Sri Ksetra (, , ; Sanskrit: श्री क्षेत्र, Htin Aung, Maung (1970). Burmese History before 1287: A Defence of the Chronicles. Oxford: The Asoka Society, 8 - 10. or 'Field of Glory'Aung-Thwin, Michael (1996). "Kingdom of Bagan". In Gillian Cribbs. Myanmar Land of the Spirits. Guernsey: Co & Bear Productions, 77.), located along the Irrawaddy River at present-day Hmawza, Myanmar, was once a prominent Pyu settlement. The Pyu occupied several sites across Upper Myanmar, with Sri Ksetra recorded as the largest, the city wall enclosing an area of 1,477 hectares,Moore, Elizabeth (2012). The Pyu Landscape: Collected Articles. Myanmar: Department of Archaeology, 175, although a recent survey found it enclosed 1,857 hectares within its monumental brick walls, with an extramural area of a similar size, being the largest Southeast Asian city before Angkor times.Stargardt, Janice, et al. (2015). "Early urban archaeology in Southeast Asia: the first evidence for a Pyu habitation site at Sri Ksetra, Myanmar", Antiquity Dec 2015, Project Gallery. Issues surrounding the dating of this site has meant the majority of material is dated between the seventh and ninth centuries AD, however recent scholarship suggests Pyu culture at Sri Ksetra was active centuries before this.

Sri Ksetra is the site for much of the Pyu artistic legacy. The arrival of Buddhism into the Pyu cities saw the increased artistic production, with very little surviving from the earlier period of occupation. The vast arraying of surviving material indicates a rich visual culture that was endorsed by the Pyu at Sri Ksetra. The Chinese pilgrims Xuanzang in 648:zh:s:大唐西域記/10#一、傳聞六國 and Yijing in 675:zh:s:海國圖志/卷029 mentioned the name of Sri Ksetra as / (Middle Chinese: ) and that it was a Buddhist country.Kyaing, Win, (2019). The Buddhist Cultural Remains of Sri Ksetra, in Asia Pacific Journal of Religions and Cultures Volume 3 No. 2, 2019, p. 51.

The Pyu at Sri Ksetra declined in prominence around the ninth century AD. The final mention of the Pyu is found at Pagan, with a twelfth century stone featuring inscriptions in Pyu, Mon, Burmese and Pali.Luce, Gordon H. (1985). Phases of Pre-Pagan: language and history. New York: Oxford University Press, 47.

History

Burmese legends greatly differ from the reconstruction of Pyu history by scholars. A widely held belief, based on the interpretation of the extensive interdisciplinary evidence suggests that Sri Ksetra was founded between the fifth and seventh centuries by the Pyu people.Aung-Thwin, Michael (2005). The mists of Rāmañña: The Legend that was Lower Burma (illustrated ed.). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 24 - 26. This interpretation has been challenged by the scholars who have argued that it was occupied earlier than these dates.Hudson, Bob (2012). "A thousand years before Bagan: radiocarbon dates and Myanmar's ancient Pyu cities". Paper presented at Early Myanmar and its Global Connections Conference, Bagan, 5 - 7. Radiocarbon dating tested on charcoal found at Sri Ksetra produce dates to between 50 – 200 AD, a timeframe that is significantly earlier than previously considered.Hudson (2012). "A thousand years before Bagan: radiocarbon dates and Myanmar's ancient Pyu cities", 5 - 7. This early date in the first centuries of the first millennium AD would place the Pyu as one of the earliest urbanised people in Southeast Asia. During two excavation seasons, January to February 2015 and December 2015 to February 2016, led by Janice Stargardt in Yahanda mound at Sri Ksetra, early sherds stamped with Buddhist motifs were found, later dated c. 340 +/- 30 CE and Pyu culture cremation burials around 270 +/- 30 CE.

