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History of Myanmar

Myanmar, also called Burma, is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia.. 7 eras, 849 CE to today.

Pagan kingdom, 849 CE–1297 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Pagan Kingdom was the first Burmese kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Myanmar. King Anawrahta founded the Pagan Empire in the 1050s and 1060s, presumably for the first time unifying under one polity the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. Pagan's rulers built over 10,000 Buddhist temples in the Bagan Archaeological Zone of which over 2,000 remain. Repeated Mongol invasions toppled the four-century-old kingdom in 1287.

Seat of power: Bagan

Rulers

Taungoo dynasty, 1485–1752 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Toungoo dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Burma from the mid-16th century to 1752. At its peak, Toungoo exercised suzerainty from present-day Assam, Manipur to the Cambodian marches and from the borders of Arakan to Yunnan. The Restored Toungoo kings, now based in Ava, created a legal and political system whose basic features would continue under the Konbaung dynasty well into the 19th century. The Hanthawaddy armies captured Inwa in 1752 and ended the 266-year-old Toungoo dynasty.

Seat of power: Inwa

Rulers

Konbaung dynasty, 1752–1885 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Konbaung dynasty, also known as the Third Burmese Empire, was the last dynasty that ruled Burma from 1752 to 1885. It created the second-largest empire in Burmese history and continued the administrative reforms begun by the Toungoo dynasty, laying the foundations of the modern state of Burma. The reforms, however, proved insufficient to stem the advance of the British Empire, which defeated the Burmese in all three Anglo-Burmese Wars over a six-decade span and ended the millennium-old Burmese monarchy in 1885.

Seat of power: Shwebo

Rulers

British rule in Myanmar, 1824–1948 Draft, not yet reviewed

British colonial rule in Burma lasted from 1824 to 1948, from the successive three Anglo-Burmese Wars through the creation of Burma as a province of British India to the establishment of an independently administered colony separate from British colonial India, and finally independence. Some portions of Burmese territories, including Arakan and Tenasserim, were annexed by the British after their victory in the First Anglo-Burmese War; Lower Burma was annexed in 1852 after the Second Anglo-Burmese War. After the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885, Upper Burma was annexed, and the following year, the province of Burma in British ruled India was created, becoming a major province in 1897. This arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma was separated from British-ruled India and made a separate Crown Colony administered by the Burma Office under the Secretary of State for India and Burma.

Seat of power: Yangon

Union of Burma (1948–1962), 1948–1962 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Union of Burma was the official name, from 1948 to 1962, of the country in Southeast Asia now known as Myanmar. The first 14 years of independent Burma were marred by several communist and ethnic insurgencies. Burma generally strove to be impartial in world affairs and was one of the first countries in the world to recognise Israel and China. Ne Win staged a coup d'état on 2 March 1962, arrested U Nu, Sao Shwe Thaik and several others, and declared a socialist state run by the Union Revolutionary Council.

Seat of power: Yangon

Rulers

Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma, 1962–1988 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma was a socialist country under the leadership of Ne Win and the Burma Socialist Programme Party. Ne Win and his allies in the Tatmadaw overthrew the government of Prime Minister U Nu in a coup d'état on 2 March 1962. Ne Win's governance of Burma was characterised by totalitarianism, isolationism, superstition, xenophobia, and a rejection of Cold War politics. In 1988, mass protests known as the 8888 Uprising pressured BSPP officials, including Ne Win, to resign en masse and adopt a multi-party system.

Seat of power: Yangon

Rulers

Myanmar, 1988 to today Draft, not yet reviewed

The 8888 Uprising in 1988 resulted in a transition to a multi-party system two years later, but the country's post-uprising military junta, led by members of the Tatmadaw, refused to cede power and continued to rule the country directly until 2011, when the junta was officially dissolved following the 2010 general election. The 2015 general election led to a transition of power to the National League for Democracy, although the country's treatment of its ethnic minorities, particularly the Rohingya genocide, continued to be a source of international tension. Following the 2020 general election, in which the NLD won a clear majority in both houses, the Tatmadaw again seized power in the 2021 coup d'état. The coup led to widespread protests and marked the outbreak of an ongoing civil war.

Seat of power: Naypyidaw

Rulers

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