Seen from bottom up, Arakan’s history from the 1760s to the 1840s is a tragedy in three parts. The period up to 1784 saw the decline of Arakan’s monarchy and was a period of internal disorder. The subsequent conquest by the Burmese marked an irremediable break with the past. It meant the eradication of Arakan’s elite and led to a demographic shock when tens of thousands of persons fleeing exploitation took refuge in Southeast Bengal. Thereafter, Arakan’s annexation by the East India Company following the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26) saw the introduction of an exploitative administration which deepened the social crisis, the massive extension of rice cultivation, and the promotion of labor immigration. Seen from outside, Burmese conquest and British annexation count as stages in the territorial expansion of the Konbaung dynasty and the rise of British colonial power, confirming rather than undoing the region’s political insignificance and its status as an economic backwater. While this road to subjection may therefore seem a topic of marginal historical interest, its analysis in the regional context proves surprisingly relevant for an understanding of contemporary Rakhine State issues, be it the Rakhine State crisis since 2012, the Rohingya conundrum, or the resurgence of Arakanese nationalism. One reason is that the political imaginaire of postcolonial Buddhist and Muslim actors from Arakan/Rakhine State feeds on interpretations of that crucial period and its historiographic points of reference. This chapter provides an overview and underscores the fault lines which underpin contemporary conversations on managing complex ethno-political challenges in the eastern Bay of Bengal.