The Shan States (1885–1948) were a collection of minor
Shan kingdoms called ''
muang'' whose rulers bore the title ''
saopha
Chao-Pha (; Tai Ahom: 𑜋𑜧𑜨 𑜇𑜡, th, เจ้าฟ้า}, shn, ၸဝ်ႈၾႃႉ, translit=Jao3 Fa5 Jao3 Fa5, my, စော်ဘွား ''Sawbwa,'' ) was a royal title used by the hereditary rulers of the Tai peoples of ...
'' in
British Burma. They were analogous to the
princely states of
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
.
The term "Shan States" was first used during the
British rule in Burma as a geopolitical designation for certain areas of Burma (officially, the
Federated Shan States, which included the
Karenni States, consisted of today's
Shan State
Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos ...
and
Kayah State). In some cases, the
Siamese Shan States was used to refer to
Lan Na (northern Thailand) and Chinese Shan States to the Shan regions in southern Yunnan such as
Xishuangbanna.
Historical mention of the Shan states inside the present-day boundaries of Burma began during the period of the
Pagan Dynasty; the first major Shan State of that era was founded in 1215 at
Mogaung, followed by
Mone in 1223. These were part of the larger Tai migration that founded the
Ahom Kingdom in 1229 and the
Sukhothai Kingdom
The Sukhothai Kingdom ( th, สุโขทัย, , IAST: , ) was a post-classical Thai kingdom ( mandala) in Mainland Southeast Asia surrounding the ancient capital city of Sukhothai in present-day north-central Thailand. The kingdom was ...
in 1253.
Shan political power increased after the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
overran Pagan in 1287 and the Shans came to dominate many of the northern to eastern areas of Burma—from northwestern
Sagaing Division
Sagaing Region ( my, စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Sagaing Division) is an administrative region of Myanmar, located in the north-western part of the country between latitude 21° 30' north and lo ...
to the present-day Shan Hills. The newly founded Shan States were multi-ethnic states that included a substantial number of other ethnic minorities such as the
Chin,
Palaung,
Lisu,
Pa-O,
Kachin,
Wa, and
Burmans
The Bamar (, ; also known as the Burmans) are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group native to Myanmar (formerly Burma) in Southeast Asia. With approximately 35 million people, the Bamar make up the largest ethnic group in Myanmar, constituting 68% of ...
.
The Shan States were a dominant force in the politics of
Upper Burma throughout the 13th to 16th centuries. The strongest Shan States,
Mogaung,
Mongyang and
Hsenwi
Theinni or Hsenwi ( shn, ; my, သိန္နီ, ; th, แสนหวี, , ) is a town in northern Shan State of Burma, situated near the north bank of the Nam Tu River and now the centre of Hsenwi Township in Lashio District. It is nor ...
, constantly raided
Upper Burma.
Mogaung ended the kingdoms of
Sagaing and
Pinya in 1364. The Mohnyin-led Confederation of Shan States captured the
Ava Kingdom
The Kingdom of Ava ( my, အင်းဝခေတ်, ) was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagai ...
in 1527 and ruled
Upper Burma until 1555.
The Shan States were too fragmented to resist the encroachment of bigger neighbours. In the north, the Chinese
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
annexed today's
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
in the 1380s, stamping out the final Shan resistance by the 1440s. In the south, the
Toungoo dynasty
, conventional_long_name = Toungoo dynasty
, common_name = Taungoo dynasty
, era =
, status = Empire
, event_start = Independence from Ava
, year_start ...
captured all those Shan States that would become known as
Burmese Shan States in 1557. Though the Shan States came under the suzerainty of Burmese kingdoms based in the valley of the
Irrawaddy River, the Shan saophas (chiefs) retained a large degree of autonomy.
When Burma gained independence in 1948, the
Federated Shan States became
Shan State
Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos ...
and
Kayah State of the
Union of Burma with the right to secede from the Union. However, the Shan States and the saophas' hereditary rights were removed by Gen.
Ne Win's military government in 1962.
Historical states
Most Shan States
were just little principalities organised around the chief town in the region. They played a precarious game of paying allegiance to more powerful states, sometimes simultaneously. Smaller states such as
Loi-ai,
Monghsat
Mong Hsat ( Burmese: မိုင်းဆတ်မြို့, MLCTS: ''muing.chat.mrui'') is a town in the Shan State of Myanmar, the capital of Mong Hsat Township. It is served by Monghsat Airport.