Sri Ksetra is the largest Pyu site discovered thus far (Beikthano and Sri Ksetra are the only Pyu sites that have been extensively excavated. Other important Pyu cities as Maingmaw and Binnaka could yield more artefacts with more extensive excavations). It occupied an area larger than that of the eleventh century Pagan or nineteenth century Mandalay.Aung-Thwin (2005). The mists of Rāmañña: The Legend that was Lower Burma, 24 - 26. The city walls at Sri Ksetra are the largest of any Pyu settlements.Moore (2012). The Pyu Landscape, 195. Numerous ruined stupas and temples have been discovered both inside and outside the city walls at Sri Ksetra."Sri Ksetra Survey Map, 2005 - 2007" (2008). Field School of Archaeology Pyay and University of Sydney. https://www.academia.edu/2411552/Hudson-2008-archaeological_survey_map_of_SRIKSETRA The three principal stupas that are a feature of the Pyu landscape at Hmawza, Bawbaw gyi, Payama and Paya gyi, are also located outside the walls.

In conjunction to archaeological evidence, there are a number of written records that mention the Pyu, largely found in Chinese historical accounts. The earliest mention is the fourth century AD account by Ch'ang Ch'u, with later accounts by Chinese pilgrims Xuanzang and Yijing in the seventh century AD .Luce (1985). Phases of Pre-Pagan: language and history, 47. In the eighth century AD Tang histories mentioned the arrival at the court of an embassy from the Pyu capital in 801.Phayre, Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur P. (1883). History of Burma (1967 ed.). London: Susil Gupta, 17. While these written records assist with the dating of Sri Ksetra and demonstrate cross-cultural interactions, they are fragmented and cannot all be backed by other evidence.

Sri Ksetra was an important entrepôt between China and India. It was located on the Irrawaddy, close to the sea, before the Irrawaddy delta had been formed. Ships from the Indian Ocean travelled to Prome to trade with the Pyu and Chinese.Htin Aung (1970). Burmese History before 1287: A Defence of the Chronicles, 8 - 10. Trade with India brought important cultural influences to Sri Ksetra, including the arrival of Buddhism, which was imposed on existing belief systems. There is strong evidence of a rich Buddhist culture at Sri Ksetra, along with the existence of Hindu religion.

Royal names Several inscriptions discovered at Sri Ksetra possess possible royal names and dynastic titles. Below is a table of translated Pyu funerary inscriptions found on four stone burial urns, excavated outside the city walls of Sri Ksetra from what is believed to be a royal burial site.Moore (2012). The Pyu Landscape: Collected Articles, 210. First translated by O. Blagden in 1917, these inscriptions give insights into Pyu kingship and possible dating of Sri Ksetra.Blagden, CO (1917). "The 'Pyu' inscriptions", Journal of the Burma Research Society 7: 37 - 44.Than Tun (1964). Studies in Burmese History (in Burmese) 1. Yangon: Maha Dagon, 42.

Name Date of death found in inscription Equivalent date using Early Pyu Era Equivalent date using Gupta Era Equivalent date using Standard Pyu Era Images Relative of Thuriya Wikyama 35 113 CE 354 CE 673 CE Thuriya Wikyama (Suriya Vikrama) Fifth month of year 50 128 369 July 688 (4 July to 1 August) Hayi Wikyama (Hari Vikrama) 24th day of 2nd month of year 57 135 376 13 April 695 Thiha Wikyama (Siha Vikrama) 4th day of 2nd month of year 80 158 399 8 April 718

Current inscriptional evidence indicate two distinct dynastic names, Wikyama (Vikrama) and Warman (Varman). The first dynasty, called the Wikyama (Vikrama) dynasty, is believed by G.H. Luce and Than Tun to have launched the Pyu calendar with the epochal date of 22 March 638, which later became the Burmese calendar, in 640 AD.Luce 1970: 330Than Tun (1964). Studies in Burmese History, 40. Given the evidence for the dating of Sri Ksetra to earlier than the seventh century, it is likely that Pyu kings existed prior to names mentioned on the burial urns. Burmese chronicle sources, on the other hand, suggest the Sri Ksetra dynasty was established in 444 BC by King Duttabaung, however no archaeological evidence has been from this early date.Tin, Pe Maung; Luce, Gordon H. (1923). The Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma. London: Oxford University Press, 14.

