28 August 2012 Mawkun magazine interviewed Dr. Jacques P. Leider, a Rakhine history expert, on the recent communal conflict in Rakhine State. He has conducted academic research on Rakhine State for more than two decades. By Nyan Lynn and Zayar Hlaing “Rohingya is a name, not an ethnic category, that has been revived in modern days to identify Muslims in Rakhine as a separate social group. One may eventually compare it with the name of the Chinese Muslims in Myanmar who are called ‘Panthay’.  ” MAWKUN: What does “Rohingya” mean? LEIDER: I would like to say that “Rohingya” is definitely an old,though rare word. It is not a newly invented word from the 1950s as was often stated. It is tracedin an article by a British medical doctor, Francis Hamilton, at the end ofthe 18th century. He states that this was the word that the Muslims living in Rakhine at that time used for themselves. The word is derived from the Bengali noun for Arakan which is Roshanga, but people like to pr...

By THE IRRAWADDY 1 September 2017 On August 25, the Arakan Rohginya Salvation Army attacked some 30 police outposts and an army base in Rakhine State, causing the Myanmar Army to respond with security clearance operations. The renewed violence has sent thousands of Rohingya Muslims and Arakanese Buddhists fleeing their homes to temporary camps in the region or across the border to Bangladesh. In light of the renewed conflict, The Irrawaddy revisits this interview from July 2012 with Rakhine history expert Dr. Jacques P. Leider, who has been conducting research as well as contributing articles to academic journals on Rakhine State for more than two decades. Question: What is the meaning of “Rohingya?” Answer: [The term Rohingya] appeared for the first time at the end of the 18th century in the report of an Englishman who went to the Chittagong area, the Rakhine area. His name was Francis Buchanan-Hamilton. He was a medical doctor [and this term appeared] in one of the papers t...