1. Kingdom of Pagan 849-1297
The Kingdom of Pagan was the first kingdom to unify the regions that now constitute modern-day Burma (Myanmar). The kingdom's rule over the Irrawaddy Valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese culture and language, spread of Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and mainland Southeast Asia.
Evolution of Pagan Kingdom
In the 800s the Mranma (Burmans) created a small settlement at Pagan. The Mranma had arrived to the Irrawaddy Valley from the Kingdom of Nanzhao. The small principality grew to absorb its surrounding areas in the next two hundred years. In the 1050s or 1060s King Anawrahta founded the Pagan Kingdom and by the late 1100s Anawrahta's successors had expanded the kingdom into the upper Malay peninsula, to the Salween river, to the current Chinese border and into the northern Arakan and the Chin hills. In the 1100s and 1200s the Pagan Kingdon along the Khmer Kingdom were the two main powers in mainland Southeast Asia.
Influence of Pagan Kingdom
The Burmese language gradually eclipsed the Pyu, Mon and Pali languages by the late 1100s. Theravada Buddhism replaced slowly Tantric, Mahayana, Brahmanic and animistic practices. Pagan's rulers built over 10,000 Buddhist temples in the Pagan capital zone and over 2000 remain.
Decline of Pagan Kingdom
The decline of the kingdom started in the mid-13th century, because the wealthy had donated tax-free land to religious authorities and by 1280s the crown's ability to retain the loyalty of courtiers and military servicemen had severely affected. This caused internal disorders besides the external challenges by the Arakanese, Mons, Mongols and Shans. Repeated Mongol invasions between 1277-1301 caused the collapse of the Pagan Kingdom in 1287. The collapse of the kingdom was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation.
2. Toungoo Dynasty 1510-1752
Facts
- The early kings of the dynasty, Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung, succeeded to reunify the territories of the Pagan kingdom for the first time since 1287
- At its peak First Toungoo Empire included also Manipur, Chinese Shan states, Siam and Lan Xang
- First Toungoo Empire was the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia
- After the death of Bayinnaung in 1581 the First Toungoo Empire collapsed in the following 18 years, before it was quickly regrouped into a smaller more manageable kingdom
- The Restored Toungoo kings made trade and secular administrative reforms that built a prosperous economy for over 80 years
- The Meitei people raided in the 1720s and 1730s
- In 1740 the Mon people in Lower Burma began a rebellion, founding the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom
- In 1752 the army of the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom captured Inwa (Ava) and ended the 266-year-old Toungoo dynasty
Timeline
1485 Toungoo Dynasty was established
1510 Toungoo Dynasty became independent from Ava on 16th October
1510-1599 First Toungoo Empire
1599-1752 Restored Toungoo Empire
1752 March 23th, end of dynasty
House arrest
The daughter of Aung San, who is considered the father of Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as a national symbol for democracy in the 8888 Uprising in the year 1988 as she led the largest opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). In 1990 the military junta arranged the first free elections in almost 30 years. Aung San Suu Kyi's party NLD won the elections, but the military junta refused to recognize the results and instead placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for 15 years. In 1991 Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize while she was under house arrest. The Nobel Prize was awarded for Aung San Suu Kyi's non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.
Political career after house arrest
Aung San Suu Kyi was released in 2011 when the military junta was dissolved. During the house arrest Aung San Suu Kyi became one of the world's most prominent political prisoners. Her party took a landslide victory in the elections of 2015 taking 86% of the seats in the Assembly of the Union, much over the 67% supermajority needed to ensure that its preferred candidates were elected President and Second Vice President. Aung San Suu Kyi was prohibited from becoming president, because of a clause in the constitution. Her both boys and late husband are British citizens and the Burmese constitution prohibits the president to have parents, spouses, children or children's spouses owing allegiance to a foreign power. In 2016 Aung San Suu Kyi assumed the newly created role of State Counsellor, a role similar to Prime Minister or a head of government.
Criticism
Recently Aung San Suu Kyi has been internationally criticized for her silence over the persecution of Rohingya people in Myanmar. In 2012 she said she didn't know if the Rohingya people could be Burmese citizens. In an interview in 2013 Aung San Suu Kyi didn't condemn the violence against the Rohingya people and denied that the Muslims in Myanmar have been subject to ethnic cleansing.
5. Internal Conflicts of Myanmar
There are a lot of internal conflicts in Myanmar. The ethnic minorities constitute 40% of the population and they inhabit 60% of the Burmese territory.
One of the causes of the conflicts is the Panglong Agreement, which was signed in 1947. Aung San, considered the founding father of Myanmar, guaranteed the right to self-determination, political representation in the post-independence government and economic equality amongst the different ethnic groups. The agreement also gave the Chin, Kachin and Shan people the possibility to separate from Myanmar after a decade if their states' leaders were unhappy with the central government.
