Yangon University
I would like to express my thanks to the organizers of the Yunnan Institute for Nationalities, China and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Japan for making the necessary arrangements to enable me to attend the Kunming International Workshop on the "Dynamics of Ethnic Cultures Across National Boundaries in Southwestern China and Mainland Southeast Asia: Relations, Societies and Languages."
Human migration from one region to another is known to have taken place since time immemorial. Even after "national" boundaries appeared in history, the migration process remained an on-going one, and the trends of human migration have continued to the present time, gathering momentum and involving large numbers of people at certain times more than others. In some places ethnic crossings over national boundaries become serious problems and disputes over such issues are common between adjacent countries. Today any ethnic problem occurring along a border can precipitate an international crisis, which may need either a short or a long term solution.
Ethnology has also become a subject of study for scholars of international relations. Words such as ethnic identity, ethnic adaptation, ethnicity, ethnic politics, ethnic consciousness, ethnocentrism, ethnic discrimination, ethnic conflict, ethnic attachment, ethnic ideology, ethnic aspects, ethnic responses, ethnic issues, ethnic plurality, ethnic relations, ethnic misunderstanding, multi-ethnic problems, ethnogency and ethnography have become catch-words of the ethnologists in their dealings with ethnic issues in our international setting.
In some countries, national governments have explicitly provided in their Constitutions certain provisions, regulations, and laws regarding the rights and roles of ethnic minorities. Assurances and guarantees are given for the promotion and preservation of their cultures, languages, customs, traditions and beliefs. Usually, boundaries and areas that we call ethnic autonomy, ethnic centers, ethnic zones, ethnic belts, or ethnic communities are demarcated by national governments with the intention of having harmonious relationships among ethnic nationalities. Opportunities are also provided to ethnic nationalities to participate in local administration, in the management of national development projects and in the defense of sovereignty. In some countries provided with such assurances and guarantees, ethnic peoples co-exist peacefully and have cordial relations with each other. But in other places, racial prejudices are so deep-seated and socio-religious differences so great that conflict has occurred, quarrels have developed into armed clashes and ethnic cleansing, leading to loss of lives and property, and upheavals on a large scale. Such unrest and violent outbreaks have led to renewed ethnic migrations from one region to another and across national boundaries.
Activities along the National Border
Due to the physical nature of the terrain, proper security and control cannot be maintained along some borders. Thus, along with the migration, many illegal activities develop and flourish, such as smuggling and illicit trade in arms, drugs, jade, antiques , timber and prohibited herbs. Such trans-borders criminal activities do not offer any benefits to the majority of the ethnic people of the border regions and create an unhealthy atmosphere at the regional and global levels. Certain modernization activities - such as the building of new infrastructure, the development of rising new industries in ethnic regions, and cross-border trade and tourism - also pose a threat to ethnic communities if national governments and international agencies do not base them on knowledge and understanding of the ethnic peoples and their situation. It is therefore high time that the ethnic peoples living in the frontier areas be thoroughly studied with regard to their culture, language, literature, customs, traditions and beliefs and also their role in nation building, past and present. They should not just be left in isolation to be exploited by unregulated economic activities, influenced by alien cultures, put at risk for diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and otherwise open to a host of external factors which could disturb the social stability of the ethnic peoples and affect the sustainable human development in these areas.
The wind of globalization is blowing, and as it gathers more force it could disturb the tranquillity of the ethnic regions to bring about a deterioration of their national environment and an erosion of their values and heritage. The ethnic peoples are not yet adequately prepared for the consequences of globalization and the question is therefore who will help them face up to the challenges of globalization.
