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31-741: The east-west grid of downtown Yangon was laid out by British military engineers Alexander Fraser and Montgomerie after the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852. The city was later developed by the Public Works Department and Bengal Corps of Engineers. The majority of sites on the Yangon City Heritage List are located in Yangon's CBD. Yangon's CBD is known for its leafy avenues and fin-de-siècle architecture. The former British colonial capital has

62-502: A ban on using car horns was implemented in six townships of The CBD to reduce noise pollution . In April 2004, the car horn ban was expanded to cover the entire city. Second Anglo-Burmese War [REDACTED]   British Empire The Second Anglo-Burmese War or the Second Burma War ( Burmese : ဒုတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် မြန်မာ စစ် [dṵtḭja̰ ɪ́ɰ̃ɡəleɪʔ mjəmà sɪʔ] ; 5 April 1852 – 20 January 1853)

93-655: A severe economic crisis in India, which by 1833 had bankrupted the Bengal agency houses and cost the British East India Company its remaining privileges, including the monopoly of trade to China . Territories like Assam became a part of British India . For the Burmese, the treaty was a total humiliation and a long lasting financial burden. A whole generation of men had been wiped out in battle. The world

124-478: Is not how much you will cede to us but how much we shall return to you". The negotiations broke down, and the Burmese decided to fight on. In November 1825, the Burmese forces under Maha Ne Myo , mainly consisting of several Shan regiments led by their own Shan sawbwas , made a daring push to recapture Pyay and nearly succeeded. But by early December, the superior firepower of the British had won out and defeated

155-620: The Battle of Danubyu in April 1825 that killed Burmese commander-in-chief Gen. Maha Bandula , the British consolidated their gains in Lower Burma, Rakhine and Taninthayi coasts as well as in Assam and Manipur. The British demanded that the Burmese recognize independence and "desist from interference with Assam, Manipur and Cachar", "cede Rakhine and its dependencies", receive a British Resident at

186-551: The British five million pounds sterling (roughly 18.5 billion in 2006 dollars) to 13 million pounds sterling; this expenditure led to a severe economic crisis in British India in 1833. For the Burmese, it was to be the beginning of the end of their independence. The Third Burmese Empire, briefly the terror of British India, was effectively undone, crippled and no longer a threat to the eastern frontier of British India. The Burmese would be crushed for years to come by repaying

217-687: The Burmese forces under the command of Lord Dabayin, son of Gen. Maha Bandula , who was killed in the First Anglo-Burmese War , though bitterly so, as the Major-General resented having to deal with the Royal Navy under the command of Lambert, a mere commodore, after the death of Rear Admiral Charles Austen , the brother of the writer Jane Austen . Early in December Lord Dalhousie informed King Pagan that

248-419: The Burmese kingdom, and effectively left it crippled. The British terms in the negotiations were strongly influenced by the heavy cost in lives and money which the war had entailed. Some 40,000 British and Indians troops had been involved of whom 15,000 had been killed. The cost to British India's finances had been almost ruinous, amounting to approximately 13 million pounds sterling. The cost of war contributed to

279-460: The Burmese knew, of conquest and martial pride, built on the back of impressive military success of the previous 75 years, had come crashing down. The Court of Ava could not come to terms with the loss of the territories, and made unsuccessful attempts to get them back. An invited British Resident in Ava was a daily reminder of humiliation of defeat. More importantly, the burden of indemnity would leave

310-594: The CBD is bound by the Pun Hlaing River to the west, the Hlaing River to the south and Pazundaung Creek to the east. The pattern of south to north roads is as follows: one broad 100-foot (30 m) wide broad road, two narrow streets, one mid-size street, two more narrow streets, and then another 100-foot (30 m) wide broad road. This order is repeated from west to east. The narrow streets are numbered;

341-490: The Court of Ava, and pay an indemnity of two million pounds sterling. Yangon, and Taninthayi would be held until the indemnity was paid. The Court of Ava had not expected, and were unwilling to accept, the full dismemberment of their western empire and the crushing penalty demanded. But with the army severely depleted, the Burmese envoy, the lord of Kawlin, replied that his government: The British were unimpressed: "The question

