c. 11th–12th centuries CE (shared period of florescence) / South & Southeast Asia
Bagan: Temples across a River Plain
A royal centre beside the Ayeyarwady left a wide landscape of temples, stupas, paintings and sculpture.
The story
Bagan stands on a bend of the Ayeyarwady in Myanmar’s central plain. Temples, stupas, monasteries, murals and sculpture preserve the flourishing of a regional royal capital. Their scale reflects sustained investment and the connections between rulers, patrons and religious activity. UNESCO’s Chinese and English descriptions differ over the final century of the main period of florescence. This entry uses their shared eleventh-to-twelfth-century window; 1200 is not presented as the end of the kingdom or of Buddhist life.
Elsewhere in the world
Bagan broadly overlapped with the development of Kilwa and Great Zimbabwe, showing that medieval urban prosperity extended across very different regions.
Dates and precision
c. 11th–12th centuries CE (shared period of florescence) Approximate period
The dates describe a process over time; the interactive timeline uses its starting point.
Representative map location
Ayeyarwady River · Bagan
The marker is one representative point within a dispersed heritage landscape.
Representative coordinates · 21.172°, 94.858°
Coordinates locate a representative point for the story. They do not mean the event happened only here and do not represent historical borders.
Bibliography
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre | Bagan
Sources are listed as bibliography titles, without external links. A reference does not mean every sentence or interpretation has been independently verified.