Irrawaddy River
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Irrawaddy River
(irawadi). — The great river of Burma, formed by the junction of two streams, the N'maikha and Malikha, which rise in the hills in the extreme north of the Province at about the 28th parallel of latitude, and meet at a point about 30 miles north of tlic town of Myitkyina. From the confluence southwards the united stream, henceforth known as the Irrawaddy, divides Burma proper into two sections, east and west, and eventually empties itself, after a course of 900 miles, into the Bay of Bengal, west of Rangoon. The Irra- waddy is by far the best known of the natural features of the Province.
Since the Census of 1901, the two former Districts of Myaungmya (area, 2,970 square miles; population, 303,274) and Thongwa (area, 3,471 square miles; popula- tion, 484,410) have been distributed into the three Districts of Myaungmya, Ma-ubin, and Pyapon, as shown in The table. Nearly all the old capitals were built upon its banks. Its waters skirt more than half the Districts of Burma. Of the ten most populous towns, six — namely, Mandalay, I'rome, Bassein, Henzada, Myingyan, and pakokku — as well as important stations like Bhamo and Thayetmyo, lie on it, while Rangoon is directly connected with it by more than one waterway. From end to erTd it is navigable at one season of the year or the other for steam traffic.
Starting from the confluence of the N'maikha and MaUkha, and going south, the first affluent of importance is the Mogaung stream, which enters it from the west about 15 miles above Sinbo. Two miles above Bhamo, which lies on its left bank, its waters are swelled by those of the Taping from the east. The Taping rises in Chinese territory ; and its source, which has not yet been ascertained with precision, cannot be far distant from that of the Shweli, the next large tributary of the Irrawaddy, which, traversing the State of Mongmit, empties itself into the main stream 20 miles south of Katha. From its junction with the Shweli, the Irrawaddy pursues its course south- ward. North of Mandalay it is joined by the Madaya stream from the east; and south of that city, opposite the old Burmese town of Sagaing, it makes an extensive bend to the west.
At the curve the tortuous MviTNGE quits the gorges of the Shan States to join it from the east, and shortly after this it receives the waters of the Mu from the hills of Shwebo and Katha in the north. Curving southward again near Myingyan, it is joined immediately above Pakokku by its main tributary, the Chindwin, a stream almost its equal in volume, which likewise comes from the very north of the Province. South of its junction with the Chindwin the Irrawaddy is fed from the west by various small tributaries, rising in the Arakan Yoma and the Pakokku Chin Hills, of which The most noteworthy are the Yaw, Men, and Man, and by a few minor streams from the direction of the Pegu Yoma; but after entering Lower Burma, little is added to its volume before it spreads out like a fan in the delta country in the neighbour- hood of Henzada.
A journey down the Irrawaddy would amply suffice to show to the traveller Burma in most of its varied guises. Emerging from its northern home in the Kachin Hills the river plunges, about 60 miles below the town of Myitkyina, through the third defile, or 'the Gates of the Irrawaddy,' a succession of foaming stretches of water hemmed into an almost inconceivably narrow channel, which is impassable during the rains and not without its dangers in the dry season. From the Gates southwards high hills stand on either hand, sending their outlying slopes down to the water's edge. They recede somewhat in the neighbourhood of Bhamo, but between that town and Shwegu they throw a formidable barrier across the river.
At this second defile the current forces its way through an enormous rift in a rugged spur ; and the river steamer swings through turbulent water at the foot of high grim crags down a passage so narrow that at each fresh bend the rocky walls ahead have the appearance from a distance of uniting and offering no outlet. South and west of the defile wide /^«/;/^-grass plains open out, to shut again above Katha, and thence marshy level and wooded hill slope alternately till somewhat to the north of Mandalay. Here, after the first defile (less imposing than the two northerly ones) has been passed, the high ground retires from the river to give place to the central plain of Burma, over which the Dis- tricts of the dry zone extend. For hours together all that can be seen beyond the blinding white banks and low sandy bluffs by the river's edge are rolling stretches of rocky land, covered with sparse under- growth and backed by yellow sandstone ridges. Hills there are, but they are mostly remote.
From Myingyan southwards Popa alone raises its mass above the plain ; but it seems to have nothing in common with its environment, and its blue serves only to heighten the dusty glare of the thirsty land it looks down upon. With the approach to Prome, however, the dry belt is passed, vegetation thickens, each hour carries the traveller into areas of heavier rainfall : and by the time the delta is reached and the river spreads out towards the sea, all signs of rising ground have disappeared, and on every side plains of rich paddy-fields and flat stretches of jungle extend away to the horizon. The farther south the river flows, the oftener does it send off branches to meander through the fertile levels ; and near the coast the country becomes a maze of turbid tidal creeks, flowing through dreary expanses of mangrove jungle.
As a source of irrigation, the value of the Irrawaddy is enormous. During the monsoon its waters rise and inundate all the low-lying ground in the vicinity of the channel.When they fall again in October and November, vast stretches of rich soil are left on and adjoining the banks, and on the many islands in the bed of the stream, which are suitable for rice, and for what is known as kaiiig cultivation. The river does not, however, supply water to any of the regular irri- gation systems of the Province. In the delta the country adjoining its channel is protected from inundation by an elaborate system ot embankments.
A considerable portion of the internal trade of the country passes and down the Irrawaddy. The steamers of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Comi)any run throughout the greater part of its course, bringing down petroleum, tea, cotton, and grain from the up-country stations on its banks, and returning laden with cargoes of salt, piece-goods, and a number of other articles. Some of these boats are in themselves floating bazars, on which the river villages liave learnt to depend VOL. XIII. B b for a regular supply of commodities.
Native boats, too, ply up and down, performing on a small scale similar commercial functions to those discharged by the Company, and throughout the year rafts of bamboo and timber are floated in enormous quantities down the stream. The Irrawaddy is the main source of water-supply to the towns and villages on its banks. At Prome there are systematic water-works by which the river water is distributed through the town. The river is tidal as far as Danubju or Donabyu, about 70 miles from the coast. The Irrawaddy is nowhere bridged. At two points, between Amarapura and Sagaing, and between Tharrawaw and Henzada, it cuts across the line of railway and is crossed by a steam ferry. A railway bridge at the first of these ferries is in contemplation.
