Taunggyi
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.
Taunggyi
Head-quarters of the Superintendent and Political officer of the Southern Shan States, Burma, situated in 20° 47' N. and 96° 58' E., 105 miles from the railway, on a small plateau in the Yawnghwe State, at an elevation of 5,000 feet above sea-level. On the north the aspect is open, giving fine views of the Yawnghwe and Lawk- sawk States ; on the other three sides the station is shut in by hills. The public buildings comprise the residency, a darbar hall, the usual Government offices, and a school for the sons of Shan chieftains, erected in 1901, and at present attended by about 70 boys. Taunggyi has 8 miles of metalled roads within its limits, and an unmetalled circular road 6i miles in length runs round the station. There are large bazar buildings in the native quarter ; and the market, held every five days, is largely attended, as the town is at the head of the cart- road from the railway, and is thus a distributing centre for a con- siderable area. A pure and abundant supply of water has been obtained at a cost of Rs. 83,000 from a spring on the hills in the neigh- bourhood. The water is brought in by a canal, and its distribution by pipes to the public buildings, police lines, and town is being carried out at Government expense, and also from funds subscribed by the Shan chiefs as a memorial to Her late Majesty Queen Victoria. Expenditure on public objects in the station is ordinarily met from a fund known as the Taunggyi improvement fund, which in 1903-4 had an income of Rs. 10,000, one-half derived from thathameda and the other half from bazar and slaughter-house fees. Experimental cultivation of imported fruit has been successfully carried out in the Government orchard, from which trees are distributed throughout the States at nominal prices. The population of Taunggyi in 1901 was 2,816 ; but in November, 1904, this total had risen to 3,452, of whom 1,525 were Shans, 1,328 natives of India (including soldiers and police), and the rest Burmans, Chinese, and Europeans. The station is healthy, the temperature in 1903 varying from 37° in December to 87° in April.