Legend According to Hmannan Yazawin, the royal chronicle of the Konbaung dynasty, the kingdom of Sri Ksetra was founded by two brothers named Maha Thanbawa and Sula Thanbawa in 484 BC. The brothers were scions of the Tagaung kingdom located in Upper Burma, and ultimately descended from kings Abhiyaza and Dazayaza, both of whom belonged to the Sakya clan of the Buddha. The brothers had been born blind, and ordered to be executed at birth by their own father Thado Maha Yaza for their blindness. Their mother, Keinnayi Dewi, however, had raised them in secret until 482 BC when the father discovered their existence, and ordered them killed once again. Their mother put the blind princes on a raft by their mother down the Irrawaddy river before the executioners of the king arrived. Adrift in the river, the brothers miraculously gained sight with the help of an ogress.Royal Historical Commission of Burma (1832). Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese) 1–3 (2003 ed.). Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar, 164–165.

With their newfound vision, the brothers arrived at the environs of Sri Ksetra (near present-day Pyay (Prome)), whose Pyu inhabitants had been at war with Kanyan people. Having to lost their chief to the war, the Pyu nominated the newly arrived Maha Thanbawa as chief. The "kingdom" of Sri Ksetra was founded in 484 CE. (Hmannan does not indicate the extent of the kingdom.) In all, a total of 27 kings of this dynasty are said to have reigned for 578 years.Hmannan Vol. 1 (2003), 168–170.Phayre (1883). History of Burma, 17.

Hmannan continues that the end of the kingdom came in 94 AD due to a civil war between the Pyu and the Kanyan, two of the three main ethnic groups of the kingdom. (The Mranma (Burmans) were the third.) The Pyu initially emerged victorious over the Kanyan. But the victors soon broke into three rival groups, and a second round of war ensued. Taking advantage of the confusion, a fourth group, the Mon of Lower Burma drove all indigenous groups out of Sri Ksetra. One of the refugee groups led by Thamoddarit, nephew of the last king of Sri Ksetra, wandered on for a dozen years. In 107 AD, Thamoddarit founded the city of Pagan (Bagan) and the Pagan dynasty.Hmannan Vol. 1 (2003), 185–188.

Monuments and archaeological sites

Ramparts

Sri Ksetra is a large city site with ruins of many structures, palaces and stūpas. The most prominent feature of the city is the circular plan, marked by a semi-circle of ramparts on the north, south and western sides. Outside the ramparts there was a moat, marked by a succession of tanks in the dry season. At several points in the ramparts, there are prominent gates, and around these gates are shrines and important remains.

Payama stūpa

The Payama stūpa is located north of the ramparts of Sri Ksetra near the village of Koneyoe (at 18°50'3"N 95°18'7"E). It is reported in the Myanmar chronicles to have been built by king Duttabaung to house relics of the Buddha. The structure is built of brick and lime mortar on four terraces. Having the conical shape characteristic of stūpas in early relief sculpture from Sri Ksetra, it is one of the first stūpas of the middle Pyu period and dates between the 4th and 7th centuries.

Baw Baw Gyi Paya The Baw Baw Gyi Paya is an important Buddhist stūpa, located to the south of the ramparts of Sri Ksetra (at 18°47'10"N 95°17'7"E). It is a circular brick-built structure, raised on terrace to a height of approximately 46m. The shape of the stūpa is often compared to the Dhamek Stupa at Sarnath in India, with which it is likely coeval. With the fall of Sri Ksetra in the mid-ninth century, king Anawrahta opened the stūpa and removed the relic which was re-installed at this capital in Bagan. In its place, he left behind a number of signed votive tablets.Paul Strachan, Imperial Pagan: Art and Architecture of Old Burma (Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 1989), p. 9.

Payahtaung complex