Inwa အင်းဝ Ava |
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Location of Ava | |
Coordinates: 21°51′N 95°59′E / 21.850°N 95.983°E | |
Country | Burma |
Region | Mandalay Region |
District | Kyaukse District |
Founded | 26 February 1365 |
Population | |
• Ethnicities | Bamar |
• Religions | Theravada Buddhism |
Time zone | MST (UTC+6.30) |
Inwa or Ava (Burmese: အင်းဝမြို့; MLCTS: ang:wa.mrui., IPA: [ʔɪ́ɴwa̰ mjo̰] or [ʔəwa̰ mjo̰]; also spelled Innwa), located in Mandalay Region, Burma (Myanmar), is an ancient imperial capital of successive Burmese kingdoms from the 14th to 19th centuries. Throughout history, it was sacked and rebuilt numerous times. The capital city was finally abandoned after it was completely destroyed by a series of major earthquakes in March 1839. Though only a few traces of its former grandeur remain today, the former capital is a popular day-trip tourist destination from Mandalay.
The name Inwa (အင်းဝ) literally means "mouth of the Lake", reflecting its geographical location at the mouth of lakes in the Kyaukse District. Another theory states that it is derived from Innawa (အင်းနဝ), meaning "nine lakes" in the area. The city's classical name in Pali is Ratanapura (ရတနပုရ; "City of Gems").
The modern standard Burmese pronunciation is Inwa (IPA: [ʔɪ́ɴwa̰]), following the modern orthography. But the local Upper Burmese pronunciation is Awa ([ʔəwa̰]). Indeed, the spelling of the city in the royal records, all written prior to the modern Burmese spelling standardization drives, is အဝ (Awa), the phonetic spelling of the Upper Burmese usage. The most common Western transcription Ava comes from Awa via Portuguese.