Tagaung | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  Tagaung Location of Mandalay, Burma | |
| Coordinates: 23°30′N96°2′E / 23.500°N 96.033°E | |
| Country |  Myanmar |
| Region |  Mandalay |
| District | Thabeikkyin District |
| Township | Thabeikkyin Township |
| Population (2005) | |
| • Ethnicities | Bamar |
| • Religions | Buddhism |
| Time zone | UTC+6.30 (MST) |
Tagaung is a town in Mandalay Region of Myanmar (Burma). It is situated on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River, 127 miles north of Mandalay. [1]
"Tagaung" derives from the Shan language term "Takawng" (Shan : တႃႈၵွင်; /taa3 kɔŋ1/), which means "drum ferry." [2]
The Ayeyarwady remains the principal means to reach Tagaung. It is linked to Mandalay and to Kachin State in the north also by the Mandalay-Tagaung-Shwegu-Bhamo-Myitkyina Union Highway. [3]
The 19th-century chronicle Hmannan Yazawin introduces Tagaung as the very first capital of Burma, along with the adage Myanmar asa Tagaung ga (Myanmar starts from Tagaung), and it was the ancient capital of the Pyu, who were the forerunners of the Burmese people. [4] Its history is steeped in myth and legend. The city is said to have been founded in 850 BC by King Abhiraja of the Sakya clan from Kapilavastu in India, before the time of the Buddha. [5]
It has a very important place in Burmese culture also for the Tagaung Yazawin (Tagaung Chronicle) legends of Maung Pauk Kyaing the dragon slayer, the powerful blacksmith and his sister who became the household guardian spirits known as the Mahagiri Nats, and the blind twin princes who were sent adrift on a raft down the Ayeyarwady. [4] [5] [6] [7]
Although the British historians G E Harvey and D G E Hall had dismissed the Abhiraja origin of the Burmese people, the antiquity of Tagaung itself is not in dispute. [5] [8] Ptolemy, the Greek geographer, writing in 140 AD, mentions Tugma Metropolis believed to be Tagaung at a spot in Upper Burma. [5] [9]
The name Tagaung means "drum ferry" in the Shan language. [4] [5] [10] In 225 AD, the Shu general Chu Ko-liang is said to have used bronze drums to frighten 'savages' by placing them in torrents to produce the sound of military watchdrums at regular intervals. [4]
According to Chinese annals, Nanchao invaded and plundered the capital of a Pyu kingdom in 832 AD carrying off 3,000 captives. The chronicles of the Tang dynasty (AD 606–910) describe the land of the Pyu consisting of 18 states and 9 walled towns. In Upper Burma at least seven walled settlements over 200 hectares have been excavated so far. [7]
Tagaung has been termed Anya Pagan (Upper Bagan) with its artefacts dating back to the Neolithic Age. [11] It was one of the 43 outposts established by King Anawrahta (1044–1077) of Bagan along the eastern foothills of the Shan plateau in defense of his realm, before he embarked on military expeditions west to Bengal and east to Nanchao. [5] The fortification to the east may reflect the city's location by the Ayeyarwady like Bagan but unlike Bagan its proximity to the frontier with Yunnan along the Shweli and Taping rivers. Tagaung was also within easy reach of mineral resources such as silver from Namtu, rubies from Mogok, jade, copper and iron by the Meza and Uru rivers. [12]
Marco Polo (1254–1324) was believed to have reached as far as Tagaung in his travels on one of his fact-finding missions sent by Kublai Khan. [13]
A network of three overland routes from Yunnan westward to Bengal existed for shipping bullion between 1200 and 1500 AD. One of them followed the Shweli River, crossing the Irrawaddy at Tagaung, followed the Chindwin River north and crossed via the Imphal pass to Manipur. In the 1950s tens of thousands of cowries in Yunnan were found in tombs from the ancient past between the Warring States period (475 BCE–221 BCE) and the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–9 CE). These cowries came from the Pacific and Indian oceans, especially from the Maldives, most likely along the same route. [14]
Old Tagaung may have conformed to the tradition of first millennium Pyu cities which were divided into 9 quadrants. There are 3 walls: Wall 1 (19 hectares) around a low hillock on the north, Wall 2 (62 hectares) known as Anya Bagan, and Wall 3 (204 hectares) encompassing the other two. The western wall is missing in all three of them, and believed to have been washed away by the river as it changed its course over time. Archaeological excavations carried out at Tagaung had yielded Bronze Age drums, and also votive tablets connected to Anawrahta. More recent finds included urns, decorated roof-tile finials and finger-marked 'Pyu' bricks dated before 800 AD. [4] [7] [12]
Pheasants, partridge, toucans, pelicans and Sarus cranes inhabit around in-gyi seasonal lake and the tall swamp grass areas along with numerous fish in the lakes and streams. Tigers, elephants, banteng (Saing) and gaur were once common along the Shweli, with various kinds of deer around Tagaung. [12]
Timber, elephants and minerals were transported down from Mogok and the Shweli valley to Tagaung and other nearby river ports at Hsin Hnyat and Kyan Hnyat just south of Tagaung. Panning for gold ia done at Tonnge just north of Tagaung. Seasonal lakes and swamps make it possible to grow winter rice called mayin in addition to other crops producing edible oils and coriander. [12]
Today Tagaung is a major market for salt produced at Halin, which is used to preserve fish. [7] [11]
China and Burma signed a joint venture agreement in July 2007 for an $800 million nickel mining project at Tagaung taung (Tagaung Hill), with a 75% stake held by the Chinese. Construction has begun and operations consisting of mining and smelting facilities, designed to produce 85,000 tons of ferronickel and 22,000 tons of nickel per annum, are scheduled to start in 2011. [15]
Coordinates: 23°30′00″N96°02′00″E / 23.50000°N 96.03333°E
Capital: Mandalay | ||
| Kyaukse District |   | |
| Mandalay District | ||
| Meiktila District | ||
| Myingyan District | ||
| Nyaung-U District | ||
| Pyinoolwin District | ||
| Yamethin District | ||
| Main cities and towns | ||
The Irrawaddy River is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows relatively straight North-South before emptying through the Irrawaddy Delta in the Ayeyarwady Region into the Andaman Sea. Its drainage basin of about 404,200 square kilometres (156,100 sq mi) covers a large part of Burma. After Rudyard Kipling's poem, it is sometimes referred to as 'The Road to Mandalay'.
