Inwa (, or ; also spelled Innwa; formerly known as Ava), located in
Mandalay Region
Mandalay Region ( my, မန္တလေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Mandalay Division) is an administrative division of Myanmar. It is located in the center of the country, bordering Sagaing Region and Magway Region t ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, is an
ancient imperial capital of successive Burmese kingdoms from the 14th to 19th centuries. Throughout history, it was sacked and rebuilt numerous times. The capital city was finally abandoned after it was destroyed by a series of major earthquakes in
March 1839. Though only a few traces of its former grandeur remain today, the former capital is a popular day-trip tourist destination from
Mandalay.
Etymology
The name Inwa (အင်းဝ) literally means "mouth of the Lake", reflecting its geographical location at the mouth of lakes in the
Kyaukse District
Kyaukse District is a district of the Mandalay Region in central Myanmar.
Townships
The district contains the following township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different co ...
. Another theory states that it is derived from ''Innawa'' (), meaning "nine lakes" in the area.
[Khin Khin Aye 2007: 60] The city's classical name in Pali is ''Ratanapura'' (ရတနပုရ; "City of Gems").
The modern
standard Burmese pronunciation is ''Inwa'' (), following the modern
orthography
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and ...
. But the local Upper Burmese pronunciation is ''Awa'' (). Indeed, the spelling of the city in the
royal records, all written prior to the modern Burmese spelling standardization drives, is (Awa), the phonetic spelling of the Upper Burmese usage.
[See '']Hmannan Yazawin
''Hmannan Maha Yazawindawgyi'' ( my, မှန်နန်း မဟာ ရာဇဝင်တော်ကြီး, ; commonly, ''Hmannan Yazawin''; known in English as the '' Glass Palace Chronicle'') is the first official chronicle of Konbaung ...
'', for example. The most common Western
transcription
Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including:
Genetics
* Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...
Ava comes from ''Awa'' via
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
.
History
![Inwa -- Second Outer Walls](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Inwa_--_Second_Outer_Walls.JPG)
Inwa was the capital of Myanmar (Burma) for nearly 360 years, on five separate occasions, from 1365 to 1842. So identified as the seat of power in Burma that Inwa (as the
Kingdom of Ava
The Kingdom of Ava ( my, အင်းဝခေတ်, ) was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagaing t ...
, or the Court of Ava) was the name by which Burma was known to Europeans down to the 19th century.
Foundation
Strategically located on the confluence of
Irrawaddy, and
Myitnge river
Myitnge River ( my, မြစ်ငယ် or Nam Tu, also known as Dokhtawaddy River (), is a major tributary of Ayeyarwady River (Irrawaddy) in Myanmar (Burma). The name Myitnge in Burmese and Dokhtawaddy in Pali both mean "little river", by cont ...
s, and in the main rice-growing
Kyaukse District
Kyaukse District is a district of the Mandalay Region in central Myanmar.
Townships
The district contains the following township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different co ...
of Upper Burma, the location of Ava had been scouted as a possible capital site as early as 1310 by King
Thihathu
Thihathu ( my, သီဟသူ, ; 1265–1325) was a co-founder of the Myinsaing Kingdom, and the founder of the Pinya Kingdom in today's central Burma (Myanmar).Coedès 1968: 209 Thihathu was the youngest and most ambitious of the three brother ...
. Though Thihathu eventually built his new capital at
Pinya
Pinya ( my, ပင်းယ), or Vijayapura, was the capital of the Kingdom of Pinya, located near Ava, Mandalay Region, Myanmar. It was the residence of the Pinya dynasty who ruled this part of central Myanmar from 1313 to 1365.Hmannan Vol. 1 20 ...
a few miles east inland in 1313, Thihathu's great-grandson
Thado Minbya
Thado Minbya ( my, သတိုးမင်းဖျား, ; also spelt as Thadominbya; 7 December 1345 – 3 September 1367) was the founder of the Kingdom of Ava. In his three plus years of reign (1364–67), the king laid the foundation for ...
, who unified the
Sagaing
Sagaing (, ) is the former capital of the Sagaing Region of Myanmar. It is located in the Irrawaddy River, to the south-west of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river. Sagaing with numerous Buddhist monasteries is an important religious and m ...
and
Pinya kingdoms in September 1364, chose the site of Inwa as his new capital.
