1538–39:
148-522: 1541–42: 1543–44: 1544–45: 1538–1539: 1541–42: 1543–44: 1544–45: The Toungoo–Ava War (1538–1545) ( Burmese : တောင်ငူ–အင်းဝ စစ် (၁၅၃၈–၁၅၄၅) ) was a military conflict that took place in present-day Lower and Central Burma (Myanmar) between the Toungoo Dynasty , and the Ava -led Confederation of Shan States , Hanthawaddy Pegu , and Arakan (Mrauk-U) . Toungoo's decisive victory gave
296-560: A pitch-register language like Shanghainese . There are four contrastive tones in Burmese. In the following table, the tones are shown marked on the vowel /a/ as an example. For example, the following words are distinguished from each other only on the basis of tone: In syllables ending with /ɰ̃/ , the checked tone is excluded: In spoken Burmese, some linguists classify two real tones (there are four nominal tones transcribed in written Burmese), "high" (applied to words that terminate with
444-623: A second language by another 10 million people, including ethnic minorities in Myanmar like the Mon and also by those in neighboring countries. In 2022, the Burmese-speaking population was 38.8 million. Burmese is a tonal , pitch-register , and syllable-timed language , largely monosyllabic and agglutinative with a subject–object–verb word order. It is a member of the Lolo-Burmese grouping of
592-535: A break in the upcoming dry season (as he took a break in 1539–40 after his 1538–39 campaign). By the start of the next dry season in November 1541, neither Ava nor Mrauk-U had raised any sizable standing armies that could be dispatched to Prome. The allies' indecision and lack of preparation would come back to haunt them. It turned out that Tabinshwehti had decided to attack Prome right after the rainy season when no one expected him to. He secretly prepared for war throughout
740-552: A common set of tones, consonant clusters, and written script. However, several Burmese dialects differ substantially from standard Burmese with respect to vocabulary, lexical particles, and rhymes. Spoken Burmese is remarkably uniform among Burmese speakers, particularly those living in the Irrawaddy valley, all of whom use variants of Standard Burmese. The standard dialect of Burmese (the Mandalay - Yangon dialect continuum ) comes from
888-467: A considerable amount of passenger and goods traffic moves by river. As the Irrawaddy Delta is one of the world's major rice-growing areas, one of the most important goods transported is rice. Teak logs – Myanmar is one of the world's top exporters – are floated down the river as large rafts. Before it is transported, teak has to be seasoned, because otherwise it won't float. This happens by girdling ,
1036-545: A crucial time. The Arakanese navy had already taken Bassein and Myaungmya, two of the four key delta ports. But after hearing the news of their army's defeat, they decided to retreat. It was the best outcome the Toungoo command could have hoped for. Tabinshwehti was so pleased with Bayinnaung's victory that he appointed his childhood friend heir-apparent of his kingdom. Prome was now totally on its own. Still in late April, Tabinshwehti renewed his ultimatum that Prome submit, or receive
1184-519: A great cost. After two consecutive exhaustive dry-season campaigns, not only was Toungoo in no position to proceed any further but it was also concerned with a possible invasion by the Confederation. Toungoo was to get a much needed breather, however. For much of the rainy season of 1542, the Confederation chiefs were still coming to terms with their new leader Hkonmaing (son of Hkonmaing I of Onbaung), and had no time to plan for an invasion. Initially,
1332-409: A joint attack on Pegu. At Pegu, Tabinshwehti was ready. His land forces consisted of 12 regiments and 4 cavalry battalions (12,000 men, 800 horses, 80 elephants), and his navy consisted of 12 squadrons (9000 men, 800 large war boats, 300 fast war boats, 500 cargo boats). More importantly, his troops included foreign mercenaries who manned his much prized musket and artillery corps. On 7 December 1543,
1480-543: A lesser extent, Burmese has also imported words from Sanskrit (religion), Hindi (food, administration, and shipping), and Chinese (games and food). Burmese has also imported a handful of words from other European languages such as Portuguese . Here is a sample of loan words found in Burmese: Since the end of British rule, the Burmese government has attempted to limit usage of Western loans (especially from English) by coining new words ( neologisms ). For instance, for
1628-599: A major mud wedge with a distal depocenter, up to 60 m in thickness, has been deposited seaward in the Gulf of Martaban, extending to ~130 m water depth into the Martaban Depression. Further, 2) There is no evidence showing that modern sediment has accumulated or is transported into the Martaban Canyon; 3) There is a mud drape/blanket wrapping around the narrow western Myanmar Shelf in the eastern Bay of Bengal. The thickness of
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#17328632282511776-659: A monk]", Lower Burmese speakers use [sʰʊ́ɰ̃] instead of [sʰwáɰ̃] , which is the pronunciation used in Upper Burma. The standard dialect is represented by the Yangon dialect because of the modern city's media influence and economic clout. In the past, the Mandalay dialect represented standard Burmese. The most noticeable feature of the Mandalay dialect is its use of the first person pronoun ကျွန်တော် , kya.nau [tɕənɔ̀] by both men and women, whereas in Yangon,
1924-647: A narrow valley between forest-covered mountain ranges—the ridge of the Arakan Mountains to the west and that of the Pegu Yoma Mountains to the east. The delta of the Irrawaddy begins about 93 kilometres (58 mi) above Hinthada (Henzada) and about 290 kilometres (180 mi) from its curved base, which faces the Andaman Sea. The westernmost distributary of the delta is the Pathein (Bassein) River, while
2072-478: A peace treaty with Toungoo in which Ava formally ceded all of Central Burma between Pagan and Prome. Ava would be beset by the rebellion for the next six years while an emboldened Toungoo would turn its attention to conquering Arakan in 1545–47 , and Siam in 1547–49 . In the early 16th century, the present-day Myanmar (Burma) comprised several small kingdoms. The Ava Kingdom , the principal power in Upper Burma in
2220-416: A practice where a deep circular cut through bark and sapwood is made into the heartwood. Other major goods that are transported from the nation's heartlands to Yangon for export are other foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton, and local commodities. Commercial transportation on the Irrawaddy is maintained for about 1,300 kilometres (810 mi): from Hinthada to Bhamo (1,080 kilometres (670 mi)) throughout
2368-484: A steady stream of refugees. Then, in 1527, the Confederation finally defeated Ava, and in 1532, its erstwhile ally Prome. Its paramount leader Sawlon I of Mohnyin had now reunited most of Upper Burma and cis- Salween Shan states for the first time since 1480. Toungoo, the only remaining holdout, was his "obvious next target." Fortunately for Toungoo, Sawlon I was assassinated in 1533 on his return trip from Prome, and his son and successor Thohanbwa , based out of Ava,
2516-466: A stop or check, high-rising pitch) and "ordinary" (unchecked and non-glottal words, with falling or lower pitch), with those tones encompassing a variety of pitches. The "ordinary" tone consists of a range of pitches. Linguist L. F. Taylor concluded that "conversational rhythm and euphonic intonation possess importance" not found in related tonal languages and that "its tonal system is now in an advanced state of decay." The syllable structure of Burmese
2664-478: Is C(G)V((V)C), which is to say the onset consists of a consonant optionally followed by a glide , and the rime consists of a monophthong alone, a monophthong with a consonant, or a diphthong with a consonant. The only consonants that can stand in the coda are /ʔ/ and /ɰ̃/ . Some representative words are: Irrawaddy river The Irrawaddy River ( Burmese : ဧရာဝတီမြစ် , pronounced [ʔèjàwədì mjɪʔ] , official romanisation: Ayeyarwady )
2812-728: Is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar , where it is the official language , lingua franca, and the native language of the Bamar , the country's principal ethnic group. Burmese is also spoken by the indigenous tribes in Chittagong Hill Tracts ( Rangamati , Bandarban , Khagrachari , Cox's Bazar ) in Bangladesh, and in Mizoram state in India. The Constitution of Myanmar officially refers to it as
