Anawrahta's Bagan welded the first Burmese empire from dry-zone bricks
The Pagan—or Bagan—Kingdom was the first Burmese state to unify lands of later Myanmar, growing from a ninth-century Mranma settlement. King Anawrahta's mid-eleventh-century conquests forged the empire later chronicles call Arimaddanapura, the foe-crushing city.
Upper Irrawaddy culture shifted toward Burmese language dominance by the late twelfth century, eclipsing Pyu, Mon, and Pali norms. Theravada spread village-ward even while Vajrayana, Mahayana, Brahmanic, and animist practices stayed entrenched. Tax-free religious wealth by the 1280s starved the crown of loyal troops, inviting Arakanese and Mongol-era pressures that shattered the realm.
Ceylon's Pali chronicles knew Arimaddana; Vijayabāhu II exchanged Magadha-language letters and knit monkly ties.
Chronicles and scholars tell different origin stories. Local myths written down in the 18th century date the dynasty to 167 AD under Pyusawhti, while the 19th-century Glass Palace Chronicle reaches back to the 9th century BC, claiming descent from Abhiraja of the Buddha's Sakya clan. The versions converge on King Pyinbya fortifying the city in 849. Modern historians instead credit Mranma migrants from Nanzhao in the second half of the 9th century, reading the earlier chronicle sections as Pyu history. The Pyu had built water-management systems along Irrawaddy tributaries as early as the 2nd century BC; G. H. Luce argued their realm fell to Nanzhao raids between the 750s and 830s, though the Burman influx looks gradual, with no sign of violent overthrow at Sri Ksetra and human activity at Halin until about 870. A source cited by Minayeff says the city was full of learned women, and the Gandhavamsa lists twenty-three teachers who wrote their works there.
Source: Pagan Kingdom
