Across the Bago River that forms
the eastern border of Yangon is
a quiet town. It was once known
by the British as syriam, famed
for its oil refineries. It is a
pleasant place for a family
outing in the weekends, for a
drive into the countryside or a
pilgrim- age to the Kyaik Khaut
Pagoda, where many believed that
hair relics of the Lord Buddha
are enshrined. There is also the
Ye Lei Pagoda (Pagoda on the
island) at nearby Kyauktan.
However, as we part the curtains
of history, glimpses of both
glories and misfortunes that had
visited this small, rustic town
come to light.
The name Thanlyin is said to be
connected with a person called
Nga Than Lyin or Mr. Strong to
put it in English. Reaching into
history we discovered that the
area now known as Thanlyin/Kyauktan
was at that time known as the
Golden Pada Empire and ruled by
King Arainda Raza. At that time
the royal capital was said to be
at Pada, now known as Kyauktan,
another sleepy little town about
8 miles away and situated next
to the river.
According
to legends, Nga Than Lyin was
born of peasant stock but since
young he was strong and very
energetic and active. More-
over, the times being what they
were, the parents were afraid
that if the king heard about
this child they would be
regarded as
possible enemies to his throne.
So the father carried his son
into the deep forest and left
him there to face death but the
child survived, found a magic
ruby and later came out of the
forest to challenge the king to
win the throne in the end.
However, when he won the crown
from King Arainda Raza, Nga Than
Lyin wanted to build a new city
where he found the ruby that
placed him on the path to
kingship. This magic ruby had
once belonged to a wild pig and
through the magical powers of
this ruby the pig was able to
fly. Nga Than Lyin,so say
folklore, killed this flying pig
and took the ruby at a place
called "Thiha Dipa" (Liar Of The
Lion) and the new city on that
site was named after him and
became known as Thanlyin.
According to the Myanmar
Encyclopaedia, the old city plan
of Thanlyin is supposed to
resemble a lion with 12 gates.
There was a gate for every
anatomical part of the lion: a
gate where the lion's mouth is
supposed to be and another gate
for the eyes and so on. There
were altogether 36 kings who
reigned at Thanlyin, the last
being King Bawga Thena.
After this period Thanlyin faded
into a simple existence as a
trading post with access to the
sea, for produce was brought to
here along the Bago, Pazundaung
and Yangon Rivers.
The
region passed alternately
between Bama (Burmese) and Mon
powers as they struggled to gain
control of Lower Myanmar and the
Ayeyarwaddy delta. Then Thanlyin
re-emerged into history in the
late 16th century. The Bama
dynasty founded by Kings Tabin
Shwehti and Bayint Naung, with
their capital in Bago, came to
an end in 1599 A.D and the court
had shifted back to Inwa in
Upper Myanmar. By then, the
Portuguese had gained access to
the Rakhine court and the
Rakhine king Min Razagyi sent a
Portuguese mercenary Filipe de
Brito y Nicote (popularly known
as de Brito) with 2000 soldiers
in three warships and 100 boats
to occupy Thanlyin.
There are conflicting versions
explaining the origin of the
Anglicized name of the town.
Some say the architect who drew
up the new city plan was also a
Portuguese named Juan siriam and
the English mispronounced,
misspelled and called it syriam.
Others say that it is a
corruption of a Mon word while
others say there are records
showing it was called Siri yam
long before that. However,
Thanlyin is the name the Myanmar
people had always used, and
continue to use.
As
said, Thanlyin become a port
city under the Portuguese.
De
Brito installed himself as the
gover- nor and expanded his rule
to other areas, forc- ing ships
going to Moattama (Martanban),
Pathein and Dagon to call at
Syriam where he levied taxes.
His plan was to establish a
Portuguese enclave and control
the shipping in the Bay of
Bengal, the Gulf of Moattama and
the sea lanes connecting other
Portuguese enclaves at Goa and
Pondicherry on the
Indian sub-continent with the
emerging peninsular South East
Asian states.
There were even historical
speculations that he dreamed of
conquering the Myanmar kingdom
of Inwa far to the North. De
Brito destroyed many pagodas and
monasteries in and around
Thanlyin, forced many monks to
disrobe and the population to
convert to Christianity. He
melted down the brass bells from
the pagodas and recast them into
cannons. He even removed a huge
bell from the platform of the
shwedagon Pagoda of Yangon, but
as he shipped it away it fell
into the Yangon river and was
never seen again. This bell was
donated by King Dhammazedi, a
great Mon ruler.
Worse was still to come.
Together with the Mon King
Banyadala of Moattama he seized
Taungoo from the Bama, burnt the
palace to the ground and took
the Bama King Natshin Naung to
Thanlyin as a captive. When the
Bama King Anaukhpetlun of Inwa
heard about this he sent an army
against de Brito in 161 3 A.D.
De
Brito was captured and both he
and Nat Shin Naung were put to
death, for by that time Nat Shin
Naung, a great poet, had
succumbed to both the lure of de
Brito's wines and missionary
zeal. De Brito was executed most
cruelly for his acts of
sacrilege against ttle Bu-ddhist
shrines. From that time, the
Portuguese influence in Myanmar
ceased. Later in history, the
Mons again seized control of
Lower Myanmar including Thanlyin.
It now become one of the
important ports of call for
ships from all parts of the
world. There were British ships,
there were Dutch and French.
Trade was good and there were
even some factories in Thanlyin.
When the founder of the Konbaung
dynasty and Third Myanmar Empire
King Alaungpaya came down to
Lower Myanmar to battle against
the Mon, Thanlyin was one of the
sites of bitter contest.
In
1755 A.D Thanlyin surrendered to
the Bama forces after a long
siege but King Alaungpaya
decided to rename Dagon, a small
fisher village on the other side
of the Bago River as Yangon,
meaning "End of Strife". Yangon
became the principal port and
administrative centre in Lower
Myanmar for the kings of
Konbaung and consequently
Thanlyin paled into
insignificance.
Nevertheless, Thanlyin still
draws visitors, as from Yangon
it is a short 45 minutes' drive
away. The Kyaik Khaut Pagoda, a
replica of the shwedagon but
smaller, glitters in the sun and
the ruined Portuguese church is
still there. The graves of King
Nat Shin Naung who wrote poems
on love and war and another
great poet the Minister Paday
Thayaza who wrote of simple
farmers' lives, are both inside
the Kyaik Khaut Pagoda compound.
Ye Lei Pagoda of Kyauktan
dazzles the eye with the sun
reflecting off its mirrored
glass mosaics. During the 2nd
World War Thanlyin also
suffered. The retreating British
Army demol- ished all the oil
refining facilities at Thanlyin
that belong to the Burmah Oil
Company (BOC) to prevent them
falling into the advancing .
view of the bridge to yangon
