Takawng

Tagaung stands on the eastern bank of the upper Irrawaddy, north of the Burmese heartland. Burmese chronicles remember it as an ancient royal city founded by Abhiraja, a prince from India. Its walls and remains attest to a settlement of considerable antiquity, while Buddhist objects show that it remained active in the age of Bagan. The upper Irrawaddy was contested during the Mongol invasions of the late thirteenth century, and Burmese and Chinese forces fought over Tagaung. Centuries later the town figured in a territorial exchange with the Shan state of Möng Mit. In 1597 its ruler surrendered the ruby lands of Mogok and Kyatpyin in exchange for Tagaung, bringing those mines under Burmese royal authority.