2960-596: Is a separate river, tributary to the Yangon . After Rudyard Kipling 's poem, the river is sometimes referred to as ' The Road to Mandalay '. The Irrawaddy River bisects Myanmar from north to south and empties through the nine-armed Irrawaddy Delta into the Indian Ocean. The Irrawaddy River arises by the confluence of the N'mai (Nam Gio) and Mali Rivers in Kachin State . Both the N'mai and Mali Rivers find their sources in
3108-612: Is derived from Pali . Irāvatī or Airāvatī ( Erāvatī in Pali) is the name of the elephant mount of Sakka and Indra in Hinduism. Saka is an important deva in Buddhism and elephants were often a symbol for water and were used as the name for several other rivers, such as the Achiravati . It can also be based on Iravati , who birthed the mythological elephant. The Irrawaddy gives its name to
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#17328632282513256-572: Is involved, Kansai Electric Power Company . Due to its location and size, construction of the Myitsone Dam has raised significant ecological and sociological concerns. According to the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam Multipurpose Water Utilizing Project study, the maximum water level of the reservoir will be 290 metres. This makes for a flood zone of 766 km , compromising 47 villages. Other consequences of
3404-460: Is made up of fanlike marshes with oxbow lakes , islands, and meandering streams . Birds of the delta are both winter visitors and passage migrants including great cormorant ( Phalacrocorax carbo ), a wide variety of Anatidae , Eurasian coot ( Fulica atra ), about thirty species of migratory shorebirds , the whiskered tern ( Chlidonias hybrida ), the Caspian tern ( Hydroprogne caspia ), and
3552-456: Is no longer under construction at the convergence of these rivers. The town of Bhamo , about 240 kilometres (150 mi) south of the Mali and N'mai river confluence, is the northernmost city reachable by boat all year round although during the monsoons most of the river cannot be used by boats. The city of Myitkyina lies 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of the confluence and can be reached during
3700-442: Is pronounced [mõ̀ũndã́ĩ] . The vowels of Burmese are: The monophthongs /e/ , /o/ , /ə/ , /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ occur only in open syllables (those without a syllable coda ); the diphthongs /ei/ , /ou/ , /ai/ and /au/ occur only in closed syllables (those with a syllable coda). /ə/ only occurs in a minor syllable , and is the only vowel that is permitted in a minor syllable (see below). The close vowels /i/ and /u/ and
3848-519: Is the largest river in Myanmar . Originating from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows from north to south before emptying through the Irrawaddy Delta in the Ayeyarwady Region into the Andaman Sea. Its drainage basin of about 404,000 square kilometres (156,000 sq mi) covers 61% of the land area of Burma , and contains five of its largest cities. As early as
3996-453: Is the most important for plant life, is atmospheric humidity . This is always high, except in the winter in certain localities. Humidity usually does not fall below 75% and is 90% or more for long periods during summer. Another feature is the prevalent southerly summer winds which erode the soil of the basin. The natural habitats of this central zone have been much altered for farming and there are few protected areas. The predominant trees of
4144-580: Is the value of the four native final nasals: ⟨မ်⟩ /m/ , ⟨န်⟩ /n/ , ⟨ဉ်⟩ /ɲ/ , ⟨င်⟩ /ŋ/ , as well as the retroflex ⟨ဏ⟩ /ɳ/ (used in Pali loans) and nasalisation mark anusvara demonstrated here above ka (က → ကံ) which most often stands in for a homorganic nasal word medially as in တံခါး tankhá 'door', and တံတား tantá 'bridge', or else replaces final -m ⟨မ်⟩ in both Pali and native vocabulary, especially after
4292-635: Is the word "moon", which can be လ la̰ (native Tibeto-Burman), စန္ဒာ/စန်း [sàndà]/[sã́] (derivatives of Pali canda 'moon'), or သော်တာ [t̪ɔ̀ dà] (Sanskrit). The consonants of Burmese are as follows: According to Jenny & San San Hnin Tun (2016 :15), contrary to their use of symbols θ and ð, consonants of သ are dental stops ( /t̪, d̪/ ), rather than fricatives ( /θ, ð/ ) or affricates. These phonemes, alongside /sʰ/ , are prone to merger with /t, d, s/ . An alveolar /ɹ/ can occur as an alternate of /j/ in some loanwords. The final nasal /ɰ̃/
4440-486: The [ ɹ ] sound, which has become [ j ] in standard Burmese. Moreover, Arakanese features a variety of vowel differences, including the merger of the ဧ [e] and ဣ [i] vowels. Hence, a word like "blood" သွေး is pronounced [θw é ] in standard Burmese and [θw í ] in Arakanese. The Burmese language's early forms include Old Burmese and Middle Burmese . Old Burmese dates from
4588-569: The /l/ medial, which is otherwise only found in Old Burmese inscriptions. They also often reduce the intensity of the glottal stop . Beik has 250,000 speakers while Tavoyan has 400,000. The grammatical constructs of Burmese dialects in Southern Myanmar show greater Mon influence than Standard Burmese. The most pronounced feature of the Arakanese language of Rakhine State is its retention of
Toungoo–Ava War - Misplaced Pages Continue
4736-601: The Battle of Naungyo by light forces of Gen. Kyawhtin Nawrahta (Bayinnaung). Only a weakened Hanthawaddy force made it to Prome. The rapid turn of events caught everyone by surprise. Narapati immediately asked Ava for help. While a flatfooted Thohanbwa scrambled to round up the troops, about 7000 Toungoo land and naval forces converged on Prome, the gateway to central Burma. But the city's fortified defenses held out long enough. Finally, 5000 Ava troops arrived in 300 war boats to break up
4884-589: The Bay of Bengal and South-East Asia. Along the north–south course of the Irrawaddy River, a number of notably different ecoregions can be distinguished. The streams of the Nmai and Mali that form the Irrawaddy originate in high and remote mountains near the border with Tibet . This part of Myanmar, which extends north from Myitkyina and the Irrawaddy confluence, lies entirely outside the tropics. Rain falls at all seasons of
5032-518: The Burmese alphabet began employing cursive-style circular letters typically used in palm-leaf manuscripts , as opposed to the traditional square block-form letters used in earlier periods. The orthographic conventions used in written Burmese today can largely be traced back to Middle Burmese. Modern Burmese emerged in the mid-18th century. By this time, male literacy in Burma stood at nearly 50%, which enabled
5180-602: The English language in the colonial educational system, especially in higher education. In the 1930s, the Burmese language saw a linguistic revival, precipitated by the establishment of an independent University of Rangoon in 1920 and the inception of a Burmese language major at the university by Pe Maung Tin , modeled on Anglo Saxon language studies at the University of Oxford. Student protests in December of that year, triggered by
5328-629: The Irrawaddy River Valley, use a number of largely similar dialects, while a minority speak non-standard dialects found in the peripheral areas of the country. These dialects include: Arakanese in Rakhine State and Marma in Bangladesh are also sometimes considered dialects of Burmese and sometimes as separate languages. Despite vocabulary and pronunciation differences, there is mutual intelligibility among Burmese dialects, as they share
5476-669: The Mon people , who until recently formed the majority in Lower Burma . Most Mon loanwords are so well assimilated that they are not distinguished as loanwords, as Burmese and Mon were used interchangeably for several centuries in pre-colonial Burma. Mon loans are often related to flora, fauna, administration, textiles, foods, boats, crafts, architecture, and music. As a natural consequence of British rule in Burma , English has been another major source of vocabulary, especially with regard to technology, measurements, and modern institutions. English loanwords tend to take one of three forms: To
5624-522: The Myanma Salonpaung Thatpon Kyan ( မြန်မာ စာလုံးပေါင်း သတ်ပုံ ကျမ်း ), was compiled in 1978 by the commission. Burmese is a diglossic language with two distinguishable registers (or diglossic varieties ): The literary form of Burmese retains archaic and conservative grammatical structures and modifiers (including affixes and pronouns) no longer used in the colloquial form. Literary Burmese, which has not changed significantly since