Ethnic Groups in Yunnan and Myanmar
The regions of Southwestern China and mainland Southeast Asia have been settled by many ethnic peoples since ancient times. Their history has been marked by struggles, wars, alliances, the creation and disintegration of their Baans (villages), Mongs (city-states), kingdoms and empires, and the efforts to re-create new ones in new lands. Some ethnic groups succeeded in creating highly organized kingdoms and empires, but others failed and, abandoning their old settlements, continued their migration south- and southeastward. Their migration was sometimes gentle, sometimes forceful depending on the pressures from new emigrants and the conflicts that took place among themselves. Those who picked hilltops and deep valleys for their settlements and were cut off and isolated from their parent stock became in the process of time a new ethnic group with a distinctive culture of their own, their linguistic affiliation later to be established by linguists and philologists. They survived on a simple sustainable type of economy and came to have new local names.
Yunnan, where numerous ethnic peoples make their homeland, is situated in southwest China, bounded on the north by Sichuan and Sizang (Sikang), on the east by Guizhou and Guangxi, on the south by Vietnam and Myanmar, and on the west by Myanmar and Assam. It is extremely mountainous with only a limited area of level plains. It is furrowed by the Taiping, Shweli, Salween, Mekong, Black and Red rivers. The Salween and the Mekong are rivers of great length, having their sources in the interior part of Tibet, and flowing through Yunnan and the neighboring lands of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The basins of these rivers and their tributaries form deep, narrow valleys which, with the high parallel mountain ranges running generally north and south, constitute a favourable home for numerous ethnic minorities. Yunnan shares a long common border with Myanmar and many ethnic groups that live in Yunnan can also be found in Myanmar. For example, the following ethnic nationalities, among many others, are common to both Yunnan and Myanmar:
1. Miao (Mhong)
2. Yao
3. Minchia (Pe-tso)
4. Wa
5. La
6. P'u-man
7. Palaung
8. K'a-mu
9. Shan (Tai)
10. Chinese
11. Tibetan (Petorpo)
12. Li-so (Li-su)
13. Mo-so (Na-She)
14. La-hu (Lo-hei)
15. A-ch'ang (Maingtha)
16. Ma-ru
17. La-shi
18. Kachin (Ching P'aw)
19. A-K'a
Linguistically these ethnic peoples belong to three families: Mon-Khmer, Tai, Chinese and Tibeto-Burman.
Migration and Settlement of Tai Ethnic Groups
Like many other ethnic peoples the Tai once had their homeland in China. Some historians believe that the Tai people first came to settle north of the Yellow (Huang Ho) river, occupying the region known as Hebei and Shanxi round about 2515 B.C. The Chinese annals also mention Tai settlements in the middle basin of the Yellow River in 850 B.C. They made their homeland here for a long time, establishing small feudal kingdoms and spreading their "Na" culture to neighboring regions. But new emigrants coming from Central Asia later impelled the Tai and other ethnic groups to move southwards to new fertile areas between the Yellow and Yangtze (Chang Jiang) rivers covering the present provinces of Hunan and Hubei.
With the Yellow River in the north and the Yangtze river in the south as their natural boundaries, the Tai and other ethnic peoples felt safe, and rebuilt their feudal kingdoms and erected their "Na" which lasted for several centuries. However, another wave of emigrants from the north, which became powerful and aggressive, put new pressure on the Tai ethnic group. With inter-state rivalries and an inability to establish unity, the Tai and ethnic people of the south were unable to resist the intrusion from the north, and split up into numerous groups. Some took refuge in the neighboring hills and valleys of Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, where they picked up new local names which concealed their identity and turned themselves into little-known hill tribes of the region, remaining obscure for centuries. Other Tai groups who were displaced by the new immigrants migrated into Honan to Hubei, and crossing the Yangtze river, fanned out in different directions to settle in Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Assam.
The central point of my paper here is to trace the routes of migration of the Tai people and their areas of settlement in Myanmar. The Tai in Myanmar are known to the Myanmar people as Shan, to Kachins, A-ch'angs, Zis and La-shis as Sam, to the Ma-ru as Sen, to the Palaung as Tsen, to the Wa as Shem and to the Talaing or Mon as Sem and to the Yunnanese as Pai-Yi. But they themselves like to be called "Tai." The Shans are the most widespread ethnic people in Myanmar, being found in every region. Their Baan or Maans (villages), Mongs (city-states) and settlements stretch from the northernmost region of Hkamti Long down to Taninthayi in the south, and from the eastern tip of Kengtung to Hsawng Hsup and Ta-mu to the west. In central Myanmar their settlements and communities can be found around Ava, Pinya, Sagaing, Taungoo, Phyu, Pyinmana and Pyay.
