The Shan settlements in Myanmar

(Kwan Hseng)
Introduction
Ethnologically speaking, Myanmar is one of the richest countries in the world. More than a hundred ethnic peoples are presently scattered all over the country, making it their homeland and sharing their griefs and joys for centuries. When Myanmar was about to get its independence, a historic conference was held at a small town called Panglong in central Shan State which brought together representatives of the ethnic representatives of the ethnic people led by the Shan leaders and of the Myanmar Government led by General Aung San. At the conference it was agreed that the ethnic people would cooperate in all the activities for independence and than they would enjoy full autonomy in internal administration as well as fundamental rights and privileges. When Myanmar gained independence in 1948 the Union of Myanmar with three States of the ethnic minorities, viz Kachin State, Kayah State and Shan State came into existence. Subsequently other States of the ethnic minorities were created, so that at present there are Seven States1 of the ethnic minorities and Seven Divisions2 of different nationalities with Myanmar as the major unit. Of the Seven States of ethnic minorities, Shan State is the largest and is located in the eastern portion of Myanmar. The majority of its inhabitants are commonly known to the Myanmar people as "Shan".

The Shan are the most widely scattered of the ethnic people in Myanmar and they can be found in every part of the country. Their Mans (villages), Mongs (city-states) and settlements stretch from the northernmost region of Hkamti Long down to Tharrawaddy and then to southern Taninthayi (Tenasserim) and from the tip of Kengtung in the east to Hsawng Hsup, Kabaw valley and Ta-mu in the west. In central Myanmar many Shan settlements can be found around Ava, Pinya, Sagaing, Toungoo, Pyinmana and Pyi (Prome).

Reasons for Migration
The question here is: When did the Shans enter Myanmar? In fact, they had migrated into this country so long ago that nobody could exactly ascertain the actual date of their coming. Some scholars, including Dr. Cushing believe that the migration of the Shans into Myanmar took place two thousand years ago. The reasons for the migration being:

The restlessness of their character which urged them to move to find new places where they could settle independently and in isolation. Because of this, their migration was, in general, rather slow and peaceful.

Their peculiar war-like character which occasionally manifested itself. Because of this, their migration was at times rather forceful and aggressive, such as the military expeditions into Myanmar, once before the Christian era and another in A.D. 2413. A combined force of "Taroks" and "Tareks" which invaded Bagan and the Taroks are probably "Shan".

The pressure of Chinese invasion and conquests such at those which happened in A.D. 78 and A.D. 1253.

In A.D. 78 a quarrel broke out between Chinese and Shan leaders over the question of the appointment of a Chinese official to represent the suzerainty of China over the Shan and a fierce battle broke out between the Shans and the Chinese. The Shan leader Lei-Lao, being defeated took his followers and migrated to the present northern Shan State, that being one of the earliest migrations of the Shans into Myanmar4.

A similar migration in great strength took place in A.D. 1253 as a direct result of the conquest of the Shan Kingdom of Ta-li-fu by Kablai Khan.

Establishment of Mongs
Most of the northern Shan chronicles also indicate that a great wave of Shan migration took place in the 6th century A.D. with the Shans shifting from the mountains of southern Yunnan into the Nam Mao valley and to the adjacent region, establishing many Mongs like Bhamo, Mong Mit, Hsipaw, Hsenwi and other. Making these places their first homeland they spread out to the present Shan State to establish more Mongs and Kengs like Mong Nawng, Mong Hsu, Mong Kawng, Mong Keshi-mansam, Mong Laika, Mong Nai, Mong Pan, Mong Mawkmai, Keng Rom, Keng Tawng, Keng Hkam, Yawnghwe, Mong Lawk Sawk, Hsamonghkam, Mong Sam Ka, Mong Pai and others; and from Mong Kawng, Mong Yang, Waing Hso, Kat Hsa moving north-westwards to Hkamti Long area where they established the eight Mongs of Hkamti Shans; Lokhun, Mansi, Lon Kyein, Mansehkun, Mannu, Langdao, Mong Yak and Longnu5. Moving to the west the Shans occupied and established the new Mongs of Hsawng Hsup6, Singkalaing Hkamti (Kanti) 7, Mong Kale8, Mong Leng (Mohling) Main Kaing9 or Mong Kang, Hu-Kawng, Mawlek, Mong Yaung (Mong Nyaung), Homalin (Hom Mark Leng), Paungbyin, Hkam-Pat, Ta Mu, etc. between the Ayarwaddy and the Chindwin and along the Uyu river and ever up to Manipur and Assam.

The Shan immigrants of upper Myanmar were the oldest branch of the Tai ethnic group being known as "Tai Long" or "Tai Yai", that is "Great Tai". Tai Mao and Tai Nua were also classified as "Tai Long". Later Shan immigrants to Laos and Thailand were call "Tai Noi" or "Little Tai".

More Migration during the Reign of Sao Hso Khan Hpa and Sao Hsam Long Hpa

A constant flow of the Shan migration was made possible when a powerful Shan Kingdom called Mong Mao Long was established in the Mao valley. For many decades the Mao Shans had concentrated on the building of the Mao power in this valley and a number of old capitals existed in this valley, a well-known one being Se-Lan10. All the chronicles of the northern Shan State agree that the Mao political power reached its height in the 7th century and that it maintained itself with varying degree of progress and prosperity, especially during the reign of the twin brothers Sao Hso Hkan Hpa and Sao Hsam Long Hpa.

The first thing Sao Hso Khan Hpa did, when he came to the throne was to consolidate and to bring all the Shan principalities of the neighbouring areas and those located in the northern and southern Shan State under his suzerainty. To achieve his objective, he employed two methods. One was to request all the neighbouring Shan Chiefs to voluntarily acknowledge his overlordship; the other was to bring those who failed to submit under his rule by force of arms. Both methods were successful and within a few years he brought all such regions under his rule. Emboldened by success, he embarked upon a policy of expansion towards the southeast and the south, undertaking the military expeditions in person. The campaigns were successful and he annexed a strip of land from Tali on the north to Keng-sen, Ving-chang and some territories far down to Cambodia. In the southern Thailand and also Ayuthia, in 135011. In the south-west, he overran the Monland right down the Taninthayi peninsular. Bagan was also included in the list of his captured kingdoms12.

