Tagaung, Mandalay
Encyclopedia
Tagaung is a town
in Mandalay Division
of Myanmar
(Burma). It is situated on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River
, 127 miles north of Mandalay
.
in the north also by the Mandalay
-Tagaung-Shwegu
-Bhamo
-Myitkyina
Union Highway.
, who were the forerunners of the Burmese
people. 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
.
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.
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. Ptolemy
, the Greek geographer
, writing in 140 AD, mentions Tugma Metropolis believed to be Tagaung at a spot in Upper Burma.
The name Tagaung means "drum ferry" in the Shan language
. In 225 AD, the Wei
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.
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.
(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. 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 miineral resources such as silver
from Namtu
, rubies from Mogok, jade
, copper
and iron
by the Meza and Uru rivers
.
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
.
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.
drums, and also votive tablets connected to Anawrahta. More recent finds included urns, decorated roof-tile finials and finger-marked 'Pyu' brick
s dated before 800 AD.
, 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.
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
.
Today Tagaung is a major market for salt produced at Halin, which is used to preserve fish.
China
and Burma signed a joint venture
agreement in July 2004 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.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in Mandalay Division
Mandalay Division
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. In the south of the division lies...
of Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
(Burma). It is situated on the east bank of the Ayeyarwady River
Ayeyarwady River
The Irrawaddy River or Ayeyarwady River is a river that flows from north to south through 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...
, 127 miles north of Mandalay
Mandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Located north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of one million, and is the capital of Mandalay Region ....
.
Transport
The Ayeyarwady remains the principal means to reach Tagaung. It is linked to Mandalay and to Kachin StateKachin State
Kachin State , is the northernmost state of Burma. It is bordered by China to the north and east; Shan State to the south; and Sagaing Division and India to the west. It lies between north latitude 23° 27' and 28° 25' longitude 96° 0' and 98° 44'. The area of Kachin State is . The capital of the...
in the north also by the Mandalay
Mandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Located north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of one million, and is the capital of Mandalay Region ....
-Tagaung-Shwegu
Shwegu
-External links:*...
-Bhamo
Bhamo
Bhamo is a city of Kachin State in northernmost part of Myanmar, located 186 km south from the capital city of Myitkyina. It is on the Ayeyarwady River. It lies within 65 km of the border with Yunnan Province, China. The population consists of Chinese and Shan, with Kachin peoples in...
-Myitkyina
Myitkyina
Myitkyina is the capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar , located from Yangon, and from Mandalay. In Burmese it means "near the big river", and in fact "Myitkyina" lies on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River, just below from Myit-son of its two headstreams...
Union Highway.
Pre-Christian era and first millennium
Tagaung is believed to be the very first capital of Burma according to the adage Myanmar asa Tagaung ga (Myanmar starts from Tagaung), and it was the ancient capital of the PyuPyu
Pyu city states were a group of city-states that existed from c. 2nd century BCE to late 9th century CE in present-day Upper Burma . The city-states were founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu, the earliest inhabitants of Burma of whom records are extant...
, who were the forerunners of the Burmese
Bamar
The Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...
people. 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
Shakya
Shakya was an ancient janapada of India in the 1st millennium BCE. In Buddhist texts the Shakyas, the inhabitants of Shakya janapada, are mentioned as a clan of Gotama gotra....
clan from Kapilavastu
Kapilavastu
Kapilavastu is the name of a region of ancient Shakya kingdom that is considered a holy pilgrimage place for Buddhists. The search for the Buddha's birthplace following the accounts left by Xuanzang and Faxian involved various searches in the late 19th century...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, before the time of the Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
.
It has a very important place in Burmese culture also for the Tagaung yazawin (Tagaung Chronicle) legends of Maung
Burmese name
Burmese names lack the serial quality of most modern names. The Burmese people have no customary patronymic or matronymic system and thus there is no surname at all. In Burmese culture, people can change their name at will, often with no government oversight, to reflect a change in the course of...
Pauk Kyaing the dragon slayer, the powerful blacksmith and his sister who became the household guardian spirits known as the Mahagiri Nats
Nat (spirit)
The nats are spirits worshipped in Burma in conjunction with Buddhism. They are divided between the 37 Great Nats and all the rest . Almost all of the 37 Great Nats were human beings who met violent deaths . They may thus also be called nat sein...
, and the blind twin princes who were sent adrift on a raft down the Ayeyarwady.
Although the British
British rule in Burma
British rule in Burma lasted from 1824 to 1948, from the Anglo-Burmese Wars through the creation of Burma as a province of British India to the establishment of an independently administered colony, and finally independence...
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. Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
, the Greek geographer
Geographer
A geographer is a scholar whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society.Although geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...
, writing in 140 AD, mentions Tugma Metropolis believed to be Tagaung at a spot in Upper Burma.
The name Tagaung means "drum ferry" in the Shan language
Shan language
The Shan language is the native language of Shan people and spoken mostly in Shan State, Burma. It is also used in pockets of Kachin State in Burma, in northern Thailand, and in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. Shan is a member of the Tai–Kadai language family, and...
. In 225 AD, the Wei
Wei (state)
The State of Wei was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state during the Warring States Period of Chinese history. Its territory lay between the states of Qin and Qi and included parts of modern day Henan, Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong...
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.
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
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
(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.
Second millennium
Tagaung has been termed Anya Pagan (Upper Bagan) with its artefacts dating back to the Neolithic Age. It was one of the 43 outposts established by King AnawrahtaAnawrahta
Anawrahta Minsaw was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone of Upper Burma into the first Burmese Empire that formed the basis of modern-day Burma...
