Ingapu () is a town in the

Ayeyarwady Division Ayeyarwady Region ( , , ; formerly Ayeyarwady Division and Irrawaddy Division) is a region of Myanmar, occupying the delta region of the Ayeyarwady River (Irrawaddy River). It is bordered by the Rakhine State to the northwest, the Bago Region to ...

of south-west

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 ...

. It is the seat of the

Ingapu Township Ingapu Township () is a township of Myanaung District in the Ayeyarwady Division of Myanmar. It is located in southern Myanaung District bordering Myanaung Township to the north. To the south, it borders Hinthada Township's townships of Hinthada T ...

in the

Myanaung District Myanaung District is a district of the Ayeyarwady Region in Myanmar. The Myanaung District is a newer district grouping three townships formerly part of Hinthada District. The main administrative GAD office was opened on July 1, 2022. The Distr ...

located along the

Ngawun River The Pathein River (), formerly called the Bassein River, is the westernmost distributary of the Irrawaddy river in the Irrawaddy delta of Myanmar flowing through Ayeyarwady Region. The river is also interchangeably known as the Ngawun River (). ...

History

The

lost city In the popular imagination, a lost city is a real, once-prosperous and well-populated area of human habitation that fell into terminal decline and whose location was later forgotten. Lost City, The Lost City, or Lost Cities may also refer to: Pl ...

described as Pinle Pyu () is recorded as being located next to the sea. Unlike many other small Pyu sites, the city is speculated to be large in size located downstream from the

Sri Ksetra Kingdom , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Sri Ksetra , common_name = Kingdom of Sri Ksetra , era = Classical Antiquity , status = City-state , event_start = Founding of kingdom , year_start = c. 3rd – 9th century CE , date_start = , ...

. Some archaeologist believe that a walled ancient religious complex 15 miles west of Ingapu may be the location of Pinle Pyu, one of the lost

Pyu city-states The Pyu city-states ( ) were a group of city-states that existed from about the 2nd century BCE to the mid-11th century in present-day Upper Myanmar. The city-states were founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman languages, ...

. Historians who studied the site in 2009 concluded the site may be a Pyu site based on the use of

Brahmi script Brahmi ( ; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as ...

, a script that dates towards the third century BC, and the architectural similarities to other Pyu sites. The site is currently a religious site owned by the clergy of the Kyapyin Religious Zone. The ancient ruin was excavated in 2014 dated to determine if the 2,000-year-old artifacts were of the Pyu culture or not. However, more evidence and investigation is required to analyze the ancient artifacts found in the site and from nearby sites. The site has faced challenges with becoming a protected site. In the 2000s, an area that may have been an ancient elephant stockade was reclaimed by a company and destroyed during development. Ingapu, the modern town, was named as one of the 32 surrounding villages of

Pathein Pathein ( ; , ; , ), formerly called Bassein, is the largest city and the capital of the Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar. It is located 190 km (120 mi) west of Yangon within Pathein Township on the bank of the Pathein River—a western branc ...

by the ancient king Samuddha Gotha's wife Omar Dhanti. By the time of the Konbaung Dynasty the group of villages was known as Okpho when it was given to Thihaboh Min after

Alaungpaya Alaungpaya (, ; also spelled Alaunghpaya or Alaung-Phra; 11 May 1760) was the founder and first emperor of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma. By the time of his death from illness during his Burmese–Siamese War (1759–60), campaign in Siam, this ...

's conquests. The name Okhpo originates, by legend, from the village's role baking bricks for the

Shwemokhtaw Pagoda Shwemokhtaw Pagoda () is a Buddhist pagoda in Pathein, Myanmar (formerly Bassein, Burma). It is bounded by Merchant St, Strand, Mahabandoola Road and Shwezedi Road. At its southern pavilion is a revered image of the Buddha, Thiho-shin Phondawpyi ( ...

in Pathein during the time of Omar Dhanti. The town was renamed in 1852 to its ancient name of Ingapu after the

Second Anglo-Burmese War The Second Anglo-Burmese War or the Second Burma War ( ; 5 April 185220 January 1853) was the second of the three wars fought between the Burmese Empire and British Empire during the 19th century. The war resulted in a British victory with more ...

by the British to distinguish it from

Okpho Okpho (; also spelt Okpo) is a small town and seat of Okpho Township, Tharrawaddy District, in the Bago Region of southern-central Myanmar. It lies south of Gyobingauk and north of Minhla. It contains a hospital, a pagoda, and an open ground in ...

in Bago Region.

References

Populated places in Ayeyarwady Region Township capitals of Myanmar {{Ayeyarwady-geo-stub