However Aung San was assassinated in 1947 before the Burmese independence in 1948 and the post-independence government didn't honor the agreement made by Aung San. This event has been one of the causes of insurgencies in these states.
List of Conflict fronts:
Kachin State
Kachin people against the central government.
Status: ceasefire signed by some groups, ongoing minor skirmishes
Kayah State
The Karenni Army's goal for the past few decades has been to obtain independence and self-determination for the Karenni people.
Kayin State
Karen people are the third largest ethnic group in Myanmar and they have fought for independence and self-determination since 1949.
Rakhine State
Insurgent groups of the Rakhine, Chin and Rohingya ethnic minorities have fought against the government for self-determination since the early 1950s. There's also ongoing religious violence between the predominantly Muslim Rohingyas and Buddhist Rakhines. The government doesn't recognize the Rohingyas as an official ethnic group so they cannot apply for citizenship and few laws exist to protect their rights.
Shan State
The Shan people are the second largest ethnic group in Myanmar. The Shan people started armed resistance in 1958 and a ceasefire was signed in 1989. Violence erupted again in 2009, 2015 and 2017.
The Kingdom of Pagan was the first kingdom to unify the regions that now constitute modern-day Burma (Myanmar). The kingdom's rule over the Irrawaddy Valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese culture and language, spread of Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and mainland Southeast Asia.
Evolution of Pagan Kingdom
In the 800s the Mranma (Burmans) created a small settlement at Pagan. The Mranma had arrived to the Irrawaddy Valley from the Kingdom of Nanzhao. The small principality grew to absorb its surrounding areas in the next two hundred years. In the 1050s or 1060s King Anawrahta founded the Pagan Kingdom and by the late 1100s Anawrahta's successors had expanded the kingdom into the upper Malay peninsula, to the Salween river, to the current Chinese border and into the northern Arakan and the Chin hills. In the 1100s and 1200s the Pagan Kingdon along the Khmer Kingdom were the two main powers in mainland Southeast Asia.
Influence of Pagan Kingdom
The Burmese language gradually eclipsed the Pyu, Mon and Pali languages by the late 1100s. Theravada Buddhism replaced slowly Tantric, Mahayana, Brahmanic and animistic practices. Pagan's rulers built over 10,000 Buddhist temples in the Pagan capital zone and over 2000 remain.
Decline of Pagan Kingdom
The decline of the kingdom started in the mid-13th century, because the wealthy had donated tax-free land to religious authorities and by 1280s the crown's ability to retain the loyalty of courtiers and military servicemen had severely affected. This caused internal disorders besides the external challenges by the Arakanese, Mons, Mongols and Shans. Repeated Mongol invasions between 1277-1301 caused the collapse of the Pagan Kingdom in 1287. The collapse of the kingdom was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation.
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| Location of Pagan Kingdom |
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| Ruins of Pagan |
2. Toungoo Dynasty 1510-1752
Facts
- The early kings of the dynasty, Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung, succeeded to reunify the territories of the Pagan kingdom for the first time since 1287
- At its peak First Toungoo Empire included also Manipur, Chinese Shan states, Siam and Lan Xang
- First Toungoo Empire was the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia
- After the death of Bayinnaung in 1581 the First Toungoo Empire collapsed in the following 18 years, before it was quickly regrouped into a smaller more manageable kingdom
- The Restored Toungoo kings made trade and secular administrative reforms that built a prosperous economy for over 80 years
- The Meitei people raided in the 1720s and 1730s
- In 1740 the Mon people in Lower Burma began a rebellion, founding the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom
- In 1752 the army of the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom captured Inwa (Ava) and ended the 266-year-old Toungoo dynasty
Timeline
1485 Toungoo Dynasty was established
1510 Toungoo Dynasty became independent from Ava on 16th October
1510-1599 First Toungoo Empire
1599-1752 Restored Toungoo Empire
1752 March 23th, end of dynasty
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| Taungoo Empire (also spelled Toungoo) in 1580 |
House arrest
The daughter of Aung San, who is considered the father of Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as a national symbol for democracy in the 8888 Uprising in the year 1988 as she led the largest opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). In 1990 the military junta arranged the first free elections in almost 30 years. Aung San Suu Kyi's party NLD won the elections, but the military junta refused to recognize the results and instead placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for 15 years. In 1991 Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize while she was under house arrest. The Nobel Prize was awarded for Aung San Suu Kyi's non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.
