Mandalay’s hydraulic system –a historiographical approach to the regional spatial structure

ABSTRACT No city could survive without stable supply of water, which is true for many of ancient to modern cities. In this study, geographical and historiographical studies led to the visualization of a hydraulic system of Mandalay on a map. The hydraulic system established in this research consisted of intaking (a weir); transportation (canal); and storage and distribution (tank/reservoir/moat). As a result, the hydraulic system was found to have been formed and transformed over the twelfth century, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and to date, but the basic characteristics of the hydraulic system remained unchanged – i.e. 1) gravitational flow without pumping/harnessing, 2) multiple purposes for water supply, irrigation and others; and 3) dual supply sources for Palace for the security of supply. These findings about formation and transition of the hydraulic system of Mandalay explains how the Burmese Royal Cities were planned and implemented from the hydraulic aspect.


Background
Civilizations have historically grown and prospered along major rivers, as water is essential for municipal development and agricultural use. Prior to the British colonial rule of Burma (present-day Myanmar), which began in the late nineteenth century, Burma's government was a monarchy. The Burmese kingdom's capital cities were often structured as a square-shaped royal city surrounded by walls and a moat, and within the walls were the administrative buildings, such as a palace. Historically, most royal cities were located near major rivers. The greater urban area developed just outside a royal city's walls, with agricultural land beyond the urban area. Both the outer city and the farmland around the capital city need water. Mandalay was the last royal city before British colonialism, and this paper examines the formation and transitions of its hydraulic water system. Yamada (2019b) described the interior spatial structure of the Royal City of Mandalay and proposed a city model derived from the analysis. However, these studies did not discuss the spatial structure outside the walled city.

Mandalay's hydraulic facilities
Maung Tin and Morris (1966) provided an overview of Mandalay's hydraulic facilities. They examined an old five-colour map of Mandalay drawn on a sheet of traditional parabaik paper ( Figure 1) and found that the map was stored at Shwenandaw Kyoung Monastery as early as 1886. The map had been in the Mandalay University archives and was "rediscovered" in 1956. The two authors proposed that the map had been drawn sometime in 1855, that is, just before the capital city was moved from Amarapura to Mandalay. This map shows various hydraulic elements, such as rivers, canals, and tanks (reservoirs). Figure 2 is a scaled transcription of the map and provides information on the configuration of the hydraulic facilities.

Historical cities and water management
There is increasing interest in how water management worked in historical cities such as Angkor in Cambodia. Groslier (1958) referred to Angkor as a "hydraulic city", as it was organized around an immense water management network. It is important to conduct further research into the hydraulic systems of historic cities, such as the capital cities of Burma, to understand how these technologies enabled social and economic frameworks. Moore, Win & Kyaw (2016) assessed indigenous perceptions of water as part of the urban cultural heritage of Bagan in Burma, finding that the water management of inland streams and seasonal lakes maximized the gentle slope of the plain. However, they did not investigate the hydraulic system as a whole.

Research purpose
Previous studies of Mandalay's hydraulic system have focused on the canals that transported water to the royal city. There have been few studies that include the configuration of the entire hydraulic system, including intakes, canals, reservoirs, moats, and outlets. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to provide a basic understanding of the hydraulic system's configuration. This study shows how the network evolved from the twelfth century to the present.

Method
This study analysed the components of the hydraulic system and clarified the relationship of the network to its geographical setting. For this integration, I used maps drawn by Baedeker (1914); Maung Tin and Morris (1966); and the current topographical 1:50,000 maps published by the Myanmar Survey Department. For historical descriptions, I consulted the Royal Orders of Burma (ROB), edited with comments (Tan Tun (1983Tun ( -1990); the Glass Palace Chronicle (GPC), the English language translation of the first part of the standard chronicle of Burma (Pe Mau Ng Tin & G. H. Luce, 1921); and early-twentiethcentury gazetteers such as Seal's (Searle 1928) and Harvey's (1925) History of Burma, which provides detailed information on the irrigation systems.
Part of this paper was previously released in Yamada (2019a) and Yamada et al. (2019c).

