[4] The earliest extant evidence of Pegu as a place dates only to the late Pagan period (1212 and 1266)[note 2] when it was still a small town, not even a provincial capital.

[5] A Chinese source mentions Jayavarman VII adding Pegu to the territory of the Khmer Empire in 1195.

[7] The small settlement grew increasingly important in the 14th century as the region became most populous in the Mon-speaking kingdom.

During the reign of King Razadarit, Bago and the Ava Kingdom were engaged in the Forty Years' War.

The peaceful reign of Queen Shin Sawbu came to an end when she chose the Buddhist monk Dhammazedi (1471–1492) to succeed her.

[8][9][not specific enough to verify] A year later, Portuguese India Governor Diogo Lopes de Sequeira sent an ambassador to Pegu.

The ascendant Toungoo dynasty under Tabinshwehti made numerous raids that the much larger kingdom could not muster its resources against.

Over the next decade, Bago gradually become the capital of more land and eventually the largest empire in Indochina.

[11] The newly rebuilt Kanbawzathadi Palace was officially opened on 16 March 1568, with every vassal ruler present.

[11] As a major seaport, the city was frequently visited by Europeans, among these, Gasparo Balbi and Ralph Fitch in the late 1500s.

[12] The Portuguese conquest of Pegu, following the destruction caused by the kings of Tangot and Arrakan in 1599, was described by Manuel de Abreu Mousinho in the account called "Brief narrative telling the conquest of Pegu in eastern India made by the Portuguese in the time of the viceroy Aires de Saldanha, being captain Salvador Ribeiro de Sousa, called Massinga, born in Guimarães, elected as their king by the natives in the year 1600", published by Fernão Mendes Pinto in the 18th century.

The 1599 destruction of the city and the crumbling authority of Bayinnaung's successor Nanda Bayin saw the Toungoo dynasty flee their capital to Ava.

Anaukpetlun wanted to rebuild Hongsawadi and the glories of Bago, which had been deserted since Nanda Bayin had abandoned it.

Bago was rebuilt by King Bodawpaya (r. 1782–1819), but by then the river had shifted course, cutting the city off from the sea.

The substantial differences between the colloquial and literary pronunciations, as with Burmese words, was a reason of the British corruption "Pegu".

[15] Hanthawaddy, as it was constituted in 1911, consisted of a vast plain stretching up from the sea between the mouth of the Irrawaddy River and the Pegu Range.

Except the tract of land lying between the Pegu Range on the east and the Yangon River, the country was intersected by numerous tidal creeks, many of which were navigable by large boats and some by steamers.

Bago also has several bus depots on its outskirts with intercity buses providing regular service.