How did Dom Manuel II die?

Manuel died unexpectedly in his residence on 2 July 1932, via suffocation by an abnormal swelling in the vocal folds of his larynx, or tracheal oedema. The Portuguese government, at that time led by António Oliveira de Salazar, authorized his burial in Lisbon, after a state funeral. His body arrived in Lisbon on 2 August 1932, on board the British cruiser HMS "Concord" which had made the journey from the United Kingdom and sailed into the Tagus River to deliver the coffin of the former King. The body was received at Praça do Comércio, where a crowd of people had gathered to follow the coffin to São Vicente de Fora and the roads were inundated with people interested in seeing the funeral procession. His body was interred in the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora.

Manuel II of Portugal

"Dom" Manuel II (15 November 1889 – 2 July 1932), "the Patriot" () or "the Unfortunate" (), was the last King of Portugal, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father, King Carlos I, and his elder brother, Luís Filipe, the Prince Royal. Before ascending the throne he held the title of Duke of Beja. His reign ended with the dissolution of the monarchy in the 5 October 1910 revolution, and Manuel lived the rest of his life in exile in Twickenham, South London.

"Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Saxe-Coburgo-Gota e Bragança" was born in the first year of the reign of his father, King Carlos I, the third child and last son born to Carlos I of Portugal and Amélie of Orleans, in the Palace of Belém, Lisbon, less than a month after his father ascended the Portuguese throne. A member of the House of Braganza, he was baptized a few days later, with his maternal grandfather as godfather. The former Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, Manuel II's paternal great-granduncle, who had been deposed from the Brazilian throne on the day of Manuel's birth, attended the ceremony.

He received the traditional education of a member of the royal family, without the political preoccupations that befell his older brother, who was destined to become King. Although Manuel was raised as a member of the upper class, he took a more populist tone after ascending to the throne, and abandoned many of the court protocols. He studied history and languages, and by the age of six spoke and wrote French. He demonstrated a love of literature and reading, unlike his older brother, who was more interested in physical activities. Manuel's upbringing included horse riding, fencing, rowing, tennis and gardening. He was a great lover of music, especially Beethoven and Wagner, and played the piano.

As a child, Manuel played with the children of Count of Figueiró, the children of Count of Galveias and with the rest of the families of the Court. In 1902, he was taught by Franz Kerausch (Latin and German), later by Father João Damasceno Fiadeiro (Portuguese history); Marquês Leitão (Mathematics); M. Boeyé (French and French literature); Alfredo King (English and English literature), Father Domingos Fructuoso (Religion and Morals) and Alexandre Rey Colaço (piano).

In 1903 he traveled with his mother and his brother to Egypt, on board the royal yacht "Amélia", to expand his understanding of ancient civilizations. In 1907, he prepared to enter the Portuguese Naval Academy, to follow a naval career.

His future in the Portuguese Navy was abruptly shelved on 1 February 1908. On that day, the royal family returned from the palace of Vila Viçosa to Lisbon. On their way to the royal palace, the carriage carrying King Carlos and his family passed through the Terreiro do Paço where shots were fired by at least two men: Alfredo Costa and Manuel Buiça. It is unclear whether the assassins were attempting to kill the King, the Prince Royal or the prime minister, João Franco. The murderers were shot on the spot by the royal bodyguard and were later recognized as members of the Portuguese Republican Party. The King was killed; Prince Luís Filipe was mortally wounded; Manuel was hit in the arm; Queen Amélie of Orleans was unharmed. It was Amélie's quick thinking that saved her youngest son. About twenty minutes later, Prince Luis Filipe died, and Manuel became King of Portugal. The young King, who had not been groomed to rule, sought to save the fragile position of the Braganza dynasty by dismissing João Franco and his entire cabinet in 1908. The ambitions of various political parties made Manuel's short reign a turbulent one. In free elections held on 28 August 1910, the republicans won only 14 seats in the legislature.

His first act was to meet with his Council of State and request the resignation of João Franco, whose policies may have been responsible for the tragedy. He appointed a government of national unity, presided over by Admiral Francisco Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral. This quieted the republicans, but in retrospect was seen as weakness.

He opened the Royal Court Assembly on 6 May 1908 in the presence of national representatives, and affirmed his support of the constitution. The King received general public sympathy, due to the deaths of his father and older brother. He was protected by his mother, Amélia, and sought out the support of the experienced politician José Luciano de Castro. Judging that the intervention of King Carlos was a reason for the events of 1908, he declared that he would reign, but not govern.

For his part, the new King tried to increase the monarchy's connection with its subjects. The King visited several areas of the country. His trips included stops in Porto, Braga, Viana do Castelo, Oliveira de Azeméis, Santo Tirso, Vila Nova de Gaia, Aveiro, Guimarães, Coimbra and Barcelos. During these visits, his subjects were captivated by the young king, and he was received warmly. On 23 November he travelled to Espinho in open the Vale do Vouga Railway. On his journeys, he ingratiated himself with the people with his candour and pious character.

However, he was not popular with republicans. One of them, João Chagas, the anti-monarchist journalist and propagandist of the Republican Party, warned the King of the problems that would develop when he declared:

During the 19th century, many intellectuals and politicians were preoccupied with the growth of the urban proletariat as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. In Portugal, owing to lower levels of industrialisation, this was not an important question, but it was exacerbated by an economic crisis and the Republican Party, who believed a republic would resolve the problems. This was the "Questão Social" (social question) of the times.

The Socialist Party had existed since 1875, but it never had representation in Parliament. This was not only because it was not popular, but also because the Republican Party was the principal channel of radical discontent within the political system. The King made some moves that did not infringe his constitutional restrictions, but which created incentives for the Socialist Party to lessen their support for the Republican Party. In 1909, Manuel invited the French sociologist, Léon Poinsard, to examine the social environment and report back to him. Poinsard wrote that the only way to combat clientelism, created by the system of rotational governments, would be a reorganisation of the local administrations. Enthusiastically, the King wrote to the President of the Council of Ministers Wenceslau de Sousa Pereira de Lima, to make him aware of the reorganisation of the Socialist Party (under Alfredo Aquiles Monteverde) and to remind him of the importance of working with the Socialists, "...so that, we will empty their supporters from the Republican Party, and orient them into a useful and productive force."

