Ayeyarwady Region

The region lies between approximately latitude 15° 40' and 18° 30' north and between longitude 94° 15' and 96° 15' east. It has an area of 13,566 square miles (35,140 km²). The estimated 2022 population is more than 6.5 million. According to the 2014 Burmese National Census the population of the Ayeyarwady Region was 6,184,829, making it the second most populous of Myanmar's states and regions after Yangon Region.

Ayeyarwady Region is flanked by the Rakhine Yoma (Arakan Mountains) range in the west. Large areas have been cleared for paddy cultivation, leading to its preeminent position as the main rice producer in the country, a position it has retained into the 21st century. It has also a number of lakes. Of the rivers branching out from the mighty Ayeyarwady, Ngawun, Pathein and Toe are famous.

The capital city of Ayeyarwady Region is Pathein. Chaungtha Beach and Ngwesaung Beach are popular resorts for both foreigners and the Burmese. They are in the west of the Ayeyarwady Region, an hour from Pathein city and four hours from Yangon city by road.

History

Prehistory

The Ayeyarwady delta region was historically part of the Mon kingdoms like the Hanthawaddy kingdom. This area fell under Burmese (and occasional Arakanese and Mon) rule from the 11th century AD onwards. Its subsequent history mirrors that of the rest of lower Burma.

An ancient overland pre-Tang trade route from Sichuan (modern Yunnan Province) to Bengal passed through Ayeyarwady.

British rule

Prior to British rule in Burma, much of the Ayeyarwady delta was sparsely populated forest, mangrove and plain land with isolated Mon, Karen and Burman settlements; the region saw only limited rice cultivation on lands that were frequently flooded. In the 1750s, the Konbaung Kingdom defeated the Mon Kingdom, but their limited technology in the face of an unwelcome natural environment prevented further settlement in the region.

After the second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852, the British gained control of the Ayeyarwady delta. Over the next few decades, due to British efforts, the delta evolved into a key centre for rice cultivation and was one of the world's top rice-exporting regions, as Burmese small-scale subsistence farmers became integrated into a capitalist economy. Global events like the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the American Civil War led to a drop in rice exports from these regions, contributing to the delta becoming a crucial supplier in the colonial food system.

Initial phase

Adas (1974) describes the Ayeyarwady delta of 1857 to 1907 as being in an initial phase of rapid development. Inhabitants extensively migrated from northern to southern regions, attracted by opportunities emerging from the expanding agriculture. To support this growth, the British introduced a land taxation system modeled after those in British India, such as the Ryotwari, which enabled farmers to buy, sell, and transfer land. They also established formal land tenure systems, such as the Patta system, which granted ownership rights after long-term cultivation and tax payment.

Many migrants from Upper Burma became landowners and gradually increased their holdings, leading to upward mobility. By 1905–06, only about 18 percent of farmland in the delta was owned by non-farmers. At first, Burmese lenders provided access to credit, which played a crucial role in driving agricultural expansion, but by the end of the late 19th century, Indian Chettiar moneylenders had become increasingly prominent. The Chettiars migrated from Bengal to Yangon and the delta, offering larger loans at more favourable rates. By 1901, Indians made up around 7 percent of the delta's population. From 1852 to 1937, roughly 2.6 million Indians migrated to Burma, primarily settling in the delta region and Yangon. A socially diverse society developed, where Europeans controlled the rice export and processing sectors, the Burmese worked as farmers, and the Chettiars provided financial services. The Chettiars used their previous financial expertise and the geographical closeness of Madras to their advantage. According to Adas, the subsistence nature of the Burmese economy prior to British rule had limited local participation in credit, creating a space that the Chettiars successfully moved into and dominated.

Transition period and agricultural crisis

Adas describes 1907 to 1930 as a transitional era. The availability of new land for rice cultivation, which was primarily driving agricultural growth earlier, began to diminish by the late 1920s. Economic pressures increased as land prices surged due to arable land becoming scarce or too costly to develop. For instance, in Prome, the cost of land increased from 29 rupees per acre in 1900 to 103 rupees by 1915. Farmers were forced to cultivate in more marginal and risk-prone areas. At the same time, levels of debt among Burmese cultivators rose, and increasing numbers of farmers lost their land through foreclosures. This led to a transfer of land ownership from farmers to creditors, majorly comprised by the Chettiars. Over time, the relationships between the British investors, Chettiar moneylenders and Burmese farmers grew increasingly strained.

After World War I, the decline of the British economy led to reduced demand for Burmese rice. By 1930, Burmese farmers were heavily indebted, and Chettiar lenders, hit by a global credit crisis, intensified debt recovery, leading to many foreclosures. In 1929–30, non-agriculturalists owned 31 percent of delta land; by 1935, this rose to around 50 percent. Between 1931 and the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1941, the delta experienced mass land dispossession and unemployment. This period saw backlash and violence against the Chettiars, riots in Yangon, and the failed Saya San-led rebellion. The Japanese invasion prompted the flight of up to 400,000 Indians, leaving the rice economy in turmoil and the region without a strong capitalist class. These colonial-era conditions set the stage for landlessness and land-grabbing following Burmese independence in 1948.

Cyclone Nargis

Ayeyarwady Region was the site of heavy devastation when Cyclone Nargis made landfall in early May 2008. The cyclone made landfall on the town of Wagon near Haigyi Island. Labutta Township was most heavily struck with around 80,000 deaths. The cyclone's path devastated the low-lying delta regions going through south-central Ayeyarwady Region and Bogale before entering neighbouring Yangon Region. Nargis was the most expensive tropical cyclone on record in the North Indian Ocean at the time, costing $12 billion in aid.

Burma's state-controlled news media reported that Nargis left more than 66,000 people dead or missing after it struck the Irrawaddy Delta region May 2, unleashing torrential rains, 120 mph sustained winds and a 12-foot (3.7 m) storm surge. Foreign relief officials and diplomats said the death toll could exceed 100,000, making it the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar. The final death toll was at least 146,000 with 90,000 confirmed dead and 56,000 or more missing.