Sagaing

Sagaing စစ်ကိုင်းမြို့
The Yadanabon Bridge on the Irrawaddy
Sagaing Location in Burma
Coordinates:
Country	Burma
Division	Sagaing Region
Population (2011)	69,917
• Religions	Buddhism
Time zone	MST (UTC+6.30)

Sagaing (Burmese: စစ်ကိုင်းမြို့; MLCTS: cac kuing: mrui., pronounced: [zəɡáiɴ mjo̰]) is the capital of Sagaing Region (formerly Sagaing Division) in Myanmar. Located on the Ayeyarwady River, 20 km to the south-west of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river, Sagaing with numerous Buddhist monasteries is an important religious and monastic center. 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 240 m hill.

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's sons, Athinkhaya, established himself. During the Ava period (1364–1555), the city was the common fief of the crown prince or senior princes. The city briefly became the royal capital between 1760 and 1763 in the reign of King Naungdawgyi.

On August 8, 1988, Sagaing was the site of demonstrations which were concluded by a massacre in which around 300 civilians were killed.

Today, with about 70,000 inhabitants, the city is part of Mandalay built-up area with more than 1,022,000 inhabitants estimated in 2011. The city is a frequent tourist destination of day trippers. The city is home to the Sagaing Institute of Education and the Sagaing Education College.

View of Ayeyarwady River from Sagaing Hill, Sagaing Division, Myanmar

People

• List of kings of Sagaing Kingdom
• Sithu Kyawhtin, King of Ava (1552–1555)
• Zhu Youlang, Prince of Gui, last Ming Dynasty claimant to China, lived in exile at Sagaing in 1661.
• Maurice Collis, author of Trials in Burma, was district commissioner of the Sagaing district in 1928.

Images

• 

  Ayeyarwady River from Sagaing Hill, Sagaing

• 

  Pagodas that dot Sagaing

• 

  U Min Thonze Cave

• 

  Sone Oo Pone Nya Shin Pagoda, Sagaing Hill

• 

  Umin Thonze Pagoda

References

Sagaing
Preceded by Pinya	Capital of Sagaing Kingdom June 1315 – April 1364	Succeeded by End of Kingdom
Preceded by New Kingdom	Capital of Ava Kingdom April – September 1364	Succeeded by Pinya
Preceded by Shwebo	Capital of Burma 26 July 1760 – 23 July 1765	Succeeded by Ava