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Pagan Kingdom

East Asia & PacificHeartland today: Myanmar (Burma)

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The kingdom on the Irrawaddy that first united much of present-day Myanmar. Its kings and their subjects raised thousands of Buddhist temples and stupas at Bagan before the kingdom broke apart in the late 13th century under Mongol pressure.

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Key events

  1. Pagan is founded on the Irrawaddy RiverDisputed

    Britannica gives c. 849. That is the Hmannan chronicle's date, which Wikipedia converts to 876 against the inscriptional date of 1044. Radiocarbon dating of the walls points to about 980 at the earliest, and Burman settlement at Pagan is dated to the mid-to-late 9th century or later.

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  2. Anawrahta takes the throne and begins to unite the lands of present-day Myanmar

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  3. Anawrahta takes the Mon capital of Thaton and brings about 30,000 captives to PaganDisputed

    Britannica and EBSCO give the 1057 conquest as fact, following the chronicle tradition. Michael Aung-Thwin argues it is a post-Pagan legend with no contemporary evidence (Wikipedia, citing his work).

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  4. – King Kyanzittha founds the Ananda Temple at PaganDisputed

    Britannica gives 1091 for the founding. Wikipedia gives groundbreaking about 1090 and completion in 1105.

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  5. A Mongol army defeats King Narathihapate's forces at the Battle of Ngasaunggyan in Yunnan

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  6. – Narathihapate is killed in 1287, the vassals revolt, and power passes from the Pagan kings to the Myinsaing brothersDisputed

    Wikipedia has the king assassinated by one of his sons in 1287 and the Mongols installing his son Kyawswa in 1289, with the Myinsaing takeover on 17 December 1297. Britannica's summary says the Mongols conquered Pagan in 1287, but its Myanmar article says it is unclear that Mongol armies reached the city.

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