King Anawrahta's Dynasty of Kings (AD 1044-1084)

AD 1044-1084 - My great grandfather had followed the footsteps of my great great grandfather and joined King Anawrahta's military. As one of King Anawrahta's best generals, my great grandfather knew a lot about the actions and objectives that the king wanted to achieve. One objective was to build an alliance with the Shan to strengthen his defense against the Chinese. Another objective was to maximize the opportunities that northern Myanmar had economically. One of King Anawrahta's last objectives was to influence others to convert to Theravada Buddhism. Due to the kingdom of Nanzhao creating a border between the Chinese and Pagan, the city was able to grow in terms of defense, wealth, and religion.

My great grandfather assisted King Anawrahta in many of the small military victories that led to the bigger victory of uniting the country of Myanmar, including the victory at the Mon city of Thaton. After the conquest of the Mon city of Thaton, many of King Anawrahta's generals became

aware that the king had been spending a lot of time with a Mon monk and ended up converting to Theravada Buddhism. My great grandparents had also decided to follow King Anawrahta's religious views and convert to Theravada Buddhism. They received various teachings from Mon monks and scholars. My great grandfather relayed to me growing up the different prayers that they would recite loudly before going into a battle. My great grandparents were among the large population that ended up converting to Theravada Buddhism because of the influence that King Anawrahta had in promoting the religion. This resulted in the building of temples, shrines, and other important religious relics. These relics shown are depictions of Buddha that were found in the various temples that were built during this time of religious awareness. My great grandfather recalls this as a time of uniting as a cohesive empire. One of the things that he remembers most are the gatherings that they would have to discuss religious philosophies and to pray.