Mandalay Region is an administrative division of Myanmar. It is located in the center of the country, bordering Sagaing Region and Magway Region to the west, Shan State to the east, and Bago Region and Kayin State to the south. The regional capital is Mandalay. To the south of the region lies the national capital of Naypyidaw. The division consists of eleven districts, which are subdivided into 28 townships and 2,320 wards and village-tracts.
The Pyu city states were a group of city-states that existed from c. 2nd century BCE to c. mid-11th century in present-day Upper Burma (Myanmar). The city-states were founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu people, the earliest inhabitants of Burma of whom records are extant. The thousand-year period, often referred to as the Pyu millennium, linked the Bronze Age to the beginning of the classical states period when the Pagan Kingdom emerged in the late 9th century.
Mount Popa is a dormant volcano 1518 metres (4981 feet) above sea level, and located in central Myanmar in the region of Mandalay about 50 km (31 mi) southeast of Bagan (Pagan) in the Pegu Range. It can be seen from the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River as far away as 60 km (37 mi) in clear weather. Mount Popa is a pilgrimage site, with numerous Nat temples and relic sites atop the mountain.
The Kingdom of Pagan was the first Burmese kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Myanmar. Pagan's 250-year rule over the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Bamar ethnicity in Upper Myanmar, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Myanmar and in mainland Southeast Asia.
Myitnge River (Burmese: မြစ်ငယ် or Nam Tu, also known as Dokhtawaddy River, is a major tributary of Ayeyarwady River in Myanmar. The name Myitnge in Burmese and Dokhtawaddy in Pali both mean "little river", by contrast with the Ayeyarwady or "big river".
Shweli River is a river in China and Myanmar (Burma). Also known as Nam Mao in Shan or Dai, and Ruili River or Longchuan River (龙川江) in Chinese, it forms 26 km of the boundary between Burma and China. It is one of the tributaries of the Myanmar's chief river, the Ayeyarwady, and arises in Yunnan Province of China. It flows through northern Shan state and Sagaing Division, and enters the Ayeyarwady at Inywa, 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Tagaung and south of Katha.
Muse is the capital town of Mu Se Township in northern Shan State, Myanmar. It is situated on the Shweli River, and is connected by a bridge and road to Ruili in Yunnan Province, China.
Kyaukme is a town in northern Shan State of Burma. It is situated on the Mandalay - Lashio road, after Pyin Oo Lwin and Nawnghkio, and before Hsipaw, on what is now the Mandalay - Muse road, part of the Asian Highway route 14 (AH14). It is also connected to Momeik (Mongmit) in the Shweli River valley and Mogok with its ruby mines. Kyaukme can be reached by train on the Mandalay-Lashio railway line. As of 2014, the population was 39,930.
Momeik, also known as Mong Mit in Shan, is a town situated on the Shweli River in northern Shan State of Myanmar (Burma).
Mabein is a town in northern Shan State of Myanmar, formerly Burma. It is situated on the Shweli River and connected to Momeik, and to Bhamo and Myitkyina in Kachin State by road. Mabein lies only 90 km (56 mi) from the border with Yunnan Province, China, but 200 km (124 mi) north of Mandalay.
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The prehistory of Burma (Myanmar) spanned hundreds of millennia to about 200 BCE. Archaeological evidence shows that the Homo erectus had lived in the region now known as Burma as early as 750,000 years ago, and the Homo sapiens about 11,000 BCE, in a Stone Age culture called the Anyathian. Named after the central dry zone sites where most of the early settlement finds are located, the Anyathian period was when plants and animals were first domesticated and polished stone tools appeared in Burma. Though these sites are situated in fertile areas, evidence shows these early people were not yet familiar with agricultural methods.
Humans lived in the region that is now Burma as early as 11,000 years ago, but archeological evidence dates the first settlements at about 2500 BCE with cattle rearing and the production of bronze. By about 1500 BCE, ironworks were in existence in the Irrawaddy Valley but cities, and the emergence of city-states, probably did not occur until the early years of the Common era when advances in irrigation systems and the building of canals allowed for year-long agriculture and the consolidation of settlements, although local mythology dates back to c. 1000-600 BC with the immigration of some people from janapadas, ancient countries in modern-day India.
Tagaung Kingdom was a Pyu city-state that existed in the first millennium CE. In 1832, the hitherto semi-legendary state was officially proclaimed the first kingdom of Burmese monarchy by Hmannan Yazawin, the Royal Chronicle of the Konbaung Dynasty. Hmannan adds that the "kingdom" was founded by Abhiyaza of the Sakya clan of the Buddha in 850 BCE, and that through Abiyaza, Burmese monarchs traced their lineage to the Buddha and the first Buddhist (mythical) king of the world Maha Sammata. Hmannan also introduces another Sakya prince Dazayaza who founded the second Tagaung dynasty c. 600 BCE. The narrative superseded then prevailing pre-Buddhist origin story in which the monarchy was founded by a descendant of a solar spirit and a dragon princess.
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