page_title: Military history of Myanmar
section_title: Mongol invasions
hierarchical_section_title: Military history of Myanmar / Pagan period / Mongol invasions
caption_attribution_description: English: Mongol invasions of Burma/Myanmar (1277–87)
context_page_description: The military history of Myanmar spans over a millennium, and is one of the main factors that have shaped the history of the country, and to a lesser degree, the history of Southeast Asia. At various times in history, successive Burmese kingdoms were also involved in warfare against their neighbouring states in the surrounding regions of modern Burmese borders—from Bengal, Manipur and Assam in the west, to Yunnan in the northeast, to Laos and Siam in the east and southeast.
  The Royal Burmese Army was a major Southeast Asian armed force between the 11th and 13th centuries and between 16th and 19th centuries. It was the premier military force in the 16th century when the Toungoo Dynasty built the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia. The centuries-long warfare between Burma and Siam shaped not only the history of both countries but also that of mainland Southeast Asia. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, highly militaristic Konbaung kings had built the largest empire in mainland Southeast Asia until they ran into the British in present-day northeast India.
context_section_description: This time, Pagan could not do anything to retake Martaban because it was facing an existential threat from the north. The Mongols demanded tribute, in 1271 and again in 1273. When Narathihapate refused both times, the Mongols systematically invaded the country. The first invasion in 1277 defeated the Burmese at the battle of Ngasaunggyan, and secured their hold of Kanngai (modern-day Yingjiang, Yunnan, 112 km north of Bhamo). In 1283–1285, their forces moved south and occupied down to Tagaung and Hanlin. The king fled to Lower Burma in 1285 before agreeing to submit to the Mongols in June 1286. Soon after the agreement was finalised, the king was assassinated in July 1287. The Mongols once again invaded south toward Pagan.
  Recent research indicates that Mongol armies may not have reached Pagan itself, and that even if they did, the damage they inflicted was probably minimal. But the damage was already done. All the vassal states of Pagan revolted right after the king's death, and went their own way. In the south, Wareru, the man who had seized the governorship of Martaban in 1281, consolidated Mon-speaking regions of Lower Burma, and declared Ramannadesa (Land of the Mon) independent. In the west too, Arakan stopped paying tribute. The 250-year-old Pagan Empire had ceased to exist.
caption: Battles of Mongol invasions (1277–87)
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