The 'Pagan Kingdom' (849-1287) is considered to be the first Burmese empire.
During the time of the Pyu kingdom, between about 500 and 950, the Bamar, people of the Burmese ethnic group, began infiltrating from the area to the north into the central region of Burma which was occupied by Pyu people that had come under the influence of Mahayana Buddhism from Bihar and Bengal. By 849, the city of Pagan (now spelled Bagan^[1]) had emerged as the capital of a powerful kingdom that would unify Burma and filled the void left by the Pyu. The kingdom grew in relative isolation until the reign of Anawrahta (1044 - 1077) who successfully unified all of Myanmar by defeating the Mon city of Thaton in 1057, inaugurating the Burmese domination of the country that has continued to the present day. Consolidation was accomplished under his successors Kyanzittha (1084-1112) and Alaungsithu (1112-1167), so that by the mid-12th century, most of continental Southeast Asia was under the control of either the Pagan Kingdom or the Khmer Empire. The Pagan kingdom went into decline as more land and resources fell into the hands of the powerful sangha (monkhood) and the Mongols threatened from the north. The last true ruler of Pagan, Narathihapate (reigned 1254-1287) felt confident in his ability to resist the Mongols and advanced into Yunnan in 1277 to make war upon them. He was thoroughly crushed at the Battle of Ngasaunggyan, and Pagan resistance virtually collapsed. The king was assassinated by his own son in 1287, precipitating a Mongol invasion in the Battle of Pagan during their wide-ranging conquests. The Mongols successfully captured most of the empire, including its capital, and it never recovered its predominant position. The Pagan dynasty ended in 1289 when the Mongols installed a puppet ruler in Myanmar.
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'Rulers of Bagan (Pagan)'

Name	Relationship	Reign (A.D.)	Notes
Thamudarit		107-152	founder of Bagan[2]
Pyinbya	Son of Khelu	846-878	moved capital from Tampawadi (modern Pwasaw) to Bagan
Anawratha	Son of Kunsaw Kyaunghpyu	1044-1077	founder of Bagan and the First Burmese Empire[3]
Sawlu	Son	1077-1084
Kyanzittha	Brother	1084-1113
Alaungsithu> Grandson	1113-1167	1113-1160(?)
Narathu	Son	1167-1170	1160-1165(?), aka Kala-gya Min ( king fallen by Indians)
Naratheinkha	Son	1170-1173
Narapatisithu	Brother	1174-1211
Htilominlo	Son	1211-1234	aka Nandaungmya (one who often asked for the throne)
Kyaswa	Son	1234-1250
Uzana	Son	1250-1255
Narathihapati	Son	1255-1287	lost the kingdom to the Mongols and known as Tayoke Pyay Min (king who fled from the Chinese) to posterity
Kyawswa	Son	1287-1298
Sawhnit	Son	1298-1325
Sawmunnit	Son	1325-1369

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References

References

1. Pagan is the former English name for what is now spelled Bagan. Many city names or spellings were changed by the Burmese government in 1989. See Names of Burma/Myanmar for more information on the name changes.
2. Although Anawratha is accounted for the founding of Bagan, Thamudarit is the listed as the "traditional" founder of Bagan in The ''Glass Palace Chronicle'' (''Hmannan Yazawin'')
3. Idem.

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