Pyinbya

Pyinbya (Burmese: ပျဉ်ပြား, pronounced [pjɪ̀ɴbjá]; c. 829–906 or c. 801–878) was the king of Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar), who founded the city of Pagan. Although Burmese chronicles state that he reigned from 846 to 878, the actual reign, deduced from King Anawrahta's year of ascension, 1044, was likely between 874 and 906. (Much of the information given in Burmese chronicles prior to Anawrahta's reign are unreliable or legendary.) Moreover, while the chronicles state him as the 33rd king of the dynasty founded in early 2nd century CE,^[2] modern historians consider Pyinbya one of the first Burman kings in Upper Burma, which was then dominated by the Pyus.

Founding of Pagan

According to the chronicles, Pyinbya ascended the throne in 846, and founded the city of Pagan in the third year of his reign. The date of founding of Pagan is given as 211 ME, on 23 December 849. Yet using Anawrahta's year of ascension, 1044, as the starting point, and subtracting the years reigned by the kings in between, Pyinbya's year of ascension would be 874, and founding of Pagan would be 877. (The chronicles also state Anawrahta's year of ascension as 1017, which has been proven incorrect since.)

While the dates are murky, Pyinbya's founding of Pagan was the first known Burman settlement in the Irrawaddy valley, following the devastating raids into upper Irrawaddy valley by the Nanzhao Kingdom in the 830s. After the attacks, which left the Pyu severely weakened, large numbers of Burman warriors of Nanzhao and their families remained in the upper Irrawaddy valley.^[3] Pagan was founded as a fortified settlement along a bend in the Irrawaddy river. The new settlement may have been designed to help the Nanzhao pacify the surrounding countryside. It was a certainly a strategic spot, close to the Chindwin river and just to the west of a richly irrigated rice plain.^[4]

Pagan remained essentially a city state for the next two centuries until Pyinbya's great-grandson Anawrahta went on to create the Pagan Empire, the first ever unification of Burma.

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