Irrawaddy River MAY 2006 Feature Main Page Photo Gallery On Assignment Learn More Map Multimedia In Learn More the National Geographic magazine team shares some of its best sources and other information to expand your knowledge of our featured subjects. Special thanks to the Research Division. Content Jump Links:  Did You Know?    Related Links    Bibliography    NGS Resources   Did You Know? "Come you back to Mandalay, where the old Flotilla lay, Can't you hear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?" Rudyard Kipling's poem immortalizes the Irrawaddy River as "the Road to Mandalay," while also making famous the company of vessels that traveled that road, the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company (IFC). Founded in 1865 by Scotsmen, the IFC became the largest privately owned fleet in the world. Based out of Glasgow, the ships were built along the River Clyde and then dismantled before being sent east. While the crews were mostly from India, the masters and officers were all Scottish and were thought of as the royalty of the river. Passengers on the finest of the ferries traveled in luxurious teak-lined cabins from Rangoon to Mandalay. Style was not all the IFC offered. Ferries turned into floating markets and in village after village locals received them with great excitement and expectation. In 1885, just before the Third Burma War, the British Army commandeered the fleet to carry troops up the river to Mandalay. And later, in 1942, as the Japanese Imperial Army made its way up the Irrawaddy, the IFC sank most of its fleet to deny the enemy use of the ships. Six years later the IFC was reborn as the Inland Water Transport Board, although its ferries still carry the red-and-black markings of the IFC on their funnels. Today passengers can again travel in luxury from Bagan to Mandalay on The Road to Mandalay, a ship named for Kipling's poem. For more information about the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, go to www.irrawaddyflotilla.com. —Mary Jennings Top Related Links "The Irrawaddy" www.irrawaddy.org Get news and information on Myanmar from this online newsletter published by Burmese citizens living in exile. CIA World FactBook, Burma www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bm.html This site provides an introduction to the country's geography, people, economy, and history, along with general background on the country's history. State Department Background Notes, Burma www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35910.htm Visit this site for a more in-depth look at all of the above and information on foreign relations and travel. Buddhanet: Buddhism in Burma (Myanmar) www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/burma-txt.htm Learn more about Therevada Buddhism, the most common school of Buddhism practiced in Myanmar. Top Bibliography Fredholm, Michael. Ethnicity and Insurgency. Praeger, 1993. Major R. Raven-Hart. Canoe to Mandalay. Frederick Muller, 1939. Martin, Steven, and others. Lonely Planet Myanmar (Burma). Lonely Planet Publications, 2002. Myint-U, Thant. The Making of Modern Burma. Cambridge University Press, 2001. Stevenson, John. The Irrawaddy: Benevolent River of Burma. Marshal Cavendish International, 2004. Steinberg, David I. Burma: the State of Myanmar. Georgetown University Press, 2001. Top NGS Resources Lo Scalzo, Jim. "Burma." National Geographic Traveler (January/February 2004), 50-4, 67. Webster, Donovan. "Blood, Sweat, and Toil Along the Burma Road." National Geographic (November 2003), 84-103. Swerdlow, Joel L. "Burma, the Richest of the Poor Countries." National Geographic (July 1995), 70-97. Hodgson, Bryan. "Time and Again in Burma." National Geographic (July 1984), 90-121. Moore, W. Robert. "Burma, Gentle Neighbor of India and Red China." National Geographic (February 1963), 153-99. Bartlett, Charles H. "Untoured Burma." National Geographic (July 1913), 835-53. Top