Pagan KingdomThe Kingdom of Pagan (ပုဂံခေတ်, bəɡàɰ̃ khɪʔ, Pagan Period; also known as the Pagan dynasty and the Pagan Empire; also the Bagan dynasty or Bagan Empire) was the first Burmese kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Myanmar. Pagan's 250-year rule over the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Bamar ethnicity in Upper Myanmar, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Myanmar and in mainland Southeast Asia.
Bago, MyanmarBago (formerly spelled Pegu; , bəɡó mjo̰), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon language place name Bagaw (ဗဂေါ, bəkɜ̀). Until the Burmese government renamed English place names throughout the country in 1989, Bago was known as Pegu. Bago was formerly known as Hanthawaddy (ဟံသာဝတီ; ဟံသာဝတဳ ; Haṃsāvatī; lit. "she who possesses the sheldrake"), the name of a Burmese-Mon kingdom.
History of MyanmarThe history of Myanmar (also known as Burma; မြန်မာ့သမိုင်း) covers the period from the time of first-known human settlements 13,000 years ago to the present day. The earliest inhabitants of recorded history were a Tibeto-Burman-speaking people who established the Pyu city-states ranged as far south as Pyay and adopted Theravada Buddhism. Another group, the Bamar people, entered the upper Irrawaddy valley in the early 9th century. They went on to establish the Pagan Kingdom (1044–1297), the first-ever unification of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery.
Bamar peopleThe Bamar People (, bəmà lùmjó; also known as the Mranma), are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Myanmar. They are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group of approximately 35 million people who constitute Myanmar's largest ethnic group, accounting for 68% of the country's population. The geographic homeland of the Bamar is the Irrawaddy River basin. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar, as well as the national language and lingua franca of Myanmar.