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145-590: The pitakataik dates to the pre-colonial era. During the Pagan Kingdom era, Anawrahta commissioned a square-shaped pitakataik that measured 51 square feet (4.7 m), built in the style of a temple with a central plinth surrounded by a corridor, located 150 feet (46 m) from the Tharabha Gate . Subsequent monarchs, including Kyansittha , Htilominlo , and Kyaswa , continued the tradition of building pitakataiks during their reigns, ushering in

290-546: A Burmese army of 40,000 to 60,000 (including 800 elephants and 10,000 horses) at the battle of Ngasaunggyan in 1277. However, some argue that the Chinese figures, which came from eye estimates of a single battle, are greatly exaggerated. As Harvey puts it: the Mongols "erred on the side of generosity as they did not wish to diminish the glory in defeating superior numbers". But assuming that the precolonial population of Myanmar

435-524: A chief justice and a chief minister. Pagan's military was the origin of the Royal Burmese Army . The army was organised into a small standing army of a few thousand, which defended the capital and the palace, and a much larger conscript-based wartime army. Conscription was based on the kyundaw system (called the ahmudan system by later dynasties), which required local chiefs to supply their predetermined quota of men from their jurisdiction on

580-687: A contemporaneous British account in 1795, the Pitakataik at Amarapura was described as the largest library between the Danube and China. During the establishment of Mandalay as a royal capital, King Mindon Min commissioned the construction of a pitakataik at the foot of Mandalay Hill . Copies of Tipiṭaka texts were relocated from the Amarapura Pitakataik and deposited at the newly constructed library in January 1864. In October 2013,

725-460: A golden age that would last for the next two centuries. Aside from a few occasional rebellions, the kingdom was largely peaceful during the period. King Kyansittha (r. 1084–1112) successfully melded the diverse cultural influences introduced into Pagan by Anawrahta's conquests. He patronised Mon scholars and artisans who emerged as the intellectual elite. He appeased the Pyus by linking his genealogy to

870-471: A grandiose consecration ritual on the sacred Mount Mahendraparvata, now known as Phnom Kulen . At the ritual, which was taken from the Hindu tradition, Jayavarman II proclaimed himself as chakravartin (from Sanskrit, commonly translated as "universal ruler"; Old Khmer: Kamraten jagad ta Raja ) and devaraja (from Sanskrit, lit.   ' god king ' ). He also declared Kambuja's independence from

1015-425: A growth in the number of population centres and a growing prosperous economy. The economy also benefited from the general absence of warfare that would stunt the economies of later dynasties. According to Victor Lieberman, the prosperous economy supported "a rich Buddhist civilization whose most spectacular feature was a dense forest of pagodas, monasteries, and temples, totaling perhaps 10,000 brick structures, of which

1160-457: A hierarchy reflecting the Hindu caste system , where the commoners   – rice farmers and fishermen – formed the large majority of the population. The kshatriyas   – royalty, nobles, warlords, soldiers, and warriors   – formed a governing elite and authorities. Other social classes included brahmins (priests), traders, artisans such as carpenters and stonemasons, potters, metalworkers , goldsmiths , and textile weavers, while on

1305-575: A king's rule. The cult enabled the Khmer kings to embark on massive architectural projects, constructing majestic monuments such as Angkor Wat and the Bayon to celebrate the king's divine rule on earth. The King was surrounded by ministers, state officials, nobles, royalties, palace women, and servants, all protected by guards and troops. The capital city of Angkor and the Khmer royal court are famous for grand ceremonies, with many festivals and rituals held in

1450-532: A large number of new weirs and diversionary canals, and Minbu a similarly well-watered district south of Pagan. After these hubs had been developed, in the mid-to-late 12th century, Pagan moved into as yet undeveloped frontier areas west of the Irrawaddy and south of Minbu. These new lands included both irrigable wet-rice areas and non-irrigable areas suitable for rain-fed rice, pulses, sesame, and millet. Agricultural expansion and temple construction in turn sustained

1595-457: A loss of royal authority and thereby to a lack of workers. The water-management apparatus also degenerated, meaning that harvests were reduced by floods or drought. While previously three rice harvests per year were possible   – a substantial contribution to the prosperity and power of Kambuja   – the declining harvests further weakened the empire. Looking at the archaeological record, however, archaeologists noticed that not only were

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1740-606: A market in land and certain types of labour and materials. Land reclamation, religious donations, and building projects expanded slowly before 1050, increased to 1100, accelerated sharply with the opening of new lands between c. 1140 and c. 1210 and continued at a lower level from 1220 to 1300. By the second half of the 13th century, Pagan had developed an enormous amount of cultivated lands. Estimates based on surviving inscriptions alone range from 200,000 to 250,000 hectares. (In comparison, Pagan's contemporary Angkor relied on its main rice basin of over 13,000 hectares.) But donations to

1885-590: A place inscriptions call "Java". Historians debate whether "Java" means the Indonesian island of Java , Champa or a different location. According to an older established interpretation, Jayavarman II was a prince who lived at the court of Sailendra in Java and brought back to Cambodia the art and culture of the Javanese Sailendran court (such as the concept of a devaraja ). This classical theory

2030-501: A privy council of ministers, the forebear of the Hluttaw . But the seeds of Pagan's decline were sowed during this seemingly idyllic period. The state had stopped expanding, but the practice of donating tax-free land to religion had not. The continuous growth of tax-free religious wealth greatly reduced the tax base of the kingdom. Indeed, Htilominlo was the last of the temple builders although most of his temples were in remote lands not in

2175-490: A qualitative and quantitative standard that subsequent dynasties tried to emulate but never succeeded in doing. The court finally developed a complex organisation that became the model for later dynasties. the agricultural economy reached its potential in Upper Myanmar. The Buddhist clergy, the sangha , enjoyed one of its most wealthy periods. Civil and criminal laws were codified in the vernacular, Burmese , to become

2320-520: A second moved to Phnom Penh to establish a parallel kingdom. The final fall of Angkor would then be due to the transfer of economic   – and therewith political   – significance, as Phnom Penh became an important trade center on the Mekong . Severe droughts and ensuing floods were considered one of the contributing factors to its fall. The empire focused more on regional trade after the first drought. Ecological failure and infrastructural breakdown

2465-631: A severe epidemic outbreak may have hit the heavily populated Angkor and contributed to the fall of the empire, has been reconsidered. By the 14th century, the Black Death had affected Asia, as the plague first appeared in China around 1330 and reached Europe around 1345. Most seaports along the line of travel from China to Europe felt the impact of the disease, which might have had a severe impact on life throughout Southeast Asia. Possible diseases include bubonic plague , smallpox , and malaria . There

2610-563: 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

2755-524: A smaller empire of the Irrawaddy valley and nearer periphery. Anawrahta's victory terracotta votive tablets emblazoned with his name in Sanskrit have been found along the Tenasserim coastline in the south, Katha in the north, Thazi in the east and Minbu in the west. In the northeast, a series of 43 forts Anawrahta established along the eastern foothills, of which 33 still exist as villages, reveal

