This paper presents the effects of thermal environment and temperature-dependence of the material properties on axisymmetric bending of functionally graded (FG) circular and annular plates. The material properties are assumed to be temperature-dependent and graded in the thickness direction. In order to accurately evaluate the effect of thermal environment, the initial thermal stresses are obtained by solving the thermoelastic equilibrium equations. Governing equations and the related boundary conditions, which include the effects of initial thermal stresses, are derived using the virtual work principle based on the elasticity theory. The differential quadrature method (DQM) as an efficient and robust numerical tool is used to obtain the initial thermal stresses and response of the plate. Comparison studies with some available results for FG plates are performed. The influences of temperature rise, temperature-dependence of material properties, material graded index and different geometrical parameters are carried out.