Shwebo ရွှေဘိုမြို့ | |
|---|---|
Town | |
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  Shwebo Location in Burma | |
| Coordinates:22°34′0″N95°42′0″E / 22.56667°N 95.70000°E /22.56667; 95.70000 | |
| Country |  Myanmar |
| Region |  Sagaing Region |
| District | Shwebo |
| Founded | 29 February 1752 |
| Population (2021) | |
• Total | 88,914 |
| • Ethnicities | Burmans |
| • Religions | Theravada Buddhism |
| Time zone | UTC6:30 (MST) |
Shwebo (Burmese:ရွှေဘိုမြို့[ʃwèbòmjo̰]), also calledRatanāsiṅga orRatanāsikhā ("Center of Treasure") inpali, is a city inSagaing Region, Burma, 110 km north-west ofMandalay between theIrrawaddy and theMu rivers. The city was the origin of theKonbaung Dynasty, established by KingAlaungpaya 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.[1]
It is the site ofShwebo University andShwebo Palace.
Up to 1752, Shwebo was a village, calledMoksobo (Burmese:မုဆိုးဘို[moʊʔsʰóbò];lit. 'Hunter Chief') of about 300 houses.[2] It lies near the site of the ancientPyu city-state ofHanlin.[3] On 29 February 1752, the chief of the village Aung Zeya founded theKonbaung Dynasty to resist the upcoming invasion ofLower Burma-basedHanthawaddy forces. Aung Zeya, who also assumed the royal title ofAlaungpaya, gained the allegiance of 46 surrounding villages, and organized defenses building a stockade and digging a moat around Moksobo. He renamed his village, Shwebo (lit. 'lit' or'Golden Chief').[2] Over the next eight years, Alaungpaya led the reunification of Burma with Shwebo as hiscapital.
Shwebo lost its status as capital after Alaungpaya's death in 1760. The successorNaungdawgyi moved the capital toSagaing closer to theIrrawaddy 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 anappanage by the most senior princes, usually thecrown prince. It was to Shwebo that Prince ofMindon went in 1853 to raise the standard of rebellion in his successful bid to overthrow his half brotherPagan.[3]
Shwebo is famous for its five names. Five titles had been conferred to the city namely:[3]
Most of the people know the above names but the name "အယုဇ္ဈပူရ" (Ayujjhapura, "Unassailable") and "မြေဘုံသာ" (Myay-bhome-thaa, "Prosperous Realm") are rarely known.
Located in the “Dry Valley” in therain shadow of theArakan Mountains, Shwebo lies on the boundary between atropical savanna climate (KöppenAw) and ahot semi-arid climate (BSh). The city received 4.37 inches (111 mm) 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 3.84 inches (98 mm) of 24 October 1993.[5]
| Climate data for Shwebo (1991–2020, extremes 2001-present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 36.0 (96.8) | 38.0 (100.4) | 42.0 (107.6) | 44.0 (111.2) | 45.0 (113.0) | 41.5 (106.7) | 39.0 (102.2) | 41.0 (105.8) | 39.0 (102.2) | 39.0 (102.2) | 36.0 (96.8) | 34.0 (93.2) | 45.0 (113.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.4 (84.9) | 32.4 (90.3) | 35.9 (96.6) | 38.1 (100.6) | 36.5 (97.7) | 34.8 (94.6) | 34.5 (94.1) | 33.6 (92.5) | 33.3 (91.9) | 32.4 (90.3) | 31.1 (88.0) | 29.1 (84.4) | 33.4 (92.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 21.2 (70.2) | 23.8 (74.8) | 27.7 (81.9) | 30.9 (87.6) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.0 (86.0) | 29.8 (85.6) | 29.2 (84.6) | 28.9 (84.0) | 27.6 (81.7) | 24.8 (76.6) | 21.7 (71.1) | 27.2 (81.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 13.1 (55.6) | 15.3 (59.5) | 19.6 (67.3) | 23.7 (74.7) | 24.9 (76.8) | 25.1 (77.2) | 25.0 (77.0) | 24.8 (76.6) | 24.4 (75.9) | 22.8 (73.0) | 18.5 (65.3) | 14.3 (57.7) | 20.9 (69.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 9.0 (48.2) | 8.2 (46.8) | 13.0 (55.4) | 18.2 (64.8) | 19.0 (66.2) | 23.0 (73.4) | 21.0 (69.8) | 22.0 (71.6) | 22.0 (71.6) | 17.0 (62.6) | 14.0 (57.2) | 10.0 (50.0) | 8.2 (46.8) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 2.9 (0.11) | 2.3 (0.09) | 6.2 (0.24) | 18.9 (0.74) | 101.5 (4.00) | 105.5 (4.15) | 88.8 (3.50) | 167.2 (6.58) | 159.3 (6.27) | 139.6 (5.50) | 20.5 (0.81) | 3.6 (0.14) | 816.3 (32.14) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 8.0 | 7.7 | 6.8 | 9.9 | 9.9 | 7.9 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 56.4 |
| Source 1:World Meteorological Organization[6] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2:Norwegian Meteorological Institute (extremes)[7] | |||||||||||||
Shwebo is served byMyanmar Railways's Mandalay-Myitkyinarailway line.
Shwebo | ||
| Preceded by | Capital of Burma 29 February 1752 – 26 July 1760 | Succeeded by |