History
Monghsat State (Mönghsat, where ...
and
Monghsu paid allegiance to more powerful Shan states like
Yawnghwe,
Kengtung and
Hsenwi
Theinni or Hsenwi ( shn, ; my, သိန္နီ, ; th, แสนหวี, , ) is a town in northern Shan State of Burma, situated near the north bank of the Nam Tu River and now the centre of Hsenwi Township in Lashio District. It is nor ...
. The larger Shan States in turn paid tribute to larger neighbours such as the
Ava, the
Burmese Kingdom and China.
Some of the major Shan States were.
*
Hsenwi
Theinni or Hsenwi ( shn, ; my, သိန္နီ, ; th, แสนหวี, , ) is a town in northern Shan State of Burma, situated near the north bank of the Nam Tu River and now the centre of Hsenwi Township in Lashio District. It is nor ...
*
Hsipaw
*
Kengcheng
*
Kengtung
*
Mongpai
Mongpai, also known as Mobye ( my, မိုးဗြဲ), was a Shan state in what is today Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English ...
*
Mongkawng
Mogaung ( my, မိုးကောင်း) or Möngkawng ( tdd, ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥐᥩᥒᥰ; zh, 孟拱) was a Shan state in what is present-day Myanmar. It was an outlying territory, located away from the main Shan State area in present-da ...
(Mogaung)
*
Mongmit
Momeik ( my, မိုးမိတ်), also known as Mong Mit ( Shan: ) in Shan, is a town situated on the Shweli River in northern Shan State of Myanmar (Burma).
Transport
It is connected by road to Mogok and its ruby mines, and via Mogok to ...
*
Mongpawn
Mongpawn (also spelt Möngpawn), also known as Maingpun ( my, မိုင်းပွန်), was a Shan state in what is today Burma. The state was part of the Eastern Division of the Southern Shan States and was located south of Laihka Sta ...
*
Mongnai
*
Yawnghwe
*
Wanmaw (Bhamo)
History
Early history of the Shan states is clouded in myth. Most states claimed having been founded upon a predecessor state with a Sanskrit name ''Shen/Sen''.
Tai Yai
The Shan people ( shn, တႆး; , my, ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; ), also known as the Tai Long, or Tai Yai are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan are the biggest minority of Burma (Myanmar) and primarily live in th ...
chronicles usually begin with the story of two brothers, Khun Lung and Khun Lai, who descended from heaven in the 6th century and landed in Hsenwi, where the local population hailed them as kings.
The Shan people have inhabited the
Shan Hills and other parts of northern modern-day Burma as far back as the 10th century AD. The Shan kingdom of
Mong Mao (Muang Mao) existed in Yunnan as early as the 10th century CE but became a Burmese
vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...
state during the reign of King
Anawrahta of
Pagan (1044–1077).
Pagan Dynasty period
The historical relevance of the Shan states inside the present-day boundaries of Burma increased during the period of the
Pagan Kingdom in the
Shan Hills and
Kachin Hills and accelerated after the fall of the Pagan Kingdom to the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...
in 1287. The Shans, including a new migration that came down with the Mongols, quickly came to dominate an area from northern
Chin State and northwestern
Sagaing Region to the present-day Shan Hills. The newly founded Shan States were multi-ethnic states that included a substantial number of other ethnic minorities like the
Chin,
Palaung,
Pa-O,
Kachin,
Akha Akha or Ikaw may refer to:
*Akha, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran
*Akha, alternate name of Dinan, Mazandaran, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran
* Akha people
* Akha language
* Akha Bhagat (1615–1674; aka Akha Rahiyadas Soni) a m ...
,
Lahu,
Wa and
Burmans
The Bamar (, ; also known as the Burmans) are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group native to Myanmar (formerly Burma) in Southeast Asia. With approximately 35 million people, the Bamar make up the largest ethnic group in Myanmar, constituting 68% of ...
. The most powerful Shan states were
Mohnyin (Mong Yang) and
Mogaung (Mong Kawng) in present-day
Kachin State, followed by
Theinni
Theinni or Hsenwi ( shn, ; my, သိန္နီ, ; th, แสนหวี, , ) is a town in northern Shan State of Burma, situated near the north bank of the Nam Tu River and now the centre of Hsenwi Township in Lashio District. It is no ...
