Page 283 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

MANDALAY MANDALAY AND AROUND 281

A RIGHT ROYAL MERRYGOROUND
From the mid-fourteenth century until the British arrived some half a millennium later,
Mandalay and its surrounding area played host to a curious travelling courtly circus, as the
Burmese capital regularly shifted from one part of the region to another. The first royal capital
in the area was established by King Thihathu at Pinya, one of the minor statelets which
emerged in northern Myanmar following the collapse of Bagan. In 1315 Thihathu’s son, Saw
Yun, set up a rival kingdom in Sagaing, with the two kingdoms collectively controlling
considerable parts of central and northern Myanmar.
The two kingdoms were eventually unified in 1364 by Thihathu’s great-grandson,
Thado Minbya, who set about building a new capital at Ava (or Inwa, as it’s now known).
Despite fluctuating fortunes, Ava would become the longest-lasting and, intermittently,
the most important centre of political power in Myanmar right up until its final
abandonment in 1838.
The kingdom of Ava survived under Thado Minbya’s successors until 1527 when it fell to a
Shan confederacy, continuing as capital of the north until 1555, when it was captured by the
Taungoo dynasty (see p.362). Briefly stripped of its privileges, the city returned to pre- 7
eminence in 1599, becoming capital of a reformed Taungoo empire until 1613, and again from
1635 to 1752, when it was sacked by forces of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom (see p.364), with a
little help from the French.
A new dynasty, the Konbaung (see p.364), emerged soon afterwards at nearby Shwebo
(see p.340) under the formidable King Alaungpaya. The Konbaung capital was moved briefly
to Sagaing in 1760–63, only to be moved back to the old imperial capital of Ava and then, in
1783, moved again by the increasingly restless Konbaung royals to a new location at
Amarapura under King Bodawpaya. Amarapura served as the seat of royal power until 1821,
before Bodawpaya’s grandson, King Bagyidaw, returned the capital to Ava – only for it to be
devastated by an earthquake in 1838, whereupon the capital was shifted back to Amarapura.
This time it lasted less than twenty years, and in 1857 King Mindon established the new city of
Mandalay, Burma’s final royal capital.

Brief history
Given its historic reputation, Mandalay is a surprisingly young city. Locals tell of how
the Buddha climbed Mandalay Hill and prophesied that, 2400 years into the future,
a grand city would be founded at its foot. The promised city was duly founded in 1857
by King Mindon, said to be the reincarnation of San Da Mukhi, an ogress who
impressed the Buddha by lopping off her breasts and presenting them to him. Mindon
named his new city Yadanarbon, from the Pali Ratanapura, meaning “City of Gems”,
a name which is still widely used by businesses around town (as well as by the local
football team, Yadanarbon FC), although it subsequently become known as Mandalay,
after nearby Mandalay Hill.
Politically, the founding of Mandalay was intended to impress the British, who had
already seized control of Lower Burma, of the strength of Mindon’s significantly
reduced but still powerful kingdom – although this didn’t stop the British from
marching into the city in 1885 and sending Mindon’s son and successor, Thibaw, and
the rest of the royal family into exile in India. Following the British takeover, the city
prospered until the Japanese occupation during World War II, which saw many of the
old buildings levelled by Allied bombing.
Modern Mandalay is now Myanmar’s second city and the economic powerhouse of
the north, with a population of well over a million people. The city feels much more
purely Burmese than multicultural Yangon, although large-scale Chinese immigration
(and increasing economic links with that country) over recent decades has also subtly
changed the city’s demographic. There are also plenty of ethnic Shan, mostly
concentrated in areas west of 86th Street, while the innumerable mosques and
occasional Hindu temples dotted around downtown bear witness to the long-
established Muslim and Indian communities which still call the city home.