page_title: First Mongol invasion of Burma
section_title: Pagan and Dali
hierarchical_section_title: First Mongol invasion of Burma / Background / Pagan and Dali
caption_attribution_description: English: Kingdom of Pagan at Sithu II's reign circa 1200 Based on Lieberman (2003), pp. 91-92 and Aung-Thwin (1985), p. 100. There is a little mistake in this map. In 1200, in North-East, that's no more en:Nanzhao (737 — 937), but instead, en:Dali Kingdom (937 – 1253). Français&#160;: Royaume de Pagan sous le régne de Sithu II, aux environs de 1200. D'après Lieberman (2003), p. 91-92 et Aung-Thwin (1985), p. 100. Il y a un anachronisme dans cette carte. En 1200, au Nord-Est, ça n'est plus le fr:Royaume de Nanzhao (737 — 937), mais le fr:Royaume de Dali (937 – 1253).
context_page_description: The first Mongol invasions of Burma were a series of military conflicts between Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty, division of the Mongol Empire, and the Pagan Empire that took place between 1277 and 1287. The invasions toppled the 250-year-old Pagan Empire, and the Mongol army seized Pagan territories in present-day Dehong, Yunnan and northern Burma to Tagaung. The invasions ushered in 250 years of political fragmentation in Burma and the rise of ethnic Tai-Shan states throughout mainland Southeast Asia.
  The Mongols first demanded tribute from Pagan in 1271–72, as part of their drive to encircle the Song dynasty of China. When King Narathihapate refused, Emperor Kublai Khan himself sent another mission in 1273, again demanding tribute. It too was rejected. In 1275, the emperor ordered the Yunnan government to secure the borderlands in order to block an escape path for the Song, and permitted a limited border war if Pagan contested. Pagan did contest but its army was driven back at the frontier by the Mongol Army in 1277–78. After a brief lull, Kublai Khan in 1281 turned his attention to Southeast Asia, demanding tribute from Pagan, the Khmer Empire, Đại Việt and Champa.
context_section_description: In the 13th century, the Pagan Empire, along with the Khmer Empire, was one of the two main empires in mainland Southeast Asia. For much of its history, Pagan's neighbor to the northeast was not China but the independent Dali Kingdom and its predecessor Nanzhao, both with Dali as their capital city. Dali-based kingdoms were a power in their own right, at times allying themselves with the Tibetan Empire to their west and at other times with China's Tang and Song dynasties. Indeed, Nanzhao's mounted armies ventured deep into what is today Burma and may have been behind the founding of the medieval city of Pagan and the Pagan Dynasty itself.
  Between the newly conquered Mongol territory and Pagan were a wide swath of borderlands stretching from present-day Dehong, Baoshan and Lincang prefectures in Yunnan as well as the Wa and Palaung regions (presumably in present-day northern Shan State), which Pagan and Dali had both claimed and exercised overlapping spheres of influence. Then as now, the borderlands mostly consist of forbidding terrains of high mountain ranges.
caption: Pagan Empire during Sithu II's reign. Burmese chronicles also claim Kengtung and Chiang Mai. Core areas shown in darker yellow. Peripheral areas in light yellow.
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