To expand the Mao power towards the west, he assigned the task to his brother General Sao Hsam Long Hpa. The General with his army marched down to Mong Kawng which he easily annexed. Then, making Mong Kawng his military base and second capital next to Mong Mao Long, he crossed the Ayeyawady, the Uyu and the Chindwin rivers and easily brought all the existing Shan principalities to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Mao King, Sao Hso Hkan Hpa. Then Sao Hsam Long Hpa marched up to northern Rakhine (1294) to bring Waisali, Manipur, region around Brahmaputra and Assam (1229) under the rule of the Mao King. The Mong Kawng annals mention that there were eight races of people who acknowledged the overlordship of the Mong Kawng Chief, the Nora, divided into tribes like the Ai-Ton, the Ai-Kham, and Fakei (the latter were not Khaung or Khang-sei (i.e. the Khyen or Nagas); the Singphos or Kachyens: the Pwons, divided into great and small Pwons; the Kadus, a kindred people to the latter were similarly divided; the Yaws, a tribe of Burmans on the right bank of the Ayarwaddy; the Kunbaw, said to be the Burmese of the neighbourhood of Mautshobo (Moksobo), the Kunungs and Kunmuns, or Mishmis, divided by the Assamese into Mkju and Chullicotta Mishmis 13. About ninety-nine Saohpas of northern Myanmar pledged their allegiance to the Chief of Mong Kawng and Mong Mao Long14.

Former Shan Settlements in North Myanmar
The successive conquests achieved by Sao Hsam Long Hpa over the northern territory encouraged greater Shan immigration 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 Tai-Long ethnic group) can still be found dominating in the Bans and Mongs of the region as follows:

Alambo
Aungthagon
Bilumyohaung or Waing Hpai Kao
Bilumyothit or Waing Hpai Mai
Gurkhaywa
Hopin or Ho-Pang
Htantabin or Ban Htan Ton Leo
Htopu or Ban Hto Hpu
Inbaung or Ban Kyapt Naung
Ingyingon-Old. Ban Kaung Pao Kao
Ingyinon-New. Ban Kaung Pao Mai
Kangon or Ban Kon Naung
Kanhla or Ban Naung Ngarm
Kayuchaung or Ban nam haung Hoi
Kondangyi or Ban Kong Khay
Kyakyikwin Ban Naung Mo Long
Letpadan
Lwelaw or Ban Loilaw
Mahaung
Maing Naung or Mong Naung
Manywet or Ban Ywet
Mawhan
Mogaung or Mong Kawng
Mohnyin or Mong Yang
Mokaung
Myadaung
Myothitgyi or Waing Mai
Namana
Nam Khwin
Namma
Nampoke
Namti
Nanhaing
Nansawlaw
Nansun
Natgyikon or Ban Hpi Long
Natyingya
Naunggaing
Nyaunggon or Ban Kon Nyaung
Ohnbaung
Pinbaw or Ban Pang Baw
Pinhe
Pinlon or Ban Panglong
Pintha or Ban Pyin Hsa
Pwinbyusu
Sahmaw or Ban Mao Khay
Shanzu
Shwe-in
Tagwin
Ta-paw
Taungbaw
Taungni or Ban Loi Leng
Tiggyaingsu
Theikwagon
Thutegon
Yawthit or Ban Mai
Yawathikyi
Myohla
Thayetta
In Kamaing Township

Chaungwa or Ban Pak Haung
Haungpa
Hepan or Haipan
Hepu or Haipu
Kamaing
Lawsun
Lepon
Letpangon
Lonsan or Long San
Lonton
Lwemun or Loimun
Maing Pok or Mong Pok
Mapyin
Maubin Nalatan
Nammun
Nanhlaing
Nankat
Nanya
Nyaungbin
Sezin
Taunghaw
In Myitkyina Township

Akye
Ayeindama
Baingbin
Hokat
Katcho or Kat Kiao
Khaungpu or Hkaunghpu old
Khaungpu or Hkaunghpu new
Kokma
Kwitu
Legon
Maingmaw or Mong Maw
Maingna or Mong Na
Male
Mangin
Mankin Saragatawng
Makin Shwezet
Manmakan or Man Mark Karn
Manpwa
Mintha
Myitkyina
Nampoung
Nanhe
Namkalan
Nankwe
Nanponmaw
Nanwa
Naunghi
Naungmun
Naungpakat
Naungbintha
Okkyin
Pamati
Pampa
Pidaung
Pinlontaw
Pinlonyana
Rampur
Sanga
Sangin
Sekow
Sinbo
Sitapur
Tahona or Ta Ho Na
Taiklon
Talawgyi
Tasaing
Talkon
Thagaya
Tonpakut
Ulauk
Wainglon
Waingmaw
Washaung
Zigyun15
Although the majority of the Shan in these areas are ethnologically affiliated to the Taileng ethnic group, there are also Shans who belong ethnologically to Tai Hkamti and Tai-nua groups. They live together in some regions and each tries to maintain its own traditions, customs, beliefs and dialect. But we find that the Shans affiliated to Tai-leng group are gradually becoming Myanmarnized. In some of the Shan Bans and Mongs there are also new immigrants of Sinpho ethnic groups coming to live among the Shans and strangely enough there are also some Nepalese or Gurkhas who live together happily with the Shans in some Bans and Mongs in northern Myanmar.

