Who Killed The King of Bagan?

Unravelling the greatest mystery of Myanmar by uncovering evidence through time and place

Who Killed the King of Bagan? tells the story of Bagan (and thus the founding of Myanmar) through the device of a murder mystery. Bagan’s most important king was Anawrahta. According to the Myanmarese chronicles, he died under suspicious circumstances, and contemporary Burmese writers surmise he was assassinated. But why, and by whom? The answers are tepid and unconvincing. The book teases out a possible culprit who is overlooked today for long-standing cultural and religious reasons. The process of examining the evidence involves two journeys. One is through time-a rough chronology of the important kings and the racey gossip the chronicles tell about them. The second is physical-walking through ten different temples, each representing a theme in Bagan’s history, and using this to unpack what the legacy of Anawrahta was.