Mon chronicles give the founding anywhere from 573 to 1152; the legend has the hamsa bird alight on a sandbank in the sea, which is a sign that the head of the Gulf of Martaban lay near the site, and the delta has grown south since.
The earliest extant evidence is two Pagan-period inscriptions, one of 1212 and one of 1266 (which spells 'Pe-Ku' and comes from Min-Nan-Thu near Pagan); English Wikipedia says that at that time it was a small town, not even a provincial capital. A Chinese source is said to have Jayavarman VII add Pegu to the Khmer empire in 1195 (a 1939 article): unverified. Whether Pegu is a port on 1 January 1200 is not shown; the campaign board's 'behind the head of the gulf' is a guess.
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's governors (board); no named officer.
How things stand that morning
A small Mon river town in Pagan's reach; its own kingdom (Hanthawaddy) is of 1287 and after.
Communities
Mon, with some Burmese.
Walls and castle
Not recorded.
Trade and crafts
Rice; river and coastal shipping.
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.
- 1287Wareru founds the Mon kingdom at Martaban; Pegu follows, becoming the capital later (Hanthawaddy 1287 to 1539).Depends on: Pagan's collapse. Stopped by: Pagan's survival.
Places of note
- Pegu: Mon river town.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Two later inscriptions and Mon chronicles with incompatible dates.
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.