Sittwe (; ; formerly Akyab) is the capital of
Rakhine State
Rakhine State (; , , ; formerly known as Arakan State) is a Administrative divisions of Myanmar, state in Myanmar (Burma). Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State to the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady R ...
,
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 C. Wells, Joh ...
(Burma). Sittwe, pronounced ''sait-tway'' in the
Rakhine language
, pronunciation =
, ethnicity = Rakhine, Kamein
, states = Myanmar, Bangladesh, India
, region = * Rakhine State (Myanmar)
* Bandarban, Khagrachari, Patuakhali, Barguna (Bangladesh)
* Tripura (India)
, speakers ...
, is located on an
estuarial island created at the confluence of the
Kaladan,
Mayu Mayu may refer to:
* Mayu (given name), a feminine Japanese given name
* Mayu (river), a river of Burma
* Mayu Frontier District, a former administrative zone of Burma
* Mayu Island (妈屿), Shantou, China
* Mayu, Jinzhou, Hebei (马于镇), a tow ...
, and
Lay Mro
Rakhine State occupies the northern coastline of Myanmar up to the border with Bangladesh and corresponds to the historical Kingdom of Arakan. The history of Rakhine is divided into 7 parts - the independent kingdoms of Dhanyawadi, Waithali, L ...
rivers emptying into the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
. As of 2006 the city has 181,000 inhabitants. It is the administrative seat of
Sittwe Township
Sittwe Township ( my, စစ်တွေမြို့နယ်) is a township of Sittwe District in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The principal town is Sittwe.http://www.themimu.info/docs/MIMU154v01_100810_Sittwe%20Ts-Rakhine%20State_A1.pdf Map o ...
and
Sittwe District Sittwe District ( my, စစ်တွေခရိုင်) is a district of the Rakhine State in western Myanmar. The capital lies at Sittwe.
Administrative divisions
Sittwe District consists of the following townships:
* Pauktaw Township
* Po ...
.
Etymology
The name Sittwe, which literally means "the place where the war meets," is derived from the
Burmese pronunciation of စစ်တွေ (pronounced ''Saittwe'' in
Arakanese language
, pronunciation =
, ethnicity = Rakhine, Kamein
, states = Myanmar, Bangladesh, India
, region = * Rakhine State (Myanmar)
* Bandarban, Khagrachari, Patuakhali, Barguna (Bangladesh)
* Tripura (India)
, speaker ...
). When the Burmese 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, fou ...
invaded the
Mrauk U Kingdom
The Kingdom of Mrauk-U ( Arakanese: မြောက်ဦး နေပြည်တော်,) was a kingdom that existed on the Arakan littoral from 1429 to 1785. Based out of the capital Mrauk-U, near the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal, t ...
in 1784, the Rakhine defenders encountered the Burmese force at the mouth of Kaladan river. In the ensuing battle, which was waged on both land and water, the Mrauk U forces were defeated. The place where the battle occurred came to be called ''Saittwe'' by the Rakhine, and colloquially as ''Sittwe'' by the Burmese.
In early 1825, during the
First Anglo-Burmese War
The First Anglo-Burmese War ( my, ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ်-မြန်မာ စစ်; ; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese ...
, the British forces landed at Sittwe and stationed their forces by the ancient pagoda, Ahkyaib-daw, which is still standing in the city. The British adopted the name Akyab for the place.
History
Originally a small fishing village, Sittwe became an important seat of maritime commerce, especially as a port for the export of rice after the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
occupation of
Arakan
Arakan ( or ) is a historic coastal region in Southeast Asia. Its borders faced the Bay of Bengal to its west, the Indian subcontinent to its north and Burma proper to its east. The Arakan Mountains isolated the region and made it accessi ...
, now known as Rakhine State, following the
First Anglo-Burmese War
The First Anglo-Burmese War ( my, ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ်-မြန်မာ စစ်; ; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese ...
.
Sittwe was the location of a battle during the conquest of Arakan by the Burmese 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, fou ...
. In 1784, the Burmese expeditionary force, some 30,000 strong, encountered the governor of U-rit-taung Province, Saite-ké (General) Aung and his force of 3000. Although heavily outnumbered, the Arakanese force tried to fight the Burmese forces on both land and sea, but were brutally crushed. This defeat opened the route towards the inland Arakanese capital of
Mrauk-U
Mrauk U ( ) is a town in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Mrauk-U Township, a subregion of the Mrauk-U District.
