Battle of Pagan

Battle of Pagan
Part of Mongol invasion of Burma
Date 1287 Location Pagan Result Mongol victory; fall of Pagan Empire
Belligerents
Pagan Empire	Mongol Empire
Commanders and leaders
Thihathu	Esen-temur
Strength
10,000-40,000ʔ (Probably)	7,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Minimum

The Battle of Pagan was fought in 1287 between Kublai Khan's Mongol Yuan dynasty, and their neighbors to the south, the Pagan Empire. The battle was initiated by the Mongols, who sensed opportunity in the political turmoil caused by their successful 1283 invasion of the Pagan Empire in the Battle of Bhamo. By the end of the battle, the Mongols had occupied much of the Pagan Empire and its capital city Pagan; although they quickly restored a member of the royal family as a puppet monarch, the empire crumbled as most of its territories declared independence.

Following the Battle of Bhamo, in which the Mongol army penetrated the Irrawaddy River river valley and established garrisons there, King Narathihapate of the Pagan Empire fled south to Bassein on the Irrawaddy river delta and offered submission to the Mongol Empire. His actions were deemed precipitous and cowardly, as the Mongols had chosen not to advance further into the empire, and earned the King the nickname Tarokpyemin, translating to "the king who ran away from the Chinese". When Narathihapate returned to the Prome province in 1287 to start rebuilding his empire, his shamed son Thihathu murdered him and took power himself.

The political turmoil of these events tempted Kublai Khan's grandson Esen-Temür who was stationed in the southerly Yunnan province, to action. Temür led a large army down the Irrawaddy river valley and captured the capital city Pagan, also sending military parties across the country to ensure submission. The expedition is considered to have been a costly one for the invading Mongol army. Following the battle, the Mongols installed one of the remaining members of the royal family, Kyawswa, as monarch in exchange for his submission to Mongol overlordship. However, the stress of the power struggles and invasion on the central government was too much for the empire to withstand; it quickly fractured as various provinces declared independence from the weak seat of centralized power. Thus ended the Pagan period of Burmese history.

References

• Hall, D.G.E. (1960). Burma. Hutchinson & Co.: London. Third edition.
• Wars Myanmars Fought(Retrieved May 23, 2005)