Tharrawaddy (Burmese: သာယာဝတီ, also spelt Thayarwaddy) is a city in western Bago Region of lower Myanmar.

[citation needed] During the Galon Rebellion, the self-proclaimed king Saya San moved to Tharrawaddy after a coronation in Yangon in December 1930.

[2] Tharrawaddy, like most of Lower Burma, suffered severe economic dislocation during the ‘Hoover Slump’.

The high population density and the concentration of land ownership in central Burma stoked disaffected landless laborers, whom blamed the colonial government for both their inability to work the land independently and for decline of their real incomes as rice worker.

Rural cultivators were quick to respond to Saya San's appeals of anti-tax rhetoric mixed with Buddhist traditions and prophecies.