Mandalay
| Author: Laxman Burdak IFS (R) |
Mandalay (Hindi:मांडले, Burmese: မန္တလေး; MLCTS: manta.le: [màɴdəlé]) is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Myanmar (Burma).
Location
Mandalay is located in the central dry zone of Burma by the Irrawaddy river at 21.98° North, 96.08° East, 80 meters (260 feet) above sea level. Its standard time zone is UTC/GMT +6:30 hours.
Mandalay lies along the Sagaing Fault, a tectonic plate boundary between the India and Sunda plates. Located 716 km north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay is the economic centre of Upper Burma and considered the centre of Burmese culture. A continuing influx of Chinese immigrants, mostly from Yunnan, in the past twenty years, has reshaped the city's ethnic makeup and increased commerce with China.[1][2] Despite Naypyidaw's recent rise, Mandalay remains Upper Burma's main commercial, educational and health center.
Jat clans
Etymology
The city gets its name from the nearby Mandalay Hill. The name is probably a derivative of a Pali word, although the exact word of origin remains unclear. The root word has been speculated to be mandala, referring to circular plains[3] or Mandara, a mountain from Hindu mythology.[4]
When it was founded in 1857, the royal city was officially named Yadanabon (ရတနာပုံ, [jədənàbòʊɴ]), a loan of the Pali name Ratanapūra (ရတနပူရ) "City of Gems."[5][6] It was also called Lay Kyun Aung Myei (လေးကျွန်းအောင်မြေ, [lé dʑʊ́ɴ àʊɴ mjè], "Victorious Land over the Four Islands") and Mandalay Palace (မြနန်းစံကျော်, [mja̰ náɴ sàɴ tɕɔ̀], "Famed Royal Emerald Palace").
History
Early history: Like most former (and present) capitals of Burma, Mandalay was founded on the wishes of the ruler of the day. On 13 February 1857, King Mindon founded a new royal capital at the foot of Mandalay Hill, ostensibly to fulfill a prophecy on the founding of a metropolis of Buddhism in that exact place on the occasion of the 2,400th jubilee of Buddhism.[7]
The new capital city site was 66 km2 (25.5 sq mi) in area, surrounded by four rivers. The plan called for a 144-square block grid patterned citadel, anchored by a 16 square block royal palace compound at the center by Mandalay Hill.[8] The 1020-acre (413-hectare) citadel was surrounded by four 2,032 m (6,666 ft) long walls and a moat 64 m (210 ft) wide, 4.6 m (15 ft) deep. At intervals of 169 m (555 ft) along the wall, were turrets with gold-tipped spires for watchmen. The walls had three gates on each side, and five bridges to cross the moat. In addition, the king also commissioned the Kuthodaw Pagoda, the Pahtan-haw Shwe Thein upasampada hall, the Thudamma "Good Dharma" zayats (IPA: [zəjaʔ]) or public houses for preaching Buddhism and a library for the Pāli Canon.
In June 1857, the former royal palace of Amarapura was dismantled and moved by elephants to the new location at the foot of Mandalay Hill, although construction of the palace compound was officially completed only two years later, on Monday, 23 May 1859.[9]
For the next 26 years, Mandalay was to be the last royal capital of the Konbaung Dynasty, the last independent Burmese kingdom before its final annexation by the British Empire. Mandalay ceased to be the capital on 28 November 1885 when the conquering British sent Thibaw Min and his queen Supayalat into exile, ending the Third Anglo-Burmese War.
मांडले
मांडले रंगून से 716 किमी उत्तर में इरावदी नदी के किनारे बसा है। मांडले ऊपरी बर्मा का आर्थिक केन्द्र एवं बर्मी संस्कृति का केन्द्र है। मांडले की जेल में ही बालगंगाधर तिलक, बहादुरशाह जफर आदि अनेक भारतीय नेताओं एवं क्रान्तिकारियों को ब्रिटिश सरकार ने बन्दी बना रखा था।
यह उत्तरी बर्मा का जिला है। यहाँ बाँस आदि के जंगल पाए जाते हैं। इस जिले में इरावदी और उसकी सहायक म्यितंगे (Myitnge) तथा मडया नदियाँ बहती हैं।
यह स्वतंत्र बर्मा की भूतपूर्व राजधानी, मुख्य व्यापारिक नगर एवं गमनागमन का केंद्र है जो इरावदी नदी के बाएँ किनारे पर, रंगून से 350 मील उत्तर स्थित है। 1856-57 ई0 में राजा मिंडान ने इसे बसाया था। नगर को बाढ़ से बचाने के लिये एक बाँध बनाया गया है। यहाँ की जनसंख्या का अधिकांश बौद्ध धर्मावलंबी हैं। यहाँ का मुख्य पगोडा पयाग्यी या अराकान है जो राजमहल से चार मील दूर स्थित है। यहाँ का मुख्य बाजार जैग्यो है। यहाँ विश्वविद्यालय भी है।
नगर में बर्मियों के अतिरिक्त हिंदू, मूसलमान, यहूदी, चीनी, शान एवं अन्य जाति के लोग निवास करते हैं। द्वितीय महायुद्ध के समय 1 मई 1942 ईo को जापानियों ने इसपर अधिकार कर लिया था। उस समय राजप्रासाद की दीवारों के अतिरिक्त लगभग सभी इमारतें जल गई थीं। अत: जापानियों ने इसे 'जलते हुए खंडहरोंवाला नगर' कहा।
References
- ↑ China's Ambitions in Myanmar (July 2000). "China's Ambitions in Myanmar". IISS Strategic Comments.
- ↑ Stephen Mansfield (13 May 1999). "Myanmar's Chinese connection". Japan Times.
- ↑ Zon Pann Pwint, Minh Zaw and Khin Su Wai (18–24 May 2009). "Mandalay marks 150th birthday". The Myanmar Times.
- ↑ Issac Taylor (1898). Names and Their Histories: A Handbook of Historical Geography and Topographical Nomenclature (2nd ed.). Rivingtons. p. 186.
- ↑ ဦးဟုတ်စိန်. "Entry for ratana". ပါဠိမြန်မာ အဘိဓာန် (Pāḷi-Myanmar Dictionary) (in Burmese). Pali Canon E-Dictionary Version 1.94.
- ↑ ဦးဟုတ်စိန်. "Entry for pūra". ပါဠိမြန်မာ အဘိဓာန် (Pāḷi-Myanmar Dictionary) (in Burmese). Pali Canon E-Dictionary Version 1.94.
- ↑ "Mandalay Palace" (PDF). Directorate of Archaeological Survey, Burma. 1963.
- ↑ Kyaw Thein (1996). The Management of Secondary Cities in south-east Asia. Case Study: Mandalay. United Nations Centre for Human Settlements. UN-Habitat. ISBN 9789211313130.
- ↑ "Mandalay Palace" (PDF). Directorate of Archaeological Survey, Burma. 1963. Retrieved 22 August 2006.