The royal seat and by far the largest place in the western mainland.
The walled city proper is the core of about 140 hectares on the river bank, enclosed by three walls with a fourth on the west that the Irrawaddy has eaten; the only wall part left standing is the Tharabha gate, dated by radiocarbon to about 1020 (English Wikipedia, Bagan), which supports the later scholarly foundation (ninth century) against the chronicle's second century and fortification in 849. Outside the wall the temples, monasteries, tanks and villages spread over about 8,000 hectares of dry plain (13 by 8 km): over 10,000 monuments were raised in all, about 2,200 survive; building peaks between about 1150 and 1200, and the thirteenth century turns to monasteries and small gifts by private people (English Wikipedia). Modern estimates of the city's peak population run between 50,000 and 200,000 (English Wikipedia; an estimate, not a count).
The king's palace, the royal landing at Lawkananda, the workshops and the monasteries of both orders of the Sangha are here; everything the court eats comes up the river from Kyaukse and Minbu.
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
Narapatisithu, through his chief minister and chief justice (chronicle).
What the town holds
- The walled city, palace, royal landing and workshops
- Tolls on the river approach
How things stand that morning
The seat of Narapatisithu in the twenty-sixth year of the reign: at the height of its building, with the Sulamani (1183) and Dhammayazika (1196) standing, the two orders of monks side by side, and no event of 1199 or 1200 on record.
Council
The court of the king with chief minister and chief justice (chronicle); no town council is known. The Sangha's elders and the monasteries act as bodies of their own.
Communities
Burmese (Mranma), Mon and the last Pyu; Brahmins at the Nathlaung Kyaung; Indian (Kula) and Chinese servants and traders named in the later inscriptions; monks of the old Arahan line, the Ari, and the Ceylon-ordained order.
Militia
The Palace Guards in two companies founded in 1174 (chronicle); service villages owe soldiers.
Walls and castle
A brick wall and moat on the river bluff; three walls survive on the ground (English Wikipedia says three walls plus a fourth lost to the river). The Tharabha gate is of about 1020. No castle in the European sense; the palace is of timber within the walls.
Trade and crafts
Rice from Kyaukse and Minbu; glazed plaques, bricks and roof tiles from the Pagan workshops; river tolls; Chinese ceramics and Indian cloth through the delta ports; a very large temple-building economy paid in labour and endowments.
Places of note
- The Tharabha gate: The surviving gate of the old wall (about 1020).
- Royal landing at Lawkananda: Where river boats and monks arriving by Bassein come ashore.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Archaeology and dated monuments are firm; population and administration are scholarly estimate and chronicle.
On the map: The tierra is drawn on the modern archaeological zone.
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.