhine State during the 1990s, and again after 2012. Claims for regional Muslim
autonomy emerged during World War II and led to the rise of a Rohingya ethnonationalist movement that drew on the local Muslim imaginaire, as well as regional history and archaeology.
autonomy emerged during World War II and led to the rise of a Rohingya ethnonationalist movement that drew on the local Muslim imaginaire, as well as regional history and archaeology.
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Since the late 1990s, the public representation of the Muslim minority of Rakhine State (Myanmar), widely known as Rohingyas after the 2012 communal violence, has focused on their status as victims of state oppression following an... more
Since the late 1990s, the public representation of the Muslim minority of Rakhine State (Myanmar), widely known as Rohingyas after the 2012 communal violence, has focused on their status as victims of state oppression following an extended track record of human rights violations. As Rohingyas form huge migrant and refugee communities in several countries of the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, victimhood has increasingly come to define their identity as a persecuted minority. The present article argues that, while victimhood does not preclude agency, the hegemonic role of a postulated passive victimhood invariably posits one community (and the state) against the other and hampers the possibility of open conversations about rivaling perceptions of the past and ultimately the prospect of political dialogue. I n today's world, the immediacy of humanitarian crises tends to bar a deeper interest in the complexity of the historical roots of a conflict. The deteriorating situation of the Muslim minority in the Rakhine State of Myanmar, a group now widely known as the Rohingya, is a case in point. They have been presented as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world due to a track record of human rights violations, while the local Islamic history and the emergence of Muslim nationalism at the margins of Muslim Bengal (East Pakistan/ Bangladesh) and Buddhist Burma (Myanmar) has barely begun to inform international understanding of the regional conflict. The present article argues in favor of historical research as a prerequisite both for understanding the nature of the conflict and for keeping opportunities for competing historical interpretations alive. It also contributes to the ongoing question of collective representations of " voiceless " non-Western victims as deprived of political agency. 1 The article supports the argument that victimhood is a form of agency, but, as in the case of the Rohingya crisis since 2012, it bears the risk of encapsulating people and isolating them from their historical context. The Rohingya entered the awareness of a global audience in 2012 when communal violence led to the internal displacement of tens of thousands of Muslims
Research Interests: Historical Anthropology, Islam in the Southeast Asia, Islamic History, Ethnic Conflict, Bangladesh, and 10 moreBurma Studies, Southeast Asian history, Arakanese History, Myanmar, Victimhood, Muslim Minority Affairs, Ethnicity and National Identity, Politics of Victimhood, Rohingya Muslims, and Rohingya Issue
Taking stock of the historical background, the article focuses on some of the most recent developments arguing that the Rohingya movement underwent important changes after 2012 and that these mutations produced a powerful new narrative of... more
Taking stock of the historical background, the article focuses on some of the most recent developments arguing that the Rohingya movement underwent important changes after 2012 and that these mutations produced a powerful new narrative of Rohingya persecution. The triangular matrix of dissent in Rakhine State (Burmese state vs. Buddhist Rakhine; Burmese state vs. Muslim Rohingyas; and Buddhist Rakhine vs. Muslim Rohingyas) has been displaced after 2012 by the interpretation of a twofold relationship where the state is perceived as the author of a long-term campaign of persecuting and potentially eradicating the Muslim community. The implications of the state’s repression of the Muslims, rather than the historical alienation of the two religious communities, have been represented after 2012 as the exclusive concern that the international community should focus on.
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The present essay contributes to the investigation of the historical background of the Rakhine State crisis which, since 2012, has attracted wide international attention for the Muslim Rohingyas. Arguing that the changes in names used by... more
The present essay contributes to the investigation of the historical background of the Rakhine State crisis which, since 2012, has attracted wide international attention for the Muslim Rohingyas. Arguing that the changes in names used by and for Muslims in the frontier region of Bengal/Bangladesh and Burma/Myanmar reflect the political, social and demographic development, the essay calls for an archive of naming practices as a pool of references and information to be included in the ongoing debate.
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This article is an attempt to address the scholarly vacuum by drawing attention to the role of history and the writing of history that have been missing in the current representation of the conflict. It supports the argument that... more
This article is an attempt to address the scholarly vacuum by drawing attention to the role of history and the writing of history that have been missing in the current representation of the conflict. It supports the argument that Buddhists and Muslims uphold mutually exclusive sets of identities based on competing claims to the history and geography of the country. The communities do not share a national narrative about Arakan as their homeland, as the role of Muslims is not acknowledged in the Buddhist narrative and the role of the predominantly Buddhist civilization of Arakan is ignored in the Rohingya Muslim retelling of history.
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“Rohingya” is both an old noun and a new label. Old, but exceedingly rare in both Western and Asian sources, new, though widespread in the international media.
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Les causes du conflit récent sont liées à des changements démographiques intervenus durant la période coloniale.
