Aspects of Myanmar

Early city stages of Myanmar

Pyu Ancient Cities includes the remains of three brick, walled and moated cities of Halin,
Beikthano and Sri Ksetra located in vast irrigated landscapes in the dry zone of the
Ayeyarwady River basin. They reflect the Pyu Kingdoms that flourished for over 1,000 years
between 200 BC and AD 900. The three cities are partly excavated archaeological sites.

The Pyu civilization, also known as the Pyu city-states, is an ancient entity located in
present day Myanmar (also known as Burma). One reason this civilization/group of city states is
important is due to its links with Buddhism. Today, Buddhism is one of the major religions in
the Southeast Asian region. It was with Pyu civilization that Buddhism gained its first foothold in
the region of Southeast Asia.

Tagaung

Tagaung is a town in Mandalay Region of Myanmar. It is situated in the east bank of the
Ayeyarwady River, 127 miles north of Mandalay. "Tagaung" derives from the Shan
language term "Takawng", which means "drum ferry." 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.

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. 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. 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 Anawrahta (1044–1077) of Bagan along the eastern

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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 materials 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. 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.

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 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.

Maingmaw

Maingmaw (also Mong Mao), located in the Kyaukse region, was circular in shape, and has tentatively
been dated to the first millennium BCE. At 2.5 km in diameter and 222 hectares, Maingmaw is one of the
largest ancient cities on the entire Kyaukse plains. It has two inner enclosure walls, the outer of which
is square while the inner one is circular. The plan of a circle within a square suggest a zodiac sign which
represents a view of the heavens from the perspective of the sun, the manner in which 19th century
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Mandalay was also conceptualized. At almost dead Centre, a 19th-century temple called Nandawya Paya,
which was probably built upon the ruins of an ancient one. The city is bisected by a canal, thought to be
contemporary to the city, though no scientific dating has confirmed it. Excavations—the first of which
was carried out in 1979—have unearthed many artefacts, including jewelry, silver coins, and funerary
urns. Many of the artefacts such as the coins and funerary urns are virtually identical to those found
Beikthano and Binnaka.

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Beikthano

Although the three Pyu cities on the World Heritage List are only partially excavated, they have
provided much information about the Pyu civilization. The oldest of the three cities is Beikthano (the
Burmese word for the Hindu god Vishnu), and is one of the two Pyu cities that has been more
extensively excavated.

Shri Kshetra

Between the 1st century BCE and the 9th century CE, speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages known as
the Pyu established city-kingdoms in Myanmar at Binnaka, MaingMaw, Shri Kshetra, and Halingyi. At the
time, a long-standing trade route between China and India passed through northern Myanmar and then
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across the Chindwin River valley to the west. In CE 97 and 121, Roman embassies to China chose this
overland route through Myanmar for their journey. The Pyu, however, provided an alternative route
down the Irrawaddy to their capital city, Shri Kshetra, at the northern edge of the delta.

Reference-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyu_city-states

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagaung,_Mandalay#Etymology

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