As to when exactly the Shans entered Myanmar, scholars have different views. Some believe that the migration of the Shans into Myanmar started 2000 years ago citing three reasons: first, their restless character which prompted them to find new lands to settle; second, their warlike character; and third, the pressure of new invasions from the north, such as those of A.D. 78 and A.D. 1253.
Most Shan chronicles say that a big wave of Shan migration took place in the 6th century A.D., the Shans moving from southern Yunnan into the Nam Mao valley and adjacent regions and establishing many Mongs, among them Bhamo, Mong Mit, Hsipaw, and Hsenwi. Making these places their first homeland in Myanmar, they spread out over the whole of the Shan State, establishing more Mongs and Kengs (towns) like Mong Naung, Mong Nang, Mong Hsu, Mong Kung, Mong Keshi-Mansam, Mong Laihka, Mong Nai, Mong Pan, Mong Maukmai, Mong Yawnghwe, Mong Sakoi, Mong Sam Kar, Mong Hsamongkham, Mong Lawk Sawk, Mong Pai, Keng Tawng, Keng Hkam and Keng Rom.
From Mong Kawng, Mong Yang, Waing Hso, Kat Hsa, the Shans moved northwards to the Hkamti Long area where they established the eight Mongs of the Khamti Shans: Lokhun, Mansi, Lon Kyein, Manse-Hkun, Mannu, Langdao, Mong Yak and Langnu. Moving to the west, they then occupied and established new Mongs like Hsawng Hsup, Sinkaling Hkamti, Mong Kale, Mong Leng (Mohling), Maing Kaing or Mong Kang, Hu-Kawng, Maw Leik, Mong Nyaung, Homalin, Phaungbyin, Hkam-Pat and Ta-Mu, between the Ayeyarwaddy and the Chindwin, along the Uyu river and even up to Manipur and Assam.
The Shan immigrants of north and northeastern Myanmar were recognized as the earliest branch of the Tai migration southwards, and they came to be known as Tai Long or Tai Yai, that is, "Great Tai". The later branch of the Tai migration to Laos and Thailand were known as Tai Noi or "Little Tai."
More migration of Shans into Myanmar took place when the powerful Shan kingdom of Mong Mao Long was established in the Mao valley. According to the Shan chronicles, the Mao political power reached its height in the 14th century, especially during the reign of the twin brothers Sao Hso Hkan Hpa and Sao Hsam Long Hpa.
All the principalities of northern and southern Shan State were united under the leadership of Sao Hso Hkan Hpa. He also extended his power to Laos, Cambodia and Thailand around about 1350. For the westward expansion, he assigned the task to his brother Sao Hsam Long Hpa who marched with his army to Mong Kawng which he easily annexed. Mong Kawng became the second capital next to Mong Mao. Making Mong Kawng his military base, Sao Hsam Long Hpa crossed the Ayarwaddy and Chindwin rivers to annex more new lands which included all the regions of the Kabaw valley, northern Rakhine, Manipur and Assam. New immigrants were settled into these newly conquered areas. Some of the followers who preferred to remain in Assam established their feudal communities along the Brahmaputra river and pledged their allegiance to the king of Tai Ahom. These Shans along the Brahmaputra river split in the course of time into Tai Ahom, Tai Aton, Tai Hkamyang, Tai Phake and Tai Tarong, to be later joined by Tai Hkamti from Myanmar. They survive to this day, although some have become Hinduized.
