The End of the Pagan Kingdom (AD 1277-1300)

The year is AD 1250 and we just got news that the kingdom of Nanzhao had been ransacked by Mongols led by Kublai Khan. This news has gotten everyone worried because that means the the boundary between our city and the north has been breached and we are likely going to be the next victims of their conquest.

The year is now AD 1277 and we just heard that my brother died in the Battle of Ngasaunggyan. A general from King Narathihapate's military stopped by early this morning to give us the bad news. The general stated that King Narathihapate got too confident after resisting the first and second calls to submission and took a stand against Mongol troops at Ngasaunggyan. This ended up backfiring because he was defeated. The general does not know where King Narathihapate is but assumes he tried to flee to safety but was caught by the Mongols and eventually submitted. He also mentioned that the military was weakened due to the building of temples and donations of manpower to the sangha, or monkhood.

All the money that has gone to the sangha was money that could have been used to strengthen the military defense. However, because religion was a huge part of the foundation of the city, many of us relied on the sangha to help us, especially during times of instability and uncertainty. We do not know what to do with this news. Not only are we saddened by my brother's death but we are also worried about what the future will look like now that we have no King. We are sure that the Mongols will be coming for the kingdom of Pagan soon enough. We are preparing our resistance for when the Mongols come back to conquer but we will pray and hope that this will be a peaceful transition of power.

The year is now AD 1283 and Burmese opposition has fallen apart. We just heard that the border fortresses near Bhamo have collapsed. Now the Irrawaddy River valley is open to anyone who has the military power to invade our city. We are not sure what more we can do as a country to resist the Mongol invasions but we can only pray and hope that we will be able to survive.

Even through all the loss and defeat, a lot is left of the city that generations of my family helped to build. Hopefully we will soon find out what the future of the country of Myanmar holds ...