This article is about the Burmese kingdom. For the religious term, see Paganism. For a kingdom which adheres to Paganism (or any other religion), see State religion. For other uses, see Pagan.
Pagan Empire c. 1210. Pagan Empire during Sithu II's reign. Kengtung and Chiang Mai are also claimed to be part of the Empire according to the Burmese chronicles. Pagan incorporated key ports of Lower Burma into its core administration by the 13th century.
None (rule by decree) (before King Htilominlo) Hluttaw (after King Htilominlo)
Historical era
Middle Ages
• Burmese calendar begins
23 March 640
• Founding of Kingdom
23 December 849
• creation of Burmese alphabet
984 and 1035
• Pagan Empire founded
1050s–60s
• Peak
1174–1250
• First Mongol invasions
1277–87
• Myinsaing takeover
17 December 1297
• Final Mongol invasion
1300–01
Population
• c. 1210
1.5 to 2 million
Currency
silver kyat
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Pyu city-states
Mon city-states
Lemro dynasty
Myinsaing Kingdom
Hanthawaddy Kingdom
Lemro dynasty
Shan States
This article contains Burmese script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Burmese script.
History of Myanmar
Prehistory of Myanmar 11,000–200 BCE
Pyu city-states 200 BCE – 1050 CE
(Sri Ksetra Kingdom, Tagaung Kingdom)
Mon kingdoms 825?–1057? CE
(Thaton Kingdom)
Arakanese kingdoms 788?–1406
Pagan Kingdom 849–1297
Early Pagan Kingdom 849–1044
Warring states period
Upper Myanmar 1297–1555
Myinsaing and Pinya Kingdoms 1297–1365
Sagaing Kingdom 1315–1365
Kingdom of Ava 1365–1555
Prome Kingdom 1482–1542
Hanthawaddy Kingdom 1287–1539, 1550–1552
Shan States 1215–1563
Kingdom of Mrauk U 1429–1785
Toungoo dynasty 1510–1752
First Toungoo Empire 1510–1599
Nyaungyan Restoration 1599–1752
Restored Hanthawaddy 1740–1757
Konbaung dynasty 1752–1885
British colonial period 1824–1948
Anglo-Burmese Wars 1824–1885
Resistance movement 1885–1895
Nationalist movement 1900–1948
Japanese occupation 1942–1945
Modern era 1948–present
AFPFL government 1948–1962
Ne Win dictatorship 1962–1988
SLORC / SPDC junta 1988–2010
Political reforms 2011–2015
SAC junta 2021–present
Timeline
List of capitals
Leaders
Royal chronicles
Military history
Military rule
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The Kingdom of Pagan (Burmese: ပုဂံခေတ်, pronounced[bəɡàɰ̃kʰɪʔ], lit.'Pagan Period'; also known as the Pagan dynasty and the Pagan Empire; also the Bagan dynasty or Bagan Empire) was the first Burmese kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Myanmar. Pagan's 250-year rule over the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Bamar ethnicity in Upper Myanmar, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Myanmar and in mainland Southeast Asia.[1]
The kingdom grew out of a small 9th-century settlement at Pagan (present-day Bagan) by the Mranma/Burmans. Over the next two hundred years, the small principality gradually grew to absorb its surrounding regions until the 1050s and 1060s when King Anawrahta founded the Pagan Empire, presumably for the first time unifying under one polity the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. By the late 12th century, Anawrahta's successors had extended their influence farther to the south into the upper Malay Peninsula, to the east at least to the Salween river, in the farther north to below the current China border, and to the west, in northern Arakan and the Chin Hills.[2][3] In the 12th and 13th centuries, Pagan, alongside the Khmer Empire, was one of two main empires in mainland Southeast Asia.[4]
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. Theravada Buddhism slowly began to spread to the village level although Tantric, Mahayana, Brahmanic, and animist practices remained heavily entrenched at all social strata. Pagan's rulers built over 10,000 Buddhist temples in the Bagan Archaeological Zone of which over 2000 remain. The wealthy donated tax-free land to religious authorities.[5]
The kingdom went into decline in the mid-13th century as the continuous growth of tax-free religious wealth by the 1280s had severely affected the crown's ability to retain the loyalty of courtiers and military servicemen. This ushered in a vicious circle of internal disorders and external challenges by the Arakanese, Mons, Mongols and Shans. Repeated Mongol invasions (1277–1301) toppled the four-century-old kingdom in 1287. The collapse was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation that lasted well into the 16th century.[6][7]
^Lieberman 2003: 88–123
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script. The Kingdom of Pagan (Burmese: ပုဂံခေတ်, pronounced [bəɡàɰ̃ kʰɪʔ], lit. 'Pagan Period'; also known as the Pagan dynasty and the Pagan Empire; also...