During the reign of Sao Hsam Long Hpa in Mong Kawng, several Baans and Mongs were established throughout northern Myanmar. Each Mong was under the Chief or Saohpa, and there were altogether ninety-nine Saohpas who who pledged their allegiance to Mong Kawng. The ethnic Tai people who came with Sao Hsam Long Hpa to northern Myanmar called themselves Tai Leng, but were called Shan-Myanmar by others. They became very Myanmarized. The Tai Leng settlements were scattered all over the present-day Kachin State, which at that time was Shan (see Appendix I). Those who settled at the northern tip of Myanmar around Putao came to be known as Tai Khamti. There were also Tai Long, Tai Mao and Tai Nu settlements in Bhamo, Mong Mauk, Waing Maw, Kat Kiao, Nam Ma, Nam Ti, Mong Kawng, Mong Yang and many other places in north and northeastern Myanmar. The Shans in northern Myanmar were skilled farmers. They brought along with them from Mong Mao Long the art of cultivation and turned the fertile lands of northern Myanmar into Na or rice fields. These Shan farmers concentrated their settlements in places with good soil and fresh water. In the Kyaukse area, they improved the land and irrigation system and turned the place into a rice bowl for Bagan. After the reign of King Narathihapate (1254-87) Bagan became very weak from the effects of the Mongol invasion. The Three Shan Brothers, Athinkaya, Yazathinkyan and Thihathu who controlled the economic base of Kyaukse area became very powerful and played a leading role in Bagan power politics. For two and a half centuries the Shans established their dynasties and made their power felt over Myanmar (see Appendix II).
In southern Myanmar there were several Shan settlements around Thaton, Mawlamyine, Madama and Bago. As elsewhere in Myanmar, the local chiefs of southern Myanmar locked themselves into the game of power politics. The most prominent and active of these was a Shan local chief named Wareru . He was the son of a Shan immigrant to Thaton and was born in a village called Doonwun near Thaton. When he grew up he went to Sukhotai and became a stable boy of the king. He was assigned to look after the royal elephants and to lead the elephant troops in times of war. He was also a good soldier and after a few successful campaigns he was promoted to the rank of captain of the guards. He later became acquainted with the king's daughter, eloped with her and brought her to Thaton. He involved himself in the local politics and later became the governor of Madama in 1281. He next turned his attention to Bago and was able to take it over in 1369, following which he established a dynasty which lasted from 1287 to 1539 (see Appendix III). During the reign of king Wareru, the Shans from Chiangmai and Thailand moved to Lower Myanmar. There they mixed and mingled with the Mons and became good cultivators in the delta area which later became the rice bowl of Southeast Asia. During the period of the Wareru dynasty, trade and commercial relations developed with European countries, bringing prosperity to Bago, Madama and the Taninthayi coastal region. Native products such as rubies and other gems of northern Myanmar, lac, ivory, horn, lead, tin, Bago or Madama jars, long peppers, and nyper wine made from dani palm were exchanged with products brought by European merchants such as camphor, pepper, scented wood, Chinese porcelain and velvet.
East of the Nam Kong river or the Salween, there are numerous Shan settlements called Waans and Kengs. The region is shaped like a triangle. Although the Shan immigrants of this area were closely affiliated ethnically to the Tai race, they retained local names such as Hkun, Lu, Lem, Ngio, Yun and Tai Nu. Based upon their Waan-Baan-Keng system the Tai ethnic people of this area established several Mongs and Kengs as their feudal states (see Appendix IV).
Kengtung is the largest of the feudal states in the eastern Shan State. It covers an area of over 12,000 square miles and is bounded by Thailand on the south, China on the north, and Laos on the east. Its inhabitants are mostly Hkun, Lu, Tai Long and many other ethnic groups, among them Yun, Ngio, Tai Nu, Lem, Laotian, Wa, La, Tai Loi, Kaw, Mu-Hso (La Hu), Ako, Li Saw, En, Hsen Hsum, Pyen, Palaung, Kwi (La Hu Chi), Kang, Yao, Hsem, Miao, Mang Tam, Sawn (son) and Thai.