Geographical setting
Mandalay is in the centre of Burma along the middle reaches of the Irrawaddy river. Climatically, the area is in the dry zone, and agricultural land need to be irrigated. The hydraulic network for Mandalay is a roughly rectangular area bounded on the west by the Irrawaddy river, on the south by the Mytinge River, on the east by the mountain ranges of the Shan Highlands, and on the north by the Chaung Ma Gyi River. This area corresponds to what was called the Golden Chain Reserved Area (shwe-gyo-that-ne in Burmese) which was approved as the hinterland of the royal city by the King on 27 January 1857 (ROB IX, page xvii.). The area is 21 km from east to west and  51 km from north to south (Ohno,p.92), with a total area of approximately 1,100 km 2 , as shown in Figure 3. In this paper, I refer to this region as the Mandalay Area.

Historical setting
From the eighth to thirteenth centuries, the Burmese court was in Bagan. Mandalay, located about 120 km northeast of Bagan, functioned as the kingdom's granary. After the fall of Bagan, however, Inwa (or Ava, as the British called it), located near Mandalay, became the kingdom's capital in the fourteenth century. Thereafter, the capital city moved among Inwa, Pegu (present day Bago), and Toungoo.
King Alaungpaya unified Burma in 1759 and made Shwebo the capital, later moving it to nearby Sagain, both of which were located near Mandalay along the Irrawaddy River. In 1764, King Hsinbyushin rebuilt Inwa as the new capital city with a splendid palace. The Mandalay Area remained the seat of the throne henceforward; in 1782, King Bodawpaya built a new capital, Amarapura ("City of the Immortals"), which was 10 km northeast of Inwa. Finally, King Mindon decided to move the capital, and construction of Mandalay began in 1857. Mandalay was the last capital city of Burma before the British colonised the country in the late nineteenth century.

Building Mandalay
Mandalay was planned and built from 1856 to 1876. In September 1856, an intimation was issued for the construction of the new city. In January 1857, a royal order to build Mandalay was issued, and the Royal Palace was completed in July 1858. The construction of the outer city was ordered in April 1859, which continued until 1876, when all the outer city wall gates were completed.
This section covers the planning and building of Mandalay in a chronological order. The descriptions come from the ROBs.
(1) King Mindon's Capital Region This ROB, dated 7 April 1856, notes that the king [Mindon] was sending expeditions into the Mandalay territory, and the regional extent of the capital, referred to as the Golden Chain Reserved Area, was outlined. The site of the new capital was said to be on level ground, and the water in the surrounding channels ran clockwise 43]. On 28 January 1857, the map showing the boundary limits of the Golden Chain Reserved Area was submitted to the king, and the limits were approved [ROB-IX, p.xvii].
(2) Mandalay's Hydraulic Facilities The ROBs mention Mandalay's hydraulic facilities in several places. In February 1857, repairs were made to the Aung Pinle and Nanda reservoirs that bounded the site of Mandalay [ROB-IX, p.xvii]. In April 1863, the Shwe Laung Channel (canal) was improved [ROB-IX, xvii]. Both were important elements in the hydraulic system, and we can see that the king had some interest in the functioning of these hydraulic facilities.
(3) Outer City's Walls In May 1859, the foundation stones were set for Mandalay's outer city walls [ROB-IX, p.xviii], and in April 1876, all the 56 gates in the wall were completed [ROB-IX, p. xxiv]. It took 17 years to build and complete the outer city walls.
(4) Outer City as a Continuation of the Royal City Mandalay's royal city was constructed from February 1857 to July 1858, when all the palace buildings were declared as complete. An order was issued to build the outer city in April 1859. The new city of Mandalay would be, as stated in an order, "as magnificent as Mitthila and Cappilavatthu" (cities in India during Buddha's lifetime) [ROB-IX, p.106]. The outer city was therefore a continuation of the royal city.

