Sagaing (, ) 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 ...

. It is located on the

Irrawaddy River The Irrawaddy River (, , Ayeyarwady) is the principal river of Myanmar, running through the centre of the country. Myanmar’s most important commercial waterway, it is about 1,350 miles (2,170 km) long. Originating from the confluence of the ...

, to the south-west of

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

on the opposite bank of the river. Sagaing, with its numerous

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

, is an important religious and monastic centre. The pagodas and monasteries crowd the numerous hills along the ridge running parallel to the river. The central pagoda, Soon U Ponya Shin Pagoda, is connected by a set of covered staircases that run up the hill. Today, with about 70,000 inhabitants, the city is part of

metropolitan area, home to more than 1,022,000 inhabitants as of 2011. It is a frequent tourist destination for day trippers, usually as part of the "three former capitals" itinerary alongside

Amarapura Amarapura (, , ; also spelt as Ummerapoora) is a former capital of Myanmar, and now a township of Mandalay city. Amarapura is bounded by the Irrawaddy river in the west, Chanmyathazi Township in the north, and the ancient capital site of Ava ...

and Innwa. The city is home to five institutions of higher learning: the

Sagaing Institute of Education The Sagaing University of Education ( ), formerly known as Mandalay Institute of Education or Sagaing Institute of Education located in Sagaing, Sagaing Region, is one of two senior universities of education in Myanmar. Primarily began as a teac ...

Sagaing Education College Sagaing (, ) is a town in the Sagaing Region of Myanmar. It is located on the Irrawaddy River, to the south-west of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river. Sagaing, with its numerous Buddhist Kyaung, monasteries, is an important religious ...

, Sagaing Technological University, Sagaing University of Co-operative and Management, and Sagaing University. The latter was established on 11 February 2012; it is located in Pakatoe Quarter,

Sagaing Township Sagaing Township is a township in Sagaing District in the Sagaing Division of Myanmar. The township contains town towns- the principal town is Sagaing and Sataung comprising a total of 34 wards. The township additionally has 76 village tracts g ...

, with an area of .

Name

The classical name of Sagaing is Zeyapura (; ), which literally translates to "city of victory."

History

Sagaing was the capital of Sagaing Kingdom (1315–1364), one of the minor kingdoms that rose up after the fall of Pagan dynasty, where one of

Thihathu Thihathu (, ; 1265–1325) was a co-founder of the Myinsaing Kingdom, and the founder of the Pinya Kingdom in today's central Burma (Myanmar).Coedès 1968: 209 Thihathu was the youngest and most ambitious of the three brothers that successful ...

's sons, Athinkhaya, established himself. During the Ava period (1364–1555), the city was the common

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

of the crown prince or senior princes. During the reign of King Naungdawgyi, Sagaing briefly became the royal capital between 1760 and 1763. On 8 August 1988, Sagaing was the site of mass public protests in support of the

8888 Uprising The 8888 Uprising, also known as the People Power Uprising and the 1988 Uprising, was a series of nationwide protests, marches, and riots in Burma (present-day Myanmar) that peaked in August 1988. Key events occurred on 8 August 1988 and ther ...

, which were brutally crushed by a massacre in which around 300 civilians were killed by local police forces. Despite its name, the town is not the capital of Sagaing Region. However, groups including the civil society group "Steering Committee for the Return of All Regional Offices to Sagaing City in Accordance with the Constitution" object to this saying that the use of

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 ...

as the regional capital is unconstitutional per the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar. As the epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude

2025 Sagaing earthquake On 28 March 2025 at 12:50:52 MMT (06:20:52 UTC), a 7.7–7.9 earthquake struck the Sagaing Region of Myanmar, with an epicenter close to Mandalay, the country's second-largest city. The strike-slip shock achieved a maximum Modified Mercalli ...