2900-629: A tradition of royals and laypersons alike commissioning pitakataiks . By the First Toungoo Empire era, the pitakataik was considered a requisite edifice for a royal capital, and it was built in Bayinnaung 's capital of Hanthawaddy (now Bago, Myanmar ). During the Mrauk U period , 48 pitakataik were established within the compounds of pagodas and monasteries. They remain one of the few buildings that survive from that period. Of these,

3045-431: A troupe. Even in broad daylight, the candles are lighted. Then come other palace women, bearing royal paraphernalia made of gold and silver... Then come the palace women carrying lances and shields, with the king's private guards. Carts drawn by goats and horses, all in gold, come next. Ministers and princes are mounted on elephants, and in front of them one can see, from afar, their innumerable red umbrellas. After them come

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3190-608: A violent overthrow. Radiocarbon dating shows that human activity existed until c. 870 at Halin , the Pyu city reportedly destroyed by an 832 Nanzhao raid. The region of Pagan received waves of Burman settlements in the mid-to-late 9th century, and perhaps well into the 10th century. Though Hmannan states that Pagan was fortified in 849—or more accurately, 876 after the Hmannan dates are adjusted to King Anawrahta 's inscriptionally verified accession date of 1044—the chronicle reported date

3335-495: A warrior he was less successful. In 1220, under mounting pressure from the increasingly powerful Đại Việt and its ally Champa, the Khmer withdrew from many of the provinces previously conquered from the Chams. Indravarman II was succeeded by Jayavarman VIII (reigned 1243–1295). In contrast to his predecessors, Jayavarman VIII was a follower of Hindu Shaivism and an aggressive opponent of Buddhism, destroying many Buddha statues in

3480-557: Is an alternative theory regarding the end of Kambuja. Scientists working on the Greater Angkor Project believe that the Khmers had an elaborate system of reservoirs and canals used for trade, transportation, and irrigation. The canals were used for harvesting rice. As the population grew there was more strain on the water system. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, there were also severe climatic changes impacting

3625-421: Is dated 1327 and describes the succession of Indrajayavarman by Jayavarmadiparamesvara. Historians suspect a connection with the kings' adoption of Theravada Buddhism: the kings were no longer considered devarajas (god kings) and there was therefore no need to erect huge temples to them, or rather to the gods under whose protection they stood. The retreat from the concept of the devaraja may also have led to

3770-424: Is evidence for a further period of use of Angkor after the 15th century. Under the rule of Khmer king Barom Reachea I (reigned 1566–1576), who temporarily succeeded in driving back Ayutthaya, the royal court was briefly returned to Angkor. Inscriptions from the 17th century testify to Japanese settlements alongside those of the remaining Khmer. The best-known inscription tells of Ukondayu Kazufusa , who celebrated

3915-500: Is likely the date of foundation, not fortification. Radiocarbon dating of Pagan's walls points to c. 980 at the earliest. (If an earlier fortification did exist, it must have been constructed using less durable materials such as mud.) Likewise, inscriptional evidence of the earliest Pagan kings points to 956. The earliest mention of Pagan in external sources occurs in Song Chinese records, which report that envoys from Pagan visited

4060-503: Is now northern Cambodia . Known as Kambuja ( Old Khmer : កម្វុជ ; Khmer : កម្ពុជ ) by its inhabitants, it grew out of the former civilization of Chenla and lasted from 802 to 1431. Historians call this period of Cambodian history the Angkor period , after the empire's most well-known capital, Angkor . The Khmer Empire ruled or vassalised most of Mainland Southeast Asia and stretched as far north as southern China . At its peak,

4205-475: Is some indication that, before or after the war, Suryavarman I gifted a chariot to Rajendra I to possibly facilitate trade or an alliance. Suryavarman I's wife was Viralakshmi , and following his death in 1050, he was succeeded by Udayadityavarman II , who built the Baphuon and West Baray . In 1074, conflict arose between Harshavarman III , the younger brother and successor of Udayadityavarman II, and

4350-410: Is today Arakan . The younger son Kanyaza Nge ( ကံရာဇာငယ် ) succeeded his father, and was followed by a dynasty of 31 kings, and then another dynasty of 17 kings. Some three and a half centuries later, in 483 BC, scions of Tagaung founded yet another kingdom much farther down the Irrawaddy at Sri Ksetra , near modern Pyay (Prome). Sri Ksetra lasted nearly six centuries, and was succeeded in turn by

4495-498: The Bayon , describe everyday life in the ancient Khmer kingdom, including scenes of palace life, naval battles on the river and lakes, and common scenes of the marketplace. The ancient Khmers were a traditional agricultural community, relying heavily on rice farming . The farmers, who formed the majority of the kingdom's population, planted rice near the banks of the lake or river, in the irrigated plains surrounding their villages, or in

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4640-475: The Champa king Harivarman IV . The Greater Angkor Region was had a population of approximately 700,000 to 900,000 at its peak in the 13th century CE. This population, which made Angkor one of the most populous cities of the medieval world. The 12th century was a time of conflict and brutal power struggles. Under Suryavarman II (reigned 1113–1150) the empire united internally and Angkor Wat , dedicated to

4785-689: The Khmer New Year in Angkor in 1632. However, in the following decades the Japanese community was absorbed into the local Khmer community, owing to a lack of new Japanese arrivals and thus little possibility of renewing their community. Much of what is known about Kambuja comes from the bas-reliefs of Angkor's temples and the first-hand accounts of Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan ( The Customs of Cambodia ), which provide information on 13th-century Cambodia and earlier. The bas-reliefs, such as those in

4930-468: The Kyaukse district , east of Pagan. The newly irrigated regions attracted people, giving him an increased manpower base. He graded every town and village according to the levy it could raise. The region, known as Ledwin ( လယ်တွင်း , lit. "rice country"), became the granary, the economic key of the north country. History shows that one who gained control of Kyaukse became kingmaker in Upper Myanmar. By

5075-768: The Pagan dynasty and the Pagan Kingdom ; also the Bagan dynasty or Bagan Kingdom ) 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 . The kingdom grew out of

5220-574: 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. The kingdom went into decline in

5365-613: The Sakya clan ( သကျ သာကီဝင် မင်းမျိုး ) – the clan of the Buddha – left his homeland with followers in 850 BC after military defeat by the neighbouring kingdom of Panchala ( ပဉ္စာလရာဇ် ). They settled at Tagaung in present-day northern Myanmar and founded a kingdom . The chronicle does not claim that he had arrived in an empty land, only that he was the first king. Abhiraja had two sons. The elder son Kanyaza Gyi ( ကံရာဇာကြီး ) ventured south, and in 825 BC founded his own kingdom in what

5510-719: The Sitagu Sayadaw announced a donation to rebuild the Mandalay Pitakataik , along with the Thudhamma Zayat and Maha Pahtan Ordination Hall, with the consultation of Tampawaddy U Win Maung. Pagan Kingdom 21°10′20″N 94°51′37″E  /  21.17222°N 94.86028°E  / 21.17222; 94.86028 The Pagan Kingdom ( Burmese : ပုဂံပြည် , pronounced [bəɡàɰ̃ kʰɪʔ] , lit.   ' Bagan State ' ; also known as