The twin brother kings, Sao Hso Kham Hpa and Sao Hsam Long Hpa did much to enable Shan immigrants to migrate and settle down in various parts of Myanmar and make it their homeland. They made the Shan power felt everywhere and encouraged the Shan immigrants to establish wherever possible their city-states which came to be known as "Mong" or "Keng". They also encouraged the Shans to reclaim forests for rice plantation. Thus the land became the rice bowl of Southeast Asia. Having developed agricultural skills since their stay in China, the Shan farmers improve the land to increase the rice production for the people of Bagan. After Narathihapate (1254-87) Bagan had become very weak with the effect of the Mongol invasion being felt everywhere. The three Shan brothers Athinkaya. Yazathinkyan and Thihathu, Chief of Mynsaing, Mekkhaya and Pinle located in the strategic district of Kyaukse got themselves concerned in Myanmar politics and that gave rise to a period of two and a half centuries of Shan domination in Myanmar.

Shan Kings in Myanmar
The list of Shan kings who succeeded the kings of Bagan and reigned at Myinsaing and Pinya is:

Athinhkaya, Yazathinkyan and Thihathu, the three Shan brothers who acquired power after the fall of Bagan and governed the country with equal status form A.D. 1298, their joint reign lasted fourteen years.

Thihathu or Ta-tsi-Shin, youngest of the three brothers who made himself king at Pinya form 1312 for ten years.

< align="justify">Uzana (stepson of No.2) son of Kyawswa (1287-98), deposed king of Bagan and the adopted son of Thihathu.
Ngasishin Kyawswa (half brother of No. 3), son of Thihathu or Ta-tsi-shin, became king in 1343 and reigned eight years.

Kyawswa-nge (son of No. 4) became king in 1350 and reigned nine years.
Narathu (brother No. 5) became king in 1354 and reigned five years.
Uzana Pyaung (brother No. 6) became kin in 1364, and assassinated after three months rule by Thadominbya.

Turning to Sagaing there were seven Shan kings who reigned at Sagaing from 1315 to 1364:

Sawyun or Saoyun, the son of Thihathu or Ta-tsi-shin who also reigned at Myinsaing and Pinya. He became king in 1315 and reigned seven years.

Tarabyagyi (step brother of No. 1), became king in 1323 and reigned fourteen years.

Shwetaungtet (son of No. 2), became king in 1336 and reigned three years.

Kyawswa (son of No. 2), became king in 1340 and reigned ten years.

Nawrahtaminye (brother of No. 4), became king in 1350 and reigned seven months only.

Tarabyange (brother of No. 5), became king in 1350 and reigned three years.

Minbyauk Thihapate, (brother-in-law of No. 6) was driven from Sagaing by a Shan army from the north and murdered by his stepson, Thadominbya in 1364.

Ava 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 Ava from 1364 to 1555.

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 Ava in 1364, became king in the same year and reigned three years.

Nga Nu (usurper), a paramour of Sao Umma, became king in 1368, and reigned only a few days.

Mingyiswasawke, said to be descended from both the Bagan dynasty and the Shan brothers, became king in 1368 and reigned thirty-five years.

Tarabya or Sinbyushin, (eldest son of No. 3), became king in 1401 but reigned only seven months, being murdered by his attendant.

Nga Nauk Hsan, became king in 1401 and reigned only a few weeks.

Minkhaung (another son of No. 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.

Thihathu (son of No. 6) became king in 1422 and reigned four years. He was murdered at the instigation of Queen Shin Bo Me.

Minhla Ngai (son of No. 7) became king in 1426 but reigned only three months. He was poisoned.

Kalekyetaungnyo (usurper) became king in 1426 but reigned only seven months.

Mohnyinthado or Mohnyimintara, Chief of Shan descent who enforced his claim ot the throne, as descent of the kings of Bagan, Narapatisithu (1173-1210) and Ngasishin (1343-1350) and of the family of the three Shan brothers. He became king in 1427 and reigned thirteen years.

Minrekyawswa (son of No. 10) became king in 1440 and reigned three years.

Narapati (Thihathu) (brother of No. 11), became king in 1443 and reigned twenty six years.

Thihathu or Mahathihathura (son of No. 12) became kin in 1469 and reigned twelve years.

Minhkaung (son of No. 13) became king in 1481 and reigned twenty-one years.

Shwenankyawshin, (son of No. 14) became king in 1502 and reigned twenty five years. He was killed by Tho-han-bwa or Hso Hom Hpa who succeeded to the throne.

Thohanbwa or Hso Hom Hpa, son of Mohnyin Saolon who conquered Ava. He became king in 1527 and reigned sixteen years. He was murdered.

Hkonmaing or Hkun Mong, Saohpa Onbaung or Hsipaw and related to Shwe-nan-Kyaw-shin, was elected king of Ava. He became king in 1543 and reigned three years.

Mobye (or Mong Pai) Narapati (son of No. 17) Saohpa of Mong Pai became king of Ava in 1546, reigned six years and abdicated.

Sithukyawhtin, a Shan Chief of Salin, seized Ava and became king in 1552, and reigned three years. He was conquered and deposed by Bayinnaung in 155516.

Shan Settlements in Southern Myanmar
As for the Shans of Southern Myanmar, Myanmar history tells us that there were several Shan settlements around Thaton, Mawlamyine, Madana and Bago. Like elsewhere in Myanmar the local chiefs of Southern Myanmar locked themselves into the game of power politics. The most prominent of them was a local Shan chief called Wareru who became the most active player of the game. 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 rendered his services to the king as a stable boy. His duty was to look after the royal elephants, sometime going along with the king on an expedition. He proved himself capable and efficient and was promoted to the rank of captain of the guard. Also because of his close association with the king he came to be acquainted with the king's daughter. One day, during the absence of the king he eloped with the daughter and brought her to his native place Thaton.

