Myanmar (Burma)

The Irrawaddy River Valley was one of the important river valleys where early civilizations formed. The geology theory, described in the compound posting "The Story Of Planet Earth" on the geology blog www.markmeekearth.blogspot.com began when I wondered how the vast Szechwan (or Sichuan) Basin could possibly have formed.

I noticed that there was a vast valley pointing toward the basin, but interrupted from reaching it by mountains. This valley curved to coincide with the equator. I decided that it must be the result of magma emergence from below, caused by the spin of the earth. In the theory I named it "The Great Valley Of Asia".

From there, the rest of the theory just fell right into place.

The nation that is now called Myanmar, or Burma, is actually a union of many different ethnic groups that had, in the past, been united by medieval empires.

In the postwar era, after the end of colonialism, Aung San led the nation toward independence but was assassinated in 1947, the year before independence was achieved. He had an infant daughter that would become known to the world as Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military executed a coup and took over the government in 1962. It led the country down a path of leftward socialism that was less-than-successful.

There was another military coup in 1988, which essentially replaced one military government with another. Ne Win became the military dictator in the 1962 coup while Than Shwe is the name most associated with the second military government. The second military government decided to change the name of the country to "Myanmar", although "Burma" is still widely used.

At the time of the 1988 coup another name emerged that would become very familiar to the world. But it emerged as an effort to make the country into a democracy. The name was that of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was the infant daughter of Aung San, the country's founding father, at the time he was assassinated in 1947.

She had worked at the United Nations for U Thant, the Burmese Secretary General of the United Nations who is remembered for mediating a peaceful end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Aung San Suu Kyi's political party was the National League for Democracy. Free elections were held in 1990 but her party, the clear winner, was blocked from taking power. She would end up spending a total of fifteen years under house arrest.

But Aung San Suu Kyi became the world's hero. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

The turning point for the country might have come with the "Saffron Revolution", led by Buddhist monks in 2007, over high fuel prices, and the military's oppressive reaction to it.

Then there was a devastating cyclone the following year.

Elections were allowed in 2010 and the military government ended in 2011. But the military still holds a lot of power in the country. Aung San Suu Kyi couldn't actually be president because her British late husband and sons were foreigners, so the position of State Counsellor was created for her.

If you want to read my conclusion about the subsequent arrest and imprisonment of Sung San Suu Kyi, see the section " 42) THE REAL STORY OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI" in the compound posting "Investigations" December 2018.

Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, is the country's largest city and was the capital until 2005. It is of medieval origin but was built around the Shwedagon Pagoda. This is the most important Buddhist pagoda in a country that is especially known for it's pagodas. The Shwedagon Pagoda dominates Yangon's skyline and there are no skyscrapers to overshadow it. Some of the scenes of Buddhist architecture will be reminiscent of our visit to "Bangkok".

At one end of the Shwedagon Pagoda is the Martyrs' Mausoleum, dedicated to Aung San and the other founders of the country who were assassinated with him in 1947.

The following scenes of Yangon begin at the northern end of Shwedagon Pagoda.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you so wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@16.7989858,96.1494932,3a,75y,7.19h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOoVcJ9IGuuWA9l0CZLpFw4ZxrCdtTBuTsXc11L!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOoVcJ9IGuuWA9l0CZLpFw4ZxrCdtTBuTsXc11L%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya16.88496-ro-0-fo100!7i5300!8i2650

This is central Yangon.

https://www.google.com/maps/@16.8500133,96.1773612,3a,75y,52.76h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPa3bsy06P1Ecv-0ip2Rzh7ri6haTWqdg5Iwxsq!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPa3bsy06P1Ecv-0ip2Rzh7ri6haTWqdg5Iwxsq%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-4.7815075-ya77.034676-ro4.580594-fo100!7i7680!8i3840

Here is a residential area far from Yangon's center.

https://www.google.com/maps/@16.8841403,96.1932557,3a,75y,300h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOKwRUAANlVYIDEYFANP4cr6cppCFjvcNVt2rlP!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOKwRUAANlVYIDEYFANP4cr6cppCFjvcNVt2rlP%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0.8846535-ya329.31613-ro-4.788517-fo100!7i7680!8i3840

In northwestern Yangon this is a business district.

