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 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 ...

in 1752, that was the dominant political force in Burma after the mid-18th century. It served as Alaungpaya's capital from 1752 to 1760. As of 2021, it has a population of 88,914. It is the site of Shwebo University and Shwebo Palace.

History

Up to 1752, Shwebo was a village, called Moksobo ( ; ) of about 300 houses. It lies near the site of the ancient Pyu city-state of Hanlin. On 29 February 1752, the chief of the village Aung Zeya founded the Konbaung Dynasty to resist the upcoming invasion of Lower Burma-based Hanthawaddy forces. Aung Zeya, who also assumed the royal title of

, gained the allegiance of 46 surrounding villages, and organized defenses building a stockade and digging a moat around Moksobo. He renamed his village, Shwebo (). Over the next eight years, Alaungpaya led the reunification of Burma with Shwebo as his capital. Shwebo lost its status as capital after Alaungpaya's death in 1760. The successor Naungdawgyi moved the capital to

Sagaing 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 monasteries, is an important religious and ...

closer to the Irrawaddy river. Nonetheless, Shwebo continued to be an important region throughout the Konbaung era (1752–1885), providing a disproportionate share of soldiers that served in Konbaung's armies. The region was usually held as an appanage by the most senior princes, usually the

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

. It was to Shwebo that Prince of Mindon went in 1853 to raise the standard of rebellion in his successful bid to overthrow his half brother Pagan.

Names of Shwebo

Shwebo is famous for its five names. Five titles had been conferred to the city namely: # Moksobo (), its original name # Yadana-Theinhka () # Konbaung () # Yangyi-Aung (), and # Shwebo (), its modern name. Most of the people know the above names but the name "အယုစြ်ဇပူရ" and "မြေဘုံသာ" ("Ayuhcyajpuur" and "Myaybhonesar") are rarely known.

Geography

Climate

Located in the “Dry Valley” in the rain shadow of the Arakan Mountains, Shwebo lies on the boundary between 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 ...

(

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 ...

''Aw'') and a hot semi-arid climate (''BSh''). The city received of rainfall on 19 October 2011. It was the record breaking rainfall within 24 hours of October for past 48 years. The previous record was of 24 October 1993.http://www.mrtv3.net.mm/newpaper/2110newsm.pdf Page 10 Col 2

Transport

Shwebo is served by Myanmar Railways's Mandalay- Myitkyina

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line.

References

External links

"Shwebo, Burma"
Falling Rain Genomics, Inc.
"Shwebo Map — Satellite Images of Shwebo"
Maplandia
A community website about Shwebo
{{Use dmy dates, date=August 2019 Township capitals of Myanmar Populated places in Sagaing Region Shwebo District