The trading port whose big glazed jars gave Arabic its word martaban (a jar); the older settlement Sampanago (Mon Punjaluin) shows a thriving sixth to ninth century culture with overland and sea trade (archaeology, Moore and San Win 2014).
The one dated item of 1150 to 1250 is an inscription erected by Sithu II of Pagan in 1176 (Aung-Thwin 2005, via English Wikipedia). A thirteenth-century southern provincial capital of Pagan on a later statement without citation. In 1287 Wareru takes it. Moulmein (Mawlamyine) opposite is not yet a town.
Who holds it
- Title
- Headman or the king's officer
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No source we read names a holder.
Lord in 1200
A Mon lord or Pagan governor (not named).
How things stand that morning
A Mon port under Pagan, thinly documented.
Communities
Mon, Indian, Muslim and Chinese traders (inferred).
Trade and crafts
Glazed storage jars, rice, teak? (not shown), overland trade over the Dawna to Siam.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 30 January 1287Wareru takes Martaban (English Wikipedia's infobox date).Depends on: Pagan's collapse. Stopped by: Pagan's survival.
Places of note
- Martaban: Mon port.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: One inscription of 1176 and archaeology of earlier centuries.
Primary sources for Kingdom of Pagan
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma, The Royal Historical Commission of King Bagyidaw (Monywe Sayadaw and others), drawing on U Kala's Maha Yazawin (about 1724) and earlier chronicles (1829 to 1832). The standard Burmese court chronicle, compiled six centuries after 1200 from older chronicles now lost. Read online
- The later Tai, Lao and Mon chronicles of the north, Ratanapanna (Jinakalamali); Bodhiramsi (Chamadevivamsa); anonymous monks and court scribes (the Chamadevivamsa about 1410; the Jinakalamali 1516 to 1528; the Chiang Mai Chronicle in its surviving form 1827; the Nithan Khun Borom 16th to 17th century). There is no text of 1200 for the Mon kingdom of Haripunjaya, the Tai muang of Ngoenyang (Chiang Saen), Chiang Rung, the Yom and Nan valleys, or the Lao middle Mekong.
- History of Song, chapters 488 and 489: Jiaozhi, Dali, Champa, Zhenla, Pagan, Srivijaya, Java, Brunei, Chola and Tambralinga, Toqto'a (Tuotuo) and the Yuan history office, from the Song court records (1343 to 1345, from Song veritable records and court diaries). The Chinese court's record of its southern neighbours, compiled from Song archives. Read online
- Epigraphia Birmanica, being lithic and other inscriptions of Burma, Various, edited by Taw Sein Ko, C. Duroiselle and C. O. Blagden (inscriptions of the 11th to 15th centuries; the series ran from 1919 to 1936). The Archaeological Survey of Burma's series of edited inscriptions with full translations. Read online
- Inscriptions of Pagan, Pinya and Ava; Inscriptions of Burma, Various (the Pagan kings, queens, ministers and donors), edited by Tun Nyein, Taw Sein Ko, G. H. Luce and Pe Maung Tin (inscriptions of the 11th to 14th centuries; editions 1899 and 1933 to 1956). The dedicatory inscriptions of Pagan are the only contemporary texts for the kingdom of Narapatisithu (reigning 1174 to 1211). Read online
- A Description of the Foreign Peoples (Records of Foreign Nations), Zhao Rukuo (Zhao Rugua) (1225 at Quanzhou). The best single text for the island world around 1200, written by the superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou from merchants' reports a generation after the date. Read online
- Notes in Answer to Questions about the Lands beyond the Passes, Zhou Qufei (周去非) (1178, after service in Guangxi). A Guangxi official's notes, written twenty years before 1200, on the south-western frontier of the Song and the countries beyond. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.