Depeyin (; , also spelled Dabayin, Debayin, Depayin, or Tabayin) is a town in the

Sagaing Region Sagaing Region (, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative divisions of Myanmar, administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and longitude 94° 97' east. It is border ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Etymology

The town's classical name is (), which means 'continental theatre' or 'dyed field' in

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

. According to the

founding myth An origin myth is a type of myth that explains the beginnings of a natural or social aspect of the world. Creation myths are a type of origin myth narrating the formation of the universe. However, numerous cultures have stories that take place a ...

of Tabayin, when King Sithu I toured the land, the

gods A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

assumed the forms of goats and bleated as if they were thirsty. The king saw the signal of the deities and established a settlement on the spot thereafter. The settlement is named Dee-pae-yin''' ( Here-bleat-those) after the bleat of the divine goats.

History

The settlement of Depayin has been in existence for over 700 years and it was called Dhipaesyin''' ( ဓိပေအ်သျင်) during the Bagan Dynasty. Located a few kilometers west of

Shwebo Shwebo ( ) is a city in Sagaing Region, Burma, 110 km north-west of Mandalay between the Irrawaddy and the Mu rivers. The city was the origin of the Konbaung Dynasty, established by King Alaungpaya in 1752, that was the dominant politic ...

, the birthplace of

Konbaung dynasty The Konbaung dynasty (), also known as the Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်), was the last dynasty that ruled Burma from 1752 to 1885. It created the second-largest empire in history of Mya ...

, Tabayin was a major source of many Konbaung soldiers and officials, including the country's most famous general

Maha Bandula General Maha Bandula ( ; 6 November 1782 – 1 April 1825) was commander-in-chief of the Royal Burmese Armed Forces from 1821 until his death in 1825 in the First Anglo-Burmese War. Bandula was a key figure in the Konbaung dynas ...

. Having Tabayin as fief was a powerful symbol before one became king. King

Naungdawgyi Dabayin Min (), commonly known as Naungdawgyi ( ; 10 August 1734 – 28 November 1763) was the second king of Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar), from 1760 to 1763. He was a top military commander in his father Alaungpaya's reunification campai ...

was Prince of Tabayin before he became the second king of Konbaung dynasty in 1760. Crown Prince Thado Minsaw was another famous Prince of Tabayin, who conquered

Arakan Arakan ( or ; , ), formerly anglicised as Aracan, is the historical geographical name for the northeastern coastal region of the Bay of Bengal, covering present-day Bangladesh and Myanmar. The region was called "Arakan" for centuries. It is ...

(now Rakhine State) in 1784. In 1808, Thado Minsaw's son Prince of Sagaing (later King

Bagyidaw Bagyidaw (, ; also known as Sagaing Min, ; 23 July 1784 – 15 October 1846) was the seventh king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma from 1819 until his abdication in 1837. Prince of Sagaing, as he was commonly known in his day, was selected as cr ...

) inherited the title Prince of Tabayin. On 30 May 2003, pro-military mobs perpetrated the Tabayin Massacre, which occurred during a stop in Depayin by opposition leader

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

's nationwide tour. The last stanzas of a recent poem titled "Diparinga" (), which refers to the classical name of Debayin and extols the past glories of the place, by Khin Maung Than, raised the ire of the authorities as they read like a thinly veiled reference to the massacre. In October 2022, the nearby village of Let Yet Kone became the site of the Let Yet Kone massacre, during which the

Myanmar Armed Forces The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services includ ...

killed 13 civilians, including 6 schoolchildren.

Transport

Tabayin is linked to

Monywa Monywa (; ) is the largest city and capital city of Sagaing Region, Myanmar, located north-west of Mandalay on the eastern bank of the River Chindwin. Monywa is one of the largest economic cities in Myanmar. It is also known as 'Neem City' beca ...

Budalin Budalin is a town in Budalin Township, Monywa District, Sagaing Division in Myanmar (Burma). As the administrative center of Budalin Township, it serves as a vital center for local governance and is connected by road and rail to neighboring areas, ...

, Ye-U and Kin-U by road.

Villages

Tabayin Township is also subdivided into 56 Village Tracts which include Ywar Shey Village Tract, Khun Taung Village Tract, Ta Nei Village Tract, Pauk Taw Village Tract, Bagan Village Tract, Let Tee Village Tract, Yin Dway Village Tract, Kyi Village Tract, Wa Bar Village Tract, Taw Kyaung Village Tract, In Taing Lay Village Tract, Sat Pyar Kyin Village Tract, In Boke Village Tract, Paung Taw Ku Village Tract, Na Gar Twin Village Tract, In Taing Gyi Village Tract, Tha Yet Kyin Village Tract, Saing Pyin Village Tract, Kya Khat Village Tract, Pyan Kya Village Tract, Min Te Kone Village Tract, Min Swe Hnit Village Tract, Tha Peik Le Village Tract, Ma Gyi Zauk Village Tract, Ein Yar Village Tract, Thein Bar Village Tract, Ye Kyi Waa Village Tract, Thane Mayar Chan Village Tract, Yet Thit Village Tract, Mu Kan Village Tract, Su Tat Village Tract, Tei Taw Village Tract, Kyaung Shar Taww Village Tract, Taik Village Tract, Boke Htan Taw Village Tract, Mi Chaung Aing Village Tract, Let Hloke Village Tract, Tha Yet Kan Village Tract, Nyaung Hla Village Tract, Na Myar Village Tract, Ma Ya Kan Village Tract, Me Oe Village Tract, Let Yet Kone Village Tract, Daing Nat Village Tract, In Pin Village Tract, Kaing Kan Village Tract, Htone Bo Village Tract, Htaung Tan Village Tract, Htan Ta Pin Village Tract, Na Gar Bo Village Tract, Ma Gyi Oke Village Tract, Tet Khaung Village Tract, Tauk Ka Shat Village Tract, Ohn Ta Pin Village Tract, Thit Yar Aik Village Tract, Sat Lu Village Tract, Se Taw Village Tract, In Kyin Pin Village Tract, In Kyin Tha Poe Village Tract, Chon Ywar Village Tract, Tha Yet Taw Village Tract, and Urban Village Tract. 192 Villages

References

External links

Tabayin map
''Maplandia''

''GeoNames'' {{Sagaing Division Township capitals of Myanmar Populated places in Sagaing Region