Inwa was officially founded on 26 February 1365 (6th waxing of Tabaung 726
ME)
[Hmannan Vol. 1 2003: 396] on a man-made island created by connecting the Irrawaddy on the north and the Myitnge on the east with a canal on the south and the west. The construction of the artificial island also involved filling in the swamplands and lakes (or ''Ins''):
[†
#''Shwekyabin In'' ()
#''Zani In'' ()
#''Nyaungzauk In'' ()
#''Wetchi In'' ()
#''Ohnne In'' ()
#''Inma In'' ()
#''Linsan In'' ()
#''Bayme In'' ()
#''Wunbe In'' ()
† Other records also include ''Kyaukmaw In'' (), ''Ngagyi In'' () and ''Inbu In'' ().
The brick fortifications of Inwa do not follow the conventions of the earlier rectilinear city plans. Instead, the zigzagged outer walls are popularly thought to outline the figure of a seated lion. The inner enclosure or citadel was laid out according to traditional cosmological principles and provided the requisite twelve gates. (The inner city was reconstructed on at least three occasions in 1597, 1763, and 1832.)][Cooler 2003: Chapter 4, Part 1]
Ava period (14th to 16th centuries)
The kingdom Thado Minbya founded with the capital at Inwa became known as the Ava Kingdom
The Kingdom of Ava ( my, အင်းဝခေတ်, ) was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagaing t ...
, the main polity of Upper Burma
Upper Myanmar ( my, အထက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Upper Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar, traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery (modern Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway Regions), or more broadly speak ...
until 1555. During this period, the city was the center of a flourishing literary scene in which Burmese literature
The literature of Burma (or Myanmar) spans over a millennium. Burmese literature was historically influenced by Indian and Thai cultures, as seen in many works, such as the '' Ramayana''. The Burmese language, unlike other Southeast Asian lan ...
"grew more confident, popular, and stylistically diverse, chiefly through the efforts of monks who chose to write in the vernacular rather than, or in addition to, in Pali."[Lieberman 2003: 134] The period also saw the second generation of Burmese law codes (''dhammathats''), which critiqued earlier compilations, new poetic genres, and the perfection of older verse forms as well as the earliest pan-Burma Burmese language chronicles.[ The city got a new "exquisite golden palace" in February 1511 by which King ]Shwenankyawshin
, image =
, caption =
, reign = 7 April 1501 – 14 March 1527
, coronation = 18 April 1501 or 10 May 1501
, succession = King of Ava
, predecessor = Minkhaung II
, ...
is posthumously remembered.[Khin Khin Aye 2007: 61]
During this period, the capital city was the target of the kingdom's rivals. It came under siege in 1401–1402 during the Forty Years' War. Over a century later, on 25 March 1527, the city finally fell to the repeated attacks by the Confederation of Shan States
The Shan States (1885–1948) were a collection of minor Shan kingdoms called '' muang'' whose rulers bore the title ''saopha'' in British Burma. They were analogous to the princely states of British India.
The term "Shan States" was firs ...
and the Prome Kingdom
The Prome Kingdom ( my, ဒုတိယ သရေခေတ္တရာ နေပြည်တော်) was a kingdom that existed for six decades between 1482 and 1542 in present-day central Burma (Myanmar). Based out of the city of Prome (P ...
.[Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 137] It then became the capital of the unruly and often disunited coalition until 22 January 1555 when it was captured by King Bayinnaung
, image = File:Bayinnaung.JPG
, caption = Statue of Bayinnaung in front of the National Museum of Myanmar
, reign = 30 April 1550 – 10 October 1581
, coronation = 11 January 1551 at Toung ...
. The city's 190-year run as the capital of Upper Burma came to an end.
Toungoo and Konbaung periods (16th to 19th centuries)
The city became the capital of all Burma during Toungoo
Taungoo (, ''Tauñngu myoú''; ; also spelled Toungoo) is a district-level city in the Bago Region of Myanmar, 220 km from Yangon, towards the north-eastern end of the division, with mountain ranges to the east and west. The main industry ...
and Konbaung periods (1599–1613, 1635–1752, 1765–1783, 1821–1842). The city was the base from which kings Nyaungyan and Anaukpetlun
Anaukbaklun ( my, အနောက်ဘက်လွန် ; 21 January 1578 – 9 July 1628) was the sixth king of Taungoo Burma and was largely responsible for restoring the kingdom after it collapsed at the end of 16th century. In his 22–yea ...
restored the kingdom which had temporarily disintegrated in December 1599. In January 1635, King Thalun
Thalun ( my, သာလွန်မင်း, ; 17 June 1584 – 27 August 1648) was the eighth king of Toungoo dynasty of Burma (Myanmar). During his 19-year reign, Thalun successfully rebuilt the war-torn country which had been under constant wa ...
moved the capital back to Ava from Pegu
Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon.
Etymology
The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon langua ...