Notwithstanding the contacts made by the government of Artur Alberto de Campos Henriques with the Socialist Azedo Gneco, Venceslau de Lima considered this difficult after the Congresso Nacional Operário, which was boycotted by anarchists and republicans. For their part, the Socialists were enthusiastic about Royal support between Manuel and Aquiles Monteverde. Monteverde would later inform the King of the failure of the October 1909 trade union congress, but little was formalised between the socialists and the government, although they supported the work of Poinsard. During the government of António Teixeira de Sousa, in July 1910, that the government created a commission to study the establishment of an Instituto de Trabalho Nacional ("Institute of National Work"), that had three socialists and included Azedo Gneco. However, Aquiles Monteverde would complain that the commission lacked the resources to be effective: specifically that permanent members and unlimited transport, in order for the Socialists to promote their propaganda. Manuel II informed the government, through the Minister of Public Works, that he agreed with the establishment of the Instituto de Trabalho Nacional, but by September, it was too late for the constitutional monarchy.

During his reign he visited many parts of northern Portugal, in addition to Spain, France, and the United Kingdom, where he was appointed Knight of the Order of the Garter, in November 1909. He cultivated a foreign policy that was close to Great Britain, which was not only the geo-political strategy that his father maintained, but it also reinforced his position on the throne by having a strong ally. The court also considered the marriage of a King of the House of Braganza to a British princess would secure the protection of the United Kingdom in any impending conflict. But, the country's instability, the assassination of the King and Prince Royal, and the drawn-out negotiations that were ended with the death of Edward VII, ended these pretensions. The old British monarch, a personal friend of Carlos, would have been the great protector of the House of Braganza, and without him, the liberal government of Britain had no interest in maintaining the Portuguese monarchy.

The stability of the government deteriorated; seven governments were established and fell in a period of 24 months. The monarchist parties continued to fragment, while the Republican Party continued to gain ground. The legislative elections on 28 August 1910 had elected 14 new representatives (resulting in an assembly that was divided: 9% Republican, 58% Government and 33% Opposition) which helped the revolutionary cause, but which made little importance since the Setúbal Congress (on 24–25 April 1909) had determined that the Republicans would take power by force. The murder of a prominent republican precipitated the "coup d'état" that had been so long in coming.

Between 4 and 5 October 1910, the Republican Revolution erupted in the streets of Lisbon. What started as a military coup commenced by soldiers, was joined by some civilians and municipal guards attacking the loyal garrisons and the royal palace, while the guns from the cruiser NRP "Adamastor" added to the cannonade. The Palace of Necessidades (then official residence of the young King) was bombarded, forcing Manuel to move to the Mafra National Palace, where he rendezvoused with his mother, Queen Amélia, and his grandmother, the Queen Mother Maria Pia of Savoy. There was little apparent popular reaction to these events: pictures from the square in front of the City Hall in Lisbon, where the declaration of the Republic occurred, did not show an overwhelming multitude, and even some in the military were fearful that their actions would not be successful. One republican commander, Admiral Cândido dos Reis, even committed suicide when he believed that the events had not succeeded.

One day later, once it was clear that the Republicans had taken the country, Manuel decided to embark from Ericeira on the royal yacht "Amélia IV" for Porto, with armed Republicans arriving as the ship departed. It is unclear whether his advisers motivated Manuel to change his intentions or whether he was forced to change his destination en route, but the Royal Family disembarked in Gibraltar shortly later, after they received notice that Porto had fallen to the Republicans. The coup d'état was complete, and the Royal Family departed for exile, arriving in the United Kingdom, where he was received by the King.

During a visit to Paris in July 1909, the King met Gaby Deslys, an actress and dancer, and immediately began a relationship that would last until the end of Manuel II's reign. It was thought that after this first meeting the King sent Deslys a pearl necklace worth $70,000: more gifts soon followed, including a diamond necklace with black and white pearl drops set in a platinum band. Their relationship was anything but discreet (she would arrive before night at the Palácio das Necessidades and would pass through Portugal unnoticed); abroad, meanwhile, they were on the front pages of newspapers in Europe and North America, especially after he was deposed. In public interviews, usually on trips, Gaby Deslys never negated the obvious, but always refused to comment on her relationship with the King. After his exile, they would continue to meet, especially while she had stage engagements in London. When Gaby moved to New York, in the summer of 1911, their relationship broke off.
In the spring of 1912, Manuel visited Switzerland, where he met Princess Augusta Victoria of Hohenzollern (1890–1966) and was deeply impressed by her. They were second cousins, both being great grandchildren of Ferdinand II of Portugal. In the following year, on 4 September 1913, Manuel married Princess Augusta Victoria, daughter of Prince William, Prince of Hohenzollern. During the mass, which was celebrated in the Chapel of Sigmaringen Castle, Manuel, wearing his Order of the Garter medallion and the sash of the Three Portuguese Orders, stood on a crate containing soil brought from Portugal. The ceremony was conducted by Cardinal José Neto, Patriarch of Lisbon, then exiled in Seville, who had baptized Manuel as a young prince; Manuel was also assisted by the Prince of Wales (Edward VIII) and King Alfonso XIII of Spain, as well as representatives of the royal houses of Europe (including Spain, Germany, Italy, France and Romania, in addition to the principalities and German kingdoms). After festivities which lasted two days, the couple went on their honeymoon to Munich, where the Princess fell ill and withdrew from the public. The marriage, a calm and serene union, lasted until the death of the former King; the couple had no children.

In exile, Manuel resided in Fulwell Park, Twickenham near London (where his mother had been born). At Fulwell Park he tried to recreate a Portuguese environment, as the attempts to restore him to his throne (1911, 1912 and 1919) failed. He was active in the local community, attended services at the Church of St James, Twickenham, and became godfather to several children. In 1932 he donated a window to St James Church bearing the Braganza crest and depicting St Anthony to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the saint’s death. His influence is also recalled by a number of toponymic references in the area: Manuel Road, Lisbon Avenue, and Portugal Gardens. He followed political events in Portugal, and was concerned with the anarchy of the First Republic, fearing that it could provoke a Spanish intervention and risk the country's independence.

While in exile, there was one case where the former King's direct intervention had an effect. After the overthrow of the government of Gomes da Costa, by General Óscar Fragoso Carmona, in 1926, Costa was appointed Ambassador to London. Given the rapid succession of ambassadors during this period, the British government refused to recognize the new official's credentials. As the ambassador was to negotiate the liquidation of the Portuguese debt to the United Kingdom, the Minister of Foreign Affairs asked Manuel to straighten out the situation. The former monarch was delighted by the opportunity to help his homeland and communicated with many of his British contacts (including, probably, King George V) in order to resolve the dispute. Even in exile Manuel continued to be a patriot, going as far as declaring in his 1915 testament his intention to transfer his possessions to the Portuguese State for the creation of a museum, and showing his interest in being buried in Portugal.
Manuel defended the entry of Portugal into the First World War and its active participation. He asked monarchists to desist from restoration efforts as long as the war continued. He even met with republicans, and at one time, solicited his involvement in the Portuguese army. But, contrary to his hopes, a majority of the monarchists did not follow his pleas for cooperation. Many of them backed the aspirations of Germany, and had hoped to see the victory of the Kaiser as another channel to restore the monarchy. Manuel believed that supporting Great Britain would guarantee the retention of overseas colonies, which would have been lost to German aggression even if the Germans were supported in the conflict. Of his close subordinates who offered their support to the Republic, none were accepted.