5772-452: The Myanmar language in English, though most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese , after Burma —a name with co-official status that had historically been predominantly used for the country. Burmese is the most widely-spoken language in the country, where it serves as the lingua franca . In 2007, it was spoken as a first language by 33 million. Burmese is spoken as
5920-605: The Pyu language . These indirect borrowings can be traced back to orthographic idiosyncrasies in these loanwords, such as the Burmese word "to worship", which is spelt ပူဇော် ( pūjo ) instead of ပူဇာ ( pūjā ), as would be expected by the original Pali orthography. The transition to Middle Burmese occurred in the 16th century. The transition to Middle Burmese included phonological changes (e.g. mergers of sound pairs that were distinct in Old Burmese) as well as accompanying changes in
6068-728: The Sino-Tibetan language family . The Burmese alphabet is ultimately descended from a Brahmic script , either the Kadamba or Pallava alphabets. Burmese belongs to the Southern Burmish branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages , of which Burmese is the most widely spoken of the non- Sinitic languages. Burmese was the fifth of the Sino-Tibetan languages to develop a writing system, after Classical Chinese , Pyu , Old Tibetan and Tangut . The majority of Burmese speakers, who live throughout
Toungoo–Ava War - Misplaced Pages Continue
6216-497: The Sittaung River plain to the east of the delta was described in November 1877 as covering 300 square kilometres (100 sq mi) and containing millions of birds. Immense colonies still bred in the area in 1910, but the birds had disappeared completely by 1939. Small numbers were regularly reported in the delta in the 1940s, but no breeding sites were located. As of 2010 , no pelicans have been recorded, and it may well be that
6364-400: The [1] shows a 38% decrease in discharge compared to where the river enters the delta. it also silted up around 278 tons of sand every year. Variation between high and low water levels is also great. At Mandalay and Prome , a range of 9.66 to 11.37 metres (31.7–37.3 ft) has been measured between low-water level and flood level respectively. Because of the monsoonal character of
6512-469: The basin , the average population density is 79 people/km . For these people, the river supply amounts to 18,614 m per person per year. Collectively, the modern Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) and Thanlwin (Salween) rivers deliver >600 Mt/yr of sediment to the sea. Most recent study shows: 1) There is little modern sediment accumulating on the shelf immediately off the Ayeyarwady River mouths. In contrast,
6660-481: The brown-headed gull ( Larus brunnicephalus ), which is very common. One of the most numerous wintering shorebird is the lesser sand plover ( Charadrius mongolus ), which occurs in flocks of many thousands along the outer coast of the delta. The wood sandpiper ( Tringa glareola ) and red junglefowl ( Gallus gallus ) are also abundant. In the late 19th century, the spot-billed pelican ( Pelecanus philippensis ) nested in huge numbers in south Myanmar. One colony on
6808-450: The stone loach Malihkaia aligera in 2017), and it is likely that undescribed species remain. Among the most well-known species in the river is the Irrawaddy dolphin ( Orcaella brevirostris ), a euryhaline species of oceanic dolphin with a high and rounded forehead, lacking a beak. It is found in discontinuous sub-populations near sea coasts and in estuaries and rivers in parts of
6956-413: The 11th to the 16th century ( Pagan to Ava dynasties); Middle Burmese from the 16th to the 18th century ( Toungoo to early Konbaung dynasties); modern Burmese from the mid-18th century to the present. Word order , grammatical structure, and vocabulary have remained markedly stable well into Modern Burmese, with the exception of lexical content (e.g., function words ). The earliest attested form of
7104-457: The 13th century, is the register of Burmese taught in schools. In most cases, the corresponding affixes in the literary and spoken forms are totally unrelated to each other. Examples of this phenomenon include the following lexical terms: Historically the literary register was preferred for written Burmese on the grounds that "the spoken style lacks gravity, authority, dignity". In the mid-1960s, some Burmese writers spearheaded efforts to abandon
7252-581: The 14th and 15th centuries, had been fighting a long losing war against an alliance of its former vassal states: the Confederation of Shan States and Prome (Pyay) . Another former vassal state Toungoo (Taungoo) , hemmed in by the Bago Yoma range in the west and the Shan Hills in the east, stayed out of the internecine warfare raging in Upper Burma. As the only peaceful state in Upper Burma, Toungoo had received
7400-410: The 19th century, in addition to concomitant economic and political instability in Upper Burma (e.g., increased tax burdens from the Burmese crown, British rice production incentives, etc.) also accelerated the migration of Burmese speakers from Upper Burma into Lower Burma. British rule in Burma eroded the strategic and economic importance of the Burmese language; Burmese was effectively subordinated to
7548-459: The Andaman Sea through the Irrawaddy Delta. This ecoregion consists of mangroves and freshwater swamp forests. It is an extremely fertile area because of the river-borne silt deposited in the delta. The upper and central portions of the delta are almost entirely under cultivation , principally for rice. The southern portion of the ecoregion transitions into the Burmese Coast mangroves and
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#17328632282517696-475: The Arakanese command that Toungoo armies were still fighting Confederation forces north of the city, and that the Arakanese should attack the Toungoo armies from the rear. Armed with the misinformation, the unsuspecting Arakanese troops marched right into the trap, and were thoroughly routed by Toungoo muskets and artillery. Over 2000 were captured. Min Aung Hla and a few of his men barely escaped. The victory came at
7844-511: The Arakanese navy in the delta. Only the capital Pegu was defended with a rearguard army. Right after the Buddhist Lent , on 19 November 1541, Toungoo naval and land forces invaded. As expected, Confederation and Arakanese forces had not arrived. Taken by surprise, Prome's allies frantically raised their armies and navies. Their armies were to break the siege while the well-regarded Arakanese navy, equipped with Portuguese weaponry and mercenaries,
7992-455: The Arakanese navy, which had already taken two key Irrawaddy delta ports, retreated. Prome surrendered a month later. The war then entered an 18-month hiatus during which Arakan left the alliance, and Ava underwent a contentious leadership change. In December 1543, the largest army and naval forces of Ava and the Confederation came down to retake Prome. But Toungoo forces, which had now enlisted foreign mercenaries and firearms, not only drove back
8140-489: The Ava supply lines. Ava armies in the north tried to regain the strategic towns but were driven back each time. About a month later, c. late January/earlyFebruary 1544, the Confederation command decided to retreat. The retreating Confederation forces had to fight off the Toungoo armies led by Bayinnaung. They split into four smaller armies, and made their way to Salin , about 200 km north of Myede. Toungoo forces followed up on
8288-413: The Ava throne. In April/May 1545, Sawlon II sent Sithu Kyawhtin with an army (5000 men, 800 horses, 60 elephants), which went on to occupy Sagaing , the city directly across the Irrawaddy from Ava. During the rainy season, c. September 1545, Hkonmaing died, and was succeeded by his son Narapati III . The new king promptly sent a mission to Pegu to secure friendly relations in exchange for his recognition of
8436-521: The British in the lead-up to the independence of Burma in 1948. The 1948 Constitution of Burma prescribed Burmese as the official language of the newly independent nation. The Burma Translation Society and Rangoon University's Department of Translation and Publication were established in 1947 and 1948, respectively, with the joint goal of modernizing the Burmese language in order to replace English across all disciplines. Anti-colonial sentiment throughout
