The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s2.24

v4.c23.s2.24

Sandathudamma (1652–84), the builder of the Zinamanaung, Thekyamanaung, Ratanamanaung, Shwekyathein and Lokamu pagodas at Mrohaung, is revered as one of the best kings. In the last year of his reign some forty Arakanese monks went to Ceylon at the request of a mission sent by the aid of the Dutch.³ The Dutch feared a revival of Portuguese influence in Ceylon and wished to strike at Catholicism by reviving Buddhist ordination, which was becoming extinct. They sent to Arakan, as they had a branch at Mrohaung from about 1626 to 1683; it was closed from time to time because the trade was not of great volume, and in 1670 the whole staff was massacred. But while it lasted they obtained more businesslike terms than in Burma, for under the articles⁴ of 1653 they could claim their own interpreter at royal audiences and take away their children by women of the country (cf. p. 502).