The majority of the Tai Nu people have settlements mostly along the Yunnan-Myanmar border and the upper part of the Salween river in Yunnan where they had several feudal city states. Inside Myanmar the Tai Nu people live in Bhamo, Myitkyina, Mong Kawng, Mong Yang, Muse, Namhkam, Mong Kung, Laihka and Kengtung area especially in the northeastern part of the region around Mong Lem.
The Shans penetrated deep into Myanmar in the long course of their history, to occupy its plains, hills and valleys and turn wasteland into Na to produce rice either for their own consumption or for trade. They were hardy farmers and food cultivators and adopted a feudal type of administration and a self-sufficient sustainable economy. Wherever they migrated they introduced their system of Mong and Keng city-states. They frequently fought among themselves but also formed alliances against common enemies. Endless wars are recorded in their local chronicles. The constant fighting among themselves and against neighboring foes exhausted their strength so that they eventually became very weak. They split and settled so much and so far that it became impossible for them to retain their unity as in the days of the Nanchao and Mong Maw Long.
Merging of the Shans with Myanmar
In 1555, a powerful new king called Bayinnaung emerged and brought all the feudal Shan chiefs under his suzerainty. From then on, they became subordinate to the Myanmar kings. The final blow came when three wars took place between the Myanmar and the British. The Shan chiefs supplied contingent after contingent to fight against the British. Many Shans lost their lives during these three wars and there are stories of Shan women fighting gallantly and bravely with their men against the British. But bravery alone could not beat off the British from Myanmar, and the Myanmar army with the Shan levies suffered heavy losses. Upper Myanmar was finally annexed by the British and similarly, the Shan states, the Shan chiefs and the Shan peoples became part of the British colonial empire, up to the time of the Second World War.
During British administration, the Shan states were separated from Myanmar proper, forming a Federated Shan States. Other Shan ethnic areas became either hill-tracts or frontier areas, which were the responsibility of the British governor through Commissioners, Residents and Assistant Residents, with the Shan Chiefs given the right to manage their own local affairs.
After the annexation, the British did not have an easy time in Myanmar. It took the British some years to pacify Upper Myanmar and the Shan States. Various forms of struggle for independence developed, sometimes mild and sometimes violent. After World War II, the movement for independence gathered greater momentum and finally, after talks and negotiations with the Myanmar leaders, the British agreed to grant independence.
Having gone through the unpleasant experience of colonial rule, the Shans decided to join hands with the Myanmar people in getting independence. Together with the leaders of other ethnic minorities from the hills, the Shan chiefs and representatives of the Shan people organized a conference in Pang Long in central Shan States to discuss matters relating to independence. All delegates attending the Pang Long Conference felt that independence for the Myanmar people, separate from that of the hill people led by the Shans, would be meaningless since these people had lived together from the beginning of the history of the country, and were as children coming from the same womb.
On February 12, 1947 the delegates signed the historic Pang Long Agreement, which agreed on national unity and unseparated independence for the whole country. This date was later declared Union Day, to commemorate the unity achieved in Pang Long. On the basis of this unity, Myanmar gained independence on January 4, 1948. The Shan ethnic people today join hands with other ethnic and Myanmar peoples in the building of the Union of Myanmar as a modern developed nation.
