Rohingya history · Quick timeline
The Rohingya in 28 dates
An indigenous people of Arakan, from the Kingdom of Mrauk U to the genocide of 2017 and the war of today, in one page. Every date links to its source. For the full account of each date, read the summary timeline or the complete history.
- Kingdom of Arakan
- 8th century
Islam reaches Arakan
Arab traders and shipwrecked sailors settle on the Arakan coast under King Maha Taing Chandra; the Rohingya trace their roots here.
Human Rights Watch 2000, historical background · ARNO, Rohingya History
- 1430
Mrauk U founded
Min Saw Mon regains his throne with a Bengal army and founds Mrauk U, whose first religious building is a mosque.
- c. 1433
Santikan mosque; Muslim royal titles
Min Saw Mon’s soldiers build the Santikan mosque; he and his successors reign as Suleiman Shah, Ali Khan and Kalima Shah, striking kalima coins.
ARNO, Muslim influence in the kingdom of Arakan · Oriental Numismatic Society Newsletter 81
- 1622–1660s
Daulat Qazi and Alaol
Muslim ministers Ashraf Khan and Magan Thakur patronise the court poets Daulat Qazi and Alaol; Manrique and Schouten describe Muslims at court.
- Conquest and British rule
- 1784
Burmese conquest
King Bodawpaya conquers Arakan, deports more than 20,000 people as slaves and drives tens of thousands of refugees into Chittagong.
Human Rights Watch 2000, historical background · Britannica, Bodawpaya
- 1799
‘Rooinga, or natives of Arakan’
Francis Buchanan records that Arakan’s Muslims ‘call themselves Rooinga, or natives of Arakan’, 27 years before British rule.
Buchanan 1799, SOAS reprint (PDF) · Online Burma/Myanmar Library, Buchanan record
- 1826
Arakan becomes British
The Treaty of Yandabo cedes Arakan; Charles Paton counts its 100,000 people as six-tenths Mugs and three-tenths Musselmans.
Britannica, Treaty of Yandabo · Tonkin, TOAEP Occasional Paper 10 (2019)
- 1931
‘Arakan Mahomedans’ counted
The census records 51,615 long-settled ‘Arakan Mahomedans’ apart from 252,152 ‘Chittagonians’; Charney calls the missing name ‘a political choice by a state’.
Tonkin, British experience in Arakan 1826-1948 · Charney (SOAS) 2019 lecture
- 1942
Massacres divide Arakan
As British rule collapses, Rakhine militias kill Muslims across central Arakan: 100,000 dead by Jilani’s count, 15,000 by Leider’s.
Jilani, The Muslim massacre of 1942 (ARNO) · Leider, TOAEP Policy Brief 101
- Independence and recognition
- 4 January 1948
Independence: Rohingya are citizens
The 1947 Constitution and 1948 Citizenship Act make Rohingya citizens; they receive National Registration Cards, vote and elect MPs.
- 25 September 1954
U Nu names the Rohingya
Prime Minister U Nu tells the nation by radio that the people of Buthidaung and Maungdaw ‘are Rohingya nationals’.
Ek Khaale (British Library documents) · Nay San Lwin, New Mandala 2012
- 1 May 1961
Mayu Frontier and Rohingya radio
The Mayu Frontier Administration is created, Brigadier General Aung Gyi names its people ‘Rohingya’, and state radio broadcasts in Rohingya until 1965.
Nay San Lwin, New Mandala 2012 · Free Rohingya Coalition on Aung Gyi 1961
- Statelessness
- 2 March 1962
Ne Win’s coup
The army takes power, bans Rohingya organisations, abolishes the Mayu Frontier in 1964 and ends the radio programme in 1965.
- 1978
Operation Nagamin
Army terror drives more than 200,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh; about 10,000 die in the camps before forced return.