5655-523: The fall of Angkor to the Siamese Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1431, the reasons for the empire's collapse are still debated amongst scholars. Researchers have determined that a period of strong monsoon rains was followed by a severe drought in the region, which caused damage to the empire's hydraulic infrastructure. Variability between droughts and flooding was also a problem, which may have caused residents to migrate southward and away from

5800-464: The governorship of Martaban in 1285, consolidated Mon -speaking regions of Lower Myanmar, and declared Ramannadesa (Land of the Mon) independent on 30 January 1287. In the west too, Arakan stopped paying tribute. The chronicles report that the eastern territories including trans-Salween states of Keng Hung, Kengtung and Chiang Mai stopped paying tribute although most scholars attribute Pagan's limits to

5945-531: The 11th century, Pagan consolidated its hold of Upper Burma, and established its authority over Lower Burma. The emergence of Pagan Empire would have a lasting impact on Burmese history as well as the history of mainland Southeast Asia . The conquest of Lower Burma checked the Khmer Empire's encroachment into the Tenasserim coast, secured control of the peninsular ports, which were transit points between

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6090-616: The 11th to the 13th centuries, was the most extensive pre-industrial urban complex in the world. Modern scholars often refer to the Empire as the "Khmer Empire" ( Khmer : ចក្រភពខ្មែរ ) or the "Angkorian Empire" (Khmer: ចក្រភពអង្គរ ), the latter after the capital Angkor. The Empire referred to itself as Kambuja ( Sanskrit : កម្ពុជ ; Old Khmer : កម្វុជ ; Khmer: កម្ពុជ ) or Kambujadeśa (Sanskrit: កម្ពុជទេស , lit.   'country of Kambuja'; Old Khmer: កម្វុជទេឝ ; Khmer: កម្ពុជទេស ), names which were pre-modern predecessors to

6235-600: The 2nd and 5th centuries AD, scholars to between the 8th and 10th centuries CE. (A minority view led by Htin Aung contends that the arrival of Burmans may have been a few centuries earlier, perhaps the early 7th century. The earliest human settlement at Bagan is radiocarbon dated to c. 650 AD. But evidence is inconclusive to prove that it was specifically a Burman (and not just another Pyu) settlement.) Thant Myint-U summarises that "the Nanzhao Empire had washed up on

6380-484: The Burman ethnicity. Sithu II's success in state building created stability and prosperity throughout the kingdom. His immediate successors Htilominlo and Kyaswa (r. 1235–1249) were able to live off the stable and bountiful conditions he passed on with little state-building on their part. Htilomino hardly did any governing. A devout Buddhist and scholar, the king gave up the command of the army, and left administration to

6525-533: The First Burmese Empire—the "charter polity" that formed the basis of modern-day Burma/Myanmar. Historically verifiable Burmese history begins with his accession. Anawrahta proved an energetic king. His acts as king were to strengthen his kingdom's economic base. In the first decade of his reign, he invested much effort into turning the arid parched lands of central Myanmar into a rice granary, successfully building/enlarging weirs and canals, mainly around

6670-461: The Hluttaw grew greatly in the following decades. It came to manage not only day-to-day affairs but also military affairs of the kingdom. (No Pagan king after Sithu II ever took command of the army again.) The powerful ministers also became kingmakers. Their support was an important factor in the accession of the last kings of Pagan from Htilominlo (r. 1211–1235) to Kyawswa (r. 1289–1297). The court

6815-604: The Indian Ocean and China, and facilitated growing cultural exchange with the external world: Mons of Lower Burma, India and Ceylon. Equally important was Anawrahta's conversion to Theravada Buddhism from his native Ari Buddhism . The Burmese king provided the Buddhist school, which had been in retreat elsewhere in South Asia and Southeast Asia, a much needed reprieve and a safe shelter. By the 1070s, Pagan had emerged as

6960-471: The Irrawaddy basin and had founded one of Southeast Asia's earliest urban centres. By the early centuries AD, several walled cities and towns, including Tagaung, the birthplace of the first Burman kingdom according to the chronicles, had emerged. The architectural and artistic evidence indicates the Pyu realm's contact with Indian culture by the 4th century AD. The city-states boasted kings and palaces, moats and massive wooden gates, and always 12 gates for each of

7105-698: The Khain-Kaik Pitakataik, built by Min Phalaung in 1591 and located north of Htuparon Pagoda, is the best preserved. By the Konbaung dynasty , the pitakataik was one of the seven integral structures (နန်းတည် သတ္တဌာန) whose foundations had to be laid in establishing a royal capital, demonstrating its importance. A royal pitakataik was built in each of the Konbaung kingdom's royal capitals, including Amarapura, Inwa , and Mandalay. According to

7250-677: The Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia, recognised as a sovereign kingdom by the Chinese Song dynasty , and the Indian Chola dynasty . Several diverse elements—art, architecture, religion, language, literature, ethnic plurality—had begun to synthesize. Pagan's rise continued under Alaungsithu (r. 1112–1167), who focused on standardising administrative and economic systems. The king, also known as Sithu I, actively expanded frontier colonies and built new irrigation systems throughout

7395-571: The Lower Chao Phraya basin (Ayutthaya-Suphanburi-Lopburi). From the fourteenth century onward, Ayutthaya became Kambuja's rival. Angkor was besieged by the Ayutthayan king Uthong in 1352, and following its capture the next year, the Khmer king was replaced with successive Siamese princes. Then in 1357, the Khmer king Suryavamsa Rajadhiraja retook the throne. In 1393, the Ayutthayan king Ramesuan besieged Angkor again, capturing it

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7540-526: The Mongols under Kublai Khan systematically invaded the country. The first invasion in 1277 defeated the Burmese at the Battle of Ngasaunggyan , and secured their hold of Kanngai (modern-day Yingjiang, Yunnan, 112 kilometres (70 mi) north of Bhamo ). In 1283–85, their forces moved south and occupied the land down to Hanlin. Instead of defending the country, the king fled Pagan for Lower Myanmar, where he

7685-533: The Pagan line continued to be claimed by successive Burmese dynasties down to the last Burmese dynasty Konbaung . Pagan's government can be generally described by the mandala system in which the sovereign exercised direct political authority in the core region ( pyi , lit. "country", ပြည် , [pjì] ), and administered farther surrounding regions as tributary vassal states ( naingngans , lit. "conquered lands", နိုင်ငံ , [nàiɴŋàɴ] ). In general,

7830-513: The Pagan region, reflecting the deteriorating state of royal treasury. By the mid-13th century, the problem had worsened considerably. The Upper Myanmar heartland over which Pagan exercised most political control had run out of easily reclaimed irrigable tracts. Yet their fervent desire to accumulate religious merit for better reincarnations made it impossible for Pagan kings to halt entirely their own or other courtiers' donations. The crown did try to reclaim some of these lands by periodically purging

