Rakhine State

 

The term Rakhine may have come from the Pali word "Rakkhapura" from "Rakkhita" meaning the land of the people of Rakhasa (Rakhasa > Rakkha > Rakkhaing > Rakhaing) who were given this name in honor of their preservation of their national heritage and ethics or morality. The word Rakhine means, "one who maintains his own race."^[1] In the Rakhine language, the land is called Rakhinepray, the ethnic Rakhine are called Rakhinetha.

Arakan, used in British colonial times, is believed to be a Portuguese corruption of the word Rakhine that is still popularly used in English. Many English language users^{[note 1]} no not use the name changes made by the military government.

1. ↑ For example, see Staff (2009) "An Introduction To The Toponymy Of Burma" Archived 2008-10-31 at the Wayback Machine The Permanent Committee of Geographic Names (PCGN), United Kingdom