Katha, Myanmar

Etymology

According to the historian Than Tun, "Katha" is a Shan-origin name meaning "Mulberry Market".

James George Scott noted in 1900 that local etymologists believed that "Katha" came from the Kachin name "Kasa", meaning a "place of festival", but he criticizes this theory stating that "it is practically certain that it was called Katha before there were any Kachins in the neighbourhood".

Location

Katha is 12 hours by rail north of Mandalay through the railroad junction town of Naba which is 23 km to the west of Katha. A small branch of railway runs east from Naba to Katha. Katha can also be reached by ferries that run on the Irrawaddy River between the upstream town of Bhamo down to Mandalay. There is also direct bus service from Mandalay to Katha, but it is a bumpy ride.

Climate

Katha has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen climate classification Aw) bordering on a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa). Temperatures are very warm to hot throughout the year, with milder winter months (December–February). There is a winter dry season (November–March) and a summer wet season (April–October).

|Jan record high C = 32.5 |Feb record high C = 36.6 |Mar record high C = 40.2 |Apr record high C = 40.6 |May record high C = 41.9 |Jun record high C = 42.1 |Jul record high C = 36.5 |Aug record high C = 37.5 |Sep record high C = 38.2 |Oct record high C = 38.8 |Nov record high C = 34.9 |Dec record high C = 31.7 |year record high C = 42.1 |Jan record low C = 3.5 |Feb record low C = 4.2 |Mar record low C = 8.3 |Apr record low C = 10.8 |May record low C = 13.0 |Jun record low C = 15.3 |Jul record low C = 16.5 |Aug record low C = 15.5 |Sep record low C = 15.0 |Oct record low C = 12.0 |Nov record low C = 7.5 |Dec record low C = 2.8 |year record low C = 2.8 | access-date = 16 October 2023}}

Economy

Katha is the administrative seat of Katha District which comprises seven small townships. Katha is populated with government offices and many of the early town settlers were from every part of Burma and usually had background history of civil service under at least one ministerial department. The main economy of the town is fishing and farming of kidney beans. Production of rice in the Katha Township is less than its consumption and Katha has to depend on imports from the nearby townships such as Indaw or Kawlin.

Setting of George Orwell's ''Burmese Days''

Katha is known in literature as the real place underlying the fictional Kyauktada, the setting of George Orwell's first novel Burmese Days (1934). Orwell himself served at Katha in 1926–27 in the Indian Imperial Police. The British Club (including active tennis court), police station, and town jail are locations mentioned in the novel that can still be visited today. More accounts on this section are readable in Emma Larkin's "Finding George Orwell in Burma". Katha has links with prominent Burmese writers such as Shwe U Daung, Thaw Tar Swe, Theik-Pan Muu Tin, and AFPFL leader Kyaw Nyein.

In September 2019, the Katha Heritage Trust opened a museum at the house that Orwell lived in during his time in Katha. The two-story wooden building had been an attraction for Western tourists. The museum features portraits and a picture of Orwell, and a painting of the house. One stated aim of the trust was to cooperate with the Orwell Trust in the United Kingdom to restore momentos of Orwell's time in Katha. File:KatharBritishClub.JPG|The British Club in Katha (only the ground floor remains from Orwell's time) File:Tennis court at the old British Club in Katha, Myanmar.jpg|Tennis court at the old British Club File:George Orwell's House in Burma.jpg|Orwell's house in Katha

Notable people

• Aung Kyaw Myat, deputy Minister of Science and Technology (2013-2015)

References

References

1. Tun, Than. (1988). "Observations on the Translation and Annotation of the Royal Orders of Burma". Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies.
2. Scott. (1900). "Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States, Pt. 2, Vol. 1".
3. "Myanmar Climate Report". Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
4. Aung Phay Kyi Soe, '[https://www.mmtimes.com/news/reliving-orwells-burmese-days-katha-township.html Reliving Orwell's Burmese Days in Katha Township'], ''Myanmar Times'', 18 October 2019.