Manuel attempted to make himself available to the Allies, wherever they saw use, but was disappointed when he was assigned a post in the British Red Cross. He characteristically put all his efforts into the role, participating in conferences, fund drives, visits to hospitals and the wounded soldiers on the front, which ultimately gave him a lot of gratification. The visits to the front were difficult on the French government, but his friendship with George V was sufficient to alleviate their concerns. Regardless, most of his efforts were not credited; years later, in an interview with António Ferro, he lamented, "The operating room in the Portuguese Hospital in Paris, during the War, was constructed by me. Do you know what they put on the plaque? 'From a Portuguese in London'." The King was also responsible for the creation of the Orthopedic Department at Shepherd's Bush Hospital which, at his insistence continued to function until 1925, in order to continue to treat the disfiguring effects of the war. A proof of his recognition by the British was by his friend George V, who invited him to be with the King during the victory celebrations during the parade of soldiers in 1919.

Since 1911, the Portuguese monarchists-in-exile concentrated in Galicia, Spain in order to enter Portugal and restore the monarchy but without the tacit approval of the Spanish government. The monarchists were led by the charismatic Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro, a veteran of the African colonial campaigns. The "Paladin", as the Portuguese newspapers called him, believed that demonstrating a show of force would force the rural people to rise-up and support the restoration. But he was wrong; poorly prepared and badly financed, his forces encountered apathy from the rural population and the incursions ended with retreats into Galicia.
For his part, Manuel supported these incursions the best way he could, but his financial resources were limited. He also faced a group of monarchists who were not clear supporters of his claim to the throne: one attack was made under a blue and white flag, but without the crown, while Paiva Couceiro himself declared at one time that his movement was "neutral" and wanted a plebiscite on the form of the new regime. It was only after he traded correspondence with Couceiro that the King was able to support the Galician monarchists, who had promised to support the 1826 Constitution. The second incursion, in 1912, although better prepared did not succeed because the Spanish government was forced to cede to Republican diplomats the illegality of monarchist encampments in Galicia and disarmed the remaining combatants within its territory. Manuel was never able to restore his kingdom by force and always defended that the monarchists should organize internally in order to reach power legally (by elections). This was not accepted by militant monarchists who, in the following years, continued their badly prepared attempts to restore the monarchy (for example on 20 October 1914), creating anarchy in the streets. His preoccupation worsened at the beginning of the Great War: Manuel was fearful that the United Kingdom would ally with Spain, in light of Portugal's instability, and that Spain would want to annex Portugal, as the price for Spain's entry into the War.

After the failure of the first monarchist incursion, and with Manuel appearing relatively unenthusiastic for a restoration of the monarchy (and entirely against armed counter-revolution), another group of royalists attempted to legitimize the claims of the descendants of Miguel I to the throne. In order to counter this, the King entered into direct negotiations with the Duke of Braganza's representatives: he attempted to establish himself as the rightful king and, according to the Integralismo Lusitano group, he recognised the descendants of Miguel as being in line to the throne of Portugal. In fact, there was an encounter between Manuel II and Miguel in Dover on 30 January 1912, where both exchanged protocols. The results of this meeting remain controversial: although there was an accord on challenging the republic, there remained no clear agreement on hereditary lines of succession, and Manuel still retained his claim to the throne.

Some monarchists continued unsuccessful counter-revolutionary activities during the War, while the former King continued to condemn their actions and to exhort them to restore the monarchy at the ballot-box. This option seemed viable after the dictatorship of General Pimenta de Castro (January 1915) broke the momentum of the Democratic Party, who attempted to garner sympathies from the conservative right, by removing restrictions imposed on monarchist groups on 5 October. Between April and May 1915, 55 monarchist centres opened (33 in the north and 12 in the centre of the country), causing many republicans to close ranks and on 14 May 1915 the revolution returned to the streets, when 15,000 armed civilians and the soldiers from the Navy tried to maintain the loyalty of the Army to the government. After three days of combat 500 deaths and more than 1,000 wounded, the Democratic Party retained control and the monarchist groups were once again declared illegal. During the Sidónio Pais government, Pais cultivated support from conservative factions and incorporated a re-establishment of a regime based on universal male suffrage. His assassination allowed moderate republicans to re-establish control, but the creation of military juntas in the provinces of the north, with monarchist tendencies, created expectations of a possible monarchist restoration through a military coup d'état.

Manuel continued to plead for calm at the end of the War; while not abandoning the possibility of taking action in the future, he insisted on waiting to the end of peace negotiations in Paris: he was fearful that continued anarchy in Portugal would prejudice its negotiating position. But, for Paiva Couceiro and the other Integralists, this was the moment: they awaited the royal authorization of the King's adjunct Aires de Ornelas. Receiving a memorandum that requested this authorization, and convinced that this action would not occur immediately, Ornelas wrote on the margin, "Go on. Palavras de El-Rei", and signed the document. On 19 January 1919 a thousand soldiers and some artillery, under the command of Paiva Couceiro occupied Porto, in order to restore the Constitutional Monarchy, and its King Manuel II. A provisional government was established that controlled Minho, Trás-os-Montes (with the exception of Chaves), Mirandela and Vila Real), as well as part of the district of Aveiro, but contrary to Couceiro's expectations, the rest of the country did not rise.

In Lisbon, Aires de Ornelas was caught completely by surprise, but he could not escape with other monarchists to the safety of the 2nd Regimental Lancers, in Ajuda. There the number of refugees, who suffered as the republican reprisals increased, and the commander removed his forces and those civilians, marching them to Monsanto, where the 4th, 7th and 9th Cavalry and the 30th Infantry Battery from Belém were entrenched. Aires de Ornelas wavered in his support, which risked the possibility that Integralists would transfer their loyalty to Miguel's supporters, or assume the leadership of the monarchist movement. In a small area, and circled by Republican forces, the monarchists surrendered on 24 January. With the failure of the Restoration in the centre and south of the country, luck turned on Paiva Couceiro. On 13 February a part of the Republican National Guard deserted and restored the Republic in Porto. Those monarchists who did not escape were incarcerated and subsequently sentenced to long-term imprisonment. The King, in exile, did not hear of the failure and was informed only after reading the reports in the newspapers.

