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Merit-Making and Monuments: an Investigation Into the Role of Religious Monuments and Settlement Patterning Surrounding the Classical Capital of Bagan, Myanmar

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Merit-Making and Monuments: an Investigation Into the Role of Religious Monuments and Settlement Patterning Surrounding the Classical Capital of Bagan, Myanmar MERIT-MAKING AND MONUMENTS: AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ROLE OF RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS AND SETTLEMENT PATTERNING SURROUNDING THE CLASSICAL CAPITAL OF BAGAN, MYANMAR A Thesis Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfill of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario, Canada ã Copyright by Ellie Tamura 2019 Anthropology M.A. Graduate Program January 2020 ABSTRACT Merit-Making and Monuments: An Investigation into the Role of Religious Monuments and Settlement Patterning Surrounding the Classical Capital of Bagan, Myanmar Ellie Tamura Bagan, Myanmar’s capital during the country’s Classical period (c. 800-1400 CE), and its surrounding landscape was once home to at least four thousand monuments. These monuments were the result of the Buddhist pursuit of merit-making, the idea that individuals could increase their socio-spiritual status by performing pious acts for the Sangha (Buddhist Order). Amongst the most meritous act was the construction of a religious monument. Using the iconographic record and historical literature, alongside entanglement theory, this thesis explores how the movement of labour, capital, and resources for the construction of these monuments influenced the settlement patterns of Bagan’s broader cityscape. The findings suggest that these monuments bound settlements, their inhabitants, and the Crown, in a variety of enabling and constraining relationships. This thesis has created the foundations for understanding the settlements of Bagan and serves as a useful platform to perform comparative studies once archaeological data for settlement patterning becomes available. Keywords: Southeast Asia, Settlement Patterns, Bagan, Entanglement, Religious Monuments, Buddhism, Archaeology ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For the past three years, I have been incredibly fortunate in having the opportunity to do what I love, in one of the most wonderful countries, none of which would have been possible without the support of an amazing group of people. First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Gyles Iannone for taking a chance on me as a graduate student, for establishing an excellent research program, and for allowing me to take part in it. Not only did his guidance, support, and friendship make this thesis possible, but his passion in the field has cultivated in me a lifelong love of Southeast Asian culture and history. I would also like to extend my thanks to our colleagues in Myanmar, who welcomed me into their country. In particular, gratitude goes towards Dr. Pyiet Phyo Kyaw, Nyein Chan Soe, Naing Soe, Saw Tun Lin, Paing Thet Phyo, and Khin Lay Maung, whose extensive knowledge allowed me to collect the data needed for my research. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Dr. Helen Haines and Dr. Jennifer Moore, whose additional guidance is greatly appreciated. Thanks also goes to the Trent Anthropology Department and Myanmar’s Department of Archaeology for allowing this research to take place and supporting me throughout my academic journey. My gratitude also goes out to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, whose financial support enabled me to solely dedicate my time towards completing this thesis. To all my friends, thank you for encouraging me throughout the entire process, even when you did not fully understand what I was doing. Special thanks to Kathleen Forward, my office-mate, roommate, and research-mate, whose face I never got tired of even after spending every day together for two years: thank you for keeping me sane, iii without you I would have never finished my thesis. To my brother, David, whose comedic nature helped guide me to better shores during the days, and sometimes weeks, of graduate school struggles. To Leon, who without you, I would have finished this thesis half a year ago. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Olivia and Masanobu, whose unconditional love and support allows me to achieve anything. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ iii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 Geographical Framework ........................................................................................... 2 Historical Framework ................................................................................................. 8 Urban Period (200 BCE – 800 CE) .............................................................. 8 Pre-Bagan Period (849 – 1044 CE) ............................................................. 9 Early Bagan Period (1044 – 1113 CE) ...................................................... 10 Middle Bagan Period (1113 – 1174 CE) .................................................... 11 Late Bagan Period (1174 – 1300 CE) ........................................................ 12 Religious Framework ............................................................................................... 13 Research Problems ................................................................................................... 15 The Problem Focus and Significance of this Research ............................................ 17 IRAW@BAGAN ..................................................................................................... 19 Thesis Outline .......................................................................................................... 19 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 21 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND TO SETTLEMENT PATTERNING ...................... 22 Low-Density Urbanism in Tropical States ............................................................... 22 Evidence for Low-Density Urbanism at Bagan ....................................................... 27 The Epicentre ........................................................................................................... 30 Bagan’s Epicentre .................................................................................................... 39 Discussion ................................................................................................................ 42 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 46 CHAPTER 3: THEORY AND METHODS .................................................................. 48 Entanglement Theory ............................................................................................... 49 Things and Agency .................................................................................... 49 Humans, Things, and Bundles ................................................................... 52 Human – Thing Entanglements (H-T) ....................................................... 54 Thing – Thing Entanglements (T-T) .......................................................... 55 Thing – Human Entanglements (T-H) ....................................................... 58 Human – Human Entanglements (H-H) .................................................... 59 Discussion .................................................................................................. 60 Methods .................................................................................................................... 61 An Overview of the Epigraphic Data: Inscriptions and Chronicles ........... 62 An Overview of the Iconographic Data: Temple Mural Paintings and Terracotta Plaques ............................................................................... 66 Methods of Interpreting the Data ............................................................... 70 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 76 CHAPTER 4: A RECONSTRUCTION OF BAGAN’S EPICENTRE AND PERI-URBAN NEIGHBOURHOODS .......................................................................... 78 The Epicentre ........................................................................................................... 78 The Elements and Organization of Features within the Epicentre ............. 78 v Elements Outside the Walled Epicentre .................................................... 93 The Neighbourhood Clusters of Bagan's Peri-Urban Zone .................................... 100 The Religious Monuments and Monastic Compounds ............................ 100 Elements and Nature of the Neighbourhood Cluster ............................... 111 Residences within the Neighbourhoods ................................................... 124 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 136 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION ........................................................................................ 139 Economic Entanglements ....................................................................................... 140 Commoner Entanglements: How Local Economies became Dependent
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