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372-478: The Strand Road, Merchant Road, Maha Bandula (née Dalhousie) Road, Anawrahta (Fraser) Road, and Bogyoke Aung San (Montgomerie) Road. The CBD's road layout follows a grid pattern, based on four types of roads: Since February 2010, pickup truck bus lines have been forbidden to run in 6 townships of the CBD, namely Latha , Lanmadaw , Pabedan , Kyauktada , Botahtaung and Pazundaung Townships . In May 2003,

403-420: The commander of British forces, General Sir Archibald Campbell . Final negotiations were not negotiations at all. The Burmese had to agree to all British demands. The British demanded and the Burmese agreed to: The first installment of indemnity was to be paid immediately, the second installment within the first 100 days from signing of the treaty, and the rest within two years. Until the second installment

434-794: The construction of mezzanines . Despite their less-than-perfect conditions, the buildings remain highly sought after and most expensive in the city's property market. In 1996, the Yangon City Development Committee created a Yangon City Heritage List of old buildings and structures in the city that cannot be modified or torn down without approval. In 2012, the city of Yangon imposed a 50-year moratorium on demolition of buildings older than 50 years. The Yangon Heritage Trust , an NGO started by Thant Myint-U , aims to create heritage areas in Downtown, and attract investors to renovate buildings for commercial use. Geographically,

465-554: The decision to invade and annex Burma. Richard Cobden made a scathing attack on Dalhousie for despatching a naval commodore to negotiate ( gunboat diplomacy ) and for raising the initial demand for compensation of £1000 to 100 times that amount, £100,000. He also criticised Dalhousie for choosing Lambert over Colonel Archibald Bogle, the British Commissioner of Tenasserim, who was much more experienced in Burmese social and diplomatic affairs. Dalhousie denied that Lambert

496-409: The dispute was misrepresented to Parliament, and Parliament played a role in further "suppressing" the facts released to the public, but most of the facts were established by comparative reading of these conflicting accounts in what was originally an anonymous pamphlet, How Wars are Got Up In India ; this account by Richard Cobden remains almost the sole contemporaneous evidence as to who actually made

527-575: The highest number of colonial period buildings in Southeast Asia. The CBD is still mainly made up of decaying colonial buildings. The former High Court , the former Secretariat buildings , the former St. Paul's English High School and the Strand Hotel are excellent examples of the bygone era. Most buildings in the CBD from this era are four-story mix-use (residential and commercial) buildings with 14-foot (4.3 m) ceilings, allowing for

558-590: The huge indemnity of one million pounds (then US$ 5 million), a large sum even in Europe at that time. The British would wage two more wars against the much weaker Burmese, and swallow up the entire country by 1885. The British were already in a commanding position when initial peace negotiations were commenced in September 1825 in Ngagyaungbinzeik , 20 miles north of Pyay (Prome). After their victory at

589-451: The last-ditch effort by the Burmese. By the beginning of 1826, the British were making steady advances towards Ava. They captured the ancient city of Pagan on 8 February, and on 16 February, the village of Yandabo, less than 50 miles or four days march away from Ava. Left with little choice, the Burmese sued for peace. The Burmese king Bagyidaw sent a delegation, consisting of one American, one English and two Burmese ministers, to meet

620-430: The medium and broad roads are named. For instance, the 100-foot (30 m) Lanmadaw Road is followed by 30-foot (9.1 m)-wide 17th and 18th streets then the medium 50-foot (15 m) Sint-Oh-Dan Road, the 30-foot 19th and 20th streets, followed by another 100-foot (30 m) wide Latha Road, followed again by the two numbered small roads 21st and 22nd streets, and so on. The roads running parallel west to east were

651-556: The other territories covered in the treaty. With the British army at Yandabo village, only 80 km (50 mi) from the capital Ava , the Burmese were forced to accept the British terms without discussion. According to the treaty, the Burmese agreed to: The treaty ended the longest and most expensive war in British Indian history. Fifteen thousand European and Indian soldiers died, together with an unknown (but almost certainly higher) number of Burmese. The campaign cost