He was an ambitious young man and Machiavellian in his actions, using every possible means to achieve his political ambitions. When he returned to his native land his first political move was to eliminate Aleimma the governor of Madana. He tricked Aleimma, with the beauty of his sister as a lure; the governor fell into his trap and was murdered. He thus gained control of the strategic sea-port of Madana in 1281. He next turned his attention to Bago which was the time ruled alternately by Myanmar and Mon. He made a alliance with the Mon prince Tarabya by giving his daughter in marriage to him. The two of them jointly attacked Bago outsted the Myanmar governor and occupied much of the territories south of Pyi and Taungoo. A quarrrel arose over the division of their new territories and Tarabya hatched a plot to ambush Wareru but failed. Unable to solve their territorial problem peacefully, they finally agreed to solve the problem through a single combat on elephants. Tarabya lost the combat and was executed. After that Wareru emerged as the sole ruler of southern Myanmar and was recognized by China and Thailand. The king of Sukhotai who was his father-in-law sent him a white elephant as symbol of his appreciation and recognition of his political achievement. Wareru shifted his capital from Madana to Bago in 1369 and established a dynasty which lasted from 1287 to 1539. The following is the list of the Shan kings of Bago of the dynasty established by Wareru in 1287:

Wareru, A.D. 1287 (S. 649). The Shan chief who established the dynasty but had his capital at Madana. He reigned nineteen years.

Khun-lau' or Tha na' ran bya keit who became king in A.D. 1306 (S. 668) and reigned four years.

Dza'u-a'u or Theng-Mha'ing (nephew of 2), who became king in A.D. 1310 (S. 672) and reigned thirteen years.

Dzau-dzip, or Binya-ran-da (brother of 3) who became king in A.D. 1323 (S. 685) and reigned seven years.

Binya-e'-la'u (son of 2, Khun-Lau and cousin of 4) who became king in A.D. 1330 (S. 692) and reigned eighteen years.

Byinya-u, or Tshen-Pyu-Sheng (son of 4 Dzau-dzip and cousin of 5), who restored the ancient capital Bago or Hansawadi. He became king in A.D. 1348 (S. 710) and reigned thirty-seven years.

Binya-nwe, or Ra'-dza' di-rit (son of 6) who became king in A.D. 1485 (S. 747) and reigned 38 years.

Binya Dham-ma Ra'-dza (kson of 7) who became king in A.D. 1423 (S. 785) and reigned three years.

Binya-Ra'n-kit (brother of 8) who became king in A.D. 1426 (S. 788) and reigned twenty years.

Binya-Wa-ru (nephew of 9) who became king in A.D. 1466 (S. 808) and reigned four years.

Binya Keng (cousin of 10) who became king in A.D. 1450 (S. 812) and reigned three years.

Mahau-dau (cousin of 11) who became king in A.D. 1453 (S. 815) and reigned seven months.

Queen Sheng tsau bu, Binya dau' (cousin of 12) who became queen in A.D. 1453 (S. 815).

Dham-ma Dze-di (cousin of 13) who became king in A.D. 1460 (S. 822) and reigned thirty-one years. He did not belong to the Royal Family.

Binya Ran' (son of 14 and son-in-law of 13, Sheng-tsau-bu) who became king in A.D. 1526 (S. 853) and reigned thirty-five years.

Ta-ka'-rwut-bi (son of 15) who became king in A.D. 1526 (S. 888) and reigned fourteen years. He was conquered and deposed by Tabeng-Shwehti, king of Taungoo in A.D. 154017.

During his rule in southern Myanmar, Wareru achieved one important thing by compiling the customary law in Pali. It is called after him as the Wareru Dhammathat, supposed to be one of the earliest lawbook in Myanmar.

During the period of the Wareru dynasty trade and commercial relations were established with European countries which brought prosperity to Bago, Madana and Taninthayi. Native products like rubies and other gems of northern Myanmar, lac, ivory, horn, lead, tin, Bago or Madana jars, long pepper, and nyper wine made form the dani palm where exchanged with products like camphor, pepper, scented wood either from Sumatra or Borneo, Chinese porcelain, velvets, opium and other wares which were brought in by Portuguese and other European merchants.

Shan Settlement on East of Salween
As in northern and other parts of Myanmar, Shan settlements can also be found east of the Salween River. The region here is shaped like a triangle. Although the Shan immigrants of this areas, were ethnologically affiliated to the Tai race, they retained their local names such as Hkun, Lu, Lem, Ngio, Yun and Tai Nua. Based upon their Ban-Mong or Ban-Keng system the immigrants were able to establish many Mongs and Kengs as their city-states. Some of the Mongs established by the Shan immigrants were:

Mong Yang Mong Mang

Mong Lwe Mong Leng

Mong Hkak Mong Set

Mong Ka Mong Hum

Mong Pawk Mong Tang

Mong Hka Mong Mau

Mong Leng Mong Pak

Mong Tum Mong Yoi

Mong Ka Mong Hkawn

Mong Hism Mong Ngawn

Mong Pan Mong Rom

Mong Pu Mong Nung

Mong Hit Mong Nyen

Mong Leng Mong Tung

Mong Mu Keng Hkam

Mong Hsen Keng Taung

Mong Ing Keng Lap

Mong Pu-awn Keng Hkawng

Mong Ping Keng Hkang

Mong Hpong Keng Hkum18

Mong Kwi

Kengtung is the largest city and the capital of Eastern Shan state. Kengtung has an area of rather over 12,000 square miles, and a population of about 500,000. It is bounded by Thailand and the south; China on the north and Laos on the east. It extends form the Mekong to the Salween and also includes some territories west of the Salween. According to legend what is now Kengtung city and valley was originally a vast lake. Kengtung was founded by the Saohpa of Mong Rai and his sons. They brought sixty-nine Hkun families to settle down there, and Kengtung became a Mong of Hkun people. The Hkun people who settled on his region came from the east and formed part of the eastern wave of the southward migration of the Shan people.

Yun history also mentions that Kengtung plain was conquered from the Wa by the joint efforts of a son Paya Mong Rai and a Chieng-mai monk. They introduced Buddhism, established monasteries and introduced the Tai Yun written language 655 years ago19.