Human Rights Watch 2000, historical background · MSF-Holland 2002
- 15 October 1982
Citizenship Law
A week after Ne Win’s ‘pure-blooded nationals’ speech, the Citizenship Law strips Rohingya of the citizenship Burma had recognised since 1948.
Human Rights Watch 2000, ch. III · U Ne Oo, Ne Win’s 1982 speech
- 1991–1992
Second exodus; NaSaKa created
Forced labour, rape and executions drive more than 250,000 into Bangladesh; the NaSaKa border force is created to control those who return.
- 1993–2005
Permission to marry
NaSaKa orders require state permission to marry, a two-child pledge, bribes and waits of one to three years; violators are jailed under section 493.
Fortify Rights, Policies of Persecution 2014 · Irish Centre for Human Rights 2010
- Camps and lost rights
- June 2012
Taungup, Narzi and the camps
Ten Muslim travellers are beaten to death at Taungup; Sittwe’s Narzi quarter is burned; 140,000 are driven into camps that still confine them.
Human Rights Watch, August 2012 · Human Rights Watch, All You Can Do Is Pray (2013)
- 2014–2015
Erased from the census, stripped of the vote
The census refuses the word ‘Rohingya’; white cards are cancelled and most Rohingya cannot vote in November 2015.
UNFPA Myanmar statement, 1 April 2014 · The Diplomat, March 2015
- Genocide
- October 2016
First ‘clearance operations’
After an attack on three police posts, the army burns 1,500 buildings, rapes and kills; 66,000–87,000 flee and the UN sees likely crimes against humanity.
OHCHR Flash Report, 3 February 2017 · International Crisis Group, 15 December 2016
- 25 August 2017
The genocide
‘Clearance operations’ burn 392 villages; at least 6,700 are killed in a month and more than 740,000 flee to Bangladesh.
MSF survey, 12 December 2017 · UN Fact-Finding Mission report A/HRC/39/64
- 2018
UN names six generals; Facebook admits its role
The UN Fact-Finding Mission calls for genocide prosecutions of Min Aung Hlaing and five generals; Facebook admits it ‘weren’t doing enough’.
- 2019–2020
The Gambia v. Myanmar
The Gambia files a genocide case at the ICJ, which orders Myanmar to protect the Rohingya as a ‘protected group’; the ICC opens an investigation.
ICJ Order, 23 January 2020 · ICC decision ICC-01/19-27, 14 November 2019
- 21 March 2022
United States declares genocide
Secretary Blinken determines that Myanmar’s military committed genocide; in July the ICJ rejects Myanmar’s objections.
US State Department, Blinken speech 21 March 2022 · ICJ press release, 22 July 2022
- A second front
- 13 November 2023
The Arakan Army’s offensive
The AA ends its ceasefire and takes 14 of 17 Rakhine townships by December 2024; Rohingya are conscripted by the junta and attacked by the AA.
Radio Free Asia, 14 November 2023 · Human Rights Watch, 12 August 2024
- May 2024
Hoyyar Siri and Buthidaung
AA fighters kill over 170 villagers at Hoyyar Siri (ARNC: 600+) and burn Buthidaung’s Rohingya wards; 150,000 more flee to Bangladesh.
Human Rights Watch, Hoyyar Siri report (18 May 2026) · OHCHR briefing, 24 May 2024 (ReliefWeb)
- 2025–2026
Land seized, schools closed
The UN finds the AA seizing Rohingya land and forcing labour ‘with absolute impunity’; 6,400 camp learning centres close and rations fall to $7.
UN OHCHR report A/HRC/63/21 (advance version, 2026) · Save the Children, 5 June 2025
- 19 November 2026
ICJ judgment
The International Court of Justice delivers its final judgment on whether Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya.
ICJ press release 2026/27, 3 November 2026 · Human Rights Watch Q&A, 3 November 2026
How to cite: Alom, Shofi. “Rohingya History: Quick Timeline.” shofialom.com, updated November 2026, https://shofialom.com/rohingya/history/timeline/