Political career after house arrest
Aung San Suu Kyi was released in 2011 when the military junta was dissolved. During the house arrest Aung San Suu Kyi became one of the world's most prominent political prisoners. Her party took a landslide victory in the elections of 2015 taking 86% of the seats in the Assembly of the Union, much over the 67% supermajority needed to ensure that its preferred candidates were elected President and Second Vice President. Aung San Suu Kyi was prohibited from becoming president, because of a clause in the constitution. Her both boys and late husband are British citizens and the Burmese constitution prohibits the president to have parents, spouses, children or children's spouses owing allegiance to a foreign power. In 2016 Aung San Suu Kyi assumed the newly created role of State Counsellor, a role similar to Prime Minister or a head of government.
Criticism
Recently Aung San Suu Kyi has been internationally criticized for her silence over the persecution of Rohingya people in Myanmar. In 2012 she said she didn't know if the Rohingya people could be Burmese citizens. In an interview in 2013 Aung San Suu Kyi didn't condemn the violence against the Rohingya people and denied that the Muslims in Myanmar have been subject to ethnic cleansing.
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| Aung San Suu Kyi |
4. World's Biggest Ruby Producer - Myanmar
- 90% of the world's rubies come from Myanmar
- Burmese rubies are prized for their purity and hue
- Myanmar's "Valley of Rubies" is noted for its rare pigeon's blood rubies and blue sapphires
- Thailand buys the majority of Myanmar's gems
- Many US and European jewelry companies like Bulgari, Tiffany and Cartier refuse to import the gems from Myanmar due to the reports of bad working conditions in the mines
- All the profits from the gems go to the ruling junta, because the majority of the mining activity in the country is government-run
- Myanmar also produces sapphires, pearls and jade
- 90% of the world's rubies come from Myanmar
- Burmese rubies are prized for their purity and hue
- Myanmar's "Valley of Rubies" is noted for its rare pigeon's blood rubies and blue sapphires
- Thailand buys the majority of Myanmar's gems
- Many US and European jewelry companies like Bulgari, Tiffany and Cartier refuse to import the gems from Myanmar due to the reports of bad working conditions in the mines
- All the profits from the gems go to the ruling junta, because the majority of the mining activity in the country is government-run
- Myanmar also produces sapphires, pearls and jade
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| Gem processing in Myanmar |
 |
| "Valley of Rubies" in Myanmar |
5. Internal Conflicts of Myanmar
There are a lot of internal conflicts in Myanmar. The ethnic minorities constitute 40% of the population and they inhabit 60% of the Burmese territory.
One of the causes of the conflicts is the Panglong Agreement, which was signed in 1947. Aung San, considered the founding father of Myanmar, guaranteed the right to self-determination, political representation in the post-independence government and economic equality amongst the different ethnic groups. The agreement also gave the Chin, Kachin and Shan people the possibility to separate from Myanmar after a decade if their states' leaders were unhappy with the central government.
However Aung San was assassinated in 1947 before the Burmese independence in 1948 and the post-independence government didn't honor the agreement made by Aung San. This event has been one of the causes of insurgencies in these states.
List of Conflict fronts:
Kachin State
Kachin people against the central government.
Status: ceasefire signed by some groups, ongoing minor skirmishes
Kayah State
The Karenni Army's goal for the past few decades has been to obtain independence and self-determination for the Karenni people.
Kayin State
Karen people are the third largest ethnic group in Myanmar and they have fought for independence and self-determination since 1949.
Rakhine State
Insurgent groups of the Rakhine, Chin and Rohingya ethnic minorities have fought against the government for self-determination since the early 1950s. There's also ongoing religious violence between the predominantly Muslim Rohingyas and Buddhist Rakhines. The government doesn't recognize the Rohingyas as an official ethnic group so they cannot apply for citizenship and few laws exist to protect their rights.
Shan State
The Shan people are the second largest ethnic group in Myanmar. The Shan people started armed resistance in 1958 and a ceasefire was signed in 1989. Violence erupted again in 2009, 2015 and 2017.
