RANGOON, the chief town of British Burma. It was founded in the second half of the sixth century B.C. by a missionary body of Buddhists. It was rebuilt in 1755 by Alompra, and named by him the Yankon or ' Victory achieved,' in com memoration of his conquests. It is built on the left bank of the Hlaing river, at its junction with the Pegu and Pu-zwon-doung streams, 21 miles from the sea. It gives its name to a British revenue district in the province of Pegu, occu pying the seaboard from the mouth of the river Tsit-Toung (Sit Tang) to the To or China Buckue, a branch of. the Irawadi between lat. 16° and 17° N., and long 95° and 96° E., the area being 5691 square miles. \The population of the town in 1872 was 98,745, and that of the dis trict 332,324. \ Burmese, . . . 349,713 Muhazomadans, . 10,126 1 Mon or Talaing, 12,394 Europeans, Ameri Karen, . . . 27,830 can% 2,384 Arakanese, . . . 302 Chinese, . . . 3,718 Shan, . . . . 6,396 Others, . . . 1,989 Hindus, . . . 16,218 In 1881 the town population had increased to 134,176, and that of the district to 602,223.
Gaspar Balbi visited Pegu in 1579-80. The English, Dutch, Portuguese, and French had factories at Than-ly-eng or Syriam:" Difficulties occurred between the British and the Burmese in 1794, and after Colonel Sym's visit a I3ritish resident was appointed to Rangoon.
The Mon are supposed to have been prior occu pants of Pegu, whom the Talaing (Teling,) from the Peninsula found settled there, and the Talaing language is spoken in British territory. At the 1881 Census it was spoken by 154,553 souls. The principal pagodas in the district are the Shw e-dagon, the Bo-ta-hloung, and the Tsu lai, in Rangoon ; the Kyaik-houk at Syrian], the Shwe-h'inaw-daw at Pegu, and the Tshan-claw at Twan-te. The Shwe-dagon is the most celebrated
object of worship in all the Indo-Chinese countries, as enshrining several hairs of Gautarna Buddha.
Shwe-h'inaw-daw is the great pagoda of the Talaings. They say the Shwe-dagon pagoda, was founded by two brothers, who had met and con versed with Gautama Buddha in India. But the first notice of the country that can be considered as historical is given in the Singhalese Naha wanso, which mentions the mission of Sono and Uttaro, sent by the third Buddhist Council @Lc. 244) to Suvarna.-bhumi (` Aurea Regio ') to spread the Buddhist faith. Karens belong to the Pwo and Sgau families, and are industrious agricul turists. Many have been converted to Christianity. In a commercial point of view, it is the most itn portant town of British Burma. Rise of tide at springs, and for two days afterwards, from 20 to 25 feet, and 13 and 14 feet on the neaps. The sands extend a long way to seaward, over which the bore rushes with the flood, which makes it very dangerous when near them ; the same bore runs up the Sitang river. 15 leagues east of Rangoon bar. It is very slightly felt in the delta of the Irawadi, and merely rushes over the extensive sand at the entrance of the Rangoon river and on to the Sitang. There is a bore in Bassein creek, which joins the Rangoon and China Buckue branch. Rangoon was twice taken by the British Indian armies, once on the llth May 1824, and again on the 5th April 1852, and the British soldiers are now cantoned on the S.W. and W. of the Shwe-dagon pagoda.—Wintcr's Burma, p. 6.