8584-552: The Buddhist clergy (monks) from the laity ( householders ), especially when speaking to or about bhikkhus (monks). The following are examples of varying vocabulary used for Buddhist clergy and for laity: Burmese primarily has a monosyllabic received Sino-Tibetan vocabulary. Nonetheless, many words, especially loanwords from Indo-European languages like English, are polysyllabic, and others, from Mon, an Austroasiatic language, are sesquisyllabic . Burmese loanwords are overwhelmingly in
8732-656: The Burmese language into Lower Burma also coincided with the emergence of Modern Burmese. As late as the mid-1700s, Mon , an Austroasiatic language, was the principal language of Lower Burma, employed by the Mon people who inhabited the region. Lower Burma's shift from Mon to Burmese was accelerated by the Burmese-speaking Konbaung Dynasty 's victory over the Mon-speaking Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom in 1757. By 1830, an estimated 90% of
8880-462: The Burmese language is called Old Burmese , dating to the 11th and 12th century stone inscriptions of Pagan . The earliest evidence of the Burmese alphabet is dated to 1035, while a casting made in the 18th century of an old stone inscription points to 984. Owing to the linguistic prestige of Old Pyu in the Pagan Kingdom era, Old Burmese borrowed a substantial corpus of vocabulary from Pali via
9028-462: The China – India route. By the twelfth century, a well-developed network of canals made for flourishing rice cultivation. Later, the river became a key economic tool of Imperial British interests, who set up trading ports along its shores. Today, the Irrawaddy is still the country's most important commercial waterway. Despite Mandalay's position as the chief rail and highway focus in northern Myanmar,
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#17328632282519176-608: The Confederation into another bout of leadership turmoil. The Confederation left the task of relieving its vassal Prome to Arakan alone.) For Toungoo, there was no time to waste. Right after the battle, the Toungoo command received intelligence that the Arakanese army led by Min Aung Hla , Viceroy of Sandoway (Thandwe), was crossing the Arakan Yoma range at the Padaung Pass, and that a sizable Arakanese navy led by Crown Prince Min Dikkha
9324-552: The Confederation land and naval forces left Ava to start the invasion. The invaders easily overran Toungoo defenses en route to Prome, gaining complete control around Prome by late December. They launched several attacks on the city but could not take the city. By then, the Toungoo command had determined that Ava would probably not open a second front. They moved most of their troops from the Toungoo theater, and massed all their land and naval forces at Tharrawaddy (Thayawadi), about 160 km south of Prome. In response, Hkonmaing lifted
9472-583: The Himalayan glaciers of Upper Burma near 28° N. The eastern branch of the two, N'mai, is the largest and rises in the Languela Glacier north of Putao . It is unnavigable because of the strong current whereas the smaller western branch, the Mali River, is navigable, despite a few rapids . Therefore, the Mali River is still called by the same name as the main river by locals. The controversial Myitsone Dam
9620-652: The Indo-Burma and South Central China biodiversity hotspots . The Mali and N'mai River confluence region falls within the Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rainforests , added to the WWF list of outstanding examples of biodiverse regions. The location of the Myitsone Dam, located less than 100 km from a fault line where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet, raised concerns about its earthquake resistance. Earthquakes in
9768-432: The Irrawaddy River valley. Regional differences between speakers from Upper Burma (e.g., Mandalay dialect), called anya tha ( အညာသား ) and speakers from Lower Burma (e.g., Yangon dialect), called auk tha ( အောက်သား ), largely occur in vocabulary choice, not in pronunciation. Minor lexical and pronunciation differences exist throughout the Irrawaddy River valley. For instance, for the term ဆွမ်း , "food offering [to
9916-718: The Irrawaddy dolphin ( Orcaella brevirostris ), which is found in the lower reaches of the river and known to help fishers who practice cast-net fishing . Though called the Irrawaddy dolphin, it has been also found in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean . During the Age of Discovery , the Irrawaddy was also known to European explorers as the Pegu as the main river of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom , itself known as Pegu after its capital, now romanized as Bago . The modern Pegu or Bago River
10064-416: The Irrawaddy, they waited with their artillery and muskets ready. Cavalry from both sides engaged first. Toungoo cavalry retreated, drawing Confederation cavalry and vanguard battalions into the firing zone, who were subsequently wiped out. The Ava command sent two more waves but both were driven back with heavy losses. Then, all three Toungoo armies counterattacked, with their elephant and cavalry corps leading
10212-411: The Myitsone Dam construction will alter the hydrological characteristics of the river, e.g. preventing sediment from enriching riverbanks downstream, where it usually enriches the riverside food-producing plains. This can affect fertility as far downstream as the Irrawaddy Delta , the major rice-producing area of Myanmar. Ecological concerns focus on the inundation of an area that is the border of
10360-431: The OB vowel *u e.g. ငံ ngam 'salty', သုံး thóum ('three; use'), and ဆုံး sóum 'end'. It does not, however, apply to ⟨ည်⟩ which is never realised as a nasal, but rather as an open front vowel [iː] [eː] or [ɛː] . The final nasal is usually realised as nasalisation of the vowel. It may also allophonically appear as a homorganic nasal before stops. For example, in /mòʊɰ̃dáɪɰ̃/ ('storm'), which
10508-488: The Prome command to know that only a skeleton crew was in charge of the "siege". Meanwhile, the Arakanese army (5000 troops, 200 horses, 100 elephants) had just come out of the Padaung pass. Its commander Min Aung Hla had set up camp about five marches away from Prome in order to gather intelligence. Unsure of the Arakanese strength, Bayinnaung plotted to lure the Arakanese to a place where he could ambush them. He sent five men pretending to be messengers from Prome, who informed
10656-761: The South-East Asian region, with most going to China. Other countries targeted for power export are Thailand , India and Bangladesh . The largest of the seven, the Myitsone Dam , is located at the confluence of the Mali and N'Mai Rivers at the creation of the Irrawaddy. Although the China Power Investment Corporation is project manager of the Confluence Region Hydropower Projects. ParConfluence Region Hydropower Projects, several companies have been or are currently involved in
10804-491: The adoption of neologisms. An example is the word "university", formerly ယူနီဗာစတီ [jùnìbàsətì] , from English university , now တက္ကသိုလ် [tɛʔkət̪ò] , a Pali-derived neologism recently created by the Burmese government and derived from the Pali spelling of Taxila ( တက္ကသီလ Takkasīla ), an ancient university town in modern-day Pakistan. Some words in Burmese may have many synonyms, each having certain usages, such as formal, literary, colloquial, and poetic. One example
10952-514: The chief of Onbaung , approached the northern perimeter. The armies consisted of troops from Upper Burma, as well as from four members of the Confederation ( Mohnyin , Mogaung , Hsipaw , Momeik ). To meet the enemy, Tabinshwehti fielded three armies, each of which consisted of 3000 men, 700 horses, and 50 elephants. The overall commander Bayinnaung led one of the armies while Thiri Zeya Kyawhtin and Saw Lagun Ein respectively commanded armies to his left and right. One day's march north of Prome by
11100-399: The city, completing Toungoo's conquest of all three Hanthawaddy provinces. Although the siege presented the Confederation and Arakan with several opportunities to attack Toungoo's lightly defended northern perimeter and southern delta, they took no action. Even after Martaban's fall, they still did not raise armies to reinforce Prome. They appeared to have calculated that Tabinshwehti would take