7975-421: The Pagan society—members of the royalty, senior court officials, and wealthy laymen—donated to the clergy enormous acreages of agricultural land, along with hereditary tied cultivators to attain religious merit. (Both religious lands and cultivators were permanently tax exempt.) Although it ultimately became a major burden on the economy, the practice initially helped expand the economy for some two centuries. First,

8120-485: The Pyu realm in the 830s and 840s, and settled at the confluence of the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers, perhaps to help the Nanzhao pacify the surrounding countryside. Indeed, the naming system of the early Pagan kings—Pyusawhti and his descendants for six generations—was identical to that of the Nanzhao kings where the last name of the father became the first name of the son. The chronicles date these early kings to between

8265-603: The Salween. At any rate, the 250-year-old Pagan Empire had ceased to exist. After their 1287 invasion, the Mongols continued to control down to Tagaung but refused to fill the power vacuum they had created farther south. Indeed, Emperor Kublai Khan never sanctioned an actual occupation of Pagan. His real aim appeared to have been "to keep the entire region of Southeast Asia broken and fragmented." At Pagan, one of Narathihapate's sons Kyawswa emerged as king of Pagan in May 1289. But

8410-585: The Song capital Bianjing in 1004. Mon inscriptions first mentioned Pagan in 1093, respectively. Below is a partial list of early Pagan kings as reported by Hmannan , shown in comparison with Hmannan dates adjusted to 1044 and the list of Zatadawbon Yazawin (the Royal Horoscopes Chronicle). Prior to Anawrahta, inscriptional evidence exists thus far only for Nyaung-u Sawrahan and Kunhsaw Kyaunghpyu . The list starts from Pyinbya ,

8555-500: The agricultural base of the kingdom with new manpower from the conquered areas, ensuring the needed wealth for a growing royalty and officialdom. Pagan dispatched governors to supervise more closely ports in Lower Myanmar and the peninsula. In the early 13th century, Pagan, alongside the Khmer Empire, was one of two main empires in mainland Southeast Asia. His reign also saw the rise of Burmese culture which finally emerged from

8700-476: The army was driven back, it left no doubt as to who held the real power in central Myanmar. In the following years, the brothers, especially the youngest, Thihathu , increasingly acted like sovereigns. To check the increasing power of the three brothers, Kyawswa submitted to the Mongols in January 1297, and was recognised by the Mongol emperor Temür Khan as viceroy of Pagan on 20 March 1297. The brothers resented

8845-458: The banks of the Irrawaddy, and would find a new life, fused with an existing and ancient culture, to produce one of the most impressive little kingdoms of the medieval world. From this fusion would result the Burmese people, and the foundations of modern Burmese culture." Evidence shows that the actual pace of Burman migration into the Pyu realm was gradual. Indeed, no firm indications have been found at Sri Ksetra or at any other Pyu site to suggest

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8990-705: The basic jurisprudence for subsequent ages. Sithu II formally founded the Palace Guards in 1174, the first extant record of a standing army, and pursued an expansionist policy. Over his 27-year reign, Pagan's influence reached further south to the Strait of Malacca , at least to the Salween river in the east and below the current China border in the farther north. (Burmese chronicles also claim trans-Salween Shan states, including Kengtung and Chiang Mai.) Continuing his grandfather Sithu I's policies, Sithu II expanded

9135-511: The basis of population in times of war. This basic system of military organisation was largely unchanged down to the precolonial period although later dynasties, especially the Toungoo dynasty, did introduce standardisation and other modifications. The early Pagan army consisted mainly of conscripts raised just prior to or during the times of war. Although historians believe that earlier kings like Anawrahta must have had permanent troops on duty in

9280-470: The capital was raided and looted in a naval battle on the Tonlé Sap lake by a Cham fleet under Jaya Indravarman IV , and Khmer king Tribhuvanadityavarman was killed. King Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181–1219) was generally considered Cambodia's greatest king. He had already been a military leader as a prince under the previous kings. After Champa had conquered Angkor, he gathered an army and retook

9425-467: The capital. He consequently ascended to the throne and continued to wage war against Champa for another 22 years, until the Khmer defeated the Chams in 1203 and conquered large parts of their territory. According to Chinese sources, Jayavarman VII added Pegu to the territory of the Khmer Empire in 1195. Jayavarman VII stands as the last of the great kings of Angkor, not only because of his successful military campaign against Champa, but also because he

9570-457: The capital. The region consisted of the capital and the key irrigated hubs ( khayaings , ခရိုင် , [kʰəjàiɴ] ) of Kyaukse and Minbu . Because of the irrigated hubs, the region supported the largest population in the kingdom, which translated into the largest concentration of royal servicemen who could be called into military service. The king directly ruled the capital and its immediate environs while he appointed most trusted members of

9715-449: The city of Pagan, once home to 200,000 people, had been reduced to a small town, never to regain its preeminence. (It survived into the 15th century as a settlement.) The brothers placed one of Kyawswa's sons as the governor of Pagan. Anawrahta's line continued to rule Pagan as governors under Myinsaing, Pinya and Ava Kingdoms until 1368/69. The male side of Pagan ended there although the female side passed into Pinya and Ava royalty. But

9860-566: The city. Even when travelling, the King and his entourages created quite a spectacle, as described in Zhou Daguan's accounts. Zhou Daguan's description of a royal procession of Indravarman III is as follows: When the king goes out, troops are at the head of [his] escort; then come flags, banners and music. Palace women, numbering from three to five hundred, wearing flowered cloth, with flowers in their hair, hold candles in their hands, and form

10005-471: The clergy in the name of Buddhist purification, and seizing previously donated lands. Although some of the reclamation efforts were successful, powerful Buddhist clergy by and large successfully resisted such attempts. Ultimately, the rate of reclamation fell behind the rate at which such lands were dedicated to the sangha . (The problem was exacerbated to a smaller degree by powerful ministers, who exploited succession disputes and accumulated their own lands at

10150-449: The core by appointing its governors in place of hereditary rulers. In the 12th and 13th centuries, for example, Pagan made a point of appointing its governors in the Tenasserim coast to closely supervise the ports and revenues. By the second half of the 13th century, several key ports in Lower Myanmar (Prome, Bassein, Dala) were all ruled by senior princes of the royal family. However, the escape of Lower Myanmar from Upper Myanmar's orbit in

10295-435: The core zone governors did not have much autonomy because of the close proximity to the capital. Surrounding the core region were the naingngans or tributary states, governed by local hereditary rulers as well as Pagan appointed governors, drawn from princely or ministerial families. Because of their farther distances from the capital, the regions' rulers/governors had greater autonomy. They were required to send tributes to

10440-508: The crown but they generally had a freehand in the rest of the administration. They were chief justices, commanders-in-chief, and tax collectors. They made local officer appointments. In fact, no evidence of royal censuses or direct contact between the Pagan court and headmen beneath the governors has been found. Over the course of 250 years, the throne slowly tried to integrate the most strategically and economically important regions—i.e. Lower Myanmar, Tenasserim, northernmost Irrawaddy valley—into

