Pyinbya

[3]: 106  Though the Burmese chronicles describe him as the 33rd king of the dynasty founded in early 2nd century CE, modern historians consider Pyinbya one of the first kings of Pagan, which would gradually take over present-day central Burma in the next two hundred years.

[5] According to mainstream scholarship, Pyinbya is one of the earliest kings of Pagan, founded by the Mranma (Bamar / Burmans) of the Nanzhao Kingdom.

After the attacks, which left the Pyu states severely weakened, large numbers of Mranma warriors of Nanzhao and their families remained in the upper Irrawaddy valley.

It was a certainly a strategic spot, close to the Chindwin river and just to the west of a richly irrigated rice plain.

[7] Pagan was one of several competing city-states until the late 10th century when it grew in authority and grandeur.