Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Brief history
Given its reputation as a place of historical importance, Mandalay is a surprisingly young
city. Locals love to tell of how Buddha climbed Mandalay Hill and prophesied that 2400
years into the future, a grand city would be founded at its foot; it was duly founded in 1857
by
King Mindon
, said to be the reincarnation of San Da Mukhi, an ogress who impressed
the Buddha by lopping off her breasts and presenting them to him. Legend aside, one other
reason for Mandalay's establishment would have been to show the British, who were ruling
Lower Burma from Rangoon, that Mindon's kingdom was still mighty. After being taken by
the British in 1885, the city prospered until the Japanese occupation during World War II,
which saw many of the old buildings levelled by Allied bombing. Today, Mandalay is the
commercial hub of northern Myanmar, and particularly important for trade with China - as
made evident by the large Chinese community. There are also plenty of ethnic Shan, mostly
concentrated in low-lying areas west of 86th Street; Hindus, many of whom worship at a
coupleofcolourful
temples
inthecentre;andpocketsofChristiansandMuslims.Thisethnic
patchwork exists in harmony most of the time, though trouble does occasionally flare up -
2014 saw night-time curfews imposed across the city after a spate of Buddhist-Muslim viol-
ence, ignited by the alleged rape of a local woman.