10585-459: The crown's authority diffused away with the increasing distance from the capital. Each state was administered at three general levels: taing ( တိုင်း , province), myo ( မြို့ , town), and ywa ( ရွာ , village), with the high king's court at the centre. The kingdom consisted of at least 14 taings . The core region was the present-day Dry Zone of Upper Myanmar, measuring approximately 150 to 250 kilometres (93 to 155 mi) in radius from

10730-467: The decline of Kambuja. The relationship between the rulers and their elites was unstable   – among the 27 rulers of Kambuja, eleven lacked a legitimate claim to power, and violent power struggles were frequent. Kambuja focused more on its domestic economy and did not take advantage of the international maritime trade network. The input of Buddhist ideas also conflicted with and disturbed the state order built under Hinduism. The last Sanskrit inscription

10875-452: The dynasty at Pagan (Bagan). But the 19th-century Glass Palace Chronicle ( Hmannan Yazawin ) connects the dynasty's origins to the clan of the Buddha and the first Buddhist king Maha Sammata ( မဟာ သမ္မတ ). The Glass Palace Chronicle traces the origins of the Pagan kingdom to India during the 9th century BC, more than three centuries before the Buddha was born. Abhiraja ( အဘိရာဇာ )of

11020-480: The earliest inhabitants of Myanmar of whom records are extant; and that Pagan kings had adopted the Pyu histories and legends as their own. Indeed, the Mranma and Pyu people became mixed after years of immigration and settlement. The earliest archaeological evidence of civilisation far dates to 11,000 BC. Archaeological evidence shows that as early as the 2nd century BC the Pyu had built water-management systems along secondary streams in central and northern parts of

11165-500: The effective extent of his authority. Moreover, most scholars attribute Pagan's control of peripheral regions (Arakan, Shan Hills) to later kings—Arakan to Alaungsithu , and cis-Salween Shan Hills to Narapatisithu . (Even those latter-day kings may not have had more than nominal control over the farther peripheral regions. For example, some scholars such as Victor Lieberman argue that Pagan did not have any "effective authority" over Arakan. ) At any rate, all scholars accept that during

11310-512: The empire and converting Buddhist temples to Hindu temples. Kambuja was threatened externally in 1283 by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty . Jayavarman VIII avoided war with general Sogetu (sometimes known as Sagatu or Sodu), the governor of Guangzhou, China , by paying annual tribute to the Mongols, starting in 1285. Jayavarman VIII's rule ended in 1295 when he was deposed by his son-in-law Srindravarman (reigned 1295–1309). The new king

11455-530: The empire was larger than the Byzantine Empire , which existed around the same time. The beginning of the Khmer Empire is conventionally dated to 802, when Khmer prince Jayavarman II declared himself chakravartin ( lit.   ' universal ruler ' , a title equivalent to 'emperor') in the Phnom Kulen mountains. Although the end of the Khmer Empire has traditionally been marked with

11600-478: The empire's major cities. The site of Angkor is perhaps the empire's most notable legacy, as it was the capital during the empire's zenith. The majestic monuments of Angkor, such as Angkor Wat and the Bayon , bear testimony to the Khmer Empire's immense power and wealth, impressive art and culture, architectural technique, aesthetic achievements, and variety of belief systems that it patronized over time. Satellite imaging has revealed that Angkor, during its peak in

11745-586: The expense of the crown.) By 1280, between one and two-thirds of Upper Myanmar's cultivatable land had been donated to religion. Thus the throne lost resources needed to retain the loyalty of courtiers and military servicemen, inviting a vicious circle of internal disorders and external challenges by Mons , Mongols and Shans . The first signs of disorder appeared soon after Narathihapate 's accession in 1256. The inexperienced king faced revolts in Arakanese state of Macchagiri (present-day Kyaukpyu District ) in

11890-446: The farmers' houses, which were elevated on stilts to protect them from flooding. The marketplace of Angkor contained no permanent buildings; it was an open square where the traders sat on the ground on woven straw mats and sold their wares. There were no tables or chairs. Some traders might be protected from the sun with a simple thatched parasol. A certain type of tax or rent was levied by officials for each space occupied by traders in

12035-492: The first nor the last Chinese representative to visit Kambuja. His stay is notable, however, because Zhou later wrote a detailed report on life in Angkor. His portrayal of the empire is today one of the most important sources of understanding historical Angkor. Alongside the descriptions within several great temples (the Bayon, the Baphuon, Angkor Wat), his account informs us that the towers of the Bayon were once covered in gold ;

12180-503: The former kingdom of Chenla , he quickly built up his influence and defeated a series of competing kings. In 790 he became king of an empire called Kambuja by the Khmer. He then moved his court northwest to Mahendraparvata , far inland north from the great lake of Tonlé Sap . Jayavarman II (reigned 802–835) is widely regarded as the king who set the foundations of the Angkor period. Historians generally agree that this period of Cambodian history began in 802, when Jayavarman II conducted

12325-448: The fortifier of Pagan according to Hmannan . By the mid-10th century, Burmans at Pagan had expanded irrigation-based cultivation while borrowing extensively from the Pyus' predominantly Buddhist culture. Pagan's early iconography, architecture and scripts suggest little difference between early Burman and Pyu cultural forms. Moreover, no sharp ethnic distinction between Burmans and linguistically linked Pyus seems to have existed. The city

12470-603: The god Vishnu , was built over a period of 37 years. In the east, Suryavarman II's campaigns against Champa and Dai Viet were unsuccessful, though he sacked Vijaya in 1145 and deposed Jaya Indravarman III. The Khmers occupied Vijaya until 1149, when they were driven out by Jaya Harivarman I . In 1114, Suryavarman II sent a mission to Chola and presented a precious stone to the Chola emperor Kulottunga I . Another period followed in which kings reigned briefly and were violently overthrown by their successors. Finally, in 1177

12615-440: The government. The members of the court can be divided into three general categories: royalty, ministers, and subordinate officials. At the top were the high king, princes, princesses, queens and concubines. The ministers were usually drawn from more distant branches of the royal family. Their subordinates were not royal but usually hailed from top official families. Titles, ranks, insignia, fiefs and other such rewards helped maintain

12760-525: The hills when the lowlands were flooded. The rice paddies were irrigated by a massive and complex hydraulics system, including networks of canals and barays , or giant water reservoirs. This system enabled the formation of large-scale rice farming communities surrounding Khmer cities. Sugar palm trees, fruit trees, and vegetables were grown in the orchards by the villages, providing other sources of agricultural produce such as palm sugar , palm wine , coconut, various tropical fruits, and vegetables. Located by

12905-549: The king of Pagan received a periodic nominal tribute but had "no substantive authority", for example, on such matters as the selection of deputies, successors, or levels of taxation. Pagan largely stayed out of the affairs of these outlying states, only interfering when there were outright revolts, such as Arakan and Martaban in the late 1250s or northern Kachin Hills in 1277. The court was the centre of administration, representing at once executive, legislative and judiciary branches of

13050-417: The kingdom of Champa to the east (in what is now central Vietnam ). The son of Rajendravarman II, Jayavarman V , reigned from 968 to 1001, after establishing himself as the new king over the other princes. His rule was a largely peaceful period, marked by prosperity and a cultural flowering. He established a new capital slightly west of his father's and named it Jayendranagari; its state temple, Ta Keo ,

13195-421: The kingdom of Pagan to expand beyond the dry zone of Upper Myanmar, and to dominate its periphery, including the maritime Lower Myanmar. As reconstructed by Michael Aung-Thwin , G.H. Luce and Than Tun , the main driver for this agriculture-based economic expansion was the practice of donating tax-free lands to the Buddhist clergy. For some two hundred years between 1050 and 1250, wealthy and powerful segments of

13340-537: The kingdom of Pagan. The Glass Palace Chronicle goes on to relate that around 107 AD, Thamoddarit ( သမုဒ္ဒရာဇ် ), nephew of the last king of Sri Ksetra, founded the city of Pagan (formally, Arimaddana-pura ( အရိမဒ္ဒနာပူရ ), lit. "the City that Tramples on Enemies"). The site reportedly was visited by the Buddha himself during his lifetime, and it was where he allegedly pronounced that a great kingdom would arise at this very location 651 years after his death. Thamoddarit

13485-466: The kingdom without wars and initiated extensive building projects, which were enabled by the wealth gained through trade and agriculture. Foremost were the temple of Preah Ko and irrigation works. Indravarman I developed Hariharalaya further by constructing Bakong circa 881. Bakong in particular bears striking similarities to the Borobudur temple in Java, which suggests that it may have served as

13630-416: The kingdom. He also introduced standardised weights and measures throughout the country to assist administration as well as trade. The standardisation provided an impetus for the monetisation of Pagan's economy, the full impact of which however would not be felt until later in the 12th century. The kingdom prospered from increased agricultural output as well as from inland and maritime trading networks. Much of

13775-406: The late 13th century proves that the region was far from fully integrated. History shows that the region would not be fully integrated into the core until the late 18th century. The royal authority attenuated further in farther naingngans : Arakan, Chin Hills, Kachin Hills, and Shan Hills. These were tributary lands over which the crown only had a "largely ritual" or nominal sovereignty. In general,

13920-512: The later kings to expand. Pagan reached the height of political and administrative development during the reigns of Narapatisithu (Sithu II; r. 1174–1211) and Htilominlo (r. 1211–1235). The Sulamani Temple , Gawdawpalin Temple , Mahabodhi Temple , and Htilominlo Temple were built during their reigns. The kingdom's borders expanded to its greatest extent. Military organisation and success reached their zenith. Monumental architecture achieved

14065-417: The lowest social level were slaves . The extensive irrigation projects provided rice surpluses that could support a large population. The state religion was Hinduism but influenced by the cult of Devaraja , elevating the Khmer kings as possessing the divine quality of living gods on earth, attributed to the incarnation of Vishnu or Shiva . In politics, this status was viewed as the divine justification of

14210-454: The loyalty-patronage structure of the court. The king as the absolute monarch was the chief executive, legislator and justice of the land. However, as the kingdom grew, the king gradually handed over responsibilities to the court, which became more extensive and complex, adding more administrative layers and officials. In the early 13th century, c. 1211, part of the court evolved into the king's privy council or Hluttaw . The role and power of

14355-761: The main Theravada stronghold. In 1071, it helped to restart the Theravada Buddhism in Ceylon whose Buddhist clergy had been wiped out by the Cholas . Another key development according to traditional scholarship was the creation of the Burmese alphabet from the Mon script in 1058, one year after the conquest of Thaton. Anawrahta was followed by a line of able kings who cemented Pagan's place in history. Pagan entered

14500-565: The marketplace. The trade and economy in the Angkor marketplace were mainly run by women. Zhou Daguan's description of the women of Angkor: The local people who know how to trade are all women. So when a Chinese man goes to this country, the first thing he must do is take in a woman, partly with a view of profiting from her trading abilities. The women age very quickly, no doubt because they marry and give birth when they are too young. When they are twenty or thirty-years-old, they look like Chinese women who are forty or fifty. The role of women in

14645-428: The massive Tonlé Sap lake, and also near numerous rivers and ponds, many Khmer people relied on fresh water fisheries for their living. Fishing gave the population their main source of protein, which was turned into prahok   – dried or roasted or steamed fish paste wrapped in banana leaves. Rice was the main staple along with fish. Other sources of protein included pigs, cattle, and poultry, which were kept under

14790-502: The mid-1050s, Anawrahta's reforms had turned Pagan into a regional power, and he looked to expand. Over the next ten years, he founded the Pagan Empire, the Irrawaddy valley at the core, surrounded by tributary states. Anawrahta began his campaigns in the nearer Shan Hills , and extended conquests to Lower Myanmar down to the Tenasserim coast to Phuket and North Arakan . Estimates of the extent of his empire vary greatly. The Burmese and Siamese chronicles report an empire which covered

14935-474: 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

15080-461: The millennium-old Pyu realm came crashing down under repeated attacks by the Nanzhao kingdom of Yunnan between the 750s and 830s AD. Like that of the Pyu, the original home of Burmans prior to Yunnan is believed to be in present-day Qinghai and Gansu provinces . After the Nanzhao attacks had greatly weakened the Pyu city-states, large numbers of Burman warriors and their families first entered

15225-587: The modern Kampuchea . No written records of the Angkor period have survived other than stone inscriptions. Current knowledge of the historical Khmer civilization is derived primarily from: According to an inscription in the Sdok Kok Thom temple , around 781 the Khmer prince Jayavarman II established Indrapura as the capital of his domain. It was located in Banteay Prey Nokor , near today's Kampong Cham . After returning to his home in

15370-434: The modern-day ruins of Banteay Prey Nokor ) in eastern Cambodia. Moreover, many early temples on Phnom Kulen show Cham (e.g. Prasat Damrei Krap) as well as Javanese influences (e.g. the primitive " temple-mountain " of Aram Rong Cen and Prasat Thmar Dap), even if their asymmetric distribution seems typically Khmer. In the following years, Jayavarman II extended his territory and established a new capital, Hariharalaya , near

15515-416: The modern-day town of Roluos . He thereby laid the foundation of Angkor, which was to arise some 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the northwest. Jayavarman II died in 835 and was succeeded by his son Jayavarman III . Jayavarman III died in 877 and was succeeded by Indravarman I . The successors of Jayavarman II kept extending the territory of Kambuja. Indravarman I (reigned 877–889) managed to expand

15660-493: The monastery-temple complexes, typically located some distances away from the capital, helped anchor new population centres for the throne. Such institutions in turn stimulated associated artisan, commercial, and agricultural activities critical to the general economy. Secondly, the need to accumulate land for endowments, as well as for awards for soldiers and servicemen, drove the active development of new lands. The earliest irrigation projects focused on Kyaukse where Burmans built

15805-476: The new "king" controlled just a small area around the capital, and had no real army. The real power in Upper Myanmar now rested with three brothers, who were former Pagan commanders, of nearby Myinsaing . When the Hanthawaddy Kingdom of Lower Myanmar became a vassal of Sukhothai in 1293/94, it was the brothers, not Kyawswa, that sent a force to reclaim the former Pagan territory in 1295–96. Though