Mrauk U is of great cultural importance to the local Rakhine (Arakanese) people, and is the location of many ...
, which was soon conquered, ending the independence of the
Arakanese. According to Arakanese lore, all of the Arakanese defenders were killed.
In 1826, after the First Anglo-Burmese War, the British transferred the seat of government to Sittwe on the coast. During the first 40 years of British rule it expanded from a village to a town of 15,536 inhabitants, and by 1901 it was the third port of Burma with a population of 31,687.
In the 1860s, the
Consulate General of the United States (Kolkata) had a consular agency in Sittwe. During colonial times, Site-tway had a bad reputation for
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
and
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
, although historical records indicate that it was no better or worse than many other locations along the India coast.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the island was an important site of many battles during the
Burma Campaign due to its possession of both an airfield and a deepwater port.
Sittwe is the birthplace of political monks in Myanmar. It was the birthplace of
U Ottama
, image = Ven.Ottama.png
, caption =
, birth_name = Paw Tun Aung
, birth_date = 28 December 1879 1st waning of Pyatho 1241 ME
, birth_place = Rupa Village, Sittwe District, Arakan Division, British Burma
, death_date = 11th waning of Wag ...
, the first monk who protested against the colonial British in Myanmar. Also, in the recent 2007 protest marches, known as the
Saffron Revolution
The Saffron Revolution ( my, ရွှေဝါရောင်တော်လှန်ရေး) was a series of economic and political protests and demonstrations that took place during August, September, and October 2007 in Myanmar. The pro ...
, it was the monks in Sittwe who started the protest against the military government in Myanmar. Sittwe houses the Dhanyawadi Naval Base, named after the ancient Rakhine city-state of Dhanyawadi.
Since 2012, the Myanmar government has herded tens of thousands of Rohingyas into camps in Sittwe. There are now some 140,000 Rohingyas living in poor condition huts with limited electricity and food. Rohingya refugees can not go out or move around and also not allowed to work outside of camp. The beach at Ohn Daw Gyi became the main departure point.
Climate
Sittwe's climate is classified as a
tropical monsoon climate
An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...
(''Am''), according to the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
system. The city experiences a
dry season
The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...
from December through April, and an extraordinarily rainy
wet season
The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...
covering the remaining seven months. Sittwe sees average rainfall in excess of per month during June, July and August. Conditions are noticeably cooler and less humid in the months of December, January and February than during the remainder of the year.
Demographics
The largest ethnic group in Sittwe is the
Rakhine people
The Rakhine people ( my, ရက္ခိုင်လူမျိုး, : , ), also known as the Arakanese people, are a Southeast Asian ethnic group in Myanmar (Burma) forming the majority along the coastal region of present-day Rakhine Stat ...
. Alongside, there are
Rohingya
The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...
and some
Burmese from other parts of the country.
The vast majority practises
Theravada Buddhism
''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...
,
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
and
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
. The Rohingya Muslim quarter used to be called Aung Mingala, until the Muslims were driven out by mobs during the 2012 riots in October. It is difficult to document the number of Rohingya who remain in the Internally Displaced Persons camps as the so-called "illegal people" were not permitted to register for the national census and the government refuses to address this minority Rohingya ethnic group by name.
Human Rights Watch, Fortify Rights, Amnesty International and the UN Special Rapporteur have documented the spread of orchestrated anti-Muslim violence with the permission (and sometimes the direct involvement of) government and military authorities.
Economy
In February 2007, India announced a plan to develop the port under the
Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project
The Kaladan Road Project is a US$484 million project connecting the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata with Sittwe seaport in Rakhine State, Myanmar by sea. In Myanmar, it will then link Sittwe seaport to Paletwa in Chin State via the Kaladan riv ...
, which would enable ocean access from Indian north-eastern states, so called "Seven sisters", like
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
, via the Kaladan River. Sittwe's citizenry, especially Buddhist monks, have participated in the
2007 Burmese anti-government protests
The Saffron Revolution ( my, ရွှေဝါရောင်တော်လှန်ရေး) was a series of economic and political protests and demonstrations that took place during August, September, and October 2007 in Myanmar. The pro ...
In October 2011, as part of a recent bilateral trade deal signed by Myanmar and India, the two countries pledged a US$120 million port and multimodal investment to complete the infrastructure linking Indian north-eastern provinces to Sittwe overland via India's Mizoram by 2013.
