- Shwebo, Sagaing
Shwebo is a city in the
Sagaing Division ofMyanmar , located 113 km northwest ofMandalay on the eastern bank of theChindwin River . It is served by the Mandalay-Myitkyina railway line, but is best reached bypickup truck orbus as the roads from Mandalay andMonywa are in reasonably good shape.History
Shwebo became the royal
capital of Burma under KingAlaungpaya , a Shwebo native, from 1752 till 1764. He used the city as a base from which he led a successful rebellion against the Mon overlords and conqueredAva andLower Burma , establishing theKonbaung Dynasty and the Third Burmese Empire. Five titles had been conferred to the city namely:
*# Yadana-theinhka
*# Konbaung
*# Moksobo, its original name
*# Yangyi-aung, and
*# Shwebo, its modern name.cite web|url=http://dlxs.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=sea;cc=sea;sid=c54ccfd29dcac09983c9221eabbcd67e;rgn=full%20text;idno=sea282;view=image;seq=478 |title="Wanderings in Burma"|first=George W|last=Bird|year=1897|publisher=F J Bright & Son|location= England|pages=328,329,332]Alaungpaya's oldest son and successor, King
Naungdawgyi (1760-1764), was crowned atSagaing , and his second son, KingHsinbyushin (1764-1776), moved the capital back toAva when he succeeded his brother. Men of Shwebo are proud of their tradition of serving the Konbaung kings, and it was to Shwebo thatMindon Min went in 1853 to raise the standard of rebellion in his successful bid to overthrow his half brotherPagan Min .Near Shwebo lies the site of the ancient
Pyu city-state ofHanlin .Economy and tourism
As with
Monywa , the city is atrade center for agriculturalproduce , especiallybeans ,rice andsesame from the surroundingplains between the River Mu and theAyeyarwady River .The major tourist attractions in Shwebo, although few tourists make the journey and facilities are very limited, are its numerous
Buddhist temple s, and theruin s of Alaungpaya's palace. The city is still surrounded by its ancientmoat . There are manypagoda s, such as Shwe-taza paya and Myodaunk zedi.In the very hot
summer , people who live in Shwebo believe thatrain comes when people bring the Shwe-taza Buddha image around the town.Fact|date=February 2007The town is home to the
Shwebo Degree College .References
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