The Hkun people occupy much of the central parts of Kengtung and also the Kengtung valley. The Lu people occupy all the eastern valleys towards the Mekong and also along the border touching Hsip hsaung Panna especially around Mong Yawng. The Shan people are settled in the western portion of the state and along the Salween river and other parts. The Hkun, Lu and Shans are intermingled. The difference of dialect between Hkun and Lu is considerable, but they have little difficulty in understanding each other. The Lu and the Hkun have almost the same written character which is also close to the Laotian character, and educated Hkun and Lu can read Lao writing easily. Dr. Clifton Dodd made the following remarks of the Hkun:

The Kun are neither haughty nor servile. They have an air and manner of self respect and geniality. They look better groomed, they are finer grained, they are keener traders, more adroit diplomats in a small way, more sociable, more affable, more "like our folks". One soon becomes acquainted with them and acquaintance soon ripen into friendship20.

Lem, Ngio and Yun are also affiliated to Tai ethnic groups. The Laotian people, sometimes call the people form western Salween call the people form western Salween Ngio, but the pepole of the area do not accept the name. The name Ngio is also sometimes applied to the people living along the Mekong close to Lao. The people form Mong Lem are called Lem. They are also affiliated to Tai group especially to the Tai Nua. The Yun are pepople who live along the Kengtung-Thai border. They extend into Chiengmai and the people of Chiengmai are mostly Yun. The Yun people have their own written character and produced quite a lot of literary words especially on Buddhism. The Yun type of Buddhism is practised in Chiengmai and Kengtung among the Hkun, Lu, Lem, Ngio and Tai Loi of Kengtung.

Tai Nua communities settled near Kengtung, on its north and along the Myanmar-China border, around Muse, Namhkam, Bhamo, Myitkyina, Mong Na, Kat Kiao, and further north up to Loi Kye.

There are also settlements along the east bank of the Ayarwady up to the Shweli area. The Tai Nua people have their own written language, literature and have produced some works on Buddhism. Their written characters are of an old type that looks like bean sprouts. So they are called "Leik Hto Ngok" in Shan. Now they have reformed the old characters and that makes it much easier to learn. The Tai Nua are a hardy type of people and many of them are good farmers and good blacksmiths.

Conclusion
The Shan migration into Myanmar dates back to a very remote period. The nature of their migration was usually slow and peaceful. But there were exception when it was war-like and forceful. They penetrated deep into Myanmar to occupy every plain, every hill and every valley and turn every available wasteland to produce rice either for own consumption or for trade. They were hardy farmers and good cultivators. They adopted a feudal type of administration. Whenever they migrated they introduced their Mong and Keng system of city-states. They frequently fought among themselves but they formed into alliance against common enemy. Endless wars are recorded in their local histories. The frequent fightings among themselves and against neighbouring foes exhausted their strength so that they finally became very weak. They also made the mistake of adopting new local names instead of adhering to their original unity. They split and scattered so much and so far that it became almost impossible for them to retain the unity of the old days. Some of the Shan chiefs became pawns in the game of Myanmar power politics, but they were unable to create enough unity for the establishment of a United Kingdom like Nanchao and Mong Mao Long of the old days. In 1555, a powerful King of Bago, Bayinnaung easily wiped out the feudal power of the chiefs of the Mongs and made it impossible for them to recover from their fall. The final blow came when the three wars took place between the Myanmar and the British. The Shan chiefs, being subordinate to the Myanmar kings, had to supply contingent after contingent to fight against the British. Many Shans lost their lives during the three wars and there are stories of Shan women fighting gallantly and bravely with their men against the British. But bravery alone could not stem the tide of British imperialism. The Myanmar army with the Shan levies suffered defeat and Upper Myanmar was finally conquered by the British. Likewise, the Shan States, the Shan Chiefs and the Shan people suffered.

Kachin State, Kayah State, Kayin State, Chin State, Mon State, Yakhine State and Shan State

Mandalay Division, Sagaing Division, Bago Division, Magwe Division, Yangon Division, Ayeyawaddy Division and Taninthayi Division.

J. George Scott and J.P Hardiman, Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States, part 1 and Vol 1 Rangoon, Government Printing, Burma, 1900. P. 192.

Ibid, p. 193
The Kachin Hills Manual. Rangoon, The Superintendent, Government Printing, Burma, 1959, p. 194

Hsawng Hsup or Thaungthut in Myanmar. It was a Shan State lying between Manipur and the Chindwin. The Nampanga river has sometimes been regarded as the northern boundary, … A mountain range rising to 5000ft runs along the middle of the State continues northwards beyond the Nampanga river … the Manipuris call it the Angaw Chin, or Angaw mountain. The the west of this range is the upper part of the Kabaw valley, broad and fertile, … In the north of the State, where it does not form the boundary, sends its spurs down to the river on the east, leaving a comparatively small area for cultivation in the neighbourhood of Thaungthut. A history of the State from the time of Buddha is in the possession of the Saohpa … Gawmona, which is said to have been the capital of an independent kingdom up to the time of Anawrahta (about A.D. 1010 to 1052) was near the site marked in the greater inch map as "Thap or Old samjok" in latitude 34? 31', longitude 93? 34', "Thap is merely the Burmese tat, stockade (Note, the fact "Thap" is a Shan word meaning to bar, to prevent and also it means "Army"). Samjok is the Manipuri town of the name which appears in Shan as Hsawng Hsup and in Burmese as Thaungthut. Burma Gazetteer Upper Chindwin District, Vol. A, 1913. pp. 74-76.

Singkalaing Hkamti or Kanti State. A Shan State in the extreme north of the District, in two, district parts one lying more or less between 26? 10' and 25? 45' N 95? 20' and 96?E, and the other between 25? 30' and 25? 40'N, 95? 30'E. The State, however, has no boundaries except on the Chindwin itself … The State is called Singkakaing Hkamti to distinguish it from Hkamti Long, or Great Hkamti which lies between latitude 27? and 28?N. Singkalaing is the name of a Naga tribe which occupied the site of the present Kanti before its foundation, and which survives in a few houses at the mouth of the Namaw river in 26? 6'N, 75? 57'E. BGUCD, Vol. A, 1913. pp. 74-79.

