Myaungmya Township
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Myaungmya Township
Township of Myaungmya District, Lower Burma, lying between 15° 47' and 16° 43' N. and 94° 36' and 95° 13' E., with an area of 1,069 square miles. It is comprised between the Pyamalaw and Panmawadi rivers on the east and west, and extends from the Myaungmya river to the sea. It is for the most part flat, and would be a typical delta area were it not for a small tract of com- paratively hilly country which rises to the south-west of the township head-quarters, forming the only high land in the District. The great majority of the population occupy the north-east, and large stretches of jungle cover the southern portions. The population was 53,224 in 1891, and 75,343 in 1901, distributed in 227 villages and one town, Myaungmya (population, 4,711), the head-quarters. About one-third of the total are Karens. In 1903-4 the area under cultivation was 205 square miles, paying Rs. 3,15,000 land revenue; and the total revenue amounted to Rs. 5,68,000.
Myaungmya Town.^Head-quarters of the District and township of the same name in the Irrawaddy Division of Lower Burma, situated in 16° 35' N. and 95° E., on the Myaungmya river, close to the western border of the District. Myaungmya is a District of recent creation, and its head-quarters is one of the smallest in the Province. The population in 1901 was 4,711. Portions of the urban area are low- lying, but the civil station is not unpleasantly situated on fairly high ground behind the native houses which cluster round the river bank. There is little of note in the history of the town beyond what is embodied in the District article. It was the scene of the first rising among the Karens in 1853, and became the District head-quarters forty years later.
It contains no pagodas or other remains of more than local importance. The municipality of Myaungmya was estab- lished in 1886. The municipal income during the ten years ending T901 averaged Rs. 18,000. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 26,000, principally derived from tolls on markets (Rs. 17,500) and house tax (Rs. 2,000). The expenditure amounted to Rs. 36,000, the chief items of outlay being conservancy (Rs. 5,000) and hospitals (Rs. 5,800). The only large municipal scheme worthy of mention is the construction of a market recently undertaken at a cost of Rs. 44,000. There are no industries of importance in the town. The municipal school is the most important in the District, with an attendance of about 100 scholars. The municipal hospital has thirty beds.