Although it is not likely that such a pact will have taken place, it is said that in 1922, with cooling of relations between monarchists, Integralismo Lusitano and the King, and mindful that his marriage to Augusta Victória had not produced heirs, Manuel, in a Paris meeting in April 1922, represented by his adjunct Aires de Ornelas, and Miguelist representatives Infanta Adelgundes, who was by now calling herself Duchess of Guimarães, and tutor to Duarte Nuno, agreed that owing to an heir, the rights of succession would pass to Duarte Nuno. Integralists disagreed because in their view the agreement failed to make reference to the reestablishment of a traditional monarchy, which was fundamental to their assertions. Integralismo Lusitano withheld their support, and on September 1925, Aldegundes in a letter to Manuel, repudiated the agreement owing the continue operation of the Constitutional Newspaper (the Integralist paper was closed as part of the accord) and the lack of Integralist participation.

Manuel was always an avid reader and, during his exile, dedicated himself to the study of literature, penning treatises on Medieval and Renaissance literature in Portugal. Following the First World War and with more free time, apart from his contacts with monarchist organizations, he dedicated himself to these studies (a tradition that was instilled in him by his father). Initially, he was interested in writing a biography, and began research on a biography of Manuel I of Portugal, who he believed was badly treated by other historians. He contracted the services of the bibliographer Maurice Ettinghausen in 1919, to find older books for his project, and was helped by the dissolution of many private collections after the implementation of the Republic.

By 1926, Manuel had abandoned the idea of a biography and concentrated on descriptions of older books in his library (itself, a complete library of older works). More than a simple list, the work allowed Manuel to write of the glories of Portugal, writing not just a bibliography but also an examination of the authors and the context of their writings. His interpretation was scientifically rigorous, and resulted in a final work that was marked by a nationalism and the exaltation of ancestral valor. His examples were limited and illustrated by facsimiled copies of the works, both written in English and Portuguese. The first volume of the work "Livros Antigos Portuguezes 1489–1600, da Bibliotheca de Sua Magestade Fidelíssima Descriptos por S. M. El-Rey D. Manuel em Três volumes" was published in 1929. Manuel delivered, by hand, a copy of his work to his friend George V at Windsor Castle. The work was received well by critics, and the King dedicated himself to the second volume, which covered the period 1540 to 1569. But the project was terminated prematurely in 1932, when Manuel died unexpectedly: the third volume was posthumously published under the supervision of his librarian, Margery Winters. His completed works gave the King a respectful reputation among Portuguese historians, and his bust was added to the entrance atrium of the National Library in Lisbon.

By some he was given the nickname "O Patriota" ('The Patriot'), for his preoccupation with the national identity; "O Desventurado" ('The Unfortunate'), because he lost his throne to the Republic; and "O Estudioso" or "O Bibliófilo" ('The Studious' or 'The Bibliophile') for his love for Portuguese literature. Monarchists also referred to him as "O Rei-Saudade" ('The Missed King'), for the longing that was felt when the monarchy was abolished.

His death has been regarded as suspicious by some because of the fact that he had been playing tennis on 1 July and was apparently in excellent health. An incident surrounding his sudden death was mentioned in the autobiography of Harold Brust, a member of Scotland Yard Special Branch in charge of protecting public figures. In his memoirs, Brust speaks of an incident which probably occurred in 1931 in which an intruder was discovered in the grounds of Fulwell Park who, when arrested, the Police confirmed as being a prominent member of a Portuguese republican terrorist group known as the Carbonária and who was subsequently deported to Lisbon. To date the identity of the intruder has not been confirmed. Questions remain as to the reason for the man's intrusion.

Since both the Dover and Paris Pacts did not resolve the issue of succession and there are no known documents proving them, there was no direct heir to the defunct throne. Manuel also made it clear that the branches of the Portuguese royal family (including the Imperial family of Brazil, the Braganza-Orleans, and the descendants of the Duke of Loulé) ended with the last direct male heir to the House of Braganza. Still, the monarchist Integralismo Lusitano movement acclaimed Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza as King of Portugal, since Miguel I of Portugal, on the death of his grandchild, was head of the Portuguese Royal Family. Their justification, ironically, included the fact that both branches had met to determine the line of succession in Dover and Paris, even though those accords were both later repudiated.

After King Manuel's death, the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar authorized the return of the banned branch of the Braganças (ex-King Miguel's descendents) and founded, with the sale of the King's English estate and some of his remaining personal possessions, the Foundation of the House of Braganza, according to King Manuel's desire to leave his personal fortune to the Portuguese people.


What is the oldest city in Myanmar?

Sidoktaya is one of the oldest ancient towns in Myanmar. It is established by Prince Yazakumar (a. Min Zaya Khittaya or Min Thiri Khittaya) in Year 460 (Myanmar Era) (about 1098 A.D.). Now it is over 900 years of age. there are many archaeological places including Si-kyek-taung Pagoda, Aung-kyar Thiri Pagoda, and Sutaungpyi Pagoda. The ancient city wall had been found buried in some places.

Sidoktaya

Sidoktaya, also Sitoktaya or Setoketaya () is a town and seat of Sidoktaya Township in Minbu District of Magway Division, situated in middle west region of Burma. It is bordered with Salin township to the east, with Pwintbyu township to the south-east, with Ngape township to the south, with Minbya township (Rakhine State) to the west, with Kanpelek township (Chin State) to the north-west and with Saw township to the north. It is a hilly region of Rakhine. Mount Sun Taung, the highest mountain in Rakhine, high, is in Sidoktaya township.

Sidoktaya is situated at Latitude (lat): 20°25'29"N and Longitude (lon): 94°15'36"E and Elevation (approx.): 108m. The area is about, and it is the second largest area township next to Taungdwingyi township in the Magway division. Mone Creek which is the largest in the sub region flows through the Sidoktaya township. This creek is started from Mount Khaw Nu Thon which is the highest mount in the Chin Hills. The area is very mountainous and most of the mountains are above.

About 80% of the population are Chins and 20% are Bamars. Almost all are Theravada Buddhists.

Sidoktaya is a township level town and the township consists of 46 village tracts (total of 120 villages). The large villages include Pa-Aing, Kyee-Wa, Dabwin, Buywa, Ohnwah, Khwemalaung and Myaynigone.