11248-525: The close portions of the diphthongs are somewhat mid-centralized ( [ɪ, ʊ] ) in closed syllables, i.e. before /ɰ̃/ and /ʔ/ . Thus နှစ် /n̥iʔ/ ('two') is phonetically [n̥ɪʔ] and ကြောင် /tɕàũ/ ('cat') is phonetically [tɕàʊ̃] . Burmese is a tonal language , which means phonemic contrasts can be made on the basis of the tone of a vowel. In Burmese, these contrasts involve not only pitch , but also phonation , intensity (loudness), duration, and vowel quality. However, some linguists consider Burmese
11396-498: The coasts of the Rakhine State and Tanintharyi Region . On the Chindwin River , transportation is carried on by steam or diesel vessels throughout the year up to Homalin —about 640 km from its confluence with the Irrawaddy. Seasonal navigation is carried on into Tamanthi , which is 57 miles (92 km) by river above Homalin. The Chindwin valley has no railroad and relies heavily on river transport. Chauk , downstream from
11544-479: The confluence in the oil-field district, is a petroleum port. It is linked to Yangon by road and rail. Hinthada , near the apex of the delta, is the rail junction for lines leading to Kyangin and Bassein (Pathein). A ferry operates between Hinthada on the west bank and the railway station at Tharrawaw on the east bank. Myanmar's military junta signed an agreement with China Power Investment Corporation in May 2007 for
11692-534: The construction of seven hydroelectric dams along the Irrawaddy, Mali , and N'Mai River in Kachin State. The total planned output of all seven plants will be 15,160 MWs of electricity, making it the largest hydropower project in Myanmar, surpassing the 7100 MW Tasang Dam in Shan State. The following data is available for the dam locations: The power generated by the dams will be transmitted to other countries in
11840-460: The construction of seven hydroelectric dams , yielding a total of 13,360 MW, in the N'mai and Mali Rivers, including the 3600 MW Myitsone Dam at the confluence of both rivers. Environmental organisations have raised concerns about the project's ecological impact on the river's biodiverse ecosystems . Animals potentially impacted include the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin and the critically endangered Ganges shark . The name "Irrawaddy"
11988-415: The country with numbers as high as 10,000 animals, but in the last decade numbers have dwindled, partly due to transferring the animals to logging camps. Other species reported to be present include the leopard , Bengal tiger , crab-eating macaque , wild dog , and otters ( Panthera pardus, P. tigris, Cuon alpinus , and Lutra species). The saltwater crocodile ( Crocodylus porosus ) can be found in
12136-593: The country. These varieties include the Yaw , Palaw, Myeik (Merguese), Tavoyan and Intha dialects . Despite substantial vocabulary and pronunciation differences, there is mutual intelligibility among most Burmese dialects. Below is a summary of lexical similarity between major Burmese dialects: Dialects in Tanintharyi Region , including Palaw, Merguese, and Tavoyan, are especially conservative in comparison to Standard Burmese. The Tavoyan and Intha dialects have preserved
12284-451: The drier patches are the thorny Terminalia oliveri and the hardwood dahat teak ( Tectona hamiltoniana ) with stands of Indaing ( Dipterocarpus tuberculatus ) which is cut for timber. The wildlife includes many birds, small mammals and reptiles such as the huge Burmese python . However, most of the large animals including the tiger have been hunted out or seen their habitats disappear. The Irrawaddy River and its tributaries flow into
12432-618: The dry season of 1543–44. The invasion would have to be by the Confederation itself. The chiefs apparently were not able to persuade King Min Bin of Arakan to stay in the alliance; Mrauk-U did not contribute any troops. By December 1543, the seven chiefs of the Confederation had assembled a large army (16,000 army troops, 1000 horses, 120 elephants) and a large navy (12,000 troops, 300 large war boats, 300 fast war boats, 500 cargo boats). They planned to take Prome with their massive naval and land forces; fortify Prome; launch an attack on Toungoo; and launch
12580-506: The dry season. Between Myitkyina and Mandalay , the Irrawaddy flows through three well-marked defiles : This sheet of lava is the Singu Plateau , a volcanic field from the Holocene . This field consists of magma from the fissure vents and covers an area of about 62 square kilometres (24 sq mi). The plateau is also known as Letha Taung. Leaving this plateau at Kyaukmyaung ,
12728-647: The early post-independence era led to a reactionary switch from English to Burmese as the national medium of education, a process that was accelerated by the Burmese Way to Socialism . In August 1963, the socialist Union Revolutionary Government established the Literary and Translation Commission (the immediate precursor of the Myanmar Language Commission ) to standardize Burmese spelling, diction, composition, and terminology. The latest spelling authority, named
12876-561: The easternmost stream is the Yangon River, on the left bank of which stands Myanmar's former capital city, Yangon (Rangoon). Because the Yangon River is only a minor channel, the flow of water is insufficient to prevent Yangon Harbour from silting up, and dredging is necessary. The relief of the delta's landscape is low but not flat. The soils consist of fine silt, which is replenished continuously by fertile alluvium carried downstream by
13024-513: The end, Toungoo troops won the battle. Sithu Kyawhtin barely escaped, fleeing to the Chin Hills . Salin turned out to be the last battle of the war. After the successive battlefield defeats, the bickering between the Confederation's two main powers broke out in full force. Sawlon II of Mohnyin , who had only grudgingly agreed to Hkonmaing's takeover of the Ava throne, blamed Hkonmaing for the defeats, and now planned to put Sithu Kyawhtin I of Salin on
13172-623: The fate of Martaban. Minkhaung still refused, hoping that Toungoo would retreat once the rainy season began in a month. But Tabinshwehti made it clear through his emissaries that he no longer had to worry about Ava or Arakan, and that he would continue the siege even during the rainy season. Finally, on 19 May 1542, Minkhaung accepted the offer of amnesty, and surrendered. Minkhaung and his chief queen Thiri Hpone-Htut were sent to Toungoo. Tabinshwehti appointed one of his fathers-in-law Shin Nita viceroy of Prome. Toungoo's foothold in central Burma had come at
13320-418: The fish in the Irrawaddy river basin currently exists, but in 1996 it was estimated that there are about 200 species. In 2008, it was estimated that the Irrawaddy ecoregion is home to 119–195 species of fish found nowhere else in the world ( endemic ). Several new species of fish have been described from the Irrawaddy river basin in recent years (for example, the cyprinid Danio htamanthinus in 2016 and
13468-598: The form of nouns . Historically, Pali , the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism , had a profound influence on Burmese vocabulary. Burmese has readily adopted words of Pali origin; this may be due to phonotactic similarities between the two languages, alongside the fact that the script used for Burmese can be used to reproduce Pali spellings with complete accuracy. Pali loanwords are often related to religion, government, arts, and science. Burmese loanwords from Pali primarily take four forms: Burmese has also adapted numerous words from Mon, traditionally spoken by
13616-529: The fortified city. But the plan did not work. Salin fell in just three days (after a section of the walls was mined and brought down). Tabinshwehti appointed Shin Thiha, one of his servants since his birth, governor of Salin with the title of Sithu Kyawhtin II. The quick fall of Salin forced the Confederation armies to evacuate Pagan, and retreat farther north yet again. Toungoo forces now marched up to and took Pagan. Though Ava
13764-428: The highest positions of his government. By successfully gaining the loyalty of Hanthawaddy officials, the king now controlled much of Lower Burma's manpower and trade wealth, and for the first time gained access to Portuguese mercenaries and their firearms. This fortuitous combination of Toungoo's "more martial culture", and Lower Burma's manpower, access to foreign firearms, and maritime wealth to pay for them would enable
13912-520: The horizon, and ultimately decided on a limited attack across the new ill-defined border. In late 1544, they sent a small army (3000 troops, 300 horses) led by Sithu Kyawhtin I down the Irrawaddy. The Confederation army overran the Toungoo frontier garrisons at the border. At Salin, a senior official loyal to Sithu Kyawhtin I revolted, driving out Sithu Kyawhtin II (Shin Thiha). Sithu Kyawhtin I entered Salin unopposed. To be sure, this fortuitous takeover of Salin
