Bagan Empire

In this episode, we focus on the Bagan Empire, the first major Burmese state to unify the heartlands of what is now Myanmar. Rising from a modest ninth-century settlement founded by the Mranma people, Bagan grew into a powerful medieval kingdom centered on the Irrawaddy valley. The episode explores how Theravada Buddhism shaped its politics, culture, and identity, inspiring the construction of thousands of temples, stupas, and monasteries that still define Bagan’s landscape today. It also examines the empire’s golden age in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, its weakening through economic strain and tax-free religious land grants, and its eventual collapse under the pressure of repeated Mongol invasions. Bagan’s legacy lived on through Burmese language, ethnicity, religion, and architecture, making it one of the most influential civilizations in Southeast Asian history.