Waithali kingdom
Waithali kingdom ဝေသာလီ | |||||||||||||||
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| 370 AD–818 AD | |||||||||||||||
Arakan coins from Vesali period showing the Shrivatsa symbol | |||||||||||||||
| Status | Kingdom (part of Chandra dynasty) | ||||||||||||||
| Capital | Waithali | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Arakanese, Sanskrit | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Mahayana Buddhism, Hinduism | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
• Founding of dynasty | 370 AD | ||||||||||||||
• End of kingdom | 818 AD | ||||||||||||||
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| Today part of | Myanmar, Bangladesh | ||||||||||||||
The Waithali kingdom (Rakhine: ဝေသာလီ also known as Vesali) was an ancient Arakanese kingdom that flourished in the Arakan region of present-day Rakhine State, Myanmar, and Chittagong Division of Bangladesh from approximately 370 AD to 818 AD. Established as a successor to the Dhanyawadi kingdom, Waithali is also one of the most indianized Arakanese kingdom bridging South and Southeast Asia through trade and religious exchange.
Following the decline of Dhanyawadi, Rakhine's power center shifted to Vesali, ushering in an early Golden Age for the region. During this period, Vesali's influence extended across the Kaladan and Lemro River valleys and reached as far as Chittagong, in present-day Bangladesh. Waithali was the capital of this kingdom.