(1044–1077) of Bagan along the eastern foothills of the Shan
Shan State
Shan State is a state of Burma . Shan State borders China to the north, Laos to the east, and Thailand to the south, and five administrative divisions of Burma in the west. Largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km², almost a quarter of the total...
plateau in defense of his realm, before he embarked on military expeditions west to Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
and east to Nanchao. The fortification to the east may reflect the city's location by the Ayeyarwady like Bagan
Bagan
Bagan , formerly Pagan, is an ancient city in the Mandalay Region of Burma. Formally titled Arimaddanapura or Arimaddana and also known as Tambadipa or Tassadessa , it was the capital of several ancient kingdoms in Burma...
but unlike Bagan its proximity to the frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
with Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
along the Shweli
Shweli River
Shweli River is a river in Myanmar . Also known as Nam Mao in Shan and Lung Chuan Chiang in Chinese, it forms part of the boundary between Burma and China. It is one of the tributaries of the country's chief river, the Ayeyarwady, and arises in Yunnan Province of China...
and Taping rivers
Taping River
Taping River, also known as Ta Hkaw Hka in Kachin and Ta Ying Chiang in Chinese, is a river in northern Myanmar, formerly Burma. It is the first tributary of the country's chief river, the Irrawaddy, and the watersheds between it and the N'mai Hka river to the northwest and the rivers Shweli and...
. Tagaung was also within easy reach of miineral resources such as silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
from Namtu
Namtu
Namtu is a town in northern Shan State, Burma. Famous for its Bawdwin and Namtu silver mines, it is situated on the Nam Tu River, and is connected to Lashio by rail.-History:...
, rubies from Mogok, jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
by the Meza and Uru rivers
Uyu River
The Uyu River, also pronounced Uru River , is a river in northern Myanmar, formerly Burma. It is a major tributary of the Chindwin River, itself the largest tributary of the country's chief river, the Ayeyarwady. Its source lies in the Hukawng Valley of Kachin State, and it takes a southwesterly...
.
Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
(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
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...
.
Southwest Silk Road
A network of three overland routes from Yunnan westward to BengalBengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
existed for shipping bullion between 1200 and 1500 AD. One of them followed the Shweli River, crossing the Irrawaddy
Ayeyarwady River
The Irrawaddy River or Ayeyarwady River is a river that flows from north to south through 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...
at Tagaung, followed the Chindwin River
Chindwin River
The Chindwin River is a river in Burma , and the largest tributary of the country's chief river the Ayeyarwady . It flows entirely within Burma and is known as Ning-thi to the Manipuris.-Source:...
north and crossed via the Imphal
Imphal
Imphal is the capital of the Indian state of Manipur.In the heart of the town and surrounded by a moat, are ruins of the old Palace of Kangla. Kangla Fort used to be the home of the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force and on November 2004 it was handed over to state of Manipur by Prime minister Dr....
pass to Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
. In the 1950s tens of thousands of cowries in Yunnan were found in tombs from the ancient past between the Warring States Period
Warring States Period
The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, or the Warring Kingdoms period, covers the Iron Age period from about 475 BC to the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC...
(475 BCE–221 BCE) and the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE–9 CE). These cowries came from the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
and Indian oceans
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, especially from the Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
, most likely along the same route.
Old city
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 ageBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
drums, and also votive tablets connected to Anawrahta. More recent finds included urns, decorated roof-tile finials and finger-marked 'Pyu' brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
s dated before 800 AD.
Flora and fauna
Pheasants, partridgePartridge
Partridges are birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are a non-migratory Old World group.These are medium-sized birds, intermediate between the larger pheasants and the smaller quails. Partridges are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East...
, 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
Banteng
The banteng , also known as tembadau, is a species of wild cattle found in Southeast Asia.Banteng have been domesticated in several places in Southeast Asia, and there are around 1.5 million domestic banteng, which are called Bali cattle. These animals are used as working animals and for their meat...
(Saing) and gaur
Gaur
The gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...
were once common along the Shweli, with various kinds of deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
around Tagaung.
Economy
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 goldGold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
ia done at Tonnge just north of Tagaung. Seasonal lakes and swamps make it possible to grow winter rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
called mayin in addition to other crops producing edible oils and coriander
Coriander
Coriander is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Coriander is native to southern Europe and North Africa to southwestern Asia. It is a soft, hairless plant growing to tall. The leaves are variable in shape, broadly lobed at the base of the plant, and slender and feathery higher on the...
.
Today Tagaung is a major market for salt produced at Halin, which is used to preserve fish.
China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
and Burma signed a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
agreement in July 2004 for an $800 million nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
project at Tagaung taung (Tagaung Hill), with a 75% stake held by the Chinese. Construction has begun and operations consisting of mining and smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
facilities, designed to produce 85,000 tons of ferronickel and 22,000 tons of nickel per annum, are scheduled to start in 2011.
External links
- Satellite map: Tagaung GeoNamesGeoNamesGeoNames is a geographical database available and accessible through various Web services, under a Creative Commons attribution license.- Database and web services :...
- Satellite map: Tagaung taung PanoramioPanoramioPanoramio is a geolocation-oriented photo sharing website. Accepted photos uploaded to the site can be accessed as a layer in Google Earth and Google Maps, with new photos being added at the end of every month. The site's goal is to allow Google Earth users to learn more about a given area by...
- Maung Pauk Kyine Maung Maung Pye, Tales of Burma, 1952, Northern Illinois UniversityNorthern Illinois UniversityNorthern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
- The Story of Maung Tint De, The Strong Man Maung Maung Pye, Tales of Burma, 1952, Northern Illinois UniversityNorthern Illinois UniversityNorthern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
- The Blind Twins and Bedayi Hla Thein, Perspective, April, 2003
- The Travels of Marco Polo FullBooks.com
- China in Burma Earthrights International, September 2007