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682-650: The province of Pegu would henceforth form part of the Company dominions. The proclamation of annexation was issued on 20 January 1853, and thus the Second Anglo-Burmese War was brought to an end without any treaty being signed. The war resulted in a revolution in Amarapura although it was then still called the Court of Ava , with Pagan Min (1846–1852) being overthrown by his half brother Mindon Min (1853–1878). Mindon immediately sued for peace but

713-523: The removal of a governor whom the Company made their casus belli . Lambert, described by Dalhousie in a private letter as the "combustible commodore", eventually provoked a naval confrontation in extremely questionable circumstances by blockading the port of Rangoon and seizing the King Pagan's royal ship and thus started the Second Anglo-Burmese War which ended in the Company annexing the province of Pegu and renaming it Lower Burma . The nature of

744-516: The royal treasury bankrupt for years. The indemnity of one million pounds sterling would have been considered a colossal sum even in Europe of that time, and it became frightening when translated to Burmese kyat equivalent of 10 million. The cost of living of the average villager in Upper Burma in 1826 was one kyat per month. The treaty achieved its objective: Leave Burma crippled. Indeed, the British would make two more, much easier, wars against

775-600: The two Italian priests he sent to negotiate found the British 50 miles (80 km) farther north at Myedè with a rich belt of the Ningyan teak forests already staked out within their territory and presented as a fait accompli . No treaty was ever signed although trade resumed between Company Burma and the Kingdom of Ava until fresh hostilities broke out in 1885–1886. Treaty of Yandabo The Treaty of Yandabo ( Burmese : ရန္တပိုစာချုပ် [jàɰ̃dəbò sàdʑoʊʔ] )

806-449: The whole situation with the civil, military and naval authorities. He decided that dictating terms to the Court of Ava by marching to the capital was not how the war should be conducted unless complete annexation of the kingdom was contemplated and this was deemed unachievable in both military and economic terms for the time being. As a consequence, Major-General Godwin occupied Prome on 9 October, encountering only slight resistance from

837-482: Was paid, the British would not leave Yangon. The Treaty of Yandabo was signed by Gen. Campbell from the British side and Governor of Legaing Maha Min Hla Kyaw Htin from the Burmese side on 24 February 1826. The Burmese paid 250,000 pounds sterling in gold and silver bullion as the first installment of the indemnity, and also released British prisoners of war. The treaty imposed a severe financial burden to

868-850: Was taken on 3 June, after some sharp fighting round the Shwemawdaw Pagoda . During the rainy season the approval of the British East India Company 's court of directors and of the British government was obtained as to the annexation of the lower portion of the Irrawaddy River Valley, including Prome . After the fighting had concluded, several Burmese pagodas throughout the Empire were sacked. Lord Dalhousie visited Rangoon in July and August, and discussed

899-509: Was the peace treaty that ended the First Anglo-Burmese War . The treaty was signed on 24   February 1826, nearly two years after the war formally broke out on 5   March 1824, by General Sir Archibald Campbell on the British side, and the Governor of Legaing Maha Min Hla Kyaw Htin from the Burmese side, without any due permission and consent of the Ahom kingdom , Kachari kingdom or

930-472: Was the cause of the eruption of hostilities. The first substantial blow of the Second Anglo-Burmese War was struck by the Company on 5 April 1852, when the port of Martaban was taken. Rangoon was occupied on 12 April, and then the Shwedagon Pagoda was bombarded by artillery and taken on 14 April; after heavy fighting, the Burmese army retired northwards. Bassein was seized on 19 May, and Pegu

961-552: Was the second of the three wars fought between the Burmese Empire and British Empire during the 19th century. The war resulted in a British victory with more Burmese territory being annexed to British India . In 1852, Commodore George Lambert was dispatched to Burma by Lord Dalhousie over a number of minor issues related to the Treaty of Yandabo between the countries. The Burmese immediately made concessions including

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