16. Bagan - City Of Temples

October 2, 2022

AI Summary

5 min read

In the late 13th century, the Venetian explorer Marco Polo traveled through Southeast Asia and came upon a city that, despite all he had seen, stood out for its size and magnificence. It was a place where more than four thousand golden temples sent their spires into the afternoon air over a flat river valley. But by the time Polo arrived, the city had fallen on hard times—homes were abandoned, temples had fallen into disuse, and hungry people filled the streets. The golden shrines that towered over the sorry sights attested only to a former magnificence. This was Bagan, the heart of an empire that had united the lands of Myanmar and presided over a boom in art and architecture, before collapsing in a flash. Its people left, and its grand temples fell slowly into ruin.

The Rise of Bagan and Its First Great King

The story of Bagan begins in the dry zone of central Myanmar, along the great Irrawadi River. For millennia, whoever controlled this fertile valley controlled the rest of the country. Around the year 849, a people known as the Mien—ancestors of the modern Burmese—built a walled fortress on the eastern bank of the river, a place that would become Bagan. The location was chosen for its access to water and its proximity to Mount Popa, a dormant volcano whose ash had enriched the soil, allowing for two bountiful rice harvests per year.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:14) **Marco Polo's Arrival in Bagan** - The Venetian explorer describes the ruined but magnificent city of Mien (Bagan) with its thousands of golden temples, setting up the mystery of how such a grand civilization collapsed.
2 (07:50) **Introducing the Bagan Empire** - The podcast frames the episode as a story of civilizational survival, focusing on the rise, golden age, and sudden collapse of the Bagan Empire in medieval Myanmar.
3 (08:31) **Geography and Early History of Myanmar** - The physical and cultural landscape of Myanmar is described, emphasizing the Irrawaddy River as the lifeblood of the region and the early inhabitants who settled its banks.
4 (16:56) **Sources and the Glass Palace Chronicle** - The episode introduces the two main historical sources for medieval Myanmar: stone inscriptions and the Burmese chronicles, especially the "Glass Palace Chronicle," which blends history with mythology.
5 (20:55) **Origins of the Burmese People and the Rise of Bagan** - The mysterious origins of the Burmese-speaking people are traced to the 9th century Nanzhao kingdom, whose raids depopulated the region and allowed the Mien (Burmese) to settle and build the city of Bagan.
6 (33:16) **King Anawrahta: The First Great King** - The rise of King Anawrahta is recounted through a dramatic, legend-filled narrative of betrayal, exile, and a chivalric duel, establishing him as the founder of the Bagan Empire.
7 (42:18) **Anawrahta's Reforms and Conquests** - King Anawrahta consolidated his power through building projects, military campaigns, and a religious revolution that replaced the powerful Ari monks with the more austere Theravada Buddhism.

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Show Notes

In the lowlands of Burma lie the remains of thousands of crumbling temples...In this episode, we tell one of the most colourful stories of civilizational survival: the story of the Bagan Empire of Myanmar. Find out how this kingdom rose up in the Irrawaddy river valley of central Myanmar, and built one of the most remarkable series of monuments to have survived from the medieval world. Discover what life was like for the people who lived there, and find out what happened to cause its sudden and complete collapse.