Rangoon

Rangoon
Presidency: Bengal Presidency
Coordinates:	16.868878°N 96.236255°E
Altitude:	26m (85 ft)
Present Day Details
Place Name:	Yangon
State/Province:	Yangon Division
Country:	Burma
Transport links

FibiWiki Maps
See our interactive map of this location showing places of interest during the British period
[xxxxx Rangoon]

Rangoon, in what was formerly known as Lower Burma, was the capital of British Burma from 1885 and a separate district in Pegu Division during the British period. It was also the headquarters of Hanthawaddy District.

History

Rangoon came under British rule in the 1850s and was transformed into a busy commercial port. It became the capital of British Burma after Upper Burma was captured in the 3rd Burma War, making overland access from the rest of British India possible.

Military history

• Occupation of Rangoon 1824, part of the 1st Burma War
• Battle of Rangoon 1852, part of the 2nd Burma War

There was a cantonment at Rangoon. C 1927 a new cantonment was built at Mingaladon, twelve miles to the north of Rangoon, although some regiments remained in Rangoon. During the Second World War, Mingaladon was the location of an RAF base, which is now the Rangoon international airport.

Spelling Variants

Modern name: Yangon
Variants: Rangoon

Maps

• Map of Rangoon 1893 Ian Poyntz’ Rootsweb Historical Maps of India
• Map of Rangoon 1909 Imperial Gazetteer of India
• Map of Rangoon 1912 Historical Maps of Asia Collection, University of Texas, Austin
• Map of Rangoon 1924 Ian Poyntz’ Rootsweb Historical Maps of India
• Map of Rangoon 1931 Imperial Gazetteer of India
• The Anglo -Burmese Library includes at least one historical map of Rangoon which can be increased to show great detail, available in the members' area.

Churches

• Photograph: Holy Trinity [Anglican] Cathedral – Rangoon DBHKer on flickr.com. Another view go-myanmar.com on flickr.com.
• Photograph: Yangon Siyin Baptist Church, previously St Philip’s Church cityguide.com.mm. St Philip’s Church of England was established in 1887
• Photograph: Methodist English Church – Rangoon DBHKer on flickr.com
• Photograph: Telugu Methodist Church consecrated in 1880 as the Methodist Episcopal Church, whose American missionaries came to Burma in 1879. Yangon Architecture. Another photograph DBHKer on flickr.com
• Photograph: Presbyterian Church - Rangoon – 1928, known as the "Scots Kirk". The Presbyterian Church was established in Rangoon in 1873. This red brick church replaced an earlier church built in 1875. DBHKer on flickr.com
• Photograph: St Mary's [Roman Catholic] Cathedral, Yangon, the largest church in Myanmar; the exterior is red brick, while the interior features an unusual mix of red, green and white. It was designed by Dutch architect Jos Cuypers and was completed in 1899. go-myanmar.com on flickr.com
• Photograph: St. John Catholic Church, Yangon flickr.com. Photograph: St. John’s Catholic Church Yangon Architecture. This appears to be the church called St John’s Catholic Church (Cantonement), rather than St. John’s Catholic Church, built 1900 in Bo Sun Pet Street
• St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, built 1934 yangonarchdiocese.org. Three photographs: 1, 2, 3 skyscrapercity.com

Cemeteries

• The English Cantonment Cemetery, Rangoon (Scroll down to near the bottom of the page) from Steve Fogden’s “ Chindit Chasing, Operation Longcloth 1943”
• Rangoon War Cemetery
  • Rangoon War Cemetery Roll of Honour roll-of-honour.org.uk
  • Rangoon War Cemetery Scroll down for photographs and cemetery information from Steve Fogden’s “ Chindit Chasing, Operation Longcloth 1943”
  • WW2Talk post CWGC Rangoon Memorial (Burma) 2010: Pics of all c27,000 names now available. A free offer.
• Taukkyan War Cemetery including the Rangoon Memorial
  • Taukkyan War Cemetery and the Rangoon Memorialfrom above mentioned website of Steve Fogden
  • Roll of Honour Taukkyan Memorial Roll-of-honour.org.uk
  • Taukkyan War Cemetery cwgc.org
• The Armenian Cemetery in Rangoon has been completely demolished.

External links

• Rangoon City Imperial Gazetteer
  
• Photograph: View of the Cantonment, Rangoon 1855 by Linnaeus Tripe. Click to enlarge. British Library
• Photograph Album: Rangoon by DBHKer flick.com.
• Photograph: The Strand Rangoon 1907 by Philip Klier. The National Archives UK on flickr.com
• Photographs of colonial buildings in Yangon taken mid 2012 from the website of photographers Jacques Maudy and Jimi Casaccia with the article Burma: Visionary Photographers Train Cameras On Yangon’s Colonial Buildings Eurasia Review August 2, 2012
• A Fading Yangon Captured in Photos with a Slideshow September 13, 2012 Wall Street Journal Life and Style: Scene Asia
• "A toast to the past" [The Pegu Club] by Wade Guyitt 08 July 2013 Myanmar Times. Retrieved 30 August 2014
• Chasing Chinthes Armenians in Rangoon (retrieved 27 May 2014)
• "The last Armenians of Myanmar" by Andrew Whitehead 27 August 2014 bbc.com. Retrieved 1 September 2014
• New Cantonment, Mingaladon. Hansard 28 July 1927. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
• RAF Mingaladon rafweb.org. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
• Yangon [Anglican Archdiocese] Anglican Communion. Retrieved 28 October 2014
• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yangon. Retrieved 28 October 2014
• "Rangoon as a Modern City : The Impact of British Colonialism in British India" by Simon Duncan. Southeast Asia Seminar. Catching Up Southeast Asian New Body: States, Markets and Public Spheres.

Historical books online

• "Rangoon" page 435 Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Sanitary State of the Army in India : with Abstract of Evidence, and of Reports Received from Indian Military Stations 1864 Archive.org
• "Rangoon" page 145 Wanderings in Burma by George W Bird 1897 “South East Asia Visions” Cornell University with
  • Map of Rangoon Town and Suburbs
• Scenes in Burma: An Album of 125 Views c 1900-1910? Archive.org. Contains many photographs of Rangoon, including churches.
• Rangoon Diocesan Association: Quarterly Paper Church of England. 48 quarterly issues from 1897 to 1908. SOAS Digital Library. London University.The issue for June 1898 listed Clergy and English Missionaries throughout Burma. If the link is not permanent Search using keyword Rangoon.