, the city suffered loss of life as well as extensive damage to its buildings and infrastructure alongside neighbouring Mandalay. The Ava Bridge, one of two road-rail bridges connecting Sagaing to Mandalay, has partially collapsed. The city's fire station also collapsed, hampering relief efforts and trapping many. More than 100 bodies were recovered from the rubble of destroyed builings and 90 percent of structures were destroyed. An estimated over 150 Muslim worshippers in the city died across three collapsed mosques. Out of the five mosques in Sagaing, four collapsed due to the earthquake. The Min Street Mosque is feared to have collapsed with over 100 people inside. Several monastic schools and a nunnery in the city were also damaged, likely killing people in the hundreds and trapping over 900 monks across four schools.

Demographics

In 2014, the city had 81,432 people within its city limits. The broader

had 307,194 people. In 2019, the city's population dropped to 79,944 people before returning to 83,939 people in 2023. However, the broader Sagaing township area had fallen in population to 295,195 people.

Climate

Located in the rain shadow of the Arakan Mountains, Sagaing has a borderline

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''BSh'') just short of a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(''Aw''). The city receives less than a third of the rainfall that

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

has at a similar latitude on the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

. Unlike most monsoonal semi-arid climates, the rainy season is relatively long at around five to six months, while variability and extreme monthly and daily rainfalls are much lower than usual with this type of climate.See

People

* Sithu Kyawhtin, King of Ava (1552–1555) * Zhu Youlang, Prince of Gui, last

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

claimant to China, lived in exile at Sagaing in 1661 *

Maurice Collis Maurice Stewart Collis (10 January 1889 – 12 January 1973) was an administrator in Burma (Myanmar) when it was part of the British Empire, and afterwards a writer on Southeast Asia, China and other historical subjects. Life He was born in Du ...

, author of ''

Trials in Burma ''Trials in Burma'' is a memoir by Maurice Collis, an English author of Irish origin who served in Burma in the Indian Civil Service under the British Empire written in 1937 describing events in 1929-30. After postings at Arakan, Sagaing and el ...

'', district commissioner of the Sagaing district in 1928 * Tom Mitford, brother of the Mitford Sisters, was killed while serving with the

Devonshire Regiment The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the World War I, First World War and the World War II, ...

at Sagaing in 1945. * Zaw Hlaing Thein, politician

Places of interest

The

Kaunghmudaw Pagoda The Kaunghmudaw Pagoda ( ; Yaza Mani Sula Kaunghmudaw (); ) is a large Buddhist pagoda on the northwestern outskirts of Sagaing in central Myanmar (Burma). Modeled after the Ruwanwelisaya pagoda of Sri Lanka, the Kaunghmudaw is known for its egg ...

(Burmese: ; Yaza Mani Sula Kaunghmudaw (); Pali: Rājamaṇicūḷā) is a large pagoda on the northwestern outskirts of Sagaing.

Images

File:Sagaing Hill.jpg, Sagaing Hill File:Sagaing, Myanmar.jpg, Irrawaddy River from Sagaing Hill, Sagaing File:Sagaing, Buddhist stupas, Myanmar.jpg, Pagodas File:Sagaing, Buddhist monks, Myanmar.jpg, Buddhist monks File:Sagaing, View, Myanmar.jpg, Viewpoint at Sagaing Hill File:Sagaing2.jpg, Pagodas dotting Sagaing's landscape File:U Min Thonze exterior, Sagaing, Sagaing Division, Burma.jpg, U Min Thonze cave File:Sone Oo Pone Nya Shin Pagoda.jpg, Sone Oo Pone Nya Shin Pagoda, Sagaing Hill File:Umin Thonze Pagoda.JPG, U Min Thonze Pagoda File:Two bridges of Sagaing.jpg, The Ava and Yadanabon bridges, connecting Sagaing and Mandalay File:Sagaing hill.jpg, Panoramic view from top of Sagaing Hill

References

{{Authority control Township capitals of Myanmar Populated places in Sagaing Region Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Myanmar