(Hsenwi),
Thibaw (Hsipaw),
Momeik (Mong Mit) and
Kyaingtong
th , เชียงตุง
, other_name = Kyaingtong
, settlement_type = Town
, imagesize =
, image_caption =
, pushpin_map = Myanmar
, pushpin_label_position = left
, ...
(Keng Tung) in present-day northern Shan State.
Confederation of Shan States
The Confederation of Shan States were a group of Shan States that conquered the
Ava Kingdom
The Kingdom of Ava ( my, အင်းဝခေတ်, ) was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagai ...
in 1527 and ruled Upper Burma until 1555. The Confederation originally consisted of Mohnyin, Mogaung, Bhamo, Momeik, and Kale. It was led by
Sawlon, the chief of Mohnyin. The Confederation raided Upper Burma throughout the early 16th century (1502–1527) and fought a series of war against Ava and its ally Shan State of Thibaw (Hsipaw). The Confederation finally defeated
Ava in 1527, and placed Sawlon's eldest son
Thohanbwa on the Ava throne. Thibaw and its tributaries Nyaungshwe and Mobye also came over to the confederation.
The enlarged Confederation extended its authority down to
Prome (Pyay) in 1533 by defeating their erstwhile ally
Prome Kingdom
The Prome Kingdom ( my, ဒုတိယ သရေခေတ္တရာ နေပြည်တော်) was a kingdom that existed for six decades between 1482 and 1542 in present-day central Burma (Myanmar). Based out of the city of Prome ( ...
because Sawlon felt that Prome did not provide sufficient help in their war against Ava. After the Prome war, Sawlon was assassinated by his own ministers, creating a leadership vacuum. Although Sawlon's son
Thohanbwa naturally tried to assume the leadership of the Confederation, he was never fully acknowledged as the first among equals by other saophas.
An incoherent confederation neglected to intervene in the first four years of
Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War (1535–1541) in
Lower Burma. They did not appreciate the gravity of the situation until 1539 when
Toungoo defeated Hanthawaddy, and turned against its vassal Prome. The saophas finally banded together and sent in a force to relieve Prome in 1539. However, the combined force was unsuccessful in holding Prome against another Toungoo attack in 1542.
In 1543, the Burmese ministers assassinated Thohanbwa and placed
Hkonmaing, the saopha of Thibaw, on the Ava throne. Mohnyin leaders, led by
Sithu Kyawhtin, felt that the Ava throne was theirs. But in light of the Toungoo threat, Mohnyin leaders grudgingly agreed to Hkonmaing's leadership. The Confederation launched a major invasion of Lower Burma in 1543 but its forces were driven back. By 1544, Toungoo forces had occupied up to
Pagan. The confederation would not attempt another invasion. After Hkonmaing died in 1546, his son
Mobye Narapati
Mobye Narapati ( my, မိုးဗြဲ နရပတိ, ; Narapati III of Ava) also Sao Hso Kaw Hpa of Mong Pai
was the penultimate king of Ava who reigned from 1545 to 1551. The ethnically Shan king ruled as the disputed leader of the Con ...
, the saopha of Mobye, became king of Ava. The confederation's bickering resumed in full force. Sithu Kyawhtin set up a rival fiefdom in
Sagaing across the river from Ava and finally drove out Mobye Narapati in 1552.
The weakened Confederation proved no match for
Bayinnaung
, image = File:Bayinnaung.JPG
, caption = Statue of Bayinnaung in front of the National Museum of Myanmar
, reign = 30 April 1550 – 10 October 1581
, coronation = 11 January 1551 at Tou ...
's Toungoo forces. Bayinnaung captured Ava in 1555 and conquered all of Shan States in a series of military campaigns from 1556 to 1557.
British rule in Burma
In 1885, following
three wars that steadily added various parts of Burma to their empire, the British finally occupied all of the territory of present-day Myanmar. The area became then a
Province of British India.
[Encyclopædia Britannica]
Under the
British colonial administration, the Shan States became nominally sovereign
princely states. Although states were ruled by
local monarchs, they were subject to a
subsidiary alliance under the
paramountcy of the
British Crown.
Towards the last phase of British rule the Shan and Karenni states were labeled as "Frontier Areas", a broad designation for mountainous areas bordering India, China and Laos where the British government allowed local rule. in 1922 the Shan states were joined together into a Federation, the Federated Shan States. They were administered separately by the
Burma Frontier Service by British Assistance Superintendents, later renamed as Assistant Residents.
