Bago River Bago River Bago River (; Pegu River) is a river of southern Myanmar. It flows through Bago and Yangon. It arises in the hills of the Pegu Range and flows into the Myitmaka River which below that point is called the Yangon River. In 1608 the Portuguese adventurer Philip de Brito e Nicote, known as Nga Zinka to the Burmese, plundered the Shwedagon Pagoda. His men took the 300-ton Great Bell of Dhammazedi. De Brito's intention was to melt the bell down to make cannons, but it fell into this river when he was carrying it across. To this date,
Bago, Negros Occidental of these settlers petitioned the Spanish authorities to declare their village a "pueblo" or town and to name it "Bago". Among the petitioners were Manuel Sitchon, Gregorio Varela, Paulino Torres, Jacinto Araneta, Clemente Celis, Mariano Gonzaga and Fernando Villanueva, whose forebears hailed from the town of Molo, lloilo. The said petition was finally granted by the Spanish authorities in the year 1800; thus, Bago officially attained the status of a "pueblo" or town in that same year. Between the years 1800 and 1898, the inhabitants of Bago are among those who suffered tremendously under the Spanish tyranny, injustice and oppression.