Sagaing (, ) is the capital city of Sagaing Region of Myanmar. It is located on the Irrawaddy River, to the south-west of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river. Sagaing, with its numerous Buddhist Kyaung, is an important religious and monastic centre. The Burmese pagoda and monasteries crowd the numerous hills along the ridge running parallel to the river. The central pagoda, Soon U Ponya Shin Pagoda, is connected by a set of covered staircases that run up the hill.
Today, with about 70,000 inhabitants, the city is part of Mandalay metropolitan area, home to more than 1,022,000 inhabitants as of 2011. It is a frequent tourist destination for day trippers, usually as part of the "three former capitals" itinerary alongside Amarapura and Inwa.
The city is home to five institutions of higher learning: the Sagaing Institute of Education, Sagaing Education College, Sagaing Technological University, Sagaing University of Co-operative and Management, and Sagaing University. The latter was established on 11 February 2012; it is located in Pakatoe Quarter, Sagaing Township, with an area of .
Name
The classical name of Sagaing is
Zeyapura (ဇေယျာပူရ; ), which literally translates to "city of victory."
History
Sagaing was the capital of
Sagaing Kingdom (1315–1364), one of the minor kingdoms that rose up after the fall of
Pagan dynasty, where one of
Thihathu's sons, Athinkhaya, established himself.
During the
Ava Kingdom (1364–1555), the city was the common
fief of the crown prince or senior princes. During the reign of King
Naungdawgyi, Sagaing briefly became the royal capital between 1760 and 1763.
On 8 August 1988, Sagaing was the site of mass public protests in support of the 8888 Uprising, which were brutally crushed by a massacre in which around 300 civilians were killed by local police forces.[ Irrawaddy article 1997 ]
Despite its name, the town is not the capital of Sagaing Region.
As the epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude 2025 Sagaing earthquake, the city suffered loss of life as well as extensive damage to its buildings and infrastructure alongside neighbouring Mandalay. The Ava Bridge, one of two road-rail bridges connecting Sagaing to Mandalay, has partially collapsed.
Demographics
In 2014, the city had 81,432 people within its city limits. The broader
Sagaing Township had 307,194 people.
In 2019, the city's population dropped to 79,944 people
before returning to 83,939 people in 2023. However, the broader Sagaing township area had fallen in population to 295,195 people.
Climate
Located in the rain shadow of the
Arakan Mountains, Sagaing has a borderline hot semi-arid climate (Köppen
BSh) just short of a tropical savanna climate (
Aw). The city receives less than a third of the rainfall that
Chittagong has at a similar latitude on the Bay of Bengal. Unlike most monsoonal semi-arid climates, the rainy season is relatively long at around five to six months, while variability and extreme monthly and daily rainfalls are much lower than usual with this type of climate.
[See ]
People
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Sithu Kyawhtin, King of Ava (1552–1555)
-
Zhu Youlang, Prince of Gui, last Ming Dynasty claimant to China, lived in exile at Sagaing in 1661
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Maurice Collis, author of Trials in Burma, district commissioner of the Sagaing district in 1928
-
Tom Mitford, brother of the Mitford sisters, was killed while serving with the Devonshire Regiment at Sagaing in 1945.
-
Zaw Hlaing Thein, politician
Places of interest
The Kaunghmudaw Pagoda (Burmese: ကောင်းမှုတော် ဘုရား ; Yaza Mani Sula Kaunghmudaw (ရာဇမဏိစူဠာ ကောင်းမှုတော်); Pali: Rājamaṇicūḷā) is a large pagoda on the northwestern outskirts of Sagaing.
Images
File:Sagaing Hill.jpg|Sagaing Hill
File:Sagaing, Myanmar.jpg|Irrawaddy River from Sagaing Hill, Sagaing
File:Sagaing, Buddhist stupas, Myanmar.jpg|Pagodas
File:Sagaing, Buddhist monks, Myanmar.jpg|Buddhist monks
File:Sagaing, View, Myanmar.jpg|Viewpoint at Sagaing Hill
File:Sagaing2.jpg|Pagodas dotting Sagaing's landscape
File:U Min Thonze exterior, Sagaing, Sagaing Division, Burma.jpg|U Min Thonze cave
File:Sone Oo Pone Nya Shin Pagoda.jpg|Sone Oo Pone Nya Shin Pagoda, Sagaing Hill
File:Umin Thonze Pagoda.JPG|U Min Thonze Pagoda
File:Two bridges of Sagaing.jpg|The Ava and Yadanabon bridges, connecting Sagaing and Mandalay
File:Sagaing hill.jpg|Panoramic view from top of Sagaing Hill
See also
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List of kings of Sagaing Kingdom
[2]
