Tagaung Kingdom

Kingdom of Tagaung
တကောင်း နေပြည်တော်
c. 1st century CE–c. 1050s
CapitalTagaung
Common languagesPyu, Burmese
Religion
Buddhism, animism, Hinduism
GovernmentMonarchy
Historical eraClassical Antiquity
• Founding of Kingdom
c. 1st century CE
• Fall of Kingdom
c. 1050s
 Succeeded by
Pagan Kingdom
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Tagaung Kingdom (Burmese: တကောင်း နေပြည်တော်, pronounced [dəɡáʊɰ̃ nèpjìdɔ̀]) was a Pyu city-state that existed in the first millennium CE. In 1832, the hitherto semi-legendary state was officially proclaimed the first kingdom of Burmese monarchy by Hmannan Yazawin, the Royal Chronicle of the Konbaung dynasty. Hmannan adds that the "kingdom" was founded by Abhiyaza of the Sakya clan of the Buddha in 850 BCE, and that through Abiyaza, Burmese monarchs traced their lineage to the Buddha and the first Buddhist (mythical) king of the world Maha Sammata.[1] Hmannan also introduces another Sakya prince Dazayaza who founded the second Tagaung dynasty c. 600 CE. The narrative superseded then prevailing pre-Buddhist origin story in which the monarchy was founded by a descendant of a solar spirit and a dragon princess.

Archaeological evidence indicates that Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures existed at Tagaung, and a city-state founded by the Pyu emerged in the early centuries CE. The chronicles, which likely represent the social memory of the times, repeatedly mention multiple competing groups and migrations that Tagaung and the entire Pyu realm experienced in the first millennium CE.[2] The city-state became part of the Pagan Empire in the mid-1050s.[3]

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