14060-515: The introduction of English into matriculation examinations , fueled growing demand for Burmese to become the medium of education in British Burma; a short-lived but symbolic parallel system of "national schools" that taught in Burmese, was subsequently launched. The role and prominence of the Burmese language in public life and institutions was championed by Burmese nationalists, intertwined with their demands for greater autonomy and independence from
14208-480: The inundation include loss of farmland, loss of spawning habitat as fish can not swim upstream anymore. The Kachin Development Networking Group, a network of civil society groups and development organisations in Kachin State warn this will lead to a loss of income for fishermen. They report locals are also worried about the flooding of cultural sites in the flood zone. As with other large dam projects,
14356-504: The leadership of Mohnyin was deeply unsatisfied with Hkonmaing, who was put on the throne by the Ava court, not only because the heirs of Sawlon felt the throne of Ava was theirs but also because Hkonmaing's father was someone they bitterly fought against in the 1520s. In the end, in August/September 1542, the chiefs reluctantly decided to back Hkonmaing, and form a united front against a rising Toungoo. They agreed to invade Lower Burma in
14504-515: The literary form, asserting that the spoken vernacular form ought to be used. Some Burmese linguists such as Minn Latt , a Czech academic, proposed moving away from the high form of Burmese altogether. Although the literary form is heavily used in written and official contexts (literary and scholarly works, radio news broadcasts, and novels), the recent trend has been to accommodate the spoken form in informal written contexts. Nowadays, television news broadcasts, comics, and commercial publications use
14652-540: The loose alliance crucially failed to open a second front during the seven dry-season months of 1540–41 when Toungoo was struggling to conquer Martaban (Mottama). The allies were initially unprepared when Toungoo forces renewed the war against Prome in November 1541. Due to poor coordination, the armies of the Ava-led Confederation and Arakan were driven back by better organized Toungoo forces in April 1542, after which
14800-739: The men from a "small frontier outpost" to further wage war on their neighbors in the following decades. Other polities in the region were now forced to act. The chiefs of the dormant Confederation finally agreed to prepare for war. The western kingdom of Arakan (Mrauk-U) agreed to an alliance with Ava to defend Prome. At Martaban, the only remaining independent Hanthawaddy province, its ruler Saw Binnya had completely fortified his wealthy port, and enlisted Portuguese mercenaries and warships in his service. The Toungoo command decided to pick off Martaban first. In November 1540, three Toungoo armies (13,000 troops, 2,100 horses, 130 elephants), laid siege to Martaban. Seven months later, Toungoo forces brutally sacked
14948-400: The mud deposit is up to 20 m nearshore and gradually thins to the slope at −300 m water depth, and likely escapes into the deep Andaman Trench; 4) The estimated total amount of Holocene sediments deposited offshore is ~1290 × 10 tons. If we assume this has mainly accumulated since the middle Holocene highstand (~6000 yr BP) like other major deltas, the historical annual mean depositional flux on
15096-471: The new border with Ava. The king and the main army returned south in July/August 1544. At Ava, the Confederation appeared unsure how to respond. On one hand, they were unwilling to launch another full-scale invasion lest they be exposed to another counterattack. On the other hand, they were not yet ready to cede all of central Burma uncontested. When the dry season of 1544 arrived, they saw no Toungoo armies on
15244-655: The new de facto border between the two kingdoms. Tabinshwehti accepted the offer. Toungoo's decisive victory gave the upstart kingdom control of all of central Burma, and cemented its emergence as the largest polity in Burma since the fall of Pagan Empire in 1287. Indeed, "there was once more a king in Burma". In the following years, Ava and Mohnyin-backed Sagaing would be locked in a war until 1551, while an emboldened Toungoo would turn its attention to conquering Arakan in 1545–47 , and Siam in 1547–49 . Burmese language Burmese ( Burmese : မြန်မာဘာသာ ; MLCTS : Mranma bhasa ; pronounced [mjəmà bàθà] )
15392-450: The northern tip of Myanmar – the Kachin State – they cut long north–south alluvial plains and relatively narrow upland valleys between the 2,000 to 3,000 metres (7,000–10,000 ft) mountain ridges. The rivers joining the Irrawaddy are, from north to south: As early as the sixth century, the Bamars were using the Irrawaddy to gain power in the region through trade and transport on
15540-440: The numerically superior invasion force but also took over all of Central Burma up to Pagan (Bagan) by April 1544. In the following dry season, a small Ava army raided down to Salin but was destroyed by larger Toungoo forces. The successive defeats brought the long simmering disagreements between Ava and Mohnyin of the Confederation to the forefront. Faced with a serious Mohnyin-backed rebellion, Ava in 1545 sought and agreed to
15688-579: The population in Lower Burma self-identified as Burmese-speaking Bamars; huge swaths of former Mon-speaking territory, from the Irrawaddy Delta to upriver in the north, spanning Bassein (now Pathein) and Rangoon (now Yangon) to Tharrawaddy, Toungoo, Prome (now Pyay), and Henzada (now Hinthada), were now Burmese-speaking. The language shift has been ascribed to a combination of population displacement, intermarriage, and voluntary changes in self-identification among increasingly Mon–Burmese bilingual populations in
15836-555: The preparation, construction and financing of the 3,600 MW Myitsone Dam. Asia World Company has a key position, amidst Burmese Suntac Technologies and state-run Myanmar Electrical Power Enterprise, a state-owned utility enterprise responsible for power generation, transmission and distribution Chinese involvement comes from China Power Investment Corporation , China Southern Power Grid , Yunnan Machinery Equipment Import & Export Company Changjiang Institute of Surveying, Planning, Design and Research. At least one Japanese company
15984-550: The rain, the highest point is recorded in August, the lowest in February. This variation in water level makes it necessary for ports along the river to have separate landing ports for low- and high-water. Still, low water levels have caused problems for ports along the river, as in the Bamaw – Mandalay – Pyay sectors, the shallowest point is as shallow as 60 centimetres (2.0 ft). Within
16132-669: The rainy season (June to October) of 1541. Only King Minkhaung of Prome reinforced his city's defensive fortifications, and stockpiled supplies and provisions. By November, Tabinshwehti had assembled a 17,000-strong naval and land invasion force, his largest mobilization to date. His 13 naval squadrons (9000 troops, nearly 1400 war boats and transport boats) were commanded by ethnic Mon lords of Lower Burma while his army (8000 troops, 2500 horses, 300 elephants) were led by himself and Bayinnaung. As in Martaban, his troops now included much prized Portuguese mercenaries and their firearms. Their plan
16280-537: The region, such as the 5.3 magnitude earthquake that struck near the Myanmar-China border on 20 August 2008, prompted Naw Lar, the coordinator of the KDNG dam research project, to ask the junta to reconsider its dam projects. The river flows through or past the following cities: Until the construction of the Ava (Innwa) Bridge, a 16 span rail and road cantilever bridge built by the British colonial government in 1934,
16428-425: The region. Standardized tone marking in written Burmese was not achieved until the 18th century. From the 19th century onward, orthographers created spellers to reform Burmese spelling, because of ambiguities that arose over transcribing sounds that had been merged. British rule saw continued efforts to standardize Burmese spelling through dictionaries and spellers. Britain's gradual annexation of Burma throughout
