BASSEIN

bassein, the chief town and port, is the capital of the district and division, and is situated on the eastern bank of the bassein river, one of the main arteries by which the waters of the irrawaddy discharge themselves into the sea. it forms an important seat of the rice trade with several steam rice mills, and has great capabilities both from a mercantile and a military point of view, as it commands the great outlet of the irrawaddy. it fell before the british arms, in may 1852, during the second burmese war. in 1901 it had a population of 31,864. the vessels of the irrawaddy flotilla company ply between rangoon and bassein, &c., by inland waters, and a railway opened in 1903 runs northeastward through the centre of the district, to henzada and letpadan.