Yangon was founded during the early 11th century CE in the period when the Mon ruled what is now Southern Myanmar. The earliest settlements developed around the Shwedagon Pagoda, the city's most famous monument built by the Mon kings between the 6th and loth centuries. As it developed, the city was part of successive kingdoms until 1755 when it was conquered by King Alaungpaya of the Konbaung Dynasty, the last royal house to rule Burma prior to the British capture of Upper Burma (the Kingdom of Burma) during the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885. British colonial control was initially formalised during the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852, when Rangoon became the capital of the newly established British Burma (Lower Burma). The city was transformed into the colony's political, economic and financial hub. It was laid out in a grid pattern on what had been marshland in the Yangon River Delta between the Yangon River to the west and south, and Pazundaung Creek to the east. This area remains the heart of the city today.
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