Hydraulic system structure
For the purposes of this study, a hydraulic system is defined as the configuration of elements comprising natural and artificial facilities for the intake, transfer, storage, supply, and discharge of water. Figure 4 shows a schematic representation of a hydraulic system.
A tank, or a reservoir, refers to a man-made pond for water storage. A canal refers to a man-made ditch for the transportation of water. A moat is a ditch which surrounds a palace or a castle, and the Mandalay palace included a water-filled moat around the walled city. A weir is a low dam built across a river to raise and regulate the water level. A bund is an embankment or causeway alongside a tank or canal.

Elements of the hydraulic system
This section outlines the hydraulic systems as described in historical documents and maps (Table 1).

Rivers
(1) The Irrawaddy River The Irrawaddy River (R1) runs about 3 km west of Mandalay. The courses of the river channels have changed over time, as shown on topographic maps from different years.
(2) The Chaung Ma Gyi River The Chaung Ma Gyi River (R2) originates in the Shan mountains northeast of Mandalay, and it is a tributary of the Irrawaddy River in the west.
(3) The Mytinge River To the south of Mandalay is a winding tributary of the Irrawaddy called the Mytinge River (R3), which flows westward to join the Irrawaddy near Inwa (Ava), the royal city prior to Amarapura.
(4) The Nadaunggya River The Nadaunggya River (R4) is a small sub-tributary of the Mityinge River in the southern part of the Mandalay Area. It originates in the Shan Highlands near the town of Se Daw, flowing into the Mytinge at its eighth km.

Lakes
(1) Lake Taungthaman Lake Taungthaman (L1) is a lagoon and a large perennial lake near Amarapura, fed by the Irrawaddy. However, when Amarapura was built, it was in a lowlying area where water inflow was seasonal, so it is shown as a small lake in the 1914 map.
(2) Lake Zaung Kalaw Kan (or Taung Kale Kan) Lake Zaung Kalaw Kan (L1) was located to the east of Amarapura. After Amarapura was abandoned, the lake seems to have disappeared, as it is not shown on any contemporary topographic maps published by the Myanmar Survey Department.
(3) Lake Kan Daw Gyi Lake Kan Daw Gyi (L3) was a former river course of the Irrawaddy to the northwest of Amarapura, and this lake also seems to have disappeared.

Tanks
(1) The Nanda Tank 1 The Nanda Tank (T1), or reservoir, is said to have been originally ordered by King Alaungsithu (r.1112-1167) during the Bagan Dynasty. In 1788, King Bodawpaya repaired the tanks' bund from the Mandalay Hill to a village of Kalamadaung to the northeast of the Hill. The tank was fed from the Shwelaung Canal. The Nanda and Aungbinle Tanks were combined by King Bodawpaya. In 1841, King Shwebo repaired the bund for this tank (Searle,p.65).
(2) The Maungmagan Tank 2 The Maungmagan Tank (T2) was located north of Mandalay near the Irrawaddy. King Alaungsithu is credited with the construction of this tank. The Maungmagan Tank survived at least until King Bodawpaya's time, as he is believed to have repaired the tank embankments during his reign (Harvey,p.275).
(3) The Taunggan Tank 3 The Taunggan Tank (T3) is thought to have been constructed by King Alaungsithu, (1112-1167 to store and redistribute the flood waters of the Kyetmaok Chaung. King Mindon had it re-excavated and repaired by state prisoners who settled in the local villages (Maung Maung Tin, p.33).
(4) The Aungbinle Tank 4 The Aungbinle Tank (T4), which was the main reservoir for Mandalay, is thought to have been constructed by King Minshinsaw in 1151 and repaired by King Bodawpaya in 1788 (Searle,p.119). King Bodawpaya combined the Aungbinle and Nanda Tanks into Aungbinle Lake, 5 which measured about three miles (5 km) across. After the foundation of Mandalay, it was primarily used to fill the moat in Mandalay, which was the main water supply for the town and the only supply for the palace (Searle,119). In 1841, King Shwebo repaired the bund for this tank, and King Mindon repaired it in 1856 (Searl, pp.65-66). Aungbinle Lake no longer exists.
(5) The Tamokso Tank 6 The Tamokso Tank (T5) was built by King Minshinsaw in 1151 to store flood waters from the Nadaunggya Chaung by way of the Myaungmadaw Canal. It was repaired first by King Bodawpaya in 1783, and again by King Mindon in 1862. The bund for the Tamokso Tank carried an unmetalled cart road towards the Myitnge River.

