Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

PEGU

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 58 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

PEGU , a See also:

town and former See also:capital of See also:Lower See also:Burma, giving its name to a See also:district and a See also:division. The town is situated on a See also:river of the same name, 47 M. N.E. of See also:Rangoon by See also:rail; pop. (Igor), 14,132. It is still surrounded by the old walls, about 40 ft. wide, on which have been built the residences of the See also:British officials. The most conspicuous See also:object is the Shwemaw-daw See also:pagoda, 324 ft. high, considerably larger and even more See also:holy than the Shwe-See also:dagon pagoda at Rangoon. Pegu is said to have been founded in 573, as the first capital of the Talaings; but it was as the capital of the See also:Toungoo See also:dynasty that it became known to Europeans in the 16th See also:century. About the See also:middle of the 18th century it was destroyed by See also:Alompra; but it See also:rose again, and was important enough to be the See also:scene of fighting in both the first and second Burmese See also:Wars. It gave its name to the See also:province (including Rangoon) which was annexed by the British in 1852. The district, which was formed in 1883, consists of an alluvial See also:tract between the Pegu Yoma range and the Sittang river: See also:area, 4276 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 339,572, showing an increase of 43% in the See also:decade. Christians numbered nearly 9000, mostly Karens.

Almost the only See also:

crop grown is See also:rice, which is exported in large quantities to Rangoon. The district is traversed by the railway, and also crossed by the Pegu-Sittang See also:canal, navigable for 85 m., with locks. The division of Pegu comprises the five districts of Rangoon See also:city, See also:Hanthawaddy, See also:Tharrawaddy, Pegu and See also:Prome, lying See also:east of the See also:Irrawaddy: area 13,084 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 1,820,638. Pegu has also given its name to the Pegu Yoma, a range of hills See also:running See also:north and See also:south for about 200 m., between the Irrawaddy and Sittang See also:rivers. The height nowhere exceeds 2000 ft. but the slopes are steep and rugged. The forests yield See also:teak and other valuable See also:timber. The Pegu river, which rises in this range, falls into the Rangoon river just below Rangoon city, after a course of about 18o m.

End of Article: PEGU

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
PEGOLOTTI, FRANCESCO BALDUCCI (fl. 1315-1340) 		[next]
PEILE, JOHN (1838-1910)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries