Unit 2: Research into 'Pagan' (Pagan Kingdom)

Various searches that derive from the word 'Pagan' include:

1. Pagan Island
2. Paganism
3. Pagan Kingdom  

Pagan Kingdom 

Also known as the Pagan Dynasty or Pagan Empire 

The first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Burma (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 Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and in mainland Southeast Asia.

The kingdom grew out of a small 9th century settlement at Pagan (Bagan) by the Mranma (Burmans), who had recently entered the Irrawaddy valley from the Kingdom of Nanzhao. 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, the first ever unification of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. Anawrahta's successors by the late 12th century had extended their influence farther south into the upper Malay peninsula, at least to the Salween river in the east, below the current China border in the farther north, and to the west, 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.

Myanmar

Burma, also known as Myanmar, is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by India, Bangladesh,China, Laos and Thailand

Figure 1

By the 9th century AD several city-states had sprouted across the land: the Pyu states in the central dry zone, Mon states along the southern coastline and Arakanese states along the western littoral. The balance was upset when the Pyu states came under repeated attacks from the Kingdom of Nanzhao between the 750s and the 830s. In the mid-to-late 9th century the Mranma (Burmans/Bamar) of Nanzhao founded a small settlement at Pagan (Bagan). It was one of several competing city-states until the late 10th century when it grew in authority and grandeur.

Figure 2

Irrawaddy Valley

A river that flows from north to south through Burma (Myanmar). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows relatively straight North-South before emptying through the Irrawaddy Delta into the Andaman Sea.

Figure 3

Kingdom of Nanzhao

Nanzhao, alternate spellings Nanchao and Nan Chao (Traditional Chinese: 南詔; Simplified Chinese: 南诏; pinyin: Nánzhào; Standard Tibetan: Jang^]) was a polity that flourished in what is now southern China and Southeast Asia during the 8th and 9th centuries. It was centred around present-day Yunnan in China

Bibliography

Pagan Kingdom information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagan_Kingdom#Pagan_Empire 

Burma information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma

Irrawaddy River information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrawaddy_river

Kingdom of Nanzhao information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Nanzhao

Images

Figure 1 - http://www.burmastar.org.uk/images/Myanmar-map.gif 

Figure 2 - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Bagan%2C_Burma.jpg/800px-Bagan%2C_Burma.jpg 

Figure 3 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Irrawaddy-River-Myanmar-Burma-2005.jpg