15950-683: The new arrangement as a Mongol vassalage as it directly reduced their power. On 17 December 1297, the three brothers overthrew Kyawswa, and founded the Myinsaing Kingdom . The Mongols did not know about the dethronement until June–July 1298. In response, the Mongols launched another invasion, reaching Myinsaing on 25 January 1301, but could not break through. The besiegers took the bribes of the three brothers, and withdrew on 6 April 1301. The Mongol government at Yunnan executed their commanders but sent no more invasions. They withdrew entirely from Upper Myanmar starting on 4 April 1303. By then,

16095-541: The next year. Ramesuan's son ruled Kambuja for a short time before being assassinated. Finally, in 1431, the Khmer king Ponhea Yat abandoned Angkor as indefensible, and moved to the Phnom Penh area. The new center of the Kambuja was in the southwest, at Oudong near present-day Phnom Penh. However, there are indications that Angkor was not completely abandoned. One line of Khmer kings may have remained there, while

16240-498: The number of conscripted cultivators offered the best single indication of military success, Upper Myanmar with a greater population was the natural centre of political gravity. Various sources and estimates put Pagan's military strength anywhere between 30,000 and 60,000 men. One inscription by Sithu II, who expanded the empire to its greatest extent, describes him as the lord of 17,645 soldiers while another notes 30,000 soldiers and cavalry under his command. A Chinese account mentions

16385-408: The one at Phimai, which in turn sent their goods to large cities like Angkor in return for other goods, such as pottery and foreign trade items from China. The king and his officials were in charge of irrigation management and water distribution, which consisted of an intricate series of hydraulics infrastructure, such as canals, moats, and massive reservoirs called barays . Society was arranged in

16530-570: The palace, the first specific mention of a standing military structure in the Burmese chronicles is 1174 when Sithu II founded the palace guards—"two companies inner and outer, and they kept watch in ranks one behind the other". The palace guards became the nucleus round which the mass levy assembled in war time. Most of the field levy served in the infantry but the men for the elephantry , cavalry , and naval corps were drawn from specific hereditary villages that specialised in respective military skills. In an era of limited military specialisation, when

16675-574: The powerful Chola emperor Rajendra I against Tambralinga. After learning of Suryavarman's alliance with Chola, Tambralinga requested aid from the Srivijaya king Sangrama Vijayatungavarman. This eventually led to Chola coming into conflict with Srivijaya. The war ended with a victory for Chola and Kambuja, and major losses for Srivijaya and Tambralinga. The two alliances had religious nuance, as Chola and Kambuja were Hindu Shaivite , while Tambralinga and Srivijaya were Mahayana Buddhist . There

16820-428: The present-day Myanmar and northern Thailand. The Siamese chronicles assert that Anawrahta conquered the entire Menam valley, and received tribute from the Khmer king. One Siamese chronicle states that Anawrahta's armies invaded the Khmer kingdom and sacked the city of Angkor , and another one goes so far as to say that Anawrahta even visited Java to receive his tribute. Archaeological evidence however confirms only

16965-478: The prototype for Bakong. There were at the time exchanges of travellers and missions between Kambuja and the Sailendras in Java, which brought to Cambodia not only ideas, but also technical and architectural details. Indravarman I was followed by his son Yasovarman I (reigned 889–915), who established a new capital, Yasodharapura   – the first city of the larger Angkor area. The city's central temple

17110-420: The real and mythical ancestors of Sri Ksetra, the symbol of the Pyu golden past, and by calling the kingdom Pyu, even though it had been ruled by a Burman ruling class. He supported and favoured Theravada Buddhism while tolerating other religious groups. To be sure, he pursued these policies all the while maintaining the Burman military rule. By the end of his 28-year reign, Pagan had emerged a major power alongside

17255-463: The remains of over 2000 survive." Agriculture was the primary engine of the kingdom from its beginnings in the 9th century. Burman immigrants are believed to have either introduced new water management techniques or greatly enhanced existing Pyu system of weirs, dams, sluices, and diversionary barricades. At any rate, the Kyaukse agricultural basin's development in the 10th and 11th centuries enabled

17400-424: The reservoir of Srah Srang . An extensive network of roads was laid down connecting every town of the empire, with rest-houses built for travelers and a total of 102 hospitals established across his realm. After the death of Jayavarman VII, his son Indravarman II (reigned 1219–1243) ascended to the throne. Like his father, he was a Buddhist, and he completed a series of temples begun under his father's rule. As

17545-482: The riverine portions of Minbu and Pakkoku . To the north lay the Nanzhao Kingdom, and to the east still largely uninhabited Shan Hills , to the south and the west Pyus, and farther south still, Mons . The size of the principality is about 6% of that of modern Burma/Myanmar. In December 1044, a Pagan prince named Anawrahta came to power. Over the next three decades, he turned this small principality into

17690-429: The royal family to rule Kyaukse and Minbu. Newly settled dry zone taik ( တိုက် , [taiʔ] ) areas on the west bank of the Irrawaddy were entrusted to the men of lesser rank, as well as those from powerful local families known as taik leaders ( taik-thugyis , တိုက်သူကြီး , [taiʔ ðədʑí] ). The governors and taik-leaders lived off apanage grants and local taxes. But unlike their frontier counterparts,

17835-466: The sangha over the 250 years of the empire accumulated to over 150,000 hectares (over 60%) of the total cultivated land. Ultimately, the practice proved unsustainable when the empire had stopped growing physically, and a major factor in the empire's downfall. Khmer Empire The Khmer Empire was a Hindu - Buddhist empire in Southeast Asia , centered around hydraulic cities in what

17980-438: The shadows of Mon and Pyu cultures. With the Burman leadership of the kingdom now unquestioned, the term Mranma (Burmans) was openly used in Burmese language inscriptions. Burmese became the primary written language of the kingdom, replacing Pyu and Mon. His reign also saw the realignment of Burmese Buddhism with Ceylon's Mahavihara school. The Pyus receded into the background, and by the early 13th century, had largely assumed

18125-462: The signs of the zodiac, one of the many enduring patterns that would continue until the British occupation. Sri Ksetra emerged as the premier Pyu city-state in the 7th century AD. Although the size of the city-states and the scale of political organisation grew during the 7th to early 9th centuries, no sizeable kingdom had yet emerged by the 9th century. According to a reconstruction by G.H. Luce ,

18270-554: 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 . In the 12th and 13th centuries, Pagan, alongside the Khmer Empire , was one of two main empires in mainland Southeast Asia. The Burmese language and culture gradually became dominant in the upper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing

18415-429: The structures ceasing to be built, but the Khmer's historical inscription was also lacking from the 14th to 17th centuries. With this lack of historical content, there is very limited archaeological evidence to work with. However, archaeologists have been able to determine that the sites were abandoned and then reoccupied later by different people. The Ayutthaya Kingdom arose from a confederation of three city-states on

