Battle of Pagan

Battle of Pagan
Part of Mongol invasion of Burma
Mongol Empire's largest extent outlined in red; Timur-i-Lenk's empire is shaded.
Date December 1287 Location Pagan Result Tactical Burmese victory, [1] Strategic Mongol Victory Collapse of the Pagan Empire
Belligerents
Pagan Empire	Yuan dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Athinkhaya Yazathingyan Thihathu	Temür Khan
Strength
5,000–7,000	7,000–30,000
Casualties and losses
Moderate	Heavy

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.

Overview

The battle was initiated by the Yuan dynasty, which sensed an opportunity in the political turmoil caused by their successful 1283 invasion of the Pagan Empire in the Battle of Bhamo. After Bhamo, the Yuan army penetrated the Irrawaddy River valley and established garrisons there. The political turmoil of these events tempted Kublai Khan's grandson Esen-Temür, who was stationed in Yunnan, into action. Temür led a large army down the Irrawaddy river valley and attempted to capture Pagan city.

The Burmese king Narathihapate fled Pagan to Lower Burma leaving the Burmese defenses under the three brother commanders of Myinsaing, Athinkhaya, Yazathingyan, and Thihathu. The king is remembered in Burmese history as Tayokpyemin (lit. "the king who ran away from the Chinese"). According to mainstream traditional (colonial-era) scholarship, the Mongol army ignored the imperial orders to evacuate; fought its way down to Pagan with the loss of 7000 men; occupied the city; and sent out detachments to receive homage, one of which reached south of Prome. ^[2] But not all colonial period scholars agreed with the assessment as none of the contemporary Mongol/Chinese records specifically mentioned the conquest of Pagan or the temporary completeness of the conquest. ^[3]

Recent research shows that the Mongol forces most probably never reached Pagan. ^{[1] [4]} They were held at bay by the Burmese defenses led by commanders Athinkhaya, Yazathingyan and Thihathu, and probably never got closer than 160 km north of Pagan. ^{[5] [1]} (An inscription dated 16 February 1293 by the three brothers claimed that they defeated the Mongol army. ^{[6] [7]} ) Even if the Mongols did reach Pagan, the damage they inflicted was probably minimal. ^[8] At any rate, the Mongol army suffered heavy casualties, and retreated north to Tagaung. They remained there as the treaty was now void. ^[9]

Aftermath

In Lower Burma, the king was promptly assassinated by one of his sons, Thihathu of Prome. The 250-year-old Pagan Empire now disintegrated. The kingdom was fractured into several small power centers as the Yuan dynasty did not fill the power vacuum in the searing Irrawaddy valley. The Yuan army instead stayed farther north in Tagaung (present-day northern Mandalay Region).

In central Burma, another son of Narathihapate, Kyawswa, was installed as king by dowager queen Saw. But Kyawswa controlled only the immediate surrounding area of Pagan. Even in central Burma, the real power rested with three Pagan military commanders who through their small but well-disciplined army controlled the Kyaukse district, the most important granary of Pagan. Kyawswa had no choice but to recognize them as lords of Kyaukse. The brothers increasingly acted like sovereigns. Nearly ten years after the fall of Pagan, Kyawswa decided to become a Yuan vassal in January 1297. He received official recognition from the Yuan dynasty as the ruler of Burma in March 1298. Unsatisfied with their reduced status, the brothers dethroned Kyawswa in December 1298, and founded the Myinsaing Kingdom, officially ending the Pagan Kingdom. The Mongol army's effort to install their new nominee, one of Kyawswa's sons, to the Pagan throne in 1301 was unsuccessful. Two years later, in 1303, the Yuan court decided to withdraw completely from Upper Burma, and the Yuan army left Tagaung. ^[10]

Notes

1. Aung-Thwin and Hall 2011: 34–35
2. Harvey 1925: 69
3. Yule 1874: 95
4. Lieberman 2003: 121
5. Stuart-Fox 2001: 88–90
6. Htin Aung 1967: 72
7. Than Tun 1959: 121
8. Lieberman 2003: 119
9. Than Tun 1964: 137
10. Htin Aung, pp. 65-81

References

• Aung-Thwin, Michael (1985). Pagan: The Origins of Modern Burma. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN   0-8248-0960-2.
• Aung-Thwin, Michael Arthur; Hall, Kenneth R. (2011). New Perspectives on the History and Historiography of Southeast Asia. Routledge. ISBN   9781136819643.
• Aung-Thwin, Michael A.; Maitrii Aung-Thwin (2012). A History of Myanmar Since Ancient Times (illustrated ed.). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN   978-1-86189-901-9.
• Coedès, George (1968). The Indianized States of South-East Asia. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN   9780824803681.
• Cocks, Samuel W. (1919). A Short History of Burma (2 ed.). London: Macmillan and Co.
• Hall, Kenneth R. (2010). A History of Early Southeast Asia: Maritime Trade and Societal Development, 100–1500 (illustrated ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN   9780742567627.
• Harvey, G. E. (1925). History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
• Haw, Stephen G. (2006). Marco Polo's China: A Venetian in the Realm of Khubilai Khan. New York: Routledge. ISBN   9781134275427.
• Htin Aung, Maung (1967). A History of Burma. New York and London: Cambridge University Press.
• Kala, U (1724). Maha Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2006, 4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Lieberman, Victor B. (2003). Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830, volume 1, Integration on the Mainland. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-80496-7.
• Maha Sithu (2012) [1798]. Kyaw Win; Thein Hlaing (eds.). Yazawin Thit (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2nd ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Marco Polo (1874). Henry Yule (ed.). The book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, concerning the kingdoms and marvels of the East. Vol. 2. Location: John Murray.
• Myint-U, Thant (2006). The River of Lost Footsteps—Histories of Burma. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN   978-0-374-16342-6.
• Myint-U, Thant (2011). Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN   978-0-374-16342-6.
• Pan Hla, Nai (1968). Razadarit Ayedawbon (in Burmese) (8th printing, 2005 ed.). Yangon: Armanthit Sarpay.
• Phayre, Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur P. (1883). History of Burma (1967 ed.). London: Susil Gupta.
• Rossabi, Morris (1981). "The Muslims in the Early Yuan Dynasty". In John D. Langlois, Jr. (ed.). China Under Mongol Rule (2014 ed.). Princeton University Press. ISBN   9781400854097.
• Royal Historical Commission of Burma (1832). Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2003 ed.). Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.
• Sarpay Beikman, ed. (1961). Myanma Swezon Kyan (in Burmese). Vol. 5 (1 ed.). Heartford, Heartfordshire: Stephen Austin & Sons, Ltd.
• Stuart-Fox, Martin (2001). "Review of "Myth and History in the Historiography of Early Burma" by Michael A. Aung-Thwin". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Brill. 44 (1): 88–90. JSTOR   3632565.
• Than Tun (December 1959). "History of Burma: A.D. 1300–1400". Journal of Burma Research Society. XLII (II).
• Than Tun (1964). Studies in Burmese History (in Burmese). Vol. 1. Yangon: Maha Dagon.
• Wade, Geoff (2009). Eugene Perry Link (ed.). The Scholar's Mind: Essays in Honor of Frederick W. Mote. Chinese University Press. ISBN   9789629964030.