Kale, Kalewa or Yazagyo. A small town covering 176 square miles, lying on both sides of the Chindwin. Almost all its villages are on the bank of the river. The people are mostly cultivators. A chronicle of unknown origin contains a list of princes in which Indian names give way to Shan as early as 210 B.C., when kingdom is said to have been united by marriage with that of Mohnyin (Kathy district) in the person of Saw Kantwe, son of Kumonde raja by the daughter of the Mohnyin Prince. The first capital was known as Nwepat or New Yazajyo. But this town was destroyed in A.D. 699 by Manipuris and Chins and a new seat for the capital was chosen at Theinnyin with the assistance of the Mohnyin Saohpa. In 967 A.D., Kalemyo was reported to have became the capital… At that time the state is said to have been bounded on the north by Taungthut, east by the Chindwin, south by the Yaw country, and west by the Chin Hills and Manipur. Remains of massive walks, enclosing an area of 134 acres, many still be seen at Kalemyo… Shan Kingdoms were founded in different parts of the country, and Kale, like its sister states of Mohnyin and Mongaung, became independent. BGUCD, Vol.A. 1913. pp. 8-9. 70-71.

Maing Kaing or Mong Kang (Lac Town). This township comprises nearly all the bed of Uyu and its tributaries, … on the north side it has no boundries… on the east it borders on Myitkyina and Katha. The people talk Shan or Kadu… The population is nearly all on the lower part of the Uyu and on its southern tributaries… In the rest of the township the ordinary rice cultivation is practised, with gold-washing as a minor occupation.

Se-Lan was located about 13 miles east of Namhkam and close to the Chinese frontier. It was situated on the high point of an irregular four-sided plateau, which was about 200 or 300 feet above the level of the valley. It was about a square mile in area. The plateau was surrounded by an entrenched ditch which was in many places 40 to 50 feet deep. An old well was also discovered but it had mouldered away completely. Diary of my movements and events as they occurred Report of Intelligence Branch Burma Division, London. The British Library, India Office Library and Records, 1894, p. 4 (map).

W.W. Cochrane, The Shans, Vol.1, Rangoon, The Superintendent, Government Printing, Burma. 1915. P. 64.

Ibid, p. 70.
Sao Saimong Mangrai, The Shan States and the British Annexation, Ithaca, New York, Department of Asia studies, Cornell University, 1965. Appendix II, p. XIX.

Ibid.
The Kachin Hill Manual, Rangoon, The Superintendent, Government Printing, Union of Burma, 1959.pp.17-18.

G.E. Harvey. History of Burma, from The Earliest Time to March 1824. The Beginning of the English Conquest London, Frank Cass and Co.Ltd. 1967, 160.

Sir Arthur t.Phayre. History of Burma Including Burma Proper, Taungu, Tenasserim and Arakan, London 7 A High Street, Wanstead, 1883. Appendix pp. 290-291.

J. 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, 374-5.

William Clifton Dodd, The Tai Race, Iowa. The Torch Press, 1923, 207.
Ibid, 211

The birth of Burma Army

Courtesy: The Penguin History of the Second World War
Authors: Peter Calvocoressi, Guy Wint and John Pritchard

In Burma, the history of the Malayan campaign repeated itself. The Japanese Army invaded it on 11 December from Thailand.

Burma, one of the smaller countries of the British Empire, had had, in the half century of its membership, a comparatively uneventful history. Burma became known, no longer as an oriental paradise inhabited by a merry, picturesque people, but as a fated, evil country, the arena - from no fault of its own, it is true - for some of the most horrible fighting of the war. It was not simply to flare into prominence by the brief experience of being overrun. It was to remain a contested land until the end of the war.

Burma had formerly been attached to India. It had been annexed to it as the result of three wars in the nineteenth century. It was an act of convenience for Britain; by no shadow of claims could it be regarded as an Indian land. Its majority people, the Burmese, were one of the Asian peoples with the clearest national consciousness; their economy was not inevitably linked with the Indian; their language and script had only a distant connection with Sanskrit; their religion, to which they were peculiarly devoted, was the Hinayana form of Buddhism, which ultimately derived from India, but which had practically died out there. Hinduism, which Buddhism had once rivaled in India, had revived there powerfully, and had overtaken Buddhism in the sub-continent. But in neighbouring Burma, Buddhism had no competitors, and flourished mightily. This rendered Burmese culture different from India.

The unnatural union of Burma with India was resented by the Burmese. Their desire for freedom was two-fold, freedom from Britain and freedom from India. This second freedom they won at the time of the great political recasting inaugurated by the Government of India Act of 1935. It was perceived that to continue to enforce the unity of the two countries would impose an unnecessary strain on the problematical machinery of government devised for India. Burma was allowed to settle its own destiny, and the Burmese legislature voted to go its own way. It had a constitution which half met Burma's growing demand for complete freedom. Its Government had the same liberties as a provincial government in India under the Act of 1935. But what in India were to be the federal powers of government were in Burma controlled by the British.

In the days of the union between India and Burma, the British had neglected to build up communications between the two countries. A railway was planned, chiefly for military reasons, but was never made. Its absence was to have a powerful effect on the shape of the fighting now to break out. Shipping interests, powerful with the Government, saw in it a threat to their monopoly of traffic with Rangoon, and successful opposed the scheme.

In the years just before the war, political life developed rapidly. The professional and commercial classes were organized in orthodox political parties, which were willing to pursue their national aims through non-revolutionary means and within the framework of the institutions already conceded. But the desire for independence was greater, perhaps, than it was in India, though it was not taken as seriously. Moreover there were revolutionary parties, notably the Thakins, which meant the party of the 'masters' or 'gentlemen', which were ready to seek any aid, and do anything, which would bring about the end of British rule. These parties, which stirred up political consciousness in Burma, had a growing clientele among students, and among people who had no limiting restrictions placed on their political activity by economic considerations.

