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History
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Yangon
Yangon was founded as Dagon
in the 6th century AD by the
Mon, who dominated Lower Burma
at that time. Dagon was a small
fishing village centered about
the Shwedagon Pagoda. In 1755,
King Alaungpaya conquered Dagon,
and renamed it "Yangon". The
British captured Yangon during
the First Anglo-Burmese War
(1824-1826) but returned it
to Burmese administration after
the war. The city was destroyed
by a fire in 1841.
The British Empire seized Yangon
and all of Lower Burma in the
Second Anglo-Burmese War of
1852, and subsequently transformed
Yangon into the commercial and
political hub of British Burma.
Based on the design by army
engineer Lt. Fraser, the British
constructed a new city on a
grid plan on delta land, bounded
to the east by the Pazundaung
Creek and to the south and west
by the Yangon River. By the
1890s Yangon's increasing population
and commerce gave birth to prosperous
residential suburbs to the north
of Royal Lake (Kandawgyi) and
Inya Lake The British also established
hospitals including Rangoon
General Hospital and colleges
including Rangoon University.
Colonial Yangon, with its spacious
parks and lakes and mix of modern
buildings and traditional wooden
architecture, was known as "the
garden city of the East." By
the early 20th century, Yangon
had public services and infrastructure
on par with London.
Before World War II, almost
half of Yangon's population
was Indian or South Asian. Soon
after Burma's independence in
1948, many colonial names of
streets and parks were changed
to more nationalistic Burmese
names. In 1989, the city's name
was changed to "Yangon", along
with many other changes in English
transliteration of Burmese names.
Since independence, Yangon
has expanded outwards. Successive
governments have built satellite
towns such as Thuwana and Okkalapa
in the 1950s to Dagon Myothit
(New Dagon) in the 1990s. Today,
Greater Yangon encompasses an
area covering nearly 400 square
miles (1000 sqkm).
In November 2005, the military
government designated the newly
developed city of Naypyidaw,
200 miles (322 km) north in
Mandalay Division as the new
administrative capital. The
motives for the move remain
unclear. At any rate, Yangon
remains the largest city, and
the most important commercial
center of Burma. |
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Bagan
The ruins of Bagan cover an area of 16 square miles. The majority of its buildings were built in the 1000s to 1200s, during the time Bagan was the capital of the First Burmese Empire. It was not until King Pyinbya moved the capital to Bagan in AD 874 that it became a major city. However, in Burmese tradition, the capital shifted with each reign, and thus Bagan was once again abandoned until the reign of Anawrahta. In 1057, King Anawrahta conquered the Mon capital of Thaton, and brought back the Tripitaka Pali scriptures, Buddhist monks and craftsmen and all of these were made good use of in order to transform Bagan into a religious and cultural centre. With the help of a monk from Lower Burma, Anawrahta made Theravada Buddhism a kind of state religion, and the king also established contacts with Sri Lanka. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Bagan became a truly cosmopolitan centre of Buddhist studies, attracting monks and students from as far as India, Sri Lanka as well as the Thai and Khmer kingdoms. In 1287, the kingdom fell to the Mongols, after refusing to pay tribute to Kublai Khan. Abandoned by the Burmese king and perhaps sacked by the Mongols, the city declined as a political centre, but continued to flourish as a place of Buddhist scholarship. |
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Mandalay
Founded in 1857 by King Mindon Mandalay
was the last capital (1860–1885)
of the last independent Burmese Kingdom
before annexation by the British after
the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885.
Unlike other Burmese towns, Mandalay
did not grow from a smaller settlement,
although a small village Hti Baunga
did exist nearby. Mandalay was set
up in an empty area at the foot of
775 ft high (236 m) Mandalay Hill
according to a prophecy made by the
Buddha that in that exact place a
great city, a metropolis of Buddhism,
would come into existence on the occasion
of the 2,400th jubilee of Buddhism.
King Mindon decided to fulfill the
prophecy and during his reign in the
Kingdom of Amarapura he issued a royal
order on January 13, 1857 to establish
a new kingdom. The Ceremony of Ascending
the Throne was celebrated in July
1858 and the former royal city of
Amarapura was dismantled and moved
by elephants to the new location at
the foot of Mandalay Hill. With the
ground-breaking ceremony, King Mindon
laid the foundation of Mandalay on
the 6th waning day of Kason, Burmese
Era 1219 (1857). The King simultaneously
laid the foundations of seven edifices:
the royal city with the battlemented
walls, the moat surrounding it, the
Maha Lawka Marazein Stupa (Kuthodaw
Pagoda), the higher ordination hall
named the Pahtan-haw Shwe Thein, the
Atumashi (Incomparable) monastery,
the Thudhama Zayats or public houses
for preaching the Doctrine, and the
libThe whole royal city was called
Lei Kyun Aung Myei (Victorious Land
over the Four Islands) and the royal
palace, Mya Nan San Kyaw (The Famed
Royal Emerald Palace). The new royal
capital was called Yadanabon Naypyidaw,
the Burmese version of its Pali name
Ratanapura which means "The City
of Gems". It then became Mandalay
after the hill; the name is a derivative
of the Pali word "Mandala",
which means "a plains land"
- Mandalay is said to be as flat as
the face of a drum - and also of the
Pali word "Mandare", which
means "an auspicious land."
Mandalay was captured by the British
during the Third Anglo-Burmese War
(1885). Reigning King Thibaw and his
queen, Supayalat, were forced to evacuate
the palace and eventually exiled to
India. Renamed Fort Dufferin, the
palace was used to quarter British
and Indian troops and many of its
fabulous treasures were looted. Some
of the best pieces were sent back
to Great Britain and can still be
see in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Mandalay suffered heavy damage during
World War II. The Japanese captured
Mandalay on 2 May 1942, and turned
the fort that contained the palace,
into a supply depot. The fort was
heavily bombed by the British prior
to their liberation of the city in
March 1945. The palace was burnt down
to the ground and only the masonry
plinth of the palace complex with
a couple of masonry structures such
as the royal mint and the hour drum
tower remained. A faithful replica
of the palace was rebuilt in the 1990s.
After Burma's independence from Britain
in 1948, the city became the capital
of Mandalay Division.
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| TESTIMONIAL |
Pratibha Manohar
New Delhi |
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"My trip to Myanmar with my elderly mom was an exciting example for truly customized tour. The service from 365 Tours staff was incredible. They take special interest in arranging accommodation near to the monument and wheelchair to my mom. I could feel their invisible care everywhere and realize that such a passionate team is functioning behind the travel packages. Kudos to 365 Tours!"
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