Description:
Historical Setting: "The Shan who belong to the Tai ethnic group of Mongoloid family migrated from China
into Myanmar before the Christian Era
(Scott and Hardiman,
1901a).
Although the date of their
migration was still controversial, they had already present in Myanmar before the
rise of Bagan
in central Ayeyarwaddy Basin.
In comparison, the area of settlements of Shans was larger than
that of Bamar who entered in the Ayeyarwaddy Basin after the collapse
of Pyu city-states
(Than
Tun, 2002).
Since they lived in Yunnan Province, Shans established clusters of communities
known as
Mong,
Muang,
Keng-state or town which was ruled by a hereditary chief known as
Saopha-lord of the sky. The Myanmar word
saw-bwa
derived from
sao-pha
(Zeng Peng: 1990).
The first kingdom of Shans might be the Mao which located in a strategic place on the Yunnan
border, from thence they entered Myanmar by crossing Chindwin and Ayeyarwaddy River.
The
Shans
from Mong Mao area also moved
south along the Ayeyarwaddy River. With the help of
other groups from Shan States they later founded kingdoms and dynasties in central Myanmar,
Upper Sagaing
District, Mohnyin, Mong Kwang, Mong Mit and
Bhamo. Tai immigrants on the
other hand, established p
etty states in
Hsenwi, Hsi
paw, Mong Nai,
Mong Pai, Yawng Hwe
(Nyaung Shwe), and Kyaing Tong. When
Bagan
was founded
by Aniruddha (1044-77) in the first
half of eleventh century A.D,
the
Shan principalities had already existed in Myanmar. It is
attributed that the hegemony of the kings of Bagan could not be
extended to
the principalities
of Shan States,
particularly
the trans-
Than Lwin area
(Than Tun, 2004)."......Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-26 July 2015.
Source/publisher:
International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-26 July 2015
Date of Publication:
2015-07-26
Date of entry:
2015-09-07
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English
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Format:
pdf
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188.9 KB