In the era of the Pyu city-states it was a city of considerable significance, possibly a local capital replacing Sri Ksetra.

Beikthano, Hanlin, and Sri Ksetra, the ancient cities of the Pyu Kingdom were built on the irrigated fields of the dry zone of the Ayeyawady River basin.

[3] 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.

According to Michael Aung-Thwin, this name does not seem to be attested in historical chronicles, and it is only applied to the ancient site retroactively by modern scholars.

[1] Beikthano is traditionally believed to have been founded some 2,400 years ago by Princess Pan Htwar descended from a still legendary dynasty of Tagaung in Upper Myanmar.

[5][6] In October 1996, Beikthano, Hanlin and Sri Ksetra were proposed to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.