Pagan Kingdom Consolidates the Irrawaddy Valley

1053

From his capital at Pagan, King Anawrahta pressed outward into the Shan Hills and down the Irrawaddy, absorbing smaller principalities through a mix of military force and strategic marriage. The kingdom was becoming something new in Burmese history: a unified polity stretching from the dry zone to the river's fertile delta. Within four years, Anawrahta would make his most consequential move - the conquest of Thaton.