Japan found the political situation in Burma more suited to its intervention than in any other country. Moreover Burma, through the existence of the Burma Road, had become a major preoccupation of Japanese strategic plans. Japan had prepared its action in Burma for several years, and more carefully than in most other centers. It had sent there a naval officer who, disguised as a trader, had made the first contact with Burmese politicians. The results were so promising that a Japanese consul was instructed to build up a pro-Japanese network. This however, had brought the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs into the picture. Fearful of angering the British unnecessarily, the Ministry demanded extreme caution.

Progress came, not from persons engaged in this part of the enterprise, but from the coming to Burma of a Japanese Army officer, Colonel Suzuki Keiji, who was a natural genius at all kinds of espionage and subversion. He modeled himself on Lawrence of Arabia. Until 1939 he had had a career as a regular combat officer; it ended with Suzuki under a somewhat mysterious cloud, brought about by an incident in 1939 in the war with China. Thenceforward he was a spy. He chose Burma as his field of activity, and he was as little subjected to control in what he did there as was Doihara, a much more celebrated agent and planner of subversive action in Manchuria and China. Officers like him were give much latitude by Japan. They might create a situation which the Japanese Army would be free, when the time came, to manipulate or to ignore, as circumstances decided.

Disguised as a mild-mannered newspaper reporter for the Yomiuri Shinbun, Suzuki explored Burma for a year and a half, concentrating upon gaining an understanding of its political and ethnic divisions. He decided that the Thakins offered promising material with which to work. He was a curious man; he was genuinely interested in promoting the movements of Asia people to be free; he took seriously the claims of Japanese propaganda that Japan supported all movements for independence; he was regarded with suspicion and as a nuisance by the more orthodox Japanese, who had no intention of conquering large parts of Asia, and simply transferring them to native hands. In Japanese service, he was advancing views and actions which were not at all favoured. He has been described as a rebel by temperament, a conformist by upbringing. His conversation fascinated the Burmese with whom he came into contact. He would tell them to insist on being independent. If, after the Japanese conquered their country, they refused to grant independence, the Burmese ought to shoot back.

Suzuki and his handful of associates set themselves to form the nucleus of a Burmese independent Army, which could be extended as soon as a Japanese Army crossed the borders. He calculated that a Burmese force would prove a valuable auxiliary for bringing about the discomfiture of the British, whether in harrying them politically, in forming a link with the Burmese population, or in straightforward military operations. In 1940 he began to select likely young revolutionaries from the class of political adventures and arranged for thirty of them to be sent over to Formosa for military training in Japanese schools. The thirty Thakins received this education partly in Formosa, partly in Hainan Island; Suzuki had them well grounded, by strict Japanese discipline, in combat tactics, in methods of civilian cooperation with the Japanese Army, and in all ancillary methods. It is clear that he had some difficulty in getting these young men accepted in the various training camps, for he acted as a lone wolf, and had not fully emerged from the disaster which had temporarily blocked his military career. The Thakins, for their part, objected to the strenuous quality of their training, and contemplated desertion. They had actually got control of a small sailing ship with which they proposed to sail for home. On their fate depended much of the modern history of Burma. The accident of who was chosen among the thirty Thakins, the founder members of the Burma Independence Army, governed the course of Burmese politics down to the present day. Because of personality difficulties, the Thakins tended to fall into factional groups, which were reflected for long after, quite irrationally, in Burmese politics.

Suzuki, together with a staff of adventurous Japanese who were looked at rather askance by the Japanese Army, transported this thirty Thakins to join the two divisions of Japanese troops waiting to invade Burma. By a shrewd move to catch the Burmese imagination, he gave each of the Thakins a new name from Burmese folklore, which was peculiarly rich in such things. He devised ceremonial oaths to link them together. And he revived the old Burmese legend that they had discovered ancient charms by Burmese insurrectionists, and had been the sustaining weapon of the peasant leader, Saya San, in a rebellion in 1930, was obstinately believed by the Burmese populace. It was to support the Thakins handsomely. The atmosphere in their camp was that of a boy scout jamboree, the same vague high-mindedness, the same enjoyment in devising ruses, rather the same kind of humor. The Thakins, half in terrified awe of Suzuki, half in na?ve enthusiasm for him, admired the way he genuinely fought for their interests with his orthodox Japanese colleagues.

This Japanese dealing with Burmese politicians was to have interesting consequences as the history of Burma unfolded. But, in the actual conquest, the principal agent was the Japanese Army. This fought the battles, and defeated the British. The British were embarrassed by the Burma Independence Army, but it only contributed marginally to their downfall. They complained of the treachery of the population, the clamour against them by the Pongyis (Burma monks), the betrayal of their movements to the Japanese, and the false Intelligence often given to the Army by the villagers. For all these things, the Burma Independence Army, playing the part of aide to the Japanese, was partly responsible. Their experience permanently soured the British troops, and gave Burma a bad reputation as a country to fight in. Anything to do with Burma was thought to be unlucky, and the country filled the Army with great apprehension.

However, for their rout, the British had to blame the Japanese directly. They had invaded at the start with two divisions with which they overran the south and took Rangoon, the capital. As in Malaya, the British had placed their confidence in the natural obstacles to troop movements the rugged, jungle country of the border. Again it had become axiomatic that tanks could not penetrate this, and again the fact had not been tested. They quickly found out that they had deceived themselves. Unlike Malaya, the country was held by too few troops, badly trained, with a defective Air Force. From the start, the British were too unevenly matched to have any chance of holding the Japanese advance. After Singapore fell, the Japanese were reinforced by another two divisions, which had been campaigning there, and they advanced to the north, pushing back the British before them.

