Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Akyab

AKYAB, a district and city within the Arákán division of British Burmah, and under the jurisdiction of the chief commissioner of that province. The district lies along the north-eastern shores of the Bay of Bengal, between 20° and 21½° N. lat., and 92° 12′ and 94° E. long. It forms the northernmost district of British Burmah, and the largest of the three districts of the Arákán division. It is bounded on the N. by the Chittagong district of Bengal; on the E. by the Sumadoung ranges, which separate it from Independent Burmah; on the S. by the Arákán districts of Rámri and Sandoway; and on the W. by the Bay of Bengal. In 1871 the frontier or hill tracts of the district were placed under a special administration, with a view to the better government of the wild tribes which inhabit them. The present area is returned at 4858 square miles, of which 521 square miles are cultivated, 913 cultivable but not actually under tillage, and 3424 square miles uncultivable and waste. The population of the district in 1872 amounted to 263,152, of whom 192,885 were Buddhists or Jains, 47,349 Mahometans, 8687 Hindus, 13,928 aborigines, and 303 Christians. The central part of the district consists of three fertile valleys, watered by the Myu, Koladyne, and Lemyu. These rivers approach each other at their mouths, and form a vast network of tidal channels, creeks, and islands. Their alluvial valleys yield inexhaustible supplies of rice, which the abundant water carriage brings down to the port of Akyab at a very cheap rate. The four chief towns are Khúmgchú in the extreme north-east of the district; Koladyne in the centre; Arákán, further down the rivers; and Akyab on the coast, where their mouths converge. This district passed into the hands of the British, together with the rest of Arákán division, at the close of the first Burmese war of 1825.

Akyab, Town and Port, situated at the point of convergence of the three large rivers Myu, Koladyne, and Lemyu, 20° 9′ N. lat., and 92° 56′ E. long., is the chief town of the district of the same name, and the most flourishing city of the Arákán division. The town is regularly built, with broad streets running at right angles to each other. The port is commodious, is the seat of a large export trade in rice, and possesses steam communication direct with Calcutta once a fortnight, except during the south-west monsoon. The population in 1871–72 numbered 15,281. Akyab monopolises almost the whole sea-borne trade of the province of Arákán, amounting in 1871–72 to 1,345,417; to which the export of rice contributed £105,894. During 1871–72, 256 vessels, of a total burden of 129,061 tons, entered the port; and 262 vessels, of a burden of 130,203 tons, cleared.