Appendix I: Former Shan Settlements in North Myanmar
The successive conquests achieved by Sao Hsam Long Hpa over the northern territory encouraged greater Shan migration to these new areas and led to further establishment of their Ban-Mong system. Territories which now belong to Kachin State were once under the rule of the Mong Kawng Saohpa and many Shans (affiliated to the Thai-Long ethnic group) can still be found dominating the following Bans and Mongs of the region shown below:
1. Alambo
2. Aungthagon
3. Bilumyohaung or Waing Hpai Kao
4. Bilumyothit or Waing Hpai Mai
5. Gurkhaywa
6. Hopin or Ho-Pang
7. Htantabin or Ban Htan Ton Leo
8. Htopu or Ban Hto Hpu
9. Inbaung or ban Kyapt Naung
10. Ingyigon (old) or Ban Kaung Pao Kao
11. Ingyingon (new) or Ban Kaung Pao Mai
12. Kangon or Ban Kong Naung
13. Kanhla or Ban Naung Ngarm
14. Kayuchaung or Ban Nam Haung Hoi
15. Kondangyi or Ban Kong Khay
16. Kyakyikwin Ban Naung Mo Long
17. Letpandan
18. Lwelaw or Ban Loi Law
19. Mahaung
20. Maing Naung or Mong Naung
21. Mamana
22. Manywet or Ban Ywet
23. Mawhan
24. Mogaung or Mong Kawng
25. Mohnyin or Mong Yang
26. Moknaung
27. Myadaung
28. Myohla
29. Myothitgyi or Waing Mai
30. Nam Khwin
31. Namma
32. Nampoke
33. Namti
34. Nanhaing
35. Nansawlaw
36. Nansun
37. Natgyikon or Ban Hpi Long
38. Natyingya
39. Nyaunggaing
40. Nyaunggon or Ban Kon Nyaung
41. Ohnbaung
42. Pinbaw or Ban Pang Baw
43. Pinhe
44. Pinlon or Ban Panglong
45. Pintha or Ban Pyin Hsa
46. Pwinbusu
47. Sahmaw or Ban Mao Khay
48. Shanzu
49. Shwe-in or Ban Naung Hkam
50. Tagwin
51. Ta-paw
52. Taungbaw or Ban Ho Loi
53. Taungni or Ban Loi Leng
54. Tiggyaingsu
55. Theikwagon
56. Thutegon
57. Yawthit or Ban Mai
58. Yawathikyi or Ban Mai Long
59. Thayetta
In Kamaing Township:
1. Chaungwa or Ban Pak Haung
2. Haungpa or Ban Haung Par
3. Hepan or Haipan
4. Hepu or Haipu
5. Kamaing
6. Lawsun
7. Lepon
8. Letpangon
9. Lonsan or Long San
10. Lonton
11. Lwemun or Loimun
12. Maing Pok or Mong Pok
13. Mapyin
14. Maubin Natlatan
15. Nammun
16. Nanhlaing
17. Nankat
18. Nanya
19. Nyaungbin
20. Sezin
21. Taunghaw
In Myitkyina Township:
1. Akye
2. Ayeindama
3. Baingbin
4. Hokat
5. Katcho or Kat Kiao
6. Khaungpu or Hkaunghpu old
7. Khaungpu or Hkaungpu new
8. Kokma
9. Kwitu
10. Legon
11. Maingmaw or Mong Maw
12. Mainga or Mong Na
13. Male
14. Mangin
15. Mankin Saragatawng
16. Mankin Shewzet
17. Manmakan or Man Mark Karm
18. Manpwa
19. Mintha
20. Myitkyina
21. Nampong
22. Nanhe
23. Namkalan
24. Nankwe
25. Nanpomaw
26. Nanwa
27. Naunghi
28. Naungmun
29. Naungpakat
30. Nyaungbintha
31. Okkyin
32. Pamati
33. Panpa
34. Pidaung
35. Pinlontaw
36. Pinlonyana
37. Rampur
38. Sanga
39. Sangin
40. Sekow
41. Sinbo
42. Sitapur
43. Tahona or Ta Ho Na
44. Taiklon
45. Talawgyi
46. Tasaing
47. Talkon
48. Thagaya
49. Tonpakut
50. Ulauk
51. Wainglon
52. Waingmaw
53. Washaung
54. Zigyun
Source: The Kachin Hill Manual. Rangoon: The Superintendent Government Printing, Union of Burma, 1959. pp. 17-18
Appendix II: Shan Kings in Myanmar
The list of Shan kings who succeeded the kings of Bagan and reigned at Myinsaing and Pinya is:
1. Athinhkaya, Yazathinkyan and Thihathu, the three Shan brothers who acquired power after the fall of Bagan and governed the country with equal status from A.D. 1298. Their joint reign lasted fourteen years.
2. Thihathu or Ta-tsi-shin, youngest of the three brothers who made himself king at Pinya in 1312 and reigned for ten years.