Canals
(1) The Shwetachaung Canal 7 The Shwetachaung Canal (C1; Figure 5) was constructed by King Bodawpaya in the late eighteenth century and repaired under the orders of King Shwebo in 1837 (Searle,. It was 26 miles (42 km) long, and its head (a weir) was located at the Chaung Ma Gyi river at Kalamet, six miles (10 km) northeast of Madaya village, with an outlet into the Irrawaddy river just below Mandalay Town. The purpose of this canal was to improve the irrigation of the Lebyin lands (Maung Maung Tin, p.33), but as it ran just northwest of Amarapura, the canal was also intended to supply water to the city and replenish its moat. The canal was prone to frequent breaches due to water drainage from the east and flooding of the Irrawaddy from the west in the rainy season (Searle,p.121).
(2) The Shwelaung Canal 8 The Shwelaung Canal (C2; Figure 6), which is in the eastern part of Mandalay, was dug by King Bodawpaya in the late eighteenth century. Originally, this canal The Taunggan Tank site is based on the description of its location as eighteen miles (29 km) north-east of Mandalay (Searle,122), where a village with the same name still exists in the 1:50,000 topographic map. 4 The Aungbinle Tank location is according to Figure 4. 5 The location and the shape of Aungbinle Lake is shown in Mindon's plan, according to Maung Maung Tin and Morris, Figures 1 and 2. The bunds still exist, and the shape can also be confirmed in the 1:50,000 topographic map. 6 The Tamasko Tank location is according to Figure 4. 7 The route of the Shwetachaung Canal follows the route indicated in Figure 4. 8 The route of the Shwelaung Canal follows the route indicated in Figure 4. was built to supply water to Amarapura. It was repaired under the orders of King Shwebo in 1837 (Searle,p.119). The purpose of the canal was to improve the irrigation of the Kaing lands, and it was also used to fill the Nanada-Aungbinle Tanks, located just west of its reach (Maung Maung Tin, p.33).
This canal started at the Chaung Ma Gyi River near Zehaung village, just above the present headworks of the Mandalay Canal. It was about 28 miles (45 km) long, and it flowed in a deep cutting along the foot of the hills and in a south-westerly direction to Amarapura, where it emptied into the Irrawaddy. After the construction of Mandalay, the canal was connected to the Nanada-Aungbinle Tanks, which were used to fill the moats and ponds and to supply drinking water to Mandalay. It was difficult to maintain the canal's headworks when the Chaung Ma Gyi River flooded. Eventually, in 1878, the headworks failed, and thousands of acres of land were made unavailable for cultivation (Searle,p.120).
(3) The Myaungmadaw Canal 9 The Myaungmadaw Canal (C3) is thought to have been constructed by King Bodawpaya when he repaired the Nanda Tank in 1788. It started at the Nadaunggya Chaung, a tributary of the Myitnge River at Sedaw village, and connected with the Tamokso Tank. Later, this canal also contributed to the Shwelaung Canal to feed the Nanda-Aungbinle Tanks (Searle,p.121).
(4) The Dinga Canal 10 As the Shwelaung Canal was liable to serious breaching caused by flooding, after the construction of Mandalay, King Mindon's engineers planned an additional water supply to be drawn from the Chaung Ma Gyi River many miles below the Shwelaung Canal intake (Maung Maung Tin and Morris, p.33). Thus, the Dinga Canal (C4) was dug between the Shweta Chaung and Shwelaung Canals as an additional water supply route for Mandalay. Unfortunately, the level of the Dinga Canal was higher than that of the Shwetachaung, so the canal could not be used for irrigation, and it fell out of use soon after its completion.
(5) The Nadi Canal 11 In 1862, King Mindon dug the Nadi Canal from north to south (C5; Figure 7) to the east of Mandalay. This canal had gardens along its banks (Searle,p.66).
(6) The Mandalay Canal The Mandalay Canal (C6) is the major irrigation canal in use today, and its water comes from the Chaung Ma Gyi River with the headworks at Sedaw village, sixteen miles (26 km) northeast of Madaya village. The Mandalay Canal was first opened for irrigation in 1902-03 after the annexation of Burma by the British. As the course of the Mandalay Canal crossed the Shwelaung Canal, it irrigated the same agricultural area.   The route of the Myaungmadaw Canal follows the route indicated on the 1:50,000 topographical map. 10 The route of the Dinga Canal follows route indicated in Figure 4. 11 The route of the Nadi Canal follows the route indicated in Figure 4 and in the 1:50,000 topographical map.

