Kyaukmyaung (Sagaing)
Kyaukmyaung is a town in Sagaing Division, Myanmar. It is situated 46 miles north of Mandalay on the west bank of the River Irrawaddy, and 17 miles east of Shwebo by road.[1][2] It marks the end of the third defile of the Irrawaddy.[3]
Pottery and ceramics
Kyaukmyaung is famous for the manufacture of large glazed earthernware pots known as Martaban jars, established when 5,000 Mon war captives were settled in the area by King Alaungpaya (1752–1760) after his conquest of Pegu.[4] Earlier the Peguans from the south had rebelled and deposed the King of Ava. Aung Zeya (later Alaungpaya), chief of Moksobo (later Shwebo), led his countrymen in a revolt against the Mon, and collected a fleet at Kyaukmyaung where he defeated the advancing Mon.[5]
The glazed pots were also called Ali Baba jars and transported down the river on bamboo rafts.[6] The biggest of these jars can hold as much as two hogsheads of liquor or about 105 gallons (over 400 litres) of water or food, mainly fish paste or ngapi, fish sauce or nganpyayei, and peanut oil.[2][4]
Second World War
When the Japanese invaded Burma in 1942, the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company was ordered to scuttle their rivercraft at both Mandalay and Kyaukmyaung by the retreating British colonial government.[7] The river, about half a mile wide at this point, was crossed and bridgeheads established in January 1944 by the 19th Infantry Division (India) at both Kyaukmyaung and Thabeikkyin, when the Allied forces counter-attacked.[8][9]
Irrawaddy dolphins
A 2004 survey of the Irrawaddy dolphin counted 18 to 20 between Kyaukmyaung and Mingun, and in December 2005 the Department of Fisheries designated the 72 km stretch of the Irrawaddy between these two points a protected area for the dolphins.[10][11][12]
Notes
- ^ Alan Jeffreys, Duncan Anderson. The British Army in the Far East 1941–45. Osprey Publishing, 2005. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9JKckL1mwoEC&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47&dq=kyaukmyaung&source=web&ots=SLZA30bEYr&sig=0L9J8vAAMUJKqE2V-nLOx2l6Myc&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result#PPA47,M1. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- ^ a b "Highlights of Myanmar: Kyaukmyaung". Journeysmyanmar.com 28 May 2007. http://www.journeysmyanmar.com/highlights_of_myanmar_mandalay.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ "Irrawaddy River". Encyclopaedia Britannica online. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/294719/Irrawaddy-River. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- ^ a b Dr Sein Tu. "Myanmar’s long and documented history of making big glazed jars". Myanmar Times 6, 110–111. http://www.myanmar.gov.mm/myanmartimes/no110-111/myanmartimes6-110-111/Features/1.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ Michael Symes (1800) (PDF). An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava, sent by the Governor-General of India, in the year 1795. SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research VOL. 4, Issue 1 Spring 2006. p. 64. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs09/4.1Symes-red.pdf. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- ^ "The History of Ceramic Pottery in Myanmar(Burma)". roadtomandalay.com July 29, 2008. http://www.roadtomandalay.com/MyanmarMiscellany/History_of_Myanmar%20(Burmese)_Pottery.htm#All_of_our_Pottery. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ "The Irrawaddy Flottilla Company". Pandaw1947,com. http://www.pandaw1947.com/irrawaddy-flotilla-company.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ Mukund Murty. "Encounters with WW2 RIAF Veteran: Air Cmde Nanu Shitoley DFC". Indian Air Force (Bharatiya Vayu Sena). http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1940s/Shitoley01.html. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- ^ Artie Gilbert. "WW2 People's War: The Crossing of the Irrawaddy". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/98/a5010698.shtml. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- ^ Shingo Onishi. "Mutualistic Fishing Between Fishermen and Irrawaddy Dolphins in Myanmar" (PDF). TIGERPAPER FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Vol. 35: No. 2 Apr–Jun 2008. http://www.fao.org/world/regional/rap/tigerpaper/Paper/TP35_2_001.pdf. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ "Role of Wildlife Conservation Society in Myanmar" (PDF). Wildlife Conservation Society. pp. 9. http://www.rrcap.unep.org/projects/bali/mmnbsabp/presentation/10WCS.pdf. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ Sann Oo. "Lost dolphin returned to river". Myanmar Times Volume 21, No. 402, January 21–27, 2008. http://www.mmtimes.com/no402/n017.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
External links