Pagan kingdom
Myanmar, 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
Pyinbya
King of Burma, 846 CE–886 CE
He was the king of the Pagan Dynasty of Burma who founded the city of Pagan in 849. He was the paternal great-grandfather of King Anawrahta, the founder of the Pagan Empire.
Portrait of Pyinbya: Hybernator, CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Tannet of Pagan
King of Burma, 886 CE–904 CE
He was a son of King Pyinbya, the founder of Pagan, and the paternal grandfather of King Anawrahta. The king loved horses and was a master of horsemanship. He was assassinated by Sale Ngahkwe, his stable groom, who succeeded him as king.
Sale Ngahkwe
King of Burma, 904 CE–934 CE
Ngahkwe came to work in the service of King Tannet as a stable groom and then assassinated the king and seized the throne.
Theinhko
King of Burma, 934 CE–956 CE
According to the Burmese chronicles, Theinhko was a son of the previous king, Sale Ngahkwe. Theinhko was killed by a farmer, Nyaung-u Sawrahan, from whose farm he took a cucumber. The story is likely a fairy tale.
Nyaung-u Sawrahan
King of Burma, 956 CE–1001
Sawrahan is the earliest king of Pagan whose existence has been verified by inscriptional evidence. The creation of Burmese alphabet as well as the fortification of Pagan may have begun in his reign.
Kunhsaw Kyaunghpyu
King of Burma, 1001–1021
He was the father of Anawrahta, the founder of Pagan Empire. The principality of Pagan continued to gain strength during his reign.
Portrait of Kunhsaw Kyaunghpyu: Sir Richard Carnac Temple, Public domain, file
Kyiso
King of Burma, 1021–1038
He was a king of the Pagan dynasty from 1021 to 1038. Kyiso was an avid hunter, and was killed in a hunting accident near Monywa.
Portrait of Kyiso: Sir Richard Carnac Temple, Public domain, file
Anawrahta
King of Burma, 1044–1077
He was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Anawrahta unified the entire Irrawaddy valley for the first time in history, and placed peripheral regions such as the Shan States and Arakan under Pagan's suzerainty. Historically verifiable Burmese history begins with his accession to the Pagan throne in 1044.
Portrait of Anawrahta: Phyo WP, CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Kyansittha
King of Burma, 1084–1113
He was king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma and is considered one of the greatest Burmese monarchs. His reign was largely peaceful, and as a great admirer of Mon culture he pursued a conciliatory policy towards the Mon of the south.
Alaungsithu
King of Burma, 1112–1167
Sithu's reign was a prosperous one in which Pagan was an integral part of inland and maritime trading networks. He also introduced standardized weights and measures throughout the country to assist administration as well as trade.
Portrait of Alaungsithu: Sir Richard Carnac Temple, Public domain, file
Narapatisithu
King of Burma, 1174–1211
He is considered the last important king of the Pagans. Burmese became the primary written language of the kingdom, replacing Mon and Pyu. The Pagan Empire reached its peak during his reign, and would decline gradually after his death.
Portrait of Narapatisithu: Jialiang Gao (peace-on-earth.org), CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Htilominlo
King of Burma, 1211–1235
His 24-year reign marked the beginning of the gradual decline of Pagan dynasty. Htilominlo was the last of the temple builders although most of his temples were in remote lands outside the Pagan region, reflecting the deteriorating state of royal treasury.
Portrait of Htilominlo: user:ESPARTOSA, Public domain, file
Kyaswa
King of Burma, 1235–1251
Kyaswa succeeded his father Htilominlo and was even more devout. The royal treasury was so depleted that Kyaswa had trouble completing a temple.
Portrait of Kyaswa: EmeraldRange, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Narathihapate
King of Burma, 1256–1287
He was the last king of the Pagan Empire. He is known in Burmese history as the King who fled from the Taruk, for his flight from Pagan to Lower Myanmar in 1285 during the first Mongol invasion of the kingdom. After he was assassinated by his son Thihathu, the Pagan Empire broke apart into multiple petty states.
Kyawswa of Pagan
King of Burma, 1289–1297
He was one of many kings that emerged after the collapse of the Pagan Empire. Though still styled as King of Pagan, his effective rule amounted to just the area around Pagan city.
Culture
- Theravada Buddhism slowly began to spread to the village level although Vajrayana, Mahayana, Brahmanic, and animist practices remained heavily entrenched at all social strata.
- The Burmese language and culture gradually became dominant in the upper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing the Pyu, Mon and Pali norms by the late 12th century.
- Weirs and canals were built or enlarged, mainly around the Kyaukse district, east of Pagan, to turn the arid lands of central Myanmar into a rice granary.
Picture
The Ananda Temple in Bagan is a Buddhist temple built in 1105 during the reign of King Kyansittha of the Pagan Dynasty.
Image: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.