HISTORYPRE-COLONIAL BURMA2951084
Kyanzittha continues
the reforms started by
his father Anawrahta,
including developing
the Burmese written
language; he’s
succeeded in 1113
by his grandson,
Alaungsithu who rules
until 1167.1273
In a curious gesture
of diplomacy against
far-superior forces
to the north, the
Burmese in Bagan slay
Tartar ambassadors,
prompting a peeved
Kublai Khan to invade
14 years later.1290s
Marco Polo becomes
possibly the fi rst
Westerner to travel in
central Burma (then
known to foreigners as
Mien), and publishes
an account of his
travels in 1298.1315
After the collapse
of Bagan, Sagaing
becomes the capital
of a Shan kingdom.
The capital moves to
Inwa in 1364 and stays
there intermittently
until 1841.The Second Burmese Empire
It would be another 200 years before the Bamar were able to regroup to
found their second empire. During this time a settlement of Bamar refu-
gees in central Taungoo survived between Mon to the south and the Shan
to the north and east, by playing the larger forces off against each other.
In the 16th century, a series of Taungoo kings extended their power
north, nearly to the Shan’s capital at Inwa, then south, taking the Mon
kingdom and shifting their own capital to Bago. In 1550 Bayinnaung
came to the throne, reunifi ed all of Burma and defeated the neighbour-
ing Siamese so convincingly that it was many years before the long-run-
ning friction between the two nations resurfaced.
Following Bayinnaung’s death in 1581 the Bamar’s power again de-
clined. The capital was shifted north to Inwa in 1636. Its isolation from
the sea – eff ectively cutting off communication around the kingdom –
ultimately contributed to Myanmar’s defeat by the British.
The Third Burmese Empire
With all the subtlety of a kick to the groin, King Alaungpaya launched the
third and fi nal Burmese dynasty by contesting the Mon when the latter
Thant Myint-U’s
River of Lost
Footsteps is a
must-read his-
torical review that
recounts kings’
blunders and
successes, while
adding occasional
family anecdotes
of Burma’s early
days of
independence.ORIGINAL KINGDOMSFour major precolonial ethnic groups peppered Burma’s fl atlands with their kingdoms
for centuries, while smaller ethnic groups lived – mostly untouched – in the remote hills
beyond. The early histories that are attached to these groups are a mix of fact and leg-
end: see p 157 for an archaeologist’s perspective.
Pyu Arriving from the Tibeto-Burman plateau and/or from India around the 1st century
BC, the Pyu established the fi rst major kingdom of sorts, with city-states in central
Myanmar including Beikthano, Hanlin and Sri Ksetra (Thayekhittaya). In the 10th cen-
tury, Yunnanese invaders from China enslaved or scared off most Pyu.
Rakhaing Also known as Arakanese, these people claim their kingdom was well under way
by the 6th century BC. Certainly it was in full force by the 15th century, when their Buddhist
kingdom was based in Mrauk U and their navy controlled much of the Bay of Bengal.
Bamar Also known as Burmans, these people arrived from somewhere in the eastern
Himalaya in the 8th or 9th century, supplanting the vanquished Pyu and establishing
the cultural heartland of Myanmar as it’s still known. Centuries of confl ict with the Mon
erupted after their arrival. Although the Bamar came out on top, the result was really a
merger of the two cultures.
Mon This race, who may have originated from eastern India or mainland Southeast Asia,
settled fertile lowlands on the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River delta across Thailand to Cam-
bodia. They developed the area as Suvannabhumi (Golden Land), with their Burmese king-
dom centred around present-day Thaton coming into existence around the 9th century.