3. Uzana son of Kyawswa (1287-98, deposed king of Bagan) and the adopted son of Thihathu.
4. Ngasishin Kyawswa (half brother of 3), son of Thihathu, he became king in 1343 and reigned eight years.
5. Kyawswa-nge (son of 4) became king in 1350 and reigned five years.
6. Narathu (brother of 5) became king in 1354 and reigned nine years.
7. Uzana Pyaung (brother of 6) became king in 1364, and was assassinated after three months' rule by Thadonminbya.
Turning to Sagaing, there were seven Shan kings who reigned from 1315 to 1364:
1. Sawyun or Saoyun, the son of Thihathu or Tai-tsi-shin who also reigned at Myinsaing and Pinya. He became king in 1315 and reigned seven years.
2. Tarabyagyi (step brother of 1), became king in 1323 and reigned fourteen years.
3. Shwetaungtet (son of 2), became king in 1336 and reigned three years.
4. Kyawswa (son of 2), became king in 1340 and reigned ten years.
5. Nawrahtaminye (brother of 4), became king in 1350 and reigned seven months.
6. Tarabyange (brother of 5) bcame king in 1350 and reigned three years.
7. Minbyauk Thiapate (brother-in-law of 6) was driven from Sagaing by a Shan army from the north and murdered by his stepson, Thadonminbya in 1364.
Awa, the capital of upper Myanmar for many years, was founded with the help of the Shan chief Thadominbya in 1364. There were nineteen chiefs of Shan descent who reigned in Awa from 1364 to 1555:
1. Thadominbya said to be descended from the ancient Shan kings of Takawng or Tagaung on his mother's side, he was the grandson of Athinhkaya Sawyun, the Shan king of Sagaing. He founded Awa in 1364, became king in the same year and reigned three years.
2. Nga Nu (usurper), a paramour of Sao Umma, became king in 1368, and reigned only for a few days.
3. Mingyiswasawke, said to be descended from both the Bagan dynasty and the Shan brothers, became king in 1368 and reigned thirty-five years.
4. Tarbya or Sinbyushin (eldest son of 3), became king in 1401 but reigned only seven months, being murdered by his attendant.
5. Nga Nauk Hsan, became king in 1401 and reigned only a few weeks.
6. Minkhaung (another son of 3) hesitated to accept the throne, but his younger brother Theiddat killed a cousin claimant and made him king. He became king in 1401 and reigned twenty-one years.
7. Thiathu (son of 6) became king in 1422 and reigned four years. He was murdered at the instigation of Queen Shin Bo Me.
8. Minhla Ngai (son of 7) king in 1426 and reigned only three months before he was poisoned.
9. Kalekyetaungnyo (usurper) became king in 1426 but reigned only seven months.
10. Mohnyithado or Mohnyinmintara, chief of Shan descent who justified his claim to the throne as a descendant of the kings Narapatisithu (1173-1210) and Ngasishin (1343-1350) of Bagan and of the family of the three Shan brothers. He became king in 1427 and reigned thirteen years.
11. Minrekyawswa (son of 10) became king in 1440 and reigned three years.
12. Narapati (Thihathu) (brother of 11), became king in 1443 and reigned twenty-six years.
13. Thihathu or Mahathihathura (son of 12), became king in 1469 and reigned twelve years.
14. Minhkaung (son of 13), became king in 1481 and reigned twenty-one years.
15. Shwenankyawshin (son of 14), became king in 1502 and reigned twenty-five years. He was killed by Thohanbwa or Hso Hom Hpa.
16. Thohanbwa or Hso Hom Hpa, son of Mohyin Saolon who conquered Awa. He became king in 1527 and reigned sixteen years. He was murdered.
17. Hkonmaing or Hkun Mong, Saohpa of On Baung or Hsipaw and related to Shwenanshin, was elected king of Awa in 1543 and reigned three years.
18. Mobye (or Mong Pai) Narapati (son of 17), Saohpa of Mong Pai became king in 1546 and reigned six years and abdicated.