18560-560: The text also offers valuable information on the everyday life and habits of the inhabitants of Angkor. By the 14th century, Kambuja had suffered a long, arduous, and steady decline. Historians have proposed different causes for the decline: the religious conversion from Vishnuite-Shivaite Hinduism to Theravada Buddhism that affected social and political systems, incessant internal power struggles among Khmer princes, vassal revolt, foreign invasion, plague, and ecological breakdown. For social and religious reasons, many aspects contributed to

18705-556: The throne (reigned 944–968) was the royal palace returned to Yasodharapura. He once again took up the extensive building schemes of the earlier kings and established a series of Hindu temples in the Angkor area, such as Pre Rup and the East Mebon , a temple located on an artificial island in the center of the East Baray. Several Buddhist temples and monasteries were also built. In 950, the first war took place between Kambuja and

18850-606: The throne by taking the capital Angkor. His rule was marked by repeated attempts by his opponents to overthrow him and military conflicts with neighboring kingdoms. Suryavarman I established diplomatic relations with the Chola dynasty of south India early in his rule. In the first decade of the 11th century, Kambuja came into conflict with the kingdom of Tambralinga in the Malay Peninsula . After surviving several invasions from his enemies, Suryavarman requested aid from

18995-421: The trade and economy of Kambuja suggests that they enjoyed significant rights and freedom. Their practice of marrying early may have contributed to the high fertility rate and huge population of the kingdom. Kambuja was founded upon extensive networks of agricultural rice farming communities. A distinct settlement hierarchy is present in the region. Small villages were clustered around regional centres, such as

19140-525: The water management system. Periods of drought led to decreases in agricultural productivity, and violent floods due to monsoons damaged the infrastructure during this vulnerable time. To adapt to the growing population, trees were cut down from the Kulen hills and cleared out for more rice fields. That created rain runoff carrying sediment to the canal network. Any damage to the water system would have enormous consequences. The plague theory, which suggests

19285-515: The wealth was devoted to temple building. Temple building projects, which began in earnest during Kyansittha's reign, became increasingly grandiose, and began to transition into a distinctively Burman architectural style from earlier Pyu and Mon norms. By the end of Sithu I's reign, Pagan enjoyed a more synthesised culture, an efficient government and a prosperous economy. However a corresponding growth in population also put pressure on "the fixed relationship between productive land and population", forcing

19430-513: The west, and Martaban (Mottama) in the south. The Martaban rebellion was easily put down but Macchagiri required a second expedition before it too was put down. The calm did not last long. Martaban again revolted in 1285. This time, Pagan could not do anything to retake Martaban because it was facing an existential threat from the north. The Mongols of the Yuan dynasty demanded tribute, in 1271 and again in 1273. When Narathihapate refused both times,

19575-458: Was a follower of Theravada Buddhism , a school of Buddhism that had arrived in Southeast Asia from Sri Lanka and subsequently spread through most of the region. In August 1296, the Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan arrived in Angkor and recorded, "In the recent war with the Siamese, the country was utterly devastated". He remained at the court of Srindravarman until July 1297. He was neither

19720-484: Was also the chief justice of the land. Sithu I (r. 1112–1167) was the first Pagan king to issue an official collection of judgments, later known as the Alaungsithu hpyat-hton , to be followed as precedents by all courts of justice. A follow-up collection of judgments was compiled during the reign of Sithu II (r. 1174–1211) by a Mon monk named Dhammavilasa. As another sign of delegation of power, Sithu II also appointed

19865-412: Was assassinated by one of his sons in 1287. The Mongols invaded again in 1287. Recent research indicates that Mongol armies may not have reached Pagan itself, and that even if they did, the damage they inflicted was probably minimal. But the damage was already done. All the vassal states of Pagan revolted right after the king's death, and went their own way. In the south, Wareru , the man who had seized

20010-481: Was built on Phnom Bakheng , a hill which rises around 60 m above the plain on which Angkor sits. The East Baray , a massive water reservoir measuring 7.1 by 1.7 kilometres (4.4 by 1.1 mi), was also created under the reign of Yasovarman I. At the beginning of the 10th century, the empire fractured. Jayavarman IV moved the capital to Lingapura (now known as Koh Ker ), some 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast of Angkor. Only when Rajendravarman II ascended to

20155-610: Was criticized by modern scholars such as Claude Jacques and Michael Vickery, who noted that the Khmer used the term chvea to describe the Chams , their neighbors to the east. But in 2013 Arlo Griffiths refuted these theories and convincingly demonstrated that in almost all cases the inscriptions mention Java they refer to the island of Java in the Indonesian archipelago. Jayavarman's political career began in Vyadhapura (likely

20300-466: Was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation that lasted well into the 16th century. The origins of the Pagan kingdom have been reconstructed using archaeological evidence as well as the Burmese chronicle tradition. Considerable differences exist between the views of modern scholarship and various chronicle narratives. According to the local myth and chronicles written down in the 18th century trace its origins to 167 AD, when Pyusawhti founded

20445-436: Was followed by a caretaker, and then Pyusawhti in 167 AD. The chronicle narratives then merge, and agree that a dynasty of kings followed Pyusawhti. King Pyinbya ( ပျဉ်ပြား ) fortified the city in 849 AD. Modern scholarship holds that the Pagan dynasty was founded by the Mranma of the Nanzhao kingdom in the mid-to-late 9th century AD; that the earlier parts of the chronicle are the histories and legends of Pyu people ,

20590-621: Was not a tyrannical ruler in the manner of his immediate predecessors. He unified the empire and carried out noteworthy building projects. The new capital, now called Angkor Thom ( lit.   ' great city ' ), was built. In the center, the king (himself a follower of Mahayana Buddhism) had constructed as the state temple the Bayon, with towers bearing faces of the boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara , each several meters high, carved out of stone. Further important temples built under Jayavarman VII were Ta Prohm for his mother, Preah Khan for his father, Banteay Kdei , and Neak Pean , as well as

20735-419: Was one of several competing city-states until the late 10th century when it grew in authority and grandeur. By Anawrahta's accession in 1044, Pagan had grown into a small principality—about 320 kilometres (200 mi) north to south and about 130 kilometres (81 mi) from east to west, comprising roughly the present districts of Mandalay , Meiktila , Myingyan , Kyaukse , Yamethin , Magwe , Sagaing , and

20880-428: Was relatively constant, the estimates of 40,000 to 60,000 of the entire military are not improbable, and are in line with figures given for the Burmese military between the 16th and 19th centuries in a variety of sources. The economy of Pagan was based primarily on agriculture , and to a much smaller degree, on trade . The growth of the Pagan Empire and subsequent development of irrigated lands in new lands sustained

21025-487: Was to the south. At the court of Jayavarman V lived philosophers, scholars, and artists. New temples were also established; the most important of these were Banteay Srei , considered one of the most beautiful and artistic of Angkor, and Ta Keo, the first temple of Angkor built completely of sandstone . A decade of conflict followed the death of Jayavarman V. Three kings reigned simultaneously as antagonists to each other until Suryavarman I (reigned 1006–1050) ascended to

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