sim mrui., Burmese pronunciation: [pəθèɪ̯ɰ̃ mjo̰]; Mon: ဖာသီ, [pʰasɛm]), formerly called Bassein, is the largest city and the capital of the Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar (Burma).

An alternate theory holds that the city's name comes from the classical name of Pathein, Kusimanagara, a name used by ancient writings and the Kalyani inscriptions.

"[6] Another theory is that modern name Pathein potentially derives from this time period based on the word Patkain, a version of the archaic Burmese word for Muslims pathi (Burmese: ပသီ), based on either the growing presence of Arab traders in Pathein during the 16th century or on a purported Muslim Indian who ruled the city around 1233 CE.

[7][1] According to local history, the city was first a town called Thinsawanargara (Burmese: သဉ္စဝနာဂရ) was founded in 325 BCE by a King "Sri Dhammasoka".

[1] The first extant record of a settlement in the location called Kusima in the Pali language comes from a Sri Lankan rock inscription dated to 1165 CE.

[7] Pathein was raided in 1180 CE by Parakramabahu I of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa in modern-day Sri Lanka, as attested by the Devanagala Rock inscription during the Polonnaruwa-Pagan War.

[10] The latest date that Pathein could have become part of the Bagan empire is in 1265 CE where we have the oldest Burmese record of the city's existence.

The city grew during the colonial period as the terminus of a railroad line, becoming a rice-milling and export center as a port accessible to large vehicles.

After textiles, the main industry is the various rice mills that process agricultural produce from nearby villages and towns.

Other crops include sesames, groundnuts, jute, maize, pulse (legume)s, tobacco, chilies as well as a wide variety of fruits like banana and tamarind.

The stadium is the home of Ayeyawady United F.C., a Myanmar National League (MNL) football club.