The historic Maritime Silk Road connected the East and West, and Martaban storage jars were imported through this trade route.

The earliest evidence of the existence of Martaban in Myanmar history was revealed in an inscription erected by King Sithu II of the Bagan Empire in 1176.

Coins and cultural influences in artifacts indicate that Sampanago had close contacts with Thaton and early sites in U Thong and Kanchanaburi[4] In the 13th century, Martaban was a southern provincial capital in the Bagan Empire.

In 1541, King Tabinshwehti of Taungoo captured the fortified city, and utterly destroyed it, forever relegating it back to a backwater.

The town's location is adjacent to the confluence of five rivers – the Salween, the Ataran, the Gyaing, the Dontami, and the Hlaingbwe – as they empty into the Gulf of Martaban.

[4] Mottama was the terminus of the road and the railroad from Yangon, where the Thanlwin empties into the Gulf of Martaban in the Andaman Sea.