Innwa (; formerly
Ava) is a city in the
Mandalay Division of
Burma, situated just to the south of
Amarapura on the
Ayeyarwady River. Its formal title is
Ratanapura (), which means City of Gems in Pali. The name
Innwa means mouth of the lake, which comes from
in (), meaning lake, and
wa (), which means mouth. Known as Ava to the British and
A-wa (mouth) in Burmese, it evolved to its modern name
Innwa.
History
Ava was capital of Burma from 1364-1841 founded by King
Thadominbya on an artificial island at the confluence of the Ayeyarwady and the
Myitnge created by digging a canal linking the two rivers . Prior to this,
Sagaing had been capital, but after Sagaing fell to the
Shan, the court moved across the river to Ava. The kings of Ava set about restoring Burmese supremacy, which had disintegrated after the collapse of
Pagan to the Empire founded by King
Anawrahta in 1057.
A Burman
Ava Dynasty (1364-1527) was eventually established at the city of Ava by 1364. Pagan culture was revived and a great age of
Burmese literature ensued. The kingdom lacked easily defensible borders, however, and was overrun by the
Shan in 1527.
The Kingdom of Ava was involved in continuous warfare with
Tai (Shan)
saophas to the north on the frontier with
Yunnan. There were repeated Tai raids on the capital of Ava and Ava sent military northwards to attack Tai fiefdoms such as
Mong Mao. The
Ming dynasty that ruled China from the late fourteenth century often tried unsuccessfully to put an end to this warfare through traditional Chinese diplomacy. Ava occasionally became involved in the warfare between the Ming and Tai in Yunnan such as in the
Luchuan-Pingmian Campaigns (1436-1449).
Following is the detail account of one of those affairs among Ava, Shans, and China in 15th century, recorded in details by Burmese Historian U Kala in his U Kala Mahayarzawindawgyi.
In 1555, Ava fell to the southern Burmese Kingdom of
Taungoo which led to the founding of the Second Burmese Empire by King
Tabinshwehti, but in 1636, the king of Taungoo relocated his own capital to Ava. In 1752, the
Mon revolted against Burmese rule and sacked Ava. A couple of years later, the founder of the new
Konbaung Dynasty and the Third Burmese Empire,
Alaungpaya, crushed the Mon revolt, and after a period with
Shwebo as his capital, re-established the court in Ava.
Following the
British conquest of
Lower Burma after the
Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852-53),
Upper Burma was commonly called the
Kingdom of Ava or the
Court of Ava. During the reign of King
Bodawpaya (lit. Lord Royal Grandfather,1781-1819), the capital was moved to nearby Amarapura. However, his successor, King
Bagyidaw (lit. Royal Elder Uncle, 1819-1837), moved the Court back to Ava in 1823. When a tremendous earthquake caused extensive damage in 1841, Ava was finally abandoned for Amarapura. Little remains of the ancient capital today. Because of the earthquake that happened in 1939, most of the palaces in Ava were destroyed.
Today
One of the many ruins at Ava.
The city is a popular tourist day-trip destination from
Mandalay.
Sights of interest
- Maha Aungmye Bonzan – A Buddhist monastery built by Nanmadaw Mè Nu, queen of Bagyidaw, in 1818, in traditional style except it was masonry instead of wood (popularly known as Mè Nu Ok Kyaung)
- Nanmyin Watch Tower – a 27 meter high masonry tower, all that is left of the Ava Palace
- Judson Memorial - a stone that marks the site of Let Ma Yun (lit. no pulling punches)prison where the American missionary Adoniram Judson was incarcerated during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26)
- Ava Bridge – a 16 span cantilever bridge built by the British in 1934, the only structure to span the Ayeyarwady River until recently when a new bridge has been built nearby.
See also