https://www.google.com/maps/@16.857432,96.1209424,3a,75y,100h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPJWnJpZs2_XCh8cjx-Nvh3mnrnQbrxdcCmUXpV!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPJWnJpZs2_XCh8cjx-Nvh3mnrnQbrxdcCmUXpV%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-17.962135-ya191.78516-ro2.9594357-fo100!7i7680!8i3840

Mandalay, far to the north of Yangon, is the country's second city. Mandalay is not an old city, having been founded in the Nineteenth Century. Just as Egypt is historically divided into Upper and Lower Egypt, according to the downstream flow of the Nile River, so Burma consists of Upper and Lower Burma, according to the flow of the Irrawaddy River. Yangon was the chief city of Lower Burma. Mandalay was the chief city of Upper Burma.

Here is central Mandalay.

https://www.google.com/maps/@21.9686961,96.0936569,3a,75y,280h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOAa_IkXjJ2V0ifaIQTiC0MCT22c5JYCCvLcoZw!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOAa_IkXjJ2V0ifaIQTiC0MCT22c5JYCCvLcoZw%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-11.009608-ya8.7027025-ro-2.13902-fo100!7i7680!8i3840

This is a pagoda in the north part of Mandalay.

https://www.google.com/maps/@22.0040694,96.1133414,3a,75y,339.17h,97.32t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOw3WCj-4flfHe_f1coHGNLDtxI70W5rlgrQQuN!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOw3WCj-4flfHe_f1coHGNLDtxI70W5rlgrQQuN%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-7.3170733-ya332.1745-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Here is southeast of Mandalay city center.

https://www.google.com/maps/@21.9344553,96.1058469,3a,75y,260h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMxmFMB9oEyjVfXvxB0G6s6xsKGvI7DM-5OKmvC!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMxmFMB9oEyjVfXvxB0G6s6xsKGvI7DM-5OKmvC%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-21.987968-ya77.60139-ro0.6607734-fo100!7i7680!8i3840

This is a Amarapura, which was the royal capital when the country was a monarchy. The palace was destroyed by bombing in the Second World War but a replica has been rebuilt.

https://www.google.com/maps/@21.9047674,96.0532445,3a,75y,220h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNcP0RiFvZG7sme2iF6Y2qQCI6bA0dzPgPvwMYJ!2e10!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.ggpht.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNcP0RiFvZG7sme2iF6Y2qQCI6bA0dzPgPvwMYJ%3Dw900-h600-k-no-pi-10-ya14.329360961914091-ro0-fo100!7i7680!8i3840?coh=205410&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

The idea of specially constructing a city as capital goes far back in history. Jerusalem was built by King David as capital, although the city of the Jebusites was already there. Baghdad was founded as the capital city by the Abbasid Caliphate. Cairo was founded by the Fatimid Caliphate. Washington was sited between the then-northern and southern states. Ottawa was placed between French and English-speaking Canada. Canberra was located halfway between Australia's two largest cities of Melbourne and Sydney.

As we saw in " St. Petersburg And The Romanovs", Moscow had traditionally been the capital of Russia. The Romanov Dynasty had St. Petersburg, facing toward Europe, especially built as their capital city. After the October Revolution, the Communists moved the capital back to Moscow.

Sweden had a really unique method to determine where to build a capital city. They carved a log and filled it with gold. Then they set the log afloat. The place where the log landed is where Stockholm was founded, the name of which means " The City on the Island of the Log".

Perhaps the best-known planned city as a capital is Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. It was built in the interior of the country, away from the major coastal cities.

In 2006, Burma (or Myanmar) moved it's capital to the specially-planned city of Naypyidaw.

The Uppatasanti Pagoda in Naypyidaw is a replica of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.7697515,96.1832133,3a,75y,352.27h,95.38t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPTM27EAJEttmZbn8moeI_v51ulcw1BYwAVnoc7!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPTM27EAJEttmZbn8moeI_v51ulcw1BYwAVnoc7%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya322.15146-ro-0-fo100!7i5760!8i2880

Here is the newly-built capital city of Naypyidaw.

https://www.google.com/maps/@19.7352346,96.1184146,3a,75y,80h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNmse1Eyen4b6-c3zq3AhwiWpt2T4S57QJF7Y8m!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNmse1Eyen4b6-c3zq3AhwiWpt2T4S57QJF7Y8m%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-19.811056-ya164.40065-ro1.5427136-fo100!7i7680!8i3840