The early history of Bagan
Before the city of Bagan was established, the region probably was belonging to Tagaung Kingdom. We found a foundation with some pagodas on it some 10 miles south of Bagan. Local say it's a palace belong to Tagaung Dynasty.
The legend of Bagan began when a prince from Sri Ketra came to establish a new city. He organize people around Bagan to live in his new city some 10 miles away from Irrawaddy River. That was in 108 A.D. The people lived in fear because there are enemies of them namely the Tiger, the Boar, the flying Squirrel and the Bird. The duke who established the city of Bagan couldn't control his enemies until a demigod came and killed them all. The demigod named Pyu Saw Htee became the third duke of Bagan. According to historians, the enemies of Bagan might be bandits who resided along Irrawaddy River. Something like the Bird could be name of a chieftain of a bandit clan. These people also could be migrants who try to take the land from locals. The third duke might not be a young of noble blood so people make him demigod in order to post him as a duke.
Soon after, the duke was able to control the area so people backed again to live nearby the river. The third duke built some pagodas and we found 5 of these nearby the river. That means most of the people were no longer live in the city because a pagoda is something a chief present for his people. But the duke weren't interesting to move himself nearby the river until the 7th duke established a new city near Lokananda tex office, in 345 A.D. Technically, Irrawaddy River is flowing in the middle of the city so all taxes from water transport go to the pocket of the duke. Probably, taxing water transport is more and more important for him so he needed to reside nearby the river. Also he can control much easier to the crude oil in the south and forest products from the west of Irrawaddy. Bagan also have paddy fields in the north and in the east. The duke of Bagan became richer and richer as the time went on. Bagan situated behind other regions so the enemies couldn't reach to Bagan easily. It seems Bagan also able to defense well. There is no record of invaders came to Bagan until Mongol invasion in 1287 A.D.
In the sixth century, the duke had to move away from the river because a strong current which cut his city named Thiri into two. Nowadays, we named them as Thiri on the island and Thiri on the land. He established a new city a couple of miles away from the river. The 35th duke of Bagan became king of Burma after war with foreign invaders. The capital Sri Ketra was destroyed alongside with most of the cities in Burma.According to a saying, the duke reestablished Taung Dwin Gyi city. That means he was doing his job as a king. So we can say exactly that Bagan became the capital of Burma in the middle of 9th century AD. The king is founder of today old Bagan which is the center of archeological zone.
Follow and upvoted me👇👇👇👇
https//steemit.com/@myominhtay(25)
