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Moulmein

Port, 1826–1937

မော်လမြိုင်

Today Mawlamyine, Mon State, Myanmar. Same place, renamed.

Key facts

Historical name
Moulmein
Type
Port
Coordinates
16.4847° N, 97.6258° E(seed dataset)
Governance
Directly administered
Record confidence
Medium confidence
Identifiers
Q685941

Directly administered by the Governor-General of India, and therefore part of British India in the statutory sense of the Interpretation Act 1889, s.18.

Location

Pin placed at the coordinates recorded for this place. Colonial-era boundaries are not drawn.

Description

Teak port at the mouth of the Salween, the first capital of British Burma after the First Anglo-Burmese War.

Historical notes

Ceded with Tenasserim by the Treaty of Yandabo (1826) and administrative centre until Rangoon took over in 1852; the setting of Kipling's 'Mandalay' refrain and Orwell's 'Shooting an Elephant' service. Now Mawlamyine.

Administrative history

Administrative parenthood changed over time. Each row states the years it is recorded for, and the source it comes from.

Administrative units this place is recorded under, by year
YearsRelationUnitConfidence
from 1901Part ofBurmaProvince · Directly administeredSnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred.Medium confidencesource
from 1901Part ofAmherstDistrict · Directly administeredSnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred.Medium confidencesource

Recorded names

Every documented spelling and transliteration held for this place. The historical name is canonical; modern names redirect to it.

Name variants recorded for this place
NameScriptTypeYears
MoulmeinLatinHistorical English
MaulmainLatinAlternative spelling
MawlamyineLatinModern English
MoulmaynLatinAlternative spelling
MoulmeinLatinAlternative spelling
Moulmein TownLatinAlternative spelling
YangonLatinIndigenous
မော်လမြိုင်MyanmarIndigenous

Records and references

Imperial Gazetteer of India
Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31), Vol. XVIII (18)
Census of India
Census of India, 1901, Vol. XII (12): Burma

Sources

  1. Encyclopedia· generalCC BY-SA

    Wikipedia: Mawlamyine, Wikimedia Foundation

    Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0

    Retrieved 2026-08-29

  2. Database· identityCC0

    Wikidata (Q685941), Wikimedia Foundation

    Wikidata, CC0 1.0

    Retrieved 2026-08-29

  3. Archive· descriptionPublic domain

    Internet Archive scan: in.gov.ignca.31005, Internet Archive

    Scanned volume of a pre-1929 publication (Imperial Gazetteer of India 1908–31 / Census of India 1901); public domain. Digitisation courtesy of the Internet Archive.

    Retrieved 2026-08-29

  4. Gazetteer· administrativeLicence unverified

    Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908–31), DSAL entry: Moulmein Town, University of Chicago / Digital South Asia Library

    Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago — the 1908–31 text is public domain, but DSAL's digital presentation states no licence; link-out only

    Retrieved 2026-08-29

Sources tagged “Licence unverified” are linked to rather than reproduced. Scans and images are only displayed inline where the licence is confirmed permissive.