19. Sithukyawhtin, a Shan chief of Salin, seized Awa and became king in 1552, and reigned three years. He was conqured and deposed by Bayinnaung in 1555.
Source: G.E. Harvey. History of Burma, from "The Earliest Time to March 1824, The Beginning of English Conquest". London: Frank Case and Co. Ltd., 1967. p. 160.
Appendix III: Shan Kings of Bago
The following is the list of the Shan kings of Bago of the dynasty established by Wareru in 1287:
1. Wareru, the Shan chief who established the dynasty but had his capital at Madama. He became king in AD 1287 (S 649) and reigned nineteen years.
2. Khun-lau' or Tha Na'ran Bya Keit who became king in 1306 and reigned four years.
3. Dza'u-a'u or Theng-Mha'ing (nephwe of 2), who became king in 1310 and reigned thirteen years.
4. Dzau-dzip, or Binya-ran-da (brother of 3) who became king in 1323 and reigned seven years.
5. Binya-e'-la'u (son of 2, Khun-lau and cousin of 4) who became king in 1330 and reigned eighteen years.
6. Byinya-u or Tseng-Pyu-Sheng (son of 4 and cousin of 5), who restored the ancient capital Bago or Hansawadi. He became king in 1348 and reigned thirty-eight years.
7. Binya-nwe, or Ra'dza' Di-rit (son of 6) who became king in 1385 and reigned thirty-eight years.
8. Binya Dham-ma Ra'-dza (son of 7) who became king in 1423 and reigned three years.
9. Binya-Ra'n-kit (brother of 8) who became king in 1426 and reigned twenty years.
10. Binya-Wa-ru (nephew of 9) who became king in 1446 and reigned four years.
11. Binya Keng (cousin of 10) who became king in 1450 and reigned three years.
12. Mhau-dau (cousin of 11) who became king in 1453 and reigned seven months.
13. Queen Sheng Tsau Bu or Binya-dau' who became queen in 1453 and reigned seven years.
14. Dham-ma Dze-di (cousin of 13) who became king in 1460 and reigned thirty-one years. He did not belong to the royal family.
15. Binya Ran' (son of 14 and son-in-law of 13) who became king in 1491 and reigned thirty-five years.
16. Ta-ka'-rwut-bi (son of 15) who became king in 1526 and reigned fourteen years.
He was conquered and deposed by Tabeng-Shweti, king of Taungoo in 1540.
Source: Sir Arthur P. Phayre. History of Burma, Including Burma Proper, Taungu, Tenasserim and Arakan. London: 1883. pp. 290-291.
Appendix IV
Some of the Mongs and Kengs established by the Shan immigrants east of Salween were:
Mong Yang
Mong Lwe
Mong Hkak
Mong Ka
Mong Pawk
Mong Hka
Mong Leng
Mong Tum
Mong Ka
Mong Hsim
Mong Pan
Mong Pu
Mong Hit
Mong Mu
Mong Hsen
Mong Ing
Mong Pu-awn
Mong Ping
Mong Hpong
Mong Kwi
Mong Mang
Mong Set
Mong Hum
Mong Tang
Mong Mau
Mong Pak
Mong Yoi
Mong Hkawn
Mong Ngawn
Mong Rom
Mong Wak
Mong Lai
Mong Ung
Mong Nung
Mong Nywn
Keng Tung
Keng Hkam
Keng Taung
Keng Lap
Keng Hkawng
Keng Hkang
Keng Hkum
Source: George Scott and J.P. Hardiman. Gazetteer of the Upper Burma and the Shan States, Part II Vol. I. Rangoon: The Superintendent, Government Printing, Burma, 1901. pp. 374-5.
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Local chronicles in Shan, Myanmar and Hkun:
Mong Mit (Myanmar)
Mong Kawng (Myanmar)
Hsipaw (Shan)
Hsenwi (Shan)
Yawnghwe (Myanmar)
Keng Tung (Hkun)
Hsawng Hsup (Myanmar)
Hkamti Long (Shan and Myanmar)