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Tagaung, Mandalay

Coordinates:23°30′00″N96°02′00″E/ 23.50000°N 96.03333°E/23.50000; 96.03333
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Tagaung
Town
Tagaung is located in Myanmar
Tagaung
Tagaung
Location of Mandalay, Burma
Coordinates:23°30′N96°2′E/ 23.500°N 96.033°E/23.500; 96.033
CountryMyanmar
RegionMandalay
DistrictThabeikkyin District
TownshipThabeikkyin Township
Population
(2005)
• Ethnicities
Bamar
• Religions
Buddhism
Time zoneUTC+6.30(MST)

Tagaungis a town inMandalay RegionofMyanmar(Burma). It is situated on the east bank of theAyeyarwady River,127 miles north ofMandalay.[1]

Etymology

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"Tagaung" derives from theShan languageterm "Takawng"(Shan:တႃႈၵွင်;/taa3kɔŋ1/), which means "drum ferry."[2]

Transport

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The Ayeyarwady remains the principal means to reach Tagaung. It is linked to Mandalay and toKachin Statein the north also by theMandalay-Tagaung-Shwegu-Bhamo-MyitkyinaUnion Highway.[3]

History

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Pre-Christian era and first millennium

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Main article:Tagaung Kingdom

The 19th-century chronicleHmannan Yazawinintroduces Tagaung as the very firstcapitalof Burma, along with the adageMyanmar asa Tagaung ga(Myanmar starts from Tagaung), and it was the ancient capital of thePyu,who were the forerunners of theBurmesepeople.[4]Its history is steeped in myth and legend. The city is said to have been founded in 850 BC by KingAbhirajaof theSakyaclan fromKapilavastuinIndia,before the time of theBuddha.[5]

It has a very important place inBurmese culturealso for theTagaung Yazawin(Tagaung Chronicle) legends ofMaung Pauk Kyaingthedragonslayer, the powerful blacksmith and his sister who became the household guardian spirits known as the MahagiriNats,and the blind twin princes who were sent adrift on a raft down the Ayeyarwady.[4][5][6][7]

Although theBritishhistoriansG 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,theGreekgeographer,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 theShan language.[4][5][10]In 225 AD, theShugeneral 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,Nanchaoinvaded and plundered the capital of a Pyu kingdom in 832 AD carrying off 3,000 captives. The chronicles of theTang 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]

Second millennium

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Tagaung has been termedAnya Pagan(Upper Bagan) with its artefacts dating back to theNeolithic Age.[11]It was one of the 43 outposts established by KingAnawrahta(1044–1077) ofBaganalong the eastern foothills of theShanplateau in defense of his realm, before he embarked onmilitary expeditionswest toBengaland east toNanchao.[5]The fortification to the east may reflect the city's location by the Ayeyarwady likeBaganbut unlike Bagan its proximity to thefrontierwithYunnanalong theShweliandTaping rivers.Tagaung was also within easy reach of mineral resources such assilverfromNamtu,rubiesfromMogok,jade,copperandironby theMezaandUru 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 byKublai Khan.[13]

south-west Silk Road

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A network of three overland routes from Yunnan westward toBengalexisted for shippingbullionbetween 1200 and 1500 AD. One of them followed the Shweli River, crossing theIrrawaddyat Tagaung, followed theChindwin Rivernorth and crossed via theImphalpass toManipur.In the 1950s tens of thousands ofcowriesin Yunnan were found in tombs from the ancient past between theWarring States period(475 BCE–221 BCE) and theWestern Han dynasty(206 BCE–9 CE). These cowries came from thePacificandIndian oceans,especially from theMaldives,most likely along the same route.[14]

Old city

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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 excavationscarried out at Tagaung had yieldedBronze Agedrums,and alsovotivetablets connected to Anawrahta. More recent finds includedurns,decorated roof-tilefinialsand finger-marked 'Pyu'bricksdated before 800 AD.[4][7][12]

Flora and fauna

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Pheasants,partridge,toucans,pelicansandSarus cranesinhabit aroundin-gyiseasonal lake and the tall swamp grass areas along with numerous fish in the lakes and streams.Tigers,elephants,banteng(Saing) andgaurwere once common along the Shweli, with various kinds ofdeeraround Tagaung.[12]

Economy

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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 forgoldia done at Tonnge just north of Tagaung. Seasonal lakes and swamps make it possible to grow winterricecalledmayinin addition to other crops producingedible oilsandcoriander.[12]

Today Tagaung is a major market for salt produced at Halin, which is used to preserve fish.[7][11]

Chinaand Burma signed ajoint ventureagreement in July 2007 for an $800 millionnickelminingproject at Tagaung taung (Tagaung Hill), with a 75% stake held by the Chinese. Construction has begun and operations consisting of mining andsmeltingfacilities, designed to produce 85,000 tons offerronickeland 22,000 tons of nickel per annum, are scheduled to start in 2011.[15]

Notes

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  1. ^"Tagaung - Lost cities of Myanmar".MyanmarTravelInformation.com. Archived fromthe originalon December 6, 2008.Retrieved2009-03-08.
  2. ^Tun, Than (1988). "Observations on the Translation and Annotation of the Royal Orders Of Burma".Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies.4(1): 91–99.JSTOR40860260.
  3. ^"New Shweli River Bridge Opened".Ministry of Foreign Affairs. March 14, 2003. Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2006.Retrieved2009-03-08.
  4. ^abcdeMoore, Elizabeth (8–9 December 2007)."Buddhist archaeology on the Shan Plateau: the first millennium AD"(PDF).SOAS.pp. 3–4, 2, 14.Retrieved2009-03-07.
  5. ^abcdefHarvey, G E (2000).History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824.Asian Educational Services, 2000. pp. 307, 15–16, 29–30, 9–10.ISBN978-81-206-1365-2.Retrieved2009-03-08.
  6. ^Spiro, Melford E (1996).Burmese Spiritualism.Transaction Publishers. p. 93.ISBN978-1-56000-882-8.Retrieved2009-03-08.
  7. ^abcdHudson, Bob."Origins of Bagan"(PDF).pp. 34, 150, 146, 174, 177. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2008-11-21.Retrieved2009-03-08.
  8. ^Hall, D.G.E. (1960).Burma.Hutchinson University Library. p. 7.Retrieved2009-03-09.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^Thomson, James Oliver (1948).History of ancient geography.Biblo & Tannen Publishers, 1965. p. 315.ISBN978-0-8196-0143-8.Retrieved2009-03-08.
  10. ^Sao Sukham."Buddhism and Tai people".Ceylon Journey. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-11-20.Retrieved2009-03-08.
  11. ^abIan Glover, Peter Bellwood (2004).From Prehistory to History.Routledge.ISBN978-0-415-29777-6.Retrieved2009-03-08.
  12. ^abcdElizabeth Moore & U Win Maung (Tampawaddy) (Autumn 2006)."Change in the Landscape of First Millennium AD Myanmar"(PDF).SOAS.pp. 14, 16, 12, 17.Retrieved2009-03-07.
  13. ^"Marco Polo: Sojourn in China".Encyclopædia Britannicaonline.Retrieved2009-03-07.
  14. ^Bin Yang."The south-west Silk Road: Yunnan in a Global Context".Gutenberg-e,Columbia University Press,2008.Retrieved2009-03-08.
  15. ^"China moves on Burma and rescues foundering Kenya project".MAC: Mines and Communities. 2008-08-04.Retrieved2009-03-08.
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23°30′00″N96°02′00″E/ 23.50000°N 96.03333°E/23.50000; 96.03333

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