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The Maritime Frontier of Burma. Exploring Political, Cultural and Commercial Interaction in the Indian Ocean World, 1200–1800. Edited by Jos Gommans and Jacques Leider. (Verhandelingen, Afd. Letterkunde, Nieuwe Reeks, 185). pp. xxi, 248; 9 maps, 31 illustrations, some coloured. Amsterdam, Koninkl...more
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From 1580 to the early 1640s, the kingdom of Arakan was an aggressively expansive polity in the Eastern Indian Ocean whose very existence depended on constant warfare against its immediate neighbors, the Mughal emperors and the Burmese... more
From 1580 to the early 1640s, the kingdom of Arakan was an aggressively expansive polity in the Eastern Indian Ocean whose very existence depended on constant warfare against its immediate neighbors, the Mughal emperors and the Burmese kings. At the same time, trade thrived and a culturally diverse society flourished at the kingdom’s capital until the late seventeenth century. While focusing on the commercial network and the presence of Bengali poets at the Mrauk-U court, the paper faces the apparently contradictory fact that trade and cultural flowering were dependent on the results of Arakan’s war-driven policies.
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Alaungmintaya’s rise from village headman to kingship offers probably the best documented case of a king’s reign in pre-colonial Burma (ie, Burma before 1824). But the history of this reign has been written both in Burma and in the West... more
Alaungmintaya’s rise from village headman to kingship offers probably the best documented case of a king’s reign in pre-colonial Burma (ie, Burma before 1824). But the history of this reign has been written both in Burma and in the West essentially in the terms of its military history. The question of the making of the king, ie, the transformation of a royal subject into a self-conscious monarch, has been either neglected or left unquestioned with a superficial reference to its Buddhist cultural context. One should understand his king-making as a complex process bearing psychological, practical, ideological, religious and political dimensions. Alaungmintaya’s metamorphosis was conditioned as much by himself as by his surroundings.
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The essay approaches Myanmar/Burma’s relations with the outside world by drawing a picture that includes contexts which value Myanmar/Burmese agency and the country’s role and impact in the region.
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Since the nineteenth century, Westerners writing on Myanmar have rarely missed an opportunity to mention the accounts of the early European travellers who arrived at Bago (Pegu) and Pathein (Bassein). But commonly old travel accounts on... more
Since the nineteenth century, Westerners writing on Myanmar have rarely missed an opportunity to mention the accounts of the early European travellers who arrived at Bago (Pegu) and Pathein (Bassein). But commonly old travel accounts on Myanmar have only been appreciated for their anecdotal value. Historians have barely used them as sources and they have paid little attention to the information contained in the full range of travel narratives spread over three hundred years from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.
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“Tilling the Lord’s Vineyard and Defending Portuguese Interests: Towards a Critical Reading of Father S. Manrique’s Account of Arakan.” Journal of the Siam Society 90, 39-58
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One of the major and now well acknowledged aspects of European expansion was the constant and intense effort in documenting and mapping newly explored regions. In the case of Burma, Western knowledge of the kingdom was considerably... more
One of the major and now well acknowledged aspects of European expansion was the constant and intense effort in documenting and mapping newly explored regions. In the case of Burma, Western knowledge of the kingdom was considerably expanded during the mission of Michael Symes to Amarapura in 1795. One man in particular, Dr Francis Hamilton, took an eager interest in collecting geographical and ethnographical information. While his original journal has disappeared, Hamilton published a wide selection of data after his retirement in his “accounts.” These accounts provide information on large parts of the kingdom and its eastern border areas. While appreciating Hamilton’s remarkable geographical work, the paper highlights the interest of this little-known source for the historical, anthropological, and cultural study of late eighteenth-century Burma and the northern Tai area.
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in: Buddhist Art of Myanmar
Asia Society Museum, New York
Asia Society Museum, New York
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One occasionally meets people in Myanmar who describe with a subdued voice, as if they were about to break a kind of taboo, how there used to be monasteries in Burma where boxing was taught, alchemy was practised, monastic doctors... more
One occasionally meets people in Myanmar who describe with a subdued voice, as if they were about to break a kind of taboo, how there used to be monasteries in Burma where boxing was taught, alchemy was practised, monastic doctors exercised their medical skills, monks sought to obtain supernatural powers and some even engaged in drumming or making fireworks. The wide-spread existence of such
monasteries in pre-colonial Theravāda Burma and
Arakan appears in stark contrast to what little research has been done on such monasteries.....
monasteries in pre-colonial Theravāda Burma and
Arakan appears in stark contrast to what little research has been done on such monasteries.....
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« Southeast Asian Buddhist Monks in the Peregrinação: Tracing the “Rolins” of Fernão Mendes Pinto in the Eastern Bay of Bengal », Jorge M. dos Santos Alves (ed.), Fernão Mendes Pinto and the Peregrinação. Studies, Restored Text, Notes and... more
« Southeast Asian Buddhist Monks in the Peregrinação: Tracing the “Rolins” of Fernão Mendes Pinto in the Eastern Bay of Bengal », Jorge M. dos Santos Alves (ed.), Fernão Mendes Pinto and the Peregrinação. Studies, Restored Text, Notes and Indexes, Lisbonne, Fundação Oriente et Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, vol. 1, p. 145-162.
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Manuscrits birmans du fonds William S. Barnard au département des manuscrits orientaux de la Bibliothèque nationale de France
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Review Article
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Compte-rendu