82 SMITHSONIAN.COM | December 2019the reign of Sandathudamma, who ruled
from 1652 to 1684. “When we ascended
suffi ciently high up the mountain we
could descry the city of Aracan and the
golden roofs of the palace, which shone
magnifi cently in the rays of the sun,” he
wrote in a memoir of his travels. “Here
and there both on the mountain itself
and in the valleys the eye fell on many
pagodas, which made the view most en-
chanting...indeed, it would be diffi cult
to imagine a more entrancing landscape.”
Daulat Qazi , a Bengali poet who lived
here during the reign of Sirisudhamma-
raja in the 1620s, described a peaceful
capital where “no one is envious of each
other....Nobody is in distress and all thepeople are happy through the grace of the
king.” One day he accompanied the mon-
arch on a hunting expedition in the forest
beyond the city, observing a dazzling dis-
play of pageantry that revealed Mrauk U
in its splendor: “Elephants of diverse co-
lours were with him. Coloured fl ags cov-
ered the sky. Thousands and thousands
of soldiers and horses, without a limit
to their number also followed him,” he
wrote. “The glory of the king’s boat was
beyond measure....Its pillars were of
emerald and the roof was of silver.”
Centuries later, Leider, the scholar-ad-
venturer, has been following in the foot-
steps of these intrepid travelers, seeking
traces of the wonders that they discov-
ered. With no sign of peace in sight,
however, it’s unclear when he or other
scholars and representatives of peaceful
international organizations will return.
And until they do, their plans and hopes
for recapturing a semblance of Mrauk U’s
past glory will remain in limbo.Ross-Simons Item #917413
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OF DIVERSE
COLOURS WERE
WITH HIM.
COLOURED
FLAGS COVERED
THE SKY.”
“