Myohaung Village
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.
Myohaung Village
('Old town'). — Head-quarters of the township of the same name in Akyab District, Lower Burma, situated in 20° 35' N. and 93° 12 E., on a branch of the Kaladan, about 40 miles from Akyab and the Bay of Bengal. This village was formerly the capital of the ancient kingdom of Arakan. The seat of government is said to have been moved here from Dwarawadi, farther south in Sandoway District, about the close of the tenth century, in consequence of aggressions across the Arakan Yoma from the kingdom of Prome ; and Myohaung remained the capital till Arakan was finally absorbed into the kingdom of Ava in the eighteenth century.
In the first Burmese War Myohaung was one of the earliest points of attack. It was besieged by a British division which had marched by land from Bengal, and was captured after a stubborn resistance at the end of March, 1825. On Arakan passing under British rule at the close of the war, the official head-quarters were not located in the ancient capital, but in the more accessible Akyab, at the mouth of the Kaladan ; and Myohaung is now little more than a village. In 1901 its population amounted to 2,833.
The ruins of the ancient fort are still in existence ; they consist of three square enclosures, one within the other, surrounded by masonry walls of very considerable thickness, built of stone and brick set in cement. The openings in the hills surrounding Myohaung also con- tain remains of defences. In the village itself the site of the old palace is still traceable.