 |
| Internal conflict in Myanmar |
 |
| Ethnic groups of Myanmar |
Timeline
11,000BC First evidence of Homo Sapiens in Myanmar
1500BC Bronze Age arrived around these times and the people in the area were among the first in the world to turn copper into bronze, growing rice and domesticating poultry and pigs
500BC Iron Age started with the emergence of iron-working settlements south of present-day Mandalay
800s Several city states had sprouted across the country
1050s-1060s King Anawrahta founded the Pagan Kingdom, unifying the Irrawaddy valley for the first time
1100-1200s The Pagan Kingdom and the Khmer Kingdom were the two main powers in mainland Southeast Asia
1287 Mongol invasions toppled the Pagan Kingdom, which was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation
1300s The Ava and Hanthawaddy Kingdoms emerged
1437 The Arakan coastline was unified by the Kingdom of Mrauk U
1527 Confederation of Shan States conquered Ava and ruled Upper Myanmar until 1555
1534-1541 Taungoo-Hanthawaddy War was won by Taungoo, a former vassal state of Ava, which then restored political unification in the region
1581 Bayinnaung, who had conquered the Shan States and created the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, died and his empire collapsed entirely by 1599
1613 The Taungoo dynasty regrouped and defeated the Portuguese and in 1614 Siam, restoring a smaller and more manageable kingdom
1740 The Mon of Lower Myanmar founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom
1752 Hanthawaddy forces sacked Ava and thus ended the 266-year-old Taungoo Dynasty
1759 Alaungpaya, the founder of the Konbaung dynasty, defeated the Restored Hanthawaddy and he reunited all of Myanmar and Manipur besides driving out the French and the British who had provided arms to Hanthawaddy
1770 Ayutthaya recovered its territories as Burma was preoccupied by the Chinese threat
1776 Ayutthaya captured Lan Na
1824-1826, 1852 and 1885 British conquered Burma piece by piece in three wars
1855 Burma and Siam fought a war, which resulted into a stalemate
1770 Ayutthaya recovered its territories as Burma was preoccupied by the Chinese threat
1776 Ayutthaya captured Lan Na
1824-1826, 1852 and 1885 British conquered Burma piece by piece in three wars
1855 Burma and Siam fought a war, which resulted into a stalemate
1886 Burma was completely annexed to Great Britain after the fall of Mandalay
1930s The British repressed the riots in Burma
1937 Burma was separated from the colony of British India to the separately administered British Burma
1942 Japan occupied Burma after which a guerrilla war against the Japanese started
1945 Japanese occupation ended after a series of offensives by the allied troops
1947 Political rivals assassinated general Aung San, who had negotiated the Panglong Agreement with ethnic leaders to guarantee the independence of Myanmar as a unified state
1948 Burma became independent, but unlike many former British colonies it didn't join the Commonwealth
1961 U Thant was elected the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the following 10 years
1962 Military coup in Burma, after which the country has been constantly under direct or indirect military control
1974 A new constitution was adopted declaring the country as the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
1975-1977 Student protests were supressed by force
1937 Burma was separated from the colony of British India to the separately administered British Burma
1942 Japan occupied Burma after which a guerrilla war against the Japanese started
1945 Japanese occupation ended after a series of offensives by the allied troops
1947 Political rivals assassinated general Aung San, who had negotiated the Panglong Agreement with ethnic leaders to guarantee the independence of Myanmar as a unified state
1948 Burma became independent, but unlike many former British colonies it didn't join the Commonwealth
1961 U Thant was elected the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the following 10 years
1962 Military coup in Burma, after which the country has been constantly under direct or indirect military control
1974 A new constitution was adopted declaring the country as the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma
1975-1977 Student protests were supressed by force
1988 Widespread pro-democracy demonstrations throughout the country against the economic mismanagement and political oppression by the government
1989 General Saw Maung staged a coup and overthrew the government
1990 National League for Democracy (NLD) won the first free elections in almost 30 years, but the military junta refused to cede power and continued to rule the country as SLORC until 1997 and after that as SPDC until 2011
1991 Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize
1997 Myanmar was admitted into ASEAN
2007 Saffron Revolution, led by Buddhist monks after an increase in the price of diesel and petrol, was suppressed harshly by the government
2008 Cyclone Nargis, the worst natural disaster in the Burmese history caused the missing or death of 200,000 people, leaving 1 million people homeless and totaling damages worth 10 billion USD
2009 Kokang incident in Shan State, the junta troops fought for weeks against ethnic minorities
2011 The military junta was dissolved
2015 First openly contested elections held in Myanmar since 1990 were won by NLD
2016 Htin Kyaw was elected as the first non-military president since the military coup of 1962
1989 General Saw Maung staged a coup and overthrew the government
1990 National League for Democracy (NLD) won the first free elections in almost 30 years, but the military junta refused to cede power and continued to rule the country as SLORC until 1997 and after that as SPDC until 2011
1991 Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize
1997 Myanmar was admitted into ASEAN
2007 Saffron Revolution, led by Buddhist monks after an increase in the price of diesel and petrol, was suppressed harshly by the government
2008 Cyclone Nargis, the worst natural disaster in the Burmese history caused the missing or death of 200,000 people, leaving 1 million people homeless and totaling damages worth 10 billion USD
2009 Kokang incident in Shan State, the junta troops fought for weeks against ethnic minorities
2011 The military junta was dissolved
2015 First openly contested elections held in Myanmar since 1990 were won by NLD
2016 Htin Kyaw was elected as the first non-military president since the military coup of 1962
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