As it is a hilly region, there is an only one main land road to Salin (37 miles). airports close to Sidoktaya, Myanmar are: the closest airport is KYP - Kyaukpyu, located 135.8 km south west of Sidoktaya. More nearby airports include AKY - Sittwe 148.1 km west, SNW - Thandwe 220.3 km south, MDL - Mandalay Intl 226.8 km north east. There are no railways and flight to Sidoktaya.

The main products of Sidoktaya township are teak woods and bamboo. Annual production of bamboo is over 300,000 bamboos. Although there are agriculture, the area is only a small amount. The main crops are paddy, sesame, corn, vegetables and some kinds of beans. Industries include only rice mills and sesame mills.

There is only one Basic Education High School in Sidoktaya, and five Basic Education Middle Schools, and 98 Basic Education Primary Schools.

Beikthano ( ) situated in the irrigated Minbu region (near present-day Taungdwingyi) with direct land access to the well-watered Kyaukse plains to its northeast, is the oldest urban site so far discovered and scientifically excavated site. Its remains—the structures, pottery, artefacts, and human skeletons—date from 200 BCE to 100 CE. Named after the Hindu god Vishnu, the city may be the first capital of a culturally and perhaps even politically uniform state in the history of Burma. It was a large fortified settlement, measuring approximately 300 hectares inside the rectangular (3 km by 1 km) walls. The walls and fortifications along it measured six meters thick, and are radiocarbon dated to a period between 180 BCE and 610 CE. Like most subsequent cities, the main entrance of the walls led to the palace, which faced east. Stupas and monastic buildings have also been excavated within the city walls.

Pyu city-states

The Pyu city states () were a group of city-states that existed from c. 2nd century BCE to c. mid-11th century in present-day Upper Burma (Myanmar). The city-states were founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu people, the earliest inhabitants of Burma of whom records are extant. The thousand-year period, often referred to as the "Pyu millennium", linked the Bronze Age to the beginning of the "classical states" period when the Pagan Kingdom emerged in the late 9th century.

The city-states—five major walled cities and several smaller towns have been excavated—were all located in the three main irrigated regions of Upper Burma: the Mu River Valley, the Kyaukse plains and Minbu region, around the confluence of the Irrawaddy and Chindwin Rivers. Part of an overland trade route between China and India, the Pyu realm gradually expanded south. Halin, founded in the 1st century AD at the northern edge of Upper Burma, was the largest and most important city until around the 7th or 8th century when it was superseded by Sri Ksetra (near modern Pyay) at the southern edge. Twice as large as Halin, Sri Ksetra was the largest and most influential Pyu centre.

The Pyu culture was heavily influenced by trade with India, importing Buddhism as well as other cultural, architectural and political concepts, which would have an enduring influence on the Culture of Burma and political organisation. The Pyu calendar, based on the Buddhist calendar, later became the Burmese calendar. Recent scholarship, though yet not settled, suggests that the Pyu script, based on the Indian Brahmi script, may have been the source of the Burmese script used to write the Burmese language.

The millennium-old civilisation came crashing down in the 9th century when the city-states were destroyed by repeated invasions from the Kingdom of Nanzhao. The Bamar people, who came from Nanzhao, set up a garrison town at Bagan at the confluence of the Irrawaddy and Chindwin Rivers. Pyu settlements remained in Upper Burma for the next three centuries but the Pyu gradually were absorbed into the expanding Pagan Kingdom. The Pyu language still existed until the late 12th century. By the 13th century, the Pyu had assumed the Burman ethnicity. The histories and legends of the Pyu were also incorporated to those of the Bamar.

Only the city-states of Halin, Beikthano and Sri Ksetra are designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, where the other sites can be added in the future for an extension nomination.

Based on limited archaeological evidence, it is inferred that the earliest cultures existed in Burma as early as 11,000 BCE, mainly in the central dry zone close to the Irrawaddy. The "Anyathian", Burma's Stone Age, existed around the same time as the lower and middle Paleolithic eras in Europe. Three caves located near Taunggyi at the foothills of the Shan Hills have yielded Neolithic artefacts dated 10-6000 BCE.

About 1500 BCE, people in the region were turning copper into bronze, growing rice, and domesticating chickens and pigs; they were among the first people in the world to do so. By 500 BCE, iron-working settlements emerged in an area south of present-day Mandalay. Bronze-decorated coffins and burial sites filled with earthenware remains have been excavated. Archaeological evidence at Samon River Valley south of Mandalay suggests rice-growing settlements that traded with China between 500 BCE and 200 CE.

Circa 2nd century BCE, the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu people began to enter the Irrawaddy River Valley from present-day Yunnan using the Tapain and Shweli Rivers. The original home of the Pyu is reconstructed to be Qinghai Lake, which is located in the present-day provinces of Qinghai and Gansu. The Pyu, the earliest inhabitants of Burma of whom records are extant, went on to found settlements throughout the plains region centred on the confluence of the Irrawaddy and Chindwin Rivers that has been inhabited since the Paleolithic. The Pyu realm was longer than wide, stretching from Sri Ksetra in the south to Halin in the north, Binnaka and Maingmaw to the east and probably Ayadawkye to the west. The Tang dynasty's records report 18 Pyu states, nine of which were walled cities, covering 298 districts.

Archaeological surveys have actually so far unearthed 12 walled cities, including five large walled cities, and several smaller non-fortified settlements, located at or near the three most important irrigated regions of precolonial Burma: the Mu River Valley in the north, the Kyaukse plains in centre, and the Minbu region in the south and west of the former two. The city-states were contemporaries of the Kingdom of Funan (Cambodia) and (perhaps) Champa (southern Vietnam), Dvaravati (Thailand), Tambralinga and Takuapa near the Kra Isthmus, and Srivijaya (southeast Sumatra). All these statelets foreshadowed the rise of the "classical kingdoms" of Southeast Asia in the second millennium CE.

It was a long-lasting civilisation that lasted nearly a millennium to the early 9th century until a new group of "swift horsemen" from the north, the (Mranma) (Burmans) of the Nanzhao Kingdom entered the upper Irrawaddy valley through a series of raids. According to the Tang Dynasty chronicles, the Nanzhao began their raids of Upper Burma starting as early as 754 or 760. By 763, the Nanzhao king Ko-lo-feng had conquered the upper Irrawaddy Valley. Nanzhao raids intensified in the 9th century, with the Nanzhao raiding in 800-802, and again in 808-809. Finally, according to the Chinese, in 832, the Nanzhao warriors overran the Pyu country, and took away 3000 Pyu prisoners from Halin. (In 835, the Chinese records say the Nanzhao also raided a state, generally identified by some but not universally accepted to be a Pyu state.)