The port of Sittwe will undergo extensive dredging and the construction of new berthing terminals. Once operational it will offer direct passage to enable Burmese and Indian shippers to pick up mainline services to and from
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. The two countries also pledged to double bilateral trade to US$3 billion by 2015 by reducing trade tariffs.
Attractions
*
Viewpoint, or more popularly known as Point is perhaps the most well-known attraction in Sittwe. It is at the end of the Strand Road and looks out into the Bay of Bengal and the mouth of the
Kaladan River.
*The hundred-year old
Shwezedi Monastery is a famous monastery in Sittwe. It was the monastery of
U Ottama
, image = Ven.Ottama.png
, caption =
, birth_name = Paw Tun Aung
, birth_date = 28 December 1879 1st waning of Pyatho 1241 ME
, birth_place = Rupa Village, Sittwe District, Arakan Division, British Burma
, death_date = 11th waning of Wag ...
, who was the first political monk in Myanmar.
*Sittwe Pharagri, the focal point of Sittwe's Buddhist environment, beside Shwezedi Monastery.
*Ahkyaib-daw, is one of the most sacred Buddhist pagodas, possibly originating from the 3rd century BC in the days of Emperor
Asoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...
. The pagoda Ahkyaib-daw, meaning maxillary bone, is believed to be built on a foundation encasing a piece of
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
’s maxillary bone hence its name.
[Shwe Lu Maung alias Shahnawaz Khan, The Price of Silence: Muslim-Buddhist War of Bangladesh and Myanmar – A Social Darwinist’s Analysis, DewDrop Arts & Technology, 2005, p174]
/ref>
*Rakhine State Cultural Museum
The Rakhine State Cultural Museum is a museum that displays figurines of the Rakhine people and their traditional dress, traditional looms and arts of Rakhine people.
It was established in February 1996. The admission fee is 2 US $ and opening h ...
, which contains exhibits on Rakhine culture and history.
* Lawkananda Pagoda, Sittwe, which is the largest Buddhist temples in Sittwe.
Education
*Computer University, Sittwe
University of Computer Studies in Sittway (UCSS) is located in Pyitawthar quarter, Sittwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar. It was formerly opened as Government Computer College on 1 October 2001, and was promoted to university level on 20 January 2007. ...
*Technological University, Sittwe
The Technological University(Sittwe) (Burmese: နည္းပညာတကၠသုိလ္(စစ္ေတြ)) is located in Rachanbyin Village, Sittwe Township, Sittwe District, Rakhine State, Myanmar. It formerly operated as a Government Te ...
Sport
The 7,000-seat Wai Thar Li Stadium is the home ground of Rakhine United F.C., a Myanmar National League
The MPT Myanmar National League ( my, မြန်မာ နေရှင်နယ် လိဂ်; abbreviated MNL) is the premier national professional football league of Myanmar. In 2009, the league replaced the Myanmar Premier League, which co ...
(MNL) football club. Dhanyawaddy Stadium is the home ground of Arakan United FC of the Myanmar Amateur League.
Other
British writer Hector Hugh Munro
Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and cultur ...
, better known under his pen name Saki, was born in Sittwe in 1870. A road in Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
is named after its old name, Akyab.
Image gallery
File:Shwe Zedi, Sittwe, Myanmar.jpg, Shwe Zedi Monastery
File:Lawkananda Pagoda, Sittwe.jpg, Lawkananda Pagoda, Sittwe
File:Sittwe, Myanmar (Burma) - panoramio - mohigan (49).jpg, The main street
File:Sittwe View Point Park in 2017 March 26.jpg, Sittwe View Point Park
Image:Sittwe, foreshore.JPG, foreshore
Image:Sittwe, new clock tower.JPG, new clock tower
See also
* Point, Sittwe
*Sittwe Airport
Sittwe Airport is an airport in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar. In Burmese it is known as စစ်တွေ လေဆိပ်.
It started as RAF Station Sittwe, a military airfield in World War II. It was handed over to Department of Civil A ...
References
External links
20° 9' 0" North, 92° 54' 0" East Satellite map at Maplandia.com
Kaladan.com - covering Kaladan project and news
{{Authority control
Populated places in Rakhine State
Port cities and towns of the Indian Ocean
Bay of Bengal
Kaladan River
Township capitals of Myanmar