- Pagan Kingdom
The Pagan Kingdom (849-1287) is considered to be the first Burmese
empire .During the time of the
Pyu kingdom, between about 500 and 950, theBamar , people of the Burmese ethnic group, began infiltrating from the area to the north into the central region ofBurma which was occupied by Pyu people that had come under the influence ofMahayana Buddhism fromBihar andBengal . By849 , the city of Pagan (now spelledBagan [Pagan is the former English name for what is now spelled Bagan. Many city names or spellings were changed by the Burmese government in 1989. SeeNames of Burma for more information on the name changes.] ) had emerged as the capital of a powerful kingdom that would unify Burma and filled the void left by the Pyu. The kingdom grew in relative isolation until the reign ofAnawrahta (1044 -1077 ) who successfully unified all of Myanmar by defeating the Mon city ofThaton in1057 , inaugurating the Burmese domination of the country that has continued to the present day. Consolidation was accomplished under his successorsKyanzittha (1084 -1112 ) andAlaungsithu (1112-1167 ), so that by the mid-12th century , most of continentalSoutheast Asia was under the control of either the Pagan Kingdom or theKhmer Empire . The Pagan kingdom went into decline as more land and resources fell into the hands of the powerfulsangha (monkhood) and theMongols threatened from the north. The last true ruler of Pagan,Narathihapate (reigned1254 -1287 ) felt confident in his ability to resist the Mongols and advanced intoYunnan in1277 to make war upon them. He was thoroughly crushed at theBattle of Ngasaunggyan , and Pagan resistance virtually collapsed. The king was assassinated by his own son in1287 , precipitating aMongol invasion in theBattle of Pagan during their wide-ranging conquests. The Mongols successfully captured most of the empire, including its capital, and it never recovered its predominant position. The Pagan dynasty ended in1289 when the Mongols installed a puppet ruler in Myanmar.References
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