Insein Township (Burmese: အင်းစိန်မြို့နယ်, pronounced[ɪ́ɰ̃sèiɰ̃mjo̰nɛ̀]) is located in northern Yangon. The township comprises 21 wards, and shares borders with Shwepyitha township in the north, Hlaingthaya township in the west, Mingaladon township in the east and Mayangon township in the south.[2] Insein is home to the Insein Prison, the most notorious prison in the country that houses hundreds of political prisoners. Until the 1990s, Insein, about 20 miles (32 km) from central Yangon, was beyond Yangon's city limits although by the 1980s, Insein was already integrated with the rest of the city. With the expansion of Yangon's city limits in the 1990s which also included founding new satellite towns, Insein was formally incorporated into Yangon.
Etymology
The word "Insein" means "precious lake" in the Burmese language, and is also a former name of Inya lake.[3] However, the etymology of "Insein" is derived from the Mon language term Mon: အၚ်စိၚ် (/ɛŋcoiŋ/), meaning "elephant lake."[4][5]
History
Insein was a famous battle site in the Burmese civil war that erupted after the country's independence from the United Kingdom in January 1948. Insein was the limit Karen insurgents reached in January 1949 in their ambitious attempt to take Yangon and oust the Burmese government.[6]
^journal of the Burma Research Society. Vol. 39–41. 1955. p. 188.
^Tun, Than (1988). "Observations on the Translation and Annotation of the Royal Orders Of Burma". Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 4 (1): 91–99. JSTOR40860260.