To be sure, the Pyu and their culture did not disappear just because 3000 of them were taken away. The size of the Pyu realm and its many walled cities throughout the land indicates a population many times over. Indeed, no firm indications at Sri Ksetra or at any other Pyu site exist to suggest a violent overthrow. It is more likely that these raids significantly weakened the Pyu states, enabling the Burmans to move into Pyu territories. At any rate, evidence shows that the actual pace of Burman migration into the Pyu realm was gradual. Radiocarbon dating shows that human activity existed until c. 870 at Halin, the subject of the 832 Nanzhao raid. The Burmese chronicles claim the Burmans founded the fortified city of Pagan (Bagan) in 849 but the oldest radiocarbon dated evidence at Pagan (old walls) points to 980 CE while the main walls point to circa 1020 CE, just 24 years earlier than the beginning of the reign of Anawrahta, the founder of Pagan Empire.

At any rate, the Burmans had overtaken the leadership of the Pyu realm by the late 10th century, and went on to found the Pagan Empire in the middle of the 11th century, unifying the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery for the first time. Nonetheless, the Pyu had left an indelible mark on Pagan whose Burman rulers would incorporate the histories and legends of the Pyu as their own. The Burman kings of Pagan claimed descent from the kings of Sri Ksetra and Tagaung as far back as 850 BCE—a claim dismissed by most modern scholars. Pyu settlements remained in Upper Burma for the next three centuries but the Pyu gradually were absorbed and assimilated into the expanding Pagan Empire. The Pyu language still existed until the late 12th century but by the 13th century, the Pyu had assumed the Burman ethnicity and disappeared into history.

Of the 12 walled cities excavated thus far, five are the remains of largest Pyu states: Beikthano, Maingmaw, Binnaka, Halin and Sri Ksetra.

Maingmaw ( ; also Mong Mao), located in the Kyaukse region, was circular in shape, and has tentatively been dated to the first millennium BCE. At 2.5 km in diameter and 222 hectares, Maingmaw is one of the largest ancient cities on the entire Kyaukse plains. It has two inner enclosure walls, the outer of which is square while the inner one is circular. The plan of a circle within a square suggest a zodiac sign which represents a view of the heavens from the perspective of the sun, the manner in which 19th century Mandalay was also conceptualised. At almost dead centre, a 19th-century temple called Nandawya Paya, which was probably built upon the ruins of an ancient one. The city is bisected by a canal, thought to be contemporary to the city, though no scientific dating has confirmed it. Excavations—the first of which was carried out in 1979—have unearthed many artefacts, including jewellery, silver coins, and funerary urns. Many of the artefacts such as the coins and funerary urns are virtually identical to those found Beikthano and Binnaka.

Binnaka ( ) too was located in the Kyaukse region, and virtually identical to its neighbour Maingmaw in numerous ways. Its brick structures shared the same floor plan as those found at Beikthano and other Pyu sites. Excavations have recovered pre-Buddhist artefacts, gold necklaces, precious stone images of elephants, turtles and lions, distinctive Pyu pottery, terracotta tablets with writing that strongly resembled the Pyu script, and various kinds of acid-etched onyx beads along with others made of amber and jade. Also excavated are distinctive silver coins identical to those found at Beikthano and Binnaka, stone moulds for casting silver and gold ornamental flowers, a gold armlet in association with a silver bowl that has Pyu writing on it, and funerary urns virtually identical to those found Beikthano and Binnaka.

Both Maingmaw and Binnaka may have been contemporary of Beikthano. The chronicles, which do not mention Beikthano at all, do mention the two, though not specifically as Pyu cities. The chronicles state that the ruler of Binnaka was responsible for the fall of Tagaung, the city identified by the chronicles as the original home of Burmese speakers. Binnaka was inhabited until about the 19th century, according to a Konbaung era palm-leaf "sittan" (record) discovered there.

Halin or Halingyi ( ), located in the Mu valley, one of the largest irrigated regions of precolonial Burma, is the northernmost Pyu city so far discovered. The earliest artefacts of Halin—city's wooden gates—are radiocarbon dated to 70 CE. The city was rectangular but with curved corners, and brick-walled. Excavated walls are approximately 3.2 km long on the north-south axis and 1.6 km on the east-west. At 664 hectares, the city was nearly twice the size of Beikthano. It has four main gates at the cardinal points, and a total of 12 gates, based on the zodiac. A river or canal ran through the city. Traces of a moat exist on all sides except the south, where it was probably not needed, as land was dammed there to create reservoirs.

This design of the city influenced the city planning of later Burmese cities and the Siamese city of Sukhothai. For example, the number of gates and configuration was also found in subsequent major Burmese capitals such as the 11th century Pagan and 19th century Mandalay. The city's configuration was also found at other contemporary cities such as Maingmaw and Beikthano in the Pyu realm and Danyawaddy and Wethali in Arakan as well as later cities such as Sukhothai, which emerged over a millennium later. Structural remains of temples at Halin show that the design of city's temples influenced the 11th to 13th century temples at Pagan. Excavated artefacts point to Halin's Pyu script to be the earliest writing in the Pyu realm (and in Burma). It was based on an earlier version of the Brahmi script (Mauryan and Guptan). Inscriptions at Sri Ksetra show a later version of the same script.

Known for the production of salt, a highly prized commodity in the first millennium, Halin was superseded by Sri Ksetra as the premier Pyu city-state circa 7th century. By the Chinese accounts, Halin remained an important Pyu centre until the 9th century when the Pyu realm came under repeated attacks from the Nanzhao Kingdom. The Chinese records state that the city was destroyed by the Nanzhao warriors in 832 CE, with 3000 of its inhabitants taken away. However, radiocarbon dating reveals human activity to about 870 CE, nearly four decades after the reported sack of the city.

Sri Ksetra or Thaye Khittaya ( ; lit., "Field of Fortune" or "Field of Glory"), located 8 km southeast of Prome (Pyay) at present-day Hmawza village, was the last and southernmost Pyu capital. The city was founded between the 5th and 7th centuries,although during two of the recent excavations, January to February 2015 and December 2015 to February 2016, led by Janice Stargardt in Yahanda mound at Sri Ksetra, sherds stamped with Buddhist motifs were found, dated from c. 340 +/- 30 CE. and Pyu culture cremation burials around 270 +/- 30 CE.. Sri Ksetra likely overtook Halin as the premier Pyu city by the 7th or 8th century, and retained that status until the Mranma arrived in the 9th century. The city was home to at least two dynasties, and maybe three. The first dynasty, called the Vikrama Dynasty, is believed to have launched the Pyu calendar, which later became the Burmese calendar, on 22 March 638. The second dynasty was founded by King Duttabaung on 25 March 739 (11th waxing of Tagu 101 ME).

