Sandoway

Sandoway, a town and district in the Arakan division of Lower Burma. The town (pop. 1901, 12,845) is very ancient, and is said to have been at one time the capital of Arakan. The district has an area of 3784 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 90,927, showing an increase of 16% in the decade. The country is mountainous, the Arakan range sending out spurs which reach the coast. Some of the peaks in the N. attain 4000 and more ft. The streams are only mountain torrents to within a few miles of the coast; the mouth of the Khwa forms a good anchorage for vessels of from 9 to io ft. draught. The rocks in the Arakan range and its spurs are metamorphic, and comprise clay, slates, ironstone and indurated sandstone; towards the S., ironstone, trap and rocks of basaltic character are common; veins of steatite and white fibrous quartz are also found. The rainfall in 1905 was 23049 in. Except a few acres of tobacco, all the cultivation is rice. Sandoway was ceded to the British, with the rest of Arakan, by the treaty of Yandabo in 1826.