Merit-making at ancient Bagan, Myanmar

Recent studies on the collapse of ancient states often focus on environmental factors such as ecocide or climate change, but this research highlights the significant role of cultural elements, particularly religion and ritual, in understanding these transformations. Using Bagan, Myanmar's classical-period capital, as a case study, the authors demonstrate how Buddhist merit-making practices—ritually enacted donations to temples and monasteries—were deeply intertwined with ecological, economic, social, and political dynamics. These ideologically charged acts of giving played a crucial role in both the rise and fall of Bagan, revealing the complexities of state collapse that go beyond environmental explanations alone.

Iannone, G., & Aung-Thwin, M. (2020). Merit-making at ancient Bagan, Myanmar. Rituals, Collapse, and Radical Transformation in Archaic States, 185–203. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429278020-10