Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word meaning 'circle'. The mandala is a model for describing the patterns of diffuse political power distributed among Mueang or Kedatuan (principalities) in medieval Southeast Asian history, when local power was more important than the central leadership. The concept of the mandala balances modern tendencies to look for unified political power, e.g. the power of large kingdoms and nation states of later history – an inadvertent byproduct of 15th century advances in map-making technologies. In the words of O. W. Wolters who further explored the idea in 1982:
The map of earlier Southeast Asia which evolved from the prehistoric networks of small settlements and reveals itself in historical records was a patchwork of often overlapping mandalas.
Nyaung-u Sawrahan was king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from c. 956 to 1001. Although he is remembered as the Cucumber King in the Burmese chronicles based on a legend, Sawrahan is the earliest king of Pagan whose existence has been verified by inscriptional evidence. According to scholarship, it was during Sawrahan reign that Pagan, then one of several competing city-states in Upper Burma, "grew in authority and grandeur". The creation of Burmese alphabet as well as the fortification of Pagan may have begun in his reign.
The Battle of Pagan was fought in 1287 between the Yuan dynasty of China and the Pagan Kingdom of Burma. The invasion ended the Pagan Kingdom, which disintegrated into several small kingdoms.
Mon kingdoms were polities established by the Mon-speaking people in parts of present-day Myanmar and Thailand. The polities ranged from Dvaravati and Haripuñjaya in present-day northern Thailand to Thaton, Hanthawaddy (1287–1539), and the Restored Hanthawaddy (1740–1757) in southern Myanmar.
The Toungoo dynasty, and also known as the Restored Toungoo dynasty, was the ruling dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from the mid-16th century to 1752. Its early kings Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung succeeded in reunifying the territories of the Pagan Kingdom for the first time since 1287 and in incorporating the Shan States for the first time, in addition to including Manipur, Chinese Shan States, Siam and Lan Xang. At its peak, the Toungoo Empire was the largest and strongest empire in Southeast Asia. However, it collapsed in the 18 years following Bayinnaung's death in 1581.
Arimardanna Pura is the most famous classical name of the city of Bagan (Pagan), Myanmar. It means the "City that Tramples on Enemies."
Taninganway Min was king of the Toungoo dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1714 to 1733. The long and slow descent of the dynasty finally came to the forefront during his reign in the form of internal and external instabilities. He faced a rebellion by his uncle Governor of Pagan at his accession. In the northwest, the Manipuri horsemen raided Burmese territory in early 1724. The retaliatory expedition to Manipur in November 1724 failed. In the east, southern Lan Na, under Burmese rule since 1558, successfully revolted in 1727. Taninganway tried to recapture the breakaway region twice but both tries failed. By 1732, southern Lan Na was independent although a strong Burmese garrison in Chiang Saen in northern Lan Na confined the rebellion to the Ping valley around Chiang Mai.
Htilominlo was king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1211 to 1235. His 24-year reign marked the beginning of the gradual decline of Pagan dynasty. It was the first to see the impact of over a century of continuous growth of tax-free religious wealth, which had greatly reduced the potential tax base. Htilominlo was the last of the temple builders although most of his temples were in remote lands outside the Pagan region, reflecting the deteriorating state of royal treasury.
Pyinbya was the king of the Pagan Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) who founded the city of Pagan (Bagan) in 849 CE. Though the Burmese chronicles describe him as the 33rd king of the dynasty founded in early 2nd century CE, modern historians consider Pyinbya one of the first kings of Pagan, which would gradually take over present-day central Burma in the next two hundred years. He was the paternal great-grandfather of King Anawrahta, the founder of the Pagan Empire.
Manuha, or Makuta, was the last king of Thaton Kingdom. Manuha ruled Thaton from 1030s until 1057 when he was defeated by King Anawrahta of Pagan Kingdom. According to the Mon tradition, Manuha was the 59th in the line of kings who supposedly founded Thaton during the time of the Buddha in the 6th century BCE.
The Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom, also known as the Neo-Ramanic State was the kingdom that ruled Lower Burma and parts of Upper Burma from 1740 to 1757. The kingdom grew out of a rebellion by the Mon led population of Pegu, who then rallied the other Mon as well as Delta Bama and Karens of Lower Burma, against the Toungoo Dynasty of Ava in Upper Burma. The rebellion succeeded in expelling Toungoo loyalists and restored the Mon-speaking Kingdom of Hanthawaddy which ruled Lower Burma from 1287 to 1539. The restored Hanthawady kingdom also claim heritage to Bayinaung's early Toungoo Empire whose capital was based in Pegu and guaranteed the loyalty of the non-Mon population of Lower Burma. Supported by the French, the upstart kingdom quickly carved out a space for itself in Lower Burma, and continued its push northward. In March 1752, its forces captured Ava, and ended the 266-year-old Toungoo dynasty.
The term Southeast Asian Massif was proposed in 1997 by anthropologist Jean Michaud to discuss the human societies inhabiting the lands above an elevation of approximately 300 metres (1,000 ft) in the southeastern portion of the Asian landmass, thus not merely in the uplands of conventional Mainland Southeast Asia. It concerns highlands overlapping parts of 10 countries: southwest China, Northeast India, eastern Bangladesh, and all the highlands of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Peninsular Malaysia, and Taiwan. The indigenous population encompassed within these limits numbers approximately 100 million, not counting migrants from surrounding lowland majority groups who came to settle in the highlands over the last few centuries.
Kanraza Gyi was the legendary founder of the Second Dhanyawaddy Dynasty of Arakan. According to Hmanan Yazawin, Kanyaza Gyi was the eldest son of King Abhiyaza of Tagaung, a prince of the Sakya clan of the Buddha who came from the ancient kingdom of Kosala. After his father died in 825 CE, Kanyaza Gyi lost out the throne to his younger brother Kanyaza Nge. He left Tagaung with his followers. He eventually settled at the abandoned capital of Danyawaddy in present-day Rakhine State, and founded the Second Danyawaddy Dynasty.
Kanyaza Nge was a legendary king of Tagaung, who reportedly reigned in the 9th century BCE.
Thamoddarit was the legendary founder of Pagan Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar), who supposedly reigned from 107 to 152 CE. He was proclaimed as the founder of Pagan for the first time by Hmannan Yazawin, the Royal Chronicle of Konbaung Dynasty in 1832. The introduction of Thamoddarit, whose lineage Hmannan traces to the Sakya clan of the Buddha as the founder of Pagan, was part of the early Konbaung kings' efforts to move away from then prevailing pre-Buddhist origin narrative of the monarchy. Burmese chronicles down to the 18th century had traced to another legendary figure Pyusawhti, a descendant of a solar spirit and a dragon princess.
The Journal of the Burma Research Society was an academic journal covering Burma studies that was published by the Burma Research Society between 1911 and 1980. When it began publication in 1911, the journal became the first peer-reviewed academic journal focused on Burma studies. Over the 69-year period, the journal published 59 volumes and 132 issues, including over 1,300 articles. It was published twice a year at the Rangoon University Estate in both English and Burmese.
The S'gaw Karen alphabet is an abugida used for writing Karen. It was derived from the Burmese script in the early 19th century, and ultimately from either the Kadamba or Pallava alphabet of South India. The S'gaw Karen alphabet is also used for the liturgical languages of Pali and Sanskrit.