Sri Ksetra is the largest Pyu site discovered thus far. (Only Beikthano and Sri Ksetra have been extensively excavated. Other important Pyu cities as Maingmaw and Binnaka could yield more artefacts with more extensive excavations.) It occupied a larger area than that of the 11th century Pagan or 19th century Mandalay. Circular in design, Sri Ksetra was more than 13 km in circumference and three to four km across, or about 1400 hectares of occupied area. The city's brick walls were 4.5 meters high, and had 12 gates with huge "devas" (deities) guarding the entrances and a pagoda at each of the four corners.

It also has curving gateways, such as those found at Halin and Beikthano. In the centre of the city was what most scholars think represented the rectangular palace site, 518 meters by 343 meters, symbolising both a mandala and a "zata" (horoscope), like in Maingmaw. Only the southern half of the city was taken up by the palace, monasteries and houses; the entire northern half consisted of rice fields. Together with the moats and walls, this arrangement ensured that the city could withstand a long siege by enemies.

Sri Ksetra was an important entrepôt between China and India. It was located on the Irrawaddy, not far from the sea as the Irrawaddy delta had not yet been formed. Ships from the Indian Ocean could come up to Prome to trade with the Pyu realm and China. Trade with India brought deep cultural contacts. Sri Ksetra has yielded the most extensive remains of Theravada Buddhism. Religious art suggests several distinct occupations with earlier influences stemming from Southeast India and later influences from Southwest India while 9th century influences include those from the Nanzhao Kingdom. Much of the Chinese account of the Pyu states was through Sri Ksetra. Chinese pilgrims Xuanzang in 648 and Yijing in 675 mentioned Sri Ksetra in their accounts of Buddhist kingdoms of Southeast Asia. The Tang histories mention the arrival at the court of an embassy from the Pyu capital in 801.

Many Pyu settlements have been found across Upper Burma. They include Wati (an urban area west of Maingmaw), Ayadawkye Ywa in the Mu valley, west of Halin and south of a recently discovered Bronze Age site called Nyaunggan, and several others in Myinmu township, which controls the mouth of the Mu river. A small but politically significant Pyu site is Tagaung ( ) in northern Burma (about 200-km north of Mandalay) where Pyu artefacts including funerary urns have been excavated. The significance is due to the fact that the Burmese chronicles identify Tagaung as the home of the first Burmese kingdom. Aside from Beikthano and Sri Ksetra, most Pyu sites have not seen extensive or any excavation.

The New History of the Tang states the kingdom of Mi-ch'en sent an embassy to China in 805, and was attacked by Nanchao in 835.

The economy of the Pyu city states was based on agriculture and trade. All important Pyu settlements were located in the three main irrigated regions of Upper Burma, centred on the confluence of the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers: Halin in the Mu valley, Maingmaw and Binnaka in the Kyaukse plains, finally Beikthano and Sri Ksetra at or near the Minbu district. (The irrigation projects of the Pyu were later picked up by the Burmans. King Anawrahta of Pagan would build irrigation projects in these three regions in the 1050s to turn them into the main rice granaries of Upper Burma. They would give Upper Burma an enduring economic base from which to dominate the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery in the following centuries.) The Pyu grew rice, perhaps of the Japonica variety.

The Pyu realm was an important trading centre between China and India in the first millennium CE. Two main trading routes passed through the Pyu states. As early as 128 BCE, an overland trade route between China and India existed across the northern Burma. An embassy from the Roman Empire to China passed through this route in 97 CE and again in 120 CE. But the majority of the trade was conducted by sea through the southern Pyu states, which at the time were located not far from the sea as much of the Irrawaddy delta had not yet been formed, and as far south as upper Tenasserim coast towns such as Winga, Hsindat-Myindat, Sanpannagon and Mudon where Pyu artefacts have been found. (It is insufficient to conclude however that the Pyu had administrative and military control over these upper Tenasserim coastal towns.) The ports connected the overland trade route to China via present-day Yunnan.

The trading area of the Pyu states spanned across the present-day Southeast Asia, South Asia and China. Artifacts from the 2nd century northwest India to Java and the Philippines have been found at Beikthano. Likewise, Pyu artefacts have been found along the coasts of Arakan, Lower Burma, and as far east as Óc Eo (in present-day southern Vietnam). The Pyu also conducted trade and diplomatic relations with China. In 800 and 801–802, Sri Ksetra sent a formal embassy, along with 35 musicians to the Tang court. According to the Chinese, the Pyu used gold and silver coinage. But only silver coins have survived.

A notable feature of the Pyu states is the minting and use of silver coinage. Originated in the Pegu area, these coins date from the 5th century and were the model for most first millennium coinage in mainland Southeast Asia. The earliest type of these coins is not inscribed and depicts a conch on one side and a Srivatsa on the other. Many of the coins had a small hole along the perimeter, and may have also been used as amulets. Remarkably, after the use of coins ceased at the end of Pyu period in the late 9th century, coins did not reappear in the Burmese kingdoms until the 19th century.

The culture of Pyu city states was heavily influenced by India. Indian culture was most visible in the southern Pyu realm through which most trade with India was conducted by sea. The names of southernmost cities were in Pali or Sanskrit derived like Sri Ksetra (Thaye Khittaya) and Vishnu (Beikthano). The kings at Sri Ksetra titled themselves as Varmans and Varma. It was not just a southern phenomenon. To varying degrees, northern Pyu cities and towns also became under the sway of Indian culture. The Burmese chronicles claim that the founding kings of Tagaung were descended from no less than the Sakya clan of the Buddha himself.

By the 4th century, most of the Pyu had become predominantly Buddhist, though archaeological finds prove that their pre-Buddhist practices remained firmly entrenched in the following centuries. According to the excavated texts, as well as the Chinese records, the predominant religion of the Pyu was Theravada Buddhism. The Theravada school prevalent in the Pyu realm was probably derived from the Andhra region in southeast India, associated with the famous Theravada Buddhist scholar, Buddhagosa. It was the predominant Theravada school in Burma until the late 12th century when Shin Uttarajiva led the realignment with Ceylon's Mahavihara school.