[
In 1935 the Frontier Areas were divided into "Excluded Areas" and "Partially Excluded Areas" —also known as "Part I Areas" and "Part II Areas"— through the Government of Burma Act.
]
Chinese Shan States
The Chinese Shan States were petty states or small territories of Shan people ruled by local monarchs under the suzerainty of China. They were also known as '' Koshanpye'' or "Nine Shan States". The main states were Mönglem (Mainglengyi, Maing-ying, Mong Lien), Möngmāu ( Mong Mao), Hsikwan (Si-gwin), Möngnā (Ganya), Sandā (Zhanda, Mong-Santa), Hosā (Ho Hsa, Hotha), Lasā (Mong Hsa, La Hsa), Möngwan (Mong Wan, Mo-wun), Möngmyen ( Mong Myen, Momien, Momein/Tengyue) and Köng-ma (Küngma, Kaing-ma, Kengma, Gengma), among others, in addition to Keng Hung ( Chiang Hung).
Most of the history of these petty Tai (Dai) Kingdoms is obscure. Existing chronicles and traditions regarding the northernmost outlying Shan States include conflicting names and dates which have led to different interpretations.
According to ancient tradition there was a State of Pong that had its origin in the legendary kingdom of Udiri Pale, founded in 58 BC. The ''Cheitharol Kumbaba
''Cheitharol Kumbaba'', also spelled ''Cheithalon Kumpapa'', is the court chronicle of the kings of Manipur.
The oldest extant version was copied in the early 19th century, under Jai Singh, the puppet king installed after the Burmese invasion, ...
'' Manipuri Kingdom chronicle —written much later— mentions an alliance between the Kangleipak
Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...
State and the Kingdom of Pong.[Phanjoubam Tarapot, ''Bleeding Manipur'', Har Anand Publications (July 30, 2007) ] This quasi-legendary kingdom is also mentioned among the conquests of Anoratha
Anawrahta Minsaw ( my, အနော်ရထာ မင်းစော, ; 11 May 1014 – 11 April 1077) was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone ...
, the King of Pagan. Some scholars identify the Kingdom of Pong with Mong Mao as well as with the kingdom of Luh Shwan mentioned in Chinese chronicles.[Yos Santasombat, ''Lak Chang: A Reconstruction of Tai Identity in Daikong'', p. 3-4]
Vassal state
A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back t ...
s to more powerful empires of China, these Shan States gained a measure of independence in the power vacuum left after the Dali Kingdom in Yunnan fell to the Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...
. By the 17th century the territories of these outlying Shan States had been merged into the core territories of Chinese dynasties, their rulers being allowed to retain a great measure of authority under the Tǔsī Zhìdù () system of recognized chieftainship. In mid 18th century, the Konbaung dynasty
The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...
's armies led a series of wars against the Chinese Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
following which eight of the Chinese Shan states were briefly occupied by the Kingdom of Burma
The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...
, but all of these northernmost Shan States remained under Chinese rule after that.[Kanbawsa - A Modern Review]
/ref>
The former Chinese Shan States are now part of Yunnan Province
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
. Under the Chinese administration the status of the Shan people in the Chinese Shan States was reduced when they were labelled as a "minority". Thus they became one more among the other ethnic minorities in that area of present-day Yunnan such as the Lahu and the Va.Susan Conway, ''The Politics of Inland Southeast Asia'', SOAS
/ref>
See also
* List of rulers of Shan states
The Shan State, a state of Myanmar (also known as Burma), was once made up of a large number of traditional monarchies or fiefdoms. These are collectively known as Shan States. Ranks of rulers
Three ranks of chiefs were recognized by the King o ...
* Shan people
* Wa States
References
Bibliography
*C. Patterson Giersch, ''Asian Borderlands: The Transformation of Qing China's Yunnan Frontier''. Harvard University Press (2006),
External links
*
"Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan states"
{{Burma (Myanmar) topics
Former countries in Southeast Asia
Former countries in Burmese history
Former countries in Thai history
History of Laos
History of Myanmar
Geographic history of Thailand
1215 establishments in Asia
1959 disestablishments in Asia
2nd millennium in Asia
13th century in Burma
Former kingdoms