Moats
(1) Amarapura According to Yule (1858) the Amarapura Moat (M1; Fig. 9) was nearly eighty feet (24 m) wide and extended along the east and west, sides, the greater portion of the north, and about half in the south. This ditch was from 16 to 18 feet (5 to 6m) deep (Yule, p.132).
(2) Mandalay The Mandalay Moat around the walled city (M2; Fig. 8) was constructed around the same time as the palace, and it was completed in 1859 (Duroiselle,p.14). The moat was 225 feet (69 m) wide with an average depth of 11 feet (3.4m) (Duroiselle,p.24).

Other elements
(1) Weirs Weirs were usually comprised of cribs filled with stones that raised the water level from a few inches to up to six feet (1.8 m) (Searle,p.21). There were weirs in all the canals' upstream reaches.
(2) Bunds Some of the tanks had bunds around them ( Figure 10). When the Aungbinle Tank was repaired by King Bodawpaya in 1788, its dimensions were recorded as height 37.5 feet (11.4 m), with a bottom width of 105 feet (32.0 m) and top width of breadth at top 21 feet (6.4 m), and the bund's length was just over five miles (8 km) (Searle,p.119).
The dimensions of the bund of the Nanda Tank, when it was raised for four miles (6 km) from Mandalay Hill to the Kalamadaung, were: height 30 feet (9.1 m), width at bottom 162.5 feet (49.5 m) and the width at top 21 feet (6.4 m) (Searle,119). Bunds were often used as cart roads. The bund of the Aungbinle Tank is still used today as the Mandalay -Lashio Road. Some of the canals had bunds to prevent them from overflowing during flooding. The Shwetachaung and Dinga Canals were thought to have bunds that were used as elevated roads.

Integration of hydraulic facilities into a network
This section presents the integration of the hydraulic facilities previously discussed into a network derived from the elements' relationships.

Base maps
To integrate the hydraulic information gathered in the research into a comprehensive format, a base map was created using the Maung Maung Tin and Morris transcribed map, as shown in Figure 4, and the 1:50,000 topographic maps prepared by the Myanmar Survey Department 2003 to derive the present-day configuration and for a broad reference to identify locations.
As discussed in Section 2, the hydraulic facilities were built at different times, so it is useful to map them over four time periods: 1) the twelfth century, 2) the end of the eighteenth century, 3) the end of the nineteenth century, and 4) the present day.