(Bago).[Hmannan Vol. 3 2003: 223] The city was sacked on 21–23 March 1752, and subsequently burned down on 3 January 1753 by the forces of Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom. King Hsinbyushin
Hsinbyushin ( my, ဆင်ဖြူရှင်, , ; th, พระเจ้ามังระ; 12 September 1736 – 10 June 1776) was king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1763 to 1776. The second son of the dynasty founder Al ...
began the reconstruction of the city in March 1764, and moved the capital back to a newly rebuilt Ava on 23 July 1765.[Maung Maung Tin Vol. 1 2004: 278] King Bodawpaya
Bodawpaya ( my, ဘိုးတော်ဘုရား, ; th, ปดุง; 11 March 1745 – 5 June 1819) was the sixth king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma. Born Maung Shwe Waing and later Badon Min, he was the fourth son of Alaungpaya, fo ...
moved the capital to Amarapura in May 1783 but his grandson King Bagyidaw
Bagyidaw ( my, ဘကြီးတော်, ; also known as Sagaing Min, ; 23 July 1784 – 15 October 1846) was the seventh king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma from 1819 until his abdication in 1837. Prince of Sagaing, as he was commonly know ...
moved it back to Ava in November 1821.
The end
The end of the city came via a natural disaster. Starting on 22 March 1839 (7th waxing of Tagu 1201 ME) the Inwa–Amapura region was hit by a series of earthquakes. The main earthquake hit the region, as far west as Sagaing
Sagaing (, ) is the former capital of the Sagaing Region of Myanmar. It is located in the Irrawaddy River, to the south-west of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river. Sagaing with numerous Buddhist monasteries is an important religious and m ...
, the next day, at five o'clock in the morning on 23 March 1839, and many tremors followed for days afterwards. The entire region was left in shambles in their wake. The capital was hardest hit: everything was leveled; many people and livestock perished.[Maung Maung Tin Vol. 2 2004: 394] The city was not rebuilt. King Tharrawaddy chose instead to rebuild a new palace in Amarapura, and moved the seat of his government there in February 1842.[Maung Maung Tin Vol. 3 2004: 33]
Contemporary Inwa
The former capital city site is a popular tourist day-trip destination from Mandalay. Tourists can still observe a few remnants of the capital, including Nanmadaw Me Nu
, image = Nanmadaw Me Nu.jpg
, succession = Chief queen consort of Burma
, reign = 5 June 1819 – 15 April 1837
, predecessor = Shin Paik Thaung
, successor = Thiri Pawara Ti L ...
Ok Kyaung, the Nanmyin Tower, the inner and outer brick city walls, etc.
Sights of interest
Transport
Inwa is located south of Mandalay. It is on the way from the Mandalay International Airport
Mandalay International Airport ( my, မန္တလေး အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာ လေဆိပ်; ), located 35 km south of Mandalay in Tada-U, is one of three international airports in Myanmar. Completed ...
to Mandalay. Cars can go up to the Myitnge river. It takes a 3-minute boat ride to cross over to the former capital site. On the Inwa side, a number of horse-drawn carts await the tourist business.
Gallery
File:Inwa -- Bagaya Monastery, front.JPG, Bagaya Monastery, the "monastic college" for the royals during the Konbaung period
File:Inwa -- Bagaya Monastery, back.JPG, Bagaya Monastery, back
File:Myanmar crafted door.jpg, Wooden doors at the Bagaya
File:Inwa -- Second Outer Walls and Moat.JPG, Second-level outer walls as seen across the former moat
File:Innwa.jpg, Outer walls
File:Inwa -- Palace site seen from Nanmyin Tower.JPG, The Ava Palace site as seen from the Nanmyin Watchtower
File:Watch tower, Innwa Palace.jpg, Palace watchtower in 1907
File:Inwa -- Royal Pool for Princesses.JPG, Royal Pool for Princesses, also at the Ava Palace site
File:Inwa -- Yadana Hsimi Pagodas.JPG, Yadana Hsimi Pagodas
File:Inwa -- Yadana Hsimi Pagodas, close-up.JPG, Yadana Hsimi closeup
File:Inwa -- MNOK interior hallway.JPG, Me Nu Ok Kyaung interior hallway
File:Inwa -- MNOK below.JPG, Foundation pillars and chambers of Me Nu Ok Kyaung
File:MANDALAY PUENTE COLONIAL SOBRE EL RIO AYEYARWADY.jpg, Old Ava Bridge
Notes
References
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External links
Inwa - a short story by Theippan Maung Wa 1931
inc. audio
Exploring old monasteries in ancient capital Inwa
{{Authority control
Township capitals of Myanmar
Populated places in Mandalay Region