In this photo released by the Chin Human Rights Organization, fires burn in the town of Thantlang in Myanmar's northwestern state of Chin, on Friday October 29, 2021. More than 160 buildings in the town in the northwestern Myanmar, including three churches, have been destroyed by fire caused by shelling by government troops, local media and activists reported Saturday. (Photo by Chin Human Rights Organization via AP Photo)

The Kingdom of Pagan (also commonly known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire) was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Burma (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 Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and in mainland Southeast Asia.

A man sits at the back of his car in the city centre of Yangon on September 15, 2023. (Photo by Sai Aung Main/AFP Photo)

Devotees pour water on a revered Bodhi tree at Shwedagon Pagoda to mark Buddha's Birthday, which falls on the Full Moon Day of Kasone, in Yangon on May 11, 2025. (Photo by Sai Aung Main/AFP Photo)

A wounded protester is seen after security forces intervene in protesters during a protest against military coup and detention of elected government members in Mandalay, Myanmar on March 27, 2021. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A woman spreads out fish to dry at Ngapali Beach near a fishing village in Myanmar's western Rakhine State, Saturday, December 31, 2022. (Photo by Aung Shine Oo/AP Photo)

Fabrics dry on bamboo scaffolding on Inle lake in Myanmar, March 2024. The cloth will be made into a traditional garment called a longyi, worn by both sexes. (Photo by Hilton Chen/Solent news)

A girl walks past destroyed houses at Basara refugee camp in Sittwe on May 16, 2023, after cyclone Mocha made a landfall. The death toll in cyclone-hit Myanmar's Rakhine state rose to at least 41 on May 16, 2023, local leaders told AFP. (Photo by Sai Aung Main/AFP Photo)