The Early PaganKingdom (Burmese: ခေတ်ဦး ပုဂံ ပြည်) was a city-state that existed in the first millennium CE before the emergence of the Pagan Empire in...
conquered by the PaganKingdom from the north in 1057, and that Thaton's literary and religious traditions helped to mould early Pagan civilisation. Between...
the capital of the PaganKingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that would later constitute Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the...
The Mon-speaking kingdom was founded as Ramaññadesa (Mon: ရးမည, Burmese: ရာမည ဒေသ) by King Wareru following the collapse of the Pagan Empire in 1287: 205–206...
the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, the Burmese language, culture, and Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the country. The PaganKingdom fell to Mongol...
Irrawaddy valley in the early 9th century. They went on to establish the PaganKingdom (1044–1297), the first-ever unification of the Irrawaddy valley and...
Battle of Pagan was fought in 1287 between the Yuan dynasty of China and the PaganKingdom of Burma. The invasion ended the PaganKingdom, which disintegrated...
remains in question–but the founding of early Pagan dynasty, given as the 2nd century, is not. For early kingdoms, see List of early and legendary monarchs...
founded the Ahom Kingdom in 1229 and the Sukhothai Kingdom in 1253. Shan political power increased after the Mongols overran Pagan in 1287 and the Shans...
Mon kingdoms, faced the gradual encroachment of the Khmer Empire. But it was the PaganKingdom from the north that conquered the fabled kingdom in 1057...
the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagaing that had ruled central Burma since the collapse of the Pagan Empire...
Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung succeeded in reunifying the territories of the PaganKingdom for the first time since 1287 and in incorporating the Shan States for...
Thihathu) from Myinsaing, and was one of many small kingdoms that emerged following the collapse of Pagan Empire in 1287. Myinsaing successfully fended off...
individuals notable for their pagan religion. Pagans among the Arabic peoples Amr ibn Hishām, pagan leader Epiphanius of Petra, pagan sophist and rhetorician...
"Pagan Poetry" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her fourth studio album Vespertine (2001). It was released as the second single from the...
historically confirmed Pagan dates. But according to Michael Aung-Thwin, pre-Pagan Mon kingdoms of Lower Burma are later 15th century legends, unattested by evidence...
The Modern Pagan movement in the United Kingdom is primarily represented by Wicca and Neopagan witchcraft, Druidry, and Heathenry. 74,631 people in England...
Tharrawaddy made no attempt to improve relations with Britain. His son Pagan, who became king in 1846, executed thousands – some sources say as many...
may or may not have been under the suzerainty of the Burmese PaganKingdom and a kingdom of Sri Lanka. At its height in the mid-13th century, under King...
Africa and the Near East. Although they share similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse and as a result, they do not share a single set of...
The Pagan Federation is a UK-based religious advocacy group. Formed in 1971 as the Pagan Front, the group campaigns for the religious rights of Neo-pagans...
2003: 185–188) gives 107 CE as the date of foundation of Pagan. According to scholarship, Pagan was founded in the mid-to-late 9th century, and fortified...
originally lived in present-day Qinghai and Gansu. The Bamar would form the PaganKingdom in medieval Myanmar. The earliest Bamar kings practiced the same patronymic...
January 1943, with the condition that Burma declare war on the United Kingdom and the United States. The Japanese government felt that this would give...
牙嵩延之戰) was fought in 1277 between the Yuan dynasty of China and the PaganKingdom of Burma led by Narathihapate. The battle was initiated by Narathihapate...
Tenasserim coastline and into the Upper Menam valley, making Pagan one of the two great kingdoms in mainland Southeast Asia. A strict disciplinarian, Anawrahta...
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