The British accepted the offer of Chiang Kai-shek to send Chinese Army to assist the defence. They did so reluctantly because, through awareness of maps which were being published in Chungking, they had reason to suspect that Chiang had designs on the Burma frontier, and that, once they were in, the Chinese troops would be hard to evict. Japan, however, prevented this danger by driving them back into China. On the borderland some of the Chinese were broken up, and also suffered a great defeat.

By the end of April, the British were expelled from the country. They were pushed right out of Burma. Eventually the greater part of their forces escaped into India, marching out through the trackless jungle land which intervened between Burma and India. Only a part of the far north remained out of Japanese hands. It was inhabited by Chins and Kachins with whom British rule was unfamiliarly popular, being like all British administration of the jungle fringes of their Empire, so light as hardly to be noticed. This territory was held by a body of irregular troops, recruited exploits of this force, the intelligence and devotion of the Chin people, are one of the subjects which has escaped narration.

The same incidents marked the Japanese advance as had happened in Malaya. The civil government collapsed. It showed itself again and again to be extremely incompetent, its officers were lazy, its resolution was contemptible, its planning was certain to be based on faulty information, its complacency was unlimited. Its poor showing did not come altogether as a surprise. Before the war, the British administration in Burma had been notorious for delays and muddle. When it was put to the test, it perished with the same sense of scandal as the administration in Malaya. The machine of government had been allowed to rust, and its levers broke in the hand when pulled. It was unfortunate because the British could not rely upon any machine of popular government to provide a link with the people, or to rouse any enthusiasm on the Government side for the war. Shortly before the start of the war, the Prime Minister of Burma, U Saw, who had been on a visit to London, was detected while returning home in making contacts with the Japanese. He was arrested and interned in the Seychelles, but although U Saw was made harmless, the episode did little good to the British sense of security, and brought little change among the politicians who replaced him. (U Saw, a turbulent figure, was the powerful opposition leader in post-war Burma. He came to world notoriety in 1947, when he organized the assassination of U Aung San and half the Burmese Cabinet. For this he was hanged.)

The growth of the Burma Independence Army took place as Suzuki had foreseen. By the time that they were able to parade in liberated Rangoon, they numbered 5,000 men, and claimed to number 10,000. Their appeal had been great. But their methods of recruitment were deplorable. The Burmese villages, partly because of the peculiarly rapid tendency of the Burmese to resort to violence, had always had a higher proportion of criminal types than was usual in the East. As the Burma Independence Army advanced through the county it proved to be irresistibly attractive to this sort of recruit. An armed force, with licence to rob and pillage, provided the ideal shelter behind which it was possible to hold the whole country ransom. The Army spread a reign of terror behind the Japanese advance. Its original Thakin leaders found that the control of their troops was passing out of their hands. For seventy-five years Burma had experienced deep and unfamiliar peace in its rural life. The exploits of the Burma Independence Army abruptly destroyed this peace, and to Burma's cost, it was to prove impossible to restore peace in this or the next generation.

The population of Burma consisted of a Burmese majority, and many non-Burmese people, organized with different customs and religions. Under the long British peace, these had relaxed their suspicions; the different people had mellowed, and their government had seemed easy. But the exploits of the Burma Independence Army stirred up the feeling of the Burmese that they ought by right to be dominant, and raised a consequent feeling among the minorities of great insecurity. In panic, the minorities organized for self-protection: where a minority possessed the remains of tribal life, its institutions were rapidly brought into play. In no time, civil war was provoked and was spreading, especially between the Burmese and the Karens, the Burmese and the very large Indian minority, and the Burmese and the hill people, the Kachins. As a result, there took place a terrified mass migration to India, and it is estimated that India, in the midst of war, had to receive half a million refugees. For every refugee to cross the Indian frontier, there were several others who starved and died on the way.

The Japanese became aware of the chaos which was being provoked. Having driven out the British from the whole country, except for a comparatively small corner which was inhabited by Chins, they were looked to by the law-abiding part of the population as the only power able to secure basic order in the country. They had been maneuvered by Suzuki into giving countenance to Burmese revolution, but it had served its term, and they had really no sympathy with its explosive purposes. Japan, whatever its propaganda might declare, was never a revolutionary power, and generally was on the side of property and privilege. In the middle of June it applied itself to the problem of providing a Government for the country. It was not willing to proclaim Burma's independence, but established a provisional Government, made up of politicians of the orthodox parties. The Burmese Cabinet could only rule the country through the civil service structure of the British, and this the Japanese sought to preserve. Burmese civil servants were promoted to take the place of British officials.

Stability, however, could not be expected as long as the Burma Independence Army was allowed to roam the country, doing its will by sheer force. The decision was therefore arrived at to suppress the Army. Colonel Suzuki was to return home to Japan. He sought to stay, claiming that as he held a commission for what he had had done from prince Kan'in Kotohiko, who had been Chief of the Imperial General Staff until 1940, his order had therefore come directly from the imperial house, of which Prince Kan'in was a member. Suzuki asserted that this freed him from control by the Japanese Army. It was a variant of an old theme tune played by generations of swashbuckling Japanese military officers, who trumpeted the doctrine of their superior allegiance to the Emperor as a means of sidestepping restraints imposed on them by their military commanders. But Suzuki argued in vain. In place of the Burma Independence Army, a new force was raised, much more regular in its structure, more firmly under the control of the new Government.

This was a natural, merely prudent step of the Japanese Government. It was a decision which any responsible government was bound to take: the Burma Independence Army had stirred up so much feeling that any orderly administration was really impossible so long as it persisted. But the apparent repudiation of Burmese revolutionary nationalism by the Japanese was held by nationalists all over Asia to be difficult to square with Japanese propaganda claims; the more so since the Japanese were at first unwilling to satisfy the Burmese with any talk of independence. In Burma it caused the start of a long-drawn-out quarrel between the Japanese and Burmese nationalism, which was to play a part in the Japanese downfall at the end of the war.