Transformations in the hydraulic network
(1) Twelfth Century Bagan was the centre of the Kingdom in the twelfth century. The Glass Palace Chronicle (GPC) records that during the Bagan Dynasty, King Alaungsithu (r. 1112-1167) carried out public works: "He [King Alaungsithu] made reservoirs, canals, dams, and channels" [GPC,p.113]. King Alaungsithu built the Nanda and Maungmagan Tanks in the Mandalay area. He also constructed the Taunggan Tank during his reign. The Aungbinle and Tamokso Tanks were built by his son, Prince Minshinzaw, sometime later (Harvey,p.319). Alaungsithu also built a system of irrigation channels (Harvey,p.49), although the details are not known. By the end of the twelfth century, all five tanks were contributing to crop production. Figure 11 shows the network of hydraulic facilities at this time.
(2) End of the Eighteenth Century During the sixteenth and seventeenth century, following the fall of the Bagan Dynasty, the area around present-day Mandalay was stagnant and almost depopulated. King Bodawpaya (r. 1782-1819) drastically changed the area when he moved the capital to Amarapapura in 1783. Tan Tun points out that the kingdom under his kingship focused on the following issues: 1) royal lands had top priority for water distributed from the reservoirs, 2) canals used for water distribution were always kept in good conditions, 3) water was shared strictly in accordance with quotas, 4) weir work in the Kyaukse area were always given preference, and 5) enlargement of canal widths was given priority so that they could carry more water [ROB IV, p. xii]. The tanks were repaired, and canals were dug to supplement the hill water that filled the tanks. More villages were settled on the plains, and outlying parts were opened up (Searle,p.50).
In the late eighteenth century, King Bodawpaya dug the Shwetachaung, Shwelaung, and Myaungmadaw Canals and repaired the Nanda, Maungmagan Aungbinle, and Tamokso Tanks. As mentioned earlier, he combined the Nanda and Aungbinle Tanks to create Aungbinle Lake. Figure 12 shows the hydraulic network at this time.
(3) End of the Nineteenth Century The irrigation works for Mandalay were kept in a good condition until the end of King Mindon's reign. Mindon transferred the capital from Amarapura to Mandalay in 1857 and dug the Dinga Canal, which did not flow very well, and the Nadi Canal east of Mandalay. He also repaired Nanda and Aungbinle Tanks and combined the two together to make the Aungbinle Lake. The dike around Aungbinle Lake had to be raised due to sedimentation (Dumarçay,p.28), as shown in Figure 3. Thus, Mandalay's water was supplied by the Shwetachaung Canal to the west and from Aungbinle Lake to the east. The hydraulic network of this time is shown in Figure 13. (4) Present Day The canals can still be seen except for the ill-fated Dinga Canal, but the five tanks no longer exist. Taungthaman Lake is now very large, and Kan Daw Gyi Lake was created in the twentieth century to the northwest of the old Amarapura city. The Mandalay Canal was built in the early part of the twentieth century and is further east of the Shwelaung Canal. The present-day hydraulic network is shown in Figure 14.

Gravitational flow
The original hydraulic system dates to at least twelve centuries and, as electricity or steam were unavailable, water flow was through gravity. To enable gravitational flow, elevated canal intake points were established at the foot of the mountains to the east of Mandalay. The canals followed the natural slopes of the terrain, generally from east to west and north to south.
By the end of the nineteenth century, there were four to five tanks in the Mandalay Area, but none of these survive today. Records indicate that the tanks were situated on naturally low-lying ground. Some of the tanks, including the Nanda and Aungbinle Tanks, included bunds. The bund for the Aungbinle Tank was elevated by 11.4 metres and that for the Nanda Tank was at 9.1 metres. 12 These high bunds were built to increase the volume of water stored in the tanks and possibly to increase the head for the stored water to aid gravitational flow to the moats.

