MANDALAY, formerly capital of independent Burma, now headquarters of the Mandalay division and district, as well as the chief town in Upper Burma, stands on the Irrawaddy, in 21° 59' N. and 96° 8' E. Built in 1856-7 by King MinclOn, it is now a municipality. The area inside the old city walls is since called Fort Dufferin, though no longer used as a fort. In the centre stands the palace, a group of wooden buildings, many of them highly carved and gilt, resting on a brick platform 90o ft. by 500 ft., and 6 ft. high, now open to the public. There are many pagodas and monastic buildings. Pop. in 1931 was 134,950. The population is mixed, but Burmese Buddhists number over 77% of the whole. Mandalay is thus far more Burmese than Rangoon and is a great Buddhist religious centre and the abode of very large numbers of monks (hpoongyis). Besides Burmese there are Zerbadis (the offspring of a Mohammedan with a Burman wife), Mohammedans, Hindus, Jews, Chinese, Shans and Manipuris (called Kathe), Kachins and Palaungs. Trains run from Manda lay to Rangoon, from Sagaing on the opposite bank of the Irra waddy to Myit-kyina, and up the Mandalay-Lashio railway. Steamers also ply in all directions. There are 20 bazaars.
The MANDALAY DISTRICT has an area of 2,115 sq.m. and a pop. (1931) of 371,636. About 600 sq.m. along the Irrawaddy are flat land, nearly all cultivated. In the north and east there
are 1,500 sq.m. of hills and table-lands, forming geographically a portion of the Shan table-land. This part of the district is well wooded and watered. The Mayxnyo subdivision has plateaux of 3,00o to 3,60o feet. The highest peaks are between 4,000 and 5,000 feet. The Irrawaddy, the Myit-nge and the Madaya are the chief rivers. The last two come from the Shan States, and are navigable for between 20 and 3o m. The Sagyin hills near Madaya are noted for their alabaster. On the plains the climate is dry and healthy, the rainfall averaging about 3o inches. Considerable areas are irrigated. The hilly eastern tracts have a heavier rainfall —about 6o in.—and are forested. The extremes of temperature on the plains are considerable, the thermometer in December go ing down to 55° and in July up to io°.
The DIvisiorl in 1921 included the districts of Mandalay, Bhamo, Myitkyina, Katha and Putao, with an area of 28,788 sq.m. and a pop. of 849,361. But four districts were removed to the Sagaing Division and the Mandalay Division in 1926-7 corn prised the districts of Mandalay, Kyankse, Meiktila, Myingyan and Yamethin ; pop. (1931) 1,696,332, and area 12,504 sq.m. MANDAMUS, WRIT OF: see PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE; WRIT.