74 



KASTt-:UN *ii':or;|[Al'i[V. 



residence, a practice which rtpjHVirH to have prevailed ever *inr« the 

 introduction of Buddhism ?orac 400 years before the Christian era. 

 During tlie early period the centre of authority lay far to the rioutli, 

 gradually moving from Pronn: through Pagan and Ponya northwards- 

 to ftiguin nit tli« M'l lurk, ami themv m lift; I tu A va, at i n in- 

 fluence df tlie Myitngai at tlie opposite side of the Imwaddy. 



Ava, which often gives ii^ nanu to tin- whoh» country, remained 

 the metropolis for nearly five centuries (1364 — 1837), except from 

 17S3 — 1 8- 1 ft, when il WU replaced in the royal favour by Amara- 

 ] 'UT. l, wlii-li ••! live mil--. further in ink on tin. 1 klimc t-hh- of i lie 

 river. In tin* t'"Uii uus ajjatn removed tu AniJinipi'ira, and ill 

 1857 to the present capital, Mandalay. a little further north t hut 

 about two miles from I he fhank of the river. The two placet are 

 DOdUMOfu by a long line of bolides, magazine,*, and dockyard*, and 

 Isjth are laid ont on the same plan, forming a regular square with 

 brick walls, and in thauvnlrc « second quadrangular ppace containing 

 Hie royal quarter. The mathematical centre of Mandalay is occupied 

 by a seven-Ftoried gilded tnwr mark in ^ the? *p"i whetv ^landa the 

 royal throne, reprint Itig iln> sarrnl Mount Mltu nf Hindu my- 

 thology. Malay lies so low that by the bursting of the embankment 

 in August it was lb .udvd to a ib-plli of from lOio'JO fret. Tt 



js reached by iurge steamers while vessel* drawing three feet ascend 

 to the Tapeng eonftsmnec above Blmmo. 



IVlow M.-mdalay there i* no town worthy of the name until wc 

 reach Mfri Kyan t opposite the Kyen-dwen confluence, in a rich rice- 

 firowiinj* district, and at present the most flourishing trading plane in 

 L'p|HT luirmali. The Kviis-dweii,. by far the hirgent tributary of 

 the Irawaddy, given accsss from this place to the fertile plain of 

 Mauipor, a Uriti-h va-^d Stale near the ,\«mi Iri mtii-r, while it-' 

 furthest head mHveuuh penetrate far into the Singpo and Khaiuti 

 hill* far to the north-west of Bhatno. A few miles laelnw Myi- 

 Kyan the left bank of the Imwaddy is strewn with the ruins of the 

 historical city of Paf/an, covering a space of over 16 *niar« titiles t 

 and including nearly 1000 pagoda*, many still in a good stab" of 

 preservation, a statue over 1<J0 feet long, and other object* of great 

 interest, According to the lucal tradition the shrinks, originally 

 numbered 9999, but some C00O had to be destroyed in order to 

 strengthen the defensive works when Pagan was bejwgtol by the 

 Chinese in 1234, This place, although founded obmtt the year 

 is sometimes called Xew Pagan, to distinguish it from the still mora 

 iito k-ht Old Patfan f *llQ miles higher tip the Imwaddy, whl<-li was 

 already a royal capital in the second century of the new era. 