16576-491: The retreating forces. Tabinshwehti himself led the navy while Bayinnaung commanded the army. The Confederation command, who had not expected a counteroffensive this deep into their own territory, were greatly concerned. They hastily planned to make a stand at Salin long enough for them to prepare their defenses farther (90 km) north in Pagan (Bagan). They left Mingyi Yan Taing, son of Governor Sithu Kyawhtin of Salin, in charge of
16724-453: The river follows a broad, open course through the central Dry Zone – the Bamar people's ancient cultural heartland – where large areas consist of alluvial flats. From Mandalay (the former capital of the kingdom of Myanmar), the river makes an abrupt westward turn before curving southwest to unite with the Chindwin River , after which it continues in a southwestern direction. It is probable that
16872-422: The river. As a result of heavy rainfall varying from 2,000 to 3,000 millimetres (79–118 in) a year in the delta, and the motion and sediment load of the river, the delta surface extends into the Andaman Sea at a rate of about 50 metres (160 ft) per year. Due to monsoonal rains, which occur between mid-May and mid-October, the volume of the Irrawaddy and its tributaries varies greatly throughout
17020-506: The said pronoun is used only by male speakers while ကျွန်မ , kya.ma. [tɕəma̰] is used by female speakers. Moreover, with regard to kinship terminology , Upper Burmese speakers differentiate the maternal and paternal sides of a family, whereas Lower Burmese speakers do not. The Mon language has also influenced subtle grammatical differences between the varieties of Burmese spoken in Lower and Upper Burma. In Lower Burmese varieties,
17168-515: The shelf would be 215 Mt/yr, which is equivalent to ~35% of the modern Ayeyarwady-Thanlwin rivers derived sediments; 5) Unlike other large river systems in Asia, such as the Yangtze and Mekong, this study indicates a bi-directional transport and depositional pattern controlled by the local currents that are influenced by tides, and seasonally varying monsoons winds and waves. No complete and precise list of all
17316-435: The siege and defend the homeland, and (4) resume the siege if the Arakanese were defeated. To defend the delta, they rushed four army and naval troops led by Smim Payu , Smim Bya Thamaik (later Minister-General Binnya Law), Smim Than-Kye, and Thiri Zeya Nawrahta. The four commanders were to defend four key delta towns ( Myaungmya , Bassein , Khebaung, Dala ). Smim Payu was the admiral of the southern Toungoo navy, which had
17464-737: The siege, and chased Toungoo forces back to the delta. The Confederation's advance was halted at Inbyaw Island ( အင်းပြောကျွန်း ) where six Confederation commanders, including Gen. Nawrahta of Kanni, were captured in a naval battle. It turned out to be the last battle of the season. Despite Takayutpi's repeated urges to push on, his allies decided not to proceed any further. A deeply frustrated Takayutpi died soon after while trying to catch wild elephants for his army. Narapati too died shortly after from dysentery. An uneasy stalemate ensued. In order to consolidate his gains in Lower Burma, Tabinshwehti moved his capital to Pegu in 1539; reappointed former Hanthawaddy lords to their posts; and appointed many of them to
17612-475: The siege, moved his army and navy to 3.2 km north of the city, and fortified their positions. The Toungoo navy led the counterattack. The larger and better equipped Toungoo war boats defeated smaller, less equipped Ava war boats. The surviving Ava war boats fled upriver, and were not heard from again. The Toungoo navy then sent 4000 troops who bypassed Prome and went on to occupy Thayet and Myede , about 60 km north of Prome, and successfully cut off from
17760-417: The siege, reasoning that it was more important to defend the delta. But others including Bayinnaung disliked an outright lifting of the siege because Prome's forces, they feared, could join in on an attack from the north. In the end, they settled on the proposal by Thiri Zeya Kyawhtin : (1) continue the appearance of a siege with a minimal force, (2) meet the enemy on both fronts, (3) if either front fails, lift
17908-447: The sixth century, the river was used for trade and transport, and an extensive network of irrigation canals was developed to support agriculture. The river is still of great importance as the largest commercial waterway of Myanmar. It also provides important ecosystem services to different communities and economic sectors, including agriculture, fisheries, and tourism. In 2007, Myanmar's military dictatorship signed an agreement for
18056-479: The south in a gambit to break out of its increasingly narrow realm. Although a united polity of Toungoo and Pegu could in theory challenge their possessions in western central Burma (the Prome to Pagan corridor along the Irrawaddy ), the Confederation's fractured leadership took no action. They apparently did not believe that the tiny Toungoo could defeat the larger, wealthier Pegu; or that Pegu's weak leader Takayutpi , who
18204-413: The southern part of the delta. The species was formerly abundant in coastal regions, but population numbers have decreased because of a combination of commercial skin hunting, habitat loss, drowning in fishing nets and over-collection of living animals to supply crocodile farms . It was at this river that a battle between a saltwater crocodile and a tiger was observed that ended with the reptile devouring
18352-467: The species is now extinct in Myanmar. Several species of large mammal occur in the delta, but their populations are small and scattered, with the possible exceptions of the Malayan sambar deer ( Cervus unicolor equinus ), Indian hog deer ( C. porcinus ), and wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), which have been reported from all Reserved Forests. Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus ) were once widespread throughout
18500-764: The spoken form or a combination of the spoken and simpler, less ornate formal forms. The following sample sentence reveals that differences between literary and spoken Burmese mostly occur in affixes: Burmese has politeness levels and honorifics that take the speaker's status and age in relation to the audience into account. The suffix ပါ pa is frequently used after a verb to express politeness. Moreover, Burmese pronouns relay varying degrees of deference or respect. In many instances, polite speech (e.g., addressing teachers, officials, or elders) employs feudal-era third person pronouns or kinship terms in lieu of first- and second-person pronouns. Furthermore, with regard to vocabulary choice, spoken Burmese clearly distinguishes
18648-475: The start of the 1538–39 dry season when Toungoo would change the course of history. In late 1538, Toungoo again opened its annual dry season campaign. It would have been like any previous one except that in a series of improbable events, Toungoo went on to conquer Lower Burma (except Martaban) in a blitz . By using a stratagem , Toungoo armies took Pegu without firing a shot. A few weeks later, Hanthawaddy's larger but poorly-led forces were decisively defeated at
18796-522: The tiger. Despite recent declines in the sea turtle populations, five species are known to nest in Myanmar at well known island and mainland beaches known as turtle-banks. These are the olive ridley sea turtle ( Lepidochelys olivacea ), the loggerhead sea turtle ( Caretta caretta ), the green sea turtle ( Chelonia mydas ), the hawksbill sea turtle ( Eretmochelys imbricata ), and the leatherback sea turtle ( Dermochelys coriacea ). The Irrawaddy River has five major tributaries. As they flow through
18944-448: The traditional homeland of Burmese speakers. The 1891 Census of India , conducted five years after the annexation of the entire Konbaung Kingdom , found that the former kingdom had an "unusually high male literacy" rate of 62.5% for Upper Burmans aged 25 and above. For all of British Burma , the literacy rate was 49% for men and 5.5% for women (by contrast, British India more broadly had a male literacy rate of 8.44%). The expansion of
19092-425: The underlying orthography . From the 1500s onward, Burmese kingdoms saw substantial gains in the populace's literacy rate , which manifested itself in greater participation of laymen in scribing and composing legal and historical documents, domains that were traditionally the domain of Buddhist monks, and drove the ensuing proliferation of Burmese literature , both in terms of genres and works. During this period,