The archaeological finds also indicate a widespread presence of Tantric Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism and Hinduism. Avalokiteśvara (Lokanatha) (called "Lawkanat" in Burmese; ), Tara, Manusi Buddhas, Vaiśravaṇa, and Hayagriva, all prominent in Mahayana Buddhism, were very much part of Pyu (and later the Pagan) iconography scene. Various Hindu Brahman iconography ranging from the Hindu trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, to Garuda and Lakshmi have been found, especially in Lower Burma.

Non-Theravada practices such as ceremonial cattle sacrifice and alcohol consumption were main stays of the Pyu life. Likewise, the greater prominence of nuns and female students than in the later eras may point to pre-Buddhist notions of female autonomy. In melding of their pre-Buddhist practices to Buddhist ones, they placed the remains of their cremated dead in pottery and stone urns and buried them in or near isolated stupas, a practice consistent with early Buddhist practices of interring the remains of holy personages in stupas.

Though their religious beliefs was a syncretic mix of many backgrounds, probably like in the early Pagan period, the outlook of the Pyu reportedly was largely peaceful. Tang Chinese records describe the Pyu as a humane and peaceful people to whom war was virtually unknown and who wore silk cotton instead of actually silk so that they would not have to kill silk worms, and that many Pyu boys entered the monastic life at seven to the age of 20. To be sure, this peaceful description by the Chinese was a snapshot of the Pyu realm, and may not represent the life in the city-states in general.

The Pyu language was a Tibeto-Burman language, related to Old Burmese. But it apparently co-existed with Sanskrit and Pali as the court language. The Chinese records state that the 35 musicians that accompanied the Pyu embassy to the Tang court in 800–802 played music and sang in the "Fan" (Sanskrit) language. Many of the important inscriptions were written in Sanskrit and/or Pali, alongside the Pyu script. The Pyu sites have yielded a wide variety of Indian scripts from King Ashoka's edicts written in north Indian Brahmi and Tamil Brahmi, both dated to the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, to the Gupta script and Kannada script dated to the 4th to 6th centuries CE.

In addition to religion, the Pyu also imported science and astronomical expertise from India. The Chinese records also report that the Pyu knew how to make astronomical calculations. The Pyu calendar was based on the Buddhist calendar. There were two eras in use. The first was the Sakra Era, which was adopted in the Pyu realm in 80 CE, just two years after the new era had come into use in India. A second calendar was adopted at Sri Ksetra in 638, superseding the Sakra Era. The calendar, the first day of which was 22 March 638, later became the Burmese calendar, and is still in use in present-day Myanmar. (The existence of two Pyu calendars has been cause for dispute among scholars trying interpret the dates on the finds.)

The Pyu-era architectural practices greatly influenced later Pagan and Burmese architecture. The techniques of building dams, canals and weirs found in pre-colonial Upper Burma trace their origins to the Pyu era and the Pagan era. (Burmans likely introduced new water management methods, especially the canal building techniques which became the prevailing method of irrigation in the Pagan era.)

The Pyu city plans, consisted of square/rectangles and circles, were a mix of indigenous and Indian designs. It is believed that circular patterns inside the cities were Pyu while the rectangle or square shape of the outer walls and the use of 12 gates were Indian in origin. According to historian Cooler, "the adoption of Indian concepts of city planning incorporated a belief in the efficacy of the world axis that connects the centermost point in a properly constructed Mandala city with the city of the Gods above (Tavatimsa heaven) in order to assure prosperity throughout the kingdom below". Pyu-era city practices were the forefathers of the latter-day Burmese city and palace designs down to the 19th century Mandalay.

From the 4th century onward, the Pyu built many Buddhist stupas and other religious buildings. The styles, ground plans, even the brick size and construction techniques of these buildings point to the Andhra region, particularly Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda in present-day southeastern India. Some evidence of Ceylonese contact is seen by the presence of Anuradhapura style "moonstones" discovered at Beikthano and Halin. By perhaps the 7th century, tall cylindrical stupas such as the Bawbawgyi, Payagyi and Payama had emerged at Sri Ksetra.

The Pyu architecture greatly influenced later Burmese Buddhist temple designs. For example, temples at Sri Ksetra such as the Bebe and Lemyethna were prototypes for the later hollow ("gu") temples of Pagan. The floor plan of the 13th century Somingyi Monastery at Pagan was largely identical to that of a 4th-century monastery at Beikthano. The solid stupas of Sri Ksetra were in turn prototypes for Pagan's such as the Shwezigon, Shwehsandaw, and Mingalazedi, and ultimately, the Shwedagon in modern Yangon.

The city-states were mainly populated by the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu people, who like their cousins Burmans are believed to have migrated from the present Qinghai and Gansu provinces in north-central China, via Yunnan. Extensive external trade attracted sizeable communities of Indians and the Mon, especially in the south. In the north, trickles of Burmans may have entered the Pyu realm from Yunnan as early as the 7th century. (Modern scholarship however holds that Burmans did not arrive in large numbers until the mid-to-late 9th century, and perhaps as late as the 10th century, according to radiocarbon dating of Pagan's walls.)

The size of population of the Pyu realm was probably a few hundred thousand, given that the 17th and 18th century Burma (about the size of present-day Myanmar) only had about 2 million people.

The Pyu settlements were ruled by independent chiefs. The chiefs at larger city-states later styled themselves as kings, and established courts largely modelled after the Indian (Hindu) concepts of monarchy. Not all Hindu concepts such as divine kingship were fully adopted due to the presence of Theravada Buddhism. It is not clear if a vassalage-overlord relationship existed between the larger city-states and smaller towns. The Burmese chronicles mention alliances between the states such as one between Beikthano and Sri Ksetra. By and large, each Pyu city-state appeared to have controlled just the city itself.

The large size of the Pyu cities (660 to 1400 hectares) vis-a-vis Pagan (only 140 hectares) suggests that much of the population resided within the walls, as corroborated by the Chinese records. Archaeology in Pagan produced Pyu artefacts across a number of the settlements in the enclosed complex dating to the first millennium, until approximately 1100 C.E. when a shift to a monument-rich state and diffusion beyond walled boundaries is evident.

Aside from Sri Ksetra and Beikthano, the rest of the Pyu sites have not been extensively excavated. The care of the sites falls under the purview of the Ministry of Culture's Department of Archaeology. In November 2011, the Department reportedly was planning a museum at Sri Ksetra, and working with the UNESCO to gain recognition for Sri Ksetra, Beikthano and Halin as World Heritage sites and the three old cities were recognised as World Heritage sites in 2014.