Multiple purposes of the hydraulic system
The hydraulic system, comprising the man-made elements of weir, canal, and tank, as well as the natural elements of river and lake, was built in the twelfth century for farmland irrigation. A stable water supply, therefore, increased crop production.
Later, when Amarapura was built in the late eighteenth century and Mandalay in the midnineteenth century, the purpose of the hydraulic system shifted from irrigation to supplying water to the palace and city. Any surplus water was used for irrigation.
Some of the canals were also used for transportation. One gazetteer notes that the Shwetachaung Canal was "navigable in the rains for country boats as far up as Sagabin; a few miles west of Sedaw" (Searle, p.2). As Sedaw is located a few kilometres from the  intake point for the Shwetachaung Canal, the canal was navigable in most of its reaches during the rainy season.This figure shows a portion of the map by Baedeker (1914).

Two water supplies for moats
The king considered that keeping the moat full was of utmost importance, as it was part of the palace's defences. In addition, the moat was a main source of water for the city and the only source for the palace and court.
The Shwetachaung Canal (C1) was just northwest of Amarapura and supplied water to the moat. This canal had only one bank, and drainage water from the east constantly flowed into it, sometimes causing breaches, as there was no means for water regulation (Searle,p.121). When the Shwetachaung Canal failed, other water sources were necessary to keep the moat filled. Therefore, the Shwelaung (C2) and Myaungmadaw (C3) Canals were built south of the city to get water from Lake Taungthaman. The 1855 map in  Figure 15 depicts this arrangement. It clearly shows that two water sources fed Amarapura from the northwest and the south.
The water supply to the moat around Mandalay also came from two sources. The first source was Lake Aungbinle. The lake was replenished by the Shwelaung Canal (C2) to the northeast and the Myaungmadaw Canal (C3) to the southeast. In addition, the Shwetachaung Canal (C1) to the west could be used for water supply. The 1914 map of Mandalay and its environs in Figure 16 clearly shows the two water sources.

Conclusions
This study investigated the water management of two Burmese historical cities, Amarapura and Mandalay. The establishment of a stable water supply was a crucial consideration in decisions to move the Burmese Kingdom's capital city. When the capital was moved to Mandalay, major elements of the hydraulic system of its predecessor capital, Amarapura, had already been established, and the system only needed to be repaired and strengthened.
This historiographical study focused on documents regarding the construction of Mandalay and the historical maps of the wider Mandalay region. The result was an integration of the hydraulic systems from the twelfth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries along with those of the present day onto a contemporary scaled map.
The main findings follow: (1) The hydraulic network was created, transformed, and partially discarded over time. The original hydraulic system can be traced back to the twelfth century, when King Alaungsithu built canals, dams, and reservoirs for irrigation. The system was rehabilitated and improved with additions by King Bodawpaya in the eighteenth century and King Mindon in the nineteenth century (Amarapura and Mandalay).
(2) Despite rehabilitation and improvements, the basic characteristics of the system remain unchanged -gravitational flow without pumping or harnessing. The canals were maintained to keep the gravitational flow secure, and the bunds for the tanks (reservoirs) were raised.
(3) Mandalay's hydraulic system served multiple purposes: water supply, irrigation of farmland, and municipal water supply for the capital's citizens.
(4) In case of disruption, the hydraulic system maintained dual supply sources for the palace moat.
These research findings help explain how the hydraulic systems of the Burmese Royal Cities were planned and implemented. Building on this study, a more extensive field survey, an archaeological survey, and a quantitative analysis are necessary for a more in-depth analysis. Application of this research method to other historical cities, such as Bagan, Toungoo, Pegu, Inwa (Awa), and Shwebo, could expand the knowledge and understanding of the relationship between historical cities and water management.
A limitation of this study is that the drainage processes remain unknown. Usually, to prevent polluted water from entering the water supply, drainage is implemented by a separate system. In Mandalay, the drainage canal ran from the city to the Irrawaddy River, either directly or via a lake, but the details are unknown, and most of the historical documents do not discuss this issue.
This study combined historical and geographical approaches so that the features of the hydraulic system of the Mandalay region could be integrated onto scaled topographical maps. This combined approach produces greater insight than a single approach, and spatial models were derived as a result.