19240-466: The unenviable task of facing the highly experienced Arakanese navy. Nanda Yawda was appointed commander of the remaining Toungoo war boats at Prome. To meet the Arakanese army, Bayinnaung formed three armies, each consisted of 2000 troops, 800 horses, and 50 elephants. He personally commanded the center army while Thiri Zeya Kyawhtin and Nanda Thingyan led the armies to his left and right respectively. They quietly left their positions since they did not want
19388-540: The upper Irrawaddy originally flowed south from Mandalay, discharging its water through the present Sittaung River to the Gulf of Martaban , and that its present westward course is geologically recent. Below its confluence with the Chindwin, the Irrawaddy continues to meander through the petroleum producing city of Yenangyaung , below which it flows generally southward. In its lower course, between Minbu and Pyay , it flows through
19536-448: The upstart kingdom control of all of central Burma, and cemented its emergence as the largest polity in Burma since the fall of Pagan Empire in 1287. The war began in 1538 when Ava, through its vassal Prome , threw its support behind Pegu in the four-year-old war between Toungoo and Pegu . After its troops broke the siege of Prome in 1539, Ava got its Confederation allies agreed to prepare for war, and formed an alliance with Arakan. But
19684-504: The valley of the middle Irrawaddy and lower Chindwin. It lies within the 'dry zone' and consists almost entirely of plains covered with the teak -dominated Irrawaddy moist deciduous forests ecoregion , which surrounds dry forest patches in drier areas. The central basin receives little rain (ave 650mm per year) although it does flood quickly during the July–October storms. The one meteorological factor which does not vary greatly, and which
19832-455: The verb ပေး ('to give') is colloquially used as a permissive causative marker, like in other Southeast Asian languages, but unlike in other Tibeto-Burman languages. This usage is hardly used in Upper Burmese varieties, and is considered a sub-standard construct. More distinctive non-standard varieties emerge as one moves farther away from the Irrawaddy River valley toward peripheral areas of
19980-435: The way. After a long battle, the Confederation armies were driven back. Over two thousand troops, including two of their commanders, over 300 horses, and 60 elephants were captured. Though both sides suffered heavy casualties, it proved to be a strategically important victory for Toungoo since it took the Confederation out of the equation for the time being. (Soon after, Thohanbwa was assassinated by his chief minister, throwing
20128-459: The wide circulation of legal texts, royal chronicles , and religious texts. A major reason for the uniformity of the Burmese language was the near-universal presence of Buddhist monasteries (called kyaung ) in Burmese villages. These kyaung served as the foundation of the pre-colonial monastic education system, which fostered uniformity of the language throughout the Upper Irrawaddy valley,
20276-410: The word "television", Burmese publications are mandated to use the term ရုပ်မြင်သံကြား (lit. 'see picture, hear sound') in lieu of တယ်လီဗီးရှင်း , a direct English transliteration. Another example is the word "vehicle", which is officially ယာဉ် [jɪ̃̀] (derived from Pali) but ကား [ká] (from English car ) in spoken Burmese. Some previously common English loanwords have fallen out of use with
20424-470: The year, but from Bhamo to Myitkyina (200 km) for only seven months. More than 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) of navigable waterways exist in the Irrawaddy delta, and there is a system of connecting canals. The Sittang is usable by smaller boats, but the Salween River , because of its rapids, is navigable for less than 160 kilometres (99 mi) from the sea. Small steamers and country boats also serve
20572-709: The year, but mostly in the summer. The valleys and lower hill ranges are covered with tropical and subtropical evergreen rainforest instead of monsoon (deciduous) forest. This region is characterised by subtropical and temperate forests of oak and pine are found at elevations above 900 metres (3,000 ft). This evergreen forest passes into sub-tropical pine forest at about 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) feet. Above 1,800 metres (5,900 ft), are forests of rhododendrons , and that in turn into evergreen conifer forest above 2,400 metres (7,900 ft) feet. The Irrawaddy river basin covers an approximate area of 255 81 km (31 sq mi). The Central Basin consists of
20720-539: The year. In summer, the melting of the snow and glaciers in Northern Burma add to the volume. The average discharge near the head of the delta is between a high of 32,600 cubic metres (1,150,000 cu ft) and a low of 2,300 cubic metres (81,000 cu ft) per second. The discharge can be as high as 40,393 cubic meter per second in the rainy season. Over a year, the discharge averages 15,112 cubic metres (533,700 cu ft). Further North, at Sagaing ,
20868-401: Was also facing an internal rebellion by Martaban (Mottama), could conquer either Toungoo or Martaban, much less pose a threat to Prome. At first, their nonchalance proved justified: Toungoo's annual dry-season raids of Lower Burma (1534–37) all failed while Pegu could not organize a counterattack against either Toungoo or Martaban. Closer to the battleground, however, King Narapati of Prome
21016-424: Was backed by no additional Ava troops, and could not last. Sithu Kyawhtin II returned with a 7000-strong army (2000 horses, 15 elephants). Though his army was outnumbered more than two-to-one, Sithu Kyawhtin I chose to make a stand. But Salin's defenses were breached on the second day. Inside the city, Sithu Kyawhtin I fought atop his war elephant, and even engaged Sithu Kyawhtin II, who was also on his war elephant. In
21164-428: Was increasingly concerned by Toungoo's deeper and longer raids with each successive campaign, and raised the alarm with Ava. In 1538, Prome, presumably with Ava's permission, entered into an alliance with Takayutpi. Though he had now taken sides, Thohanbwa still did not see a compelling reason to commit his troops, or ask his Confederation allies for additional troops. Indeed, no Ava or Confederation troops were in Prome at
21312-404: Was not accepted as the first among equals by other saophas (chiefs) of the Confederation. Without a strong leader, the Confederation suddenly ceased to be a unified force capable of combined action. The Toungoo leadership nonetheless concluded that their kingdom "had to act quickly if it wished to avoid being swallowed up" by the Confederation. In 1534, Toungoo began raiding Pegu's territory to
21460-407: Was now just another 160 km away, Tabinshwehti was unwilling to overstretch, and stopped the advance. At the ancient capital, he was crowned in the full ritual and ceremony of the great kings of Pagan. In order to consolidate his rule, he received oaths of allegiance by the hereditary chiefs and governors from the region, and appointed his loyalists to rule key towns. He set up sentinel garrisons at
21608-423: Was sailing past Cape Negrais . They had expected a land invasion but the size of the Arakanese naval force caught them by surprise. It was late April 1542. To refill his depleted forces, Tabinshwehti immediately ordered his vassals to raise more men, and send more provisions. But there was not enough time. The Toungoo command was split as to what to do next. One faction led by Gen. Nanda Thingyan recommended lifting
21756-435: Was to invade the delta from the south. Meanwhile, Toungoo forces launched attacks to take the city but could not break through the fortified city's musket and artillery fire. They were forced to set up a perimeter around the city. The stalemate lasted for nearly five months. It was only in April 1542 that the Confederation armies (16,000 troops, 1,000 horses, 80 elephants), led by Thohanbwa and Hkonmaing I of Onbaung–Hsipaw ,
21904-429: Was to take Prome quickly before Ava and Mrauk-U had time to come to its aid. In case of a long siege, they would take positions around the city would prevent Ava and Arakan forces from linking up, and they would drive the enemy separately. They however did not plan for a large Arakanese seaborne invasion; the delta was largely undefended. They believed their war boats intended for Prome, if necessary, could sail down to meet
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