Möng Yang

Möng Yang (Shan:မိူင်းယၢင်း; Tai Nüa:ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥕᥣᥒᥰ; Burmese:မိုးညှင်း; Chinese:孟养), also known as Mohnyin, was a Shan state in what is today Myanmar (Burma). It was located in present-day Kachin State, outside of the modern Shan State.

History

Möng Yang was a Shan state established at an uncertain date before the 14th century, centered around the modern town of Mohnyin. From the 1370s to 1390s, Burmese and Chinese records indicate that the state, then under Möng Mao, made several incursions into the Kingdom of Ava and the Shan state of Kale (centered around the modern-day town of Kalay). In 1399, Möng Yang became independent from Möng Mao, and in 1402 it was regarded as a prefecture, then in 1404 as a pacification commission, by the Ming dynasty. From 1406, Ava also gained a degree of control over Möng Yang and appointed a Burmese prince, Mohnyin Thado, to rule the area. Burmese inscriptions and chronicles suggest or claim that Möng Yang was under Ava's control until the 1470s, though this control was likely only intermittent and nominal.

From the 1470s onward, Möng Yang entered a period of expansion at the expense of its neighbours, making incursions into the Ava kingdom, the Kabaw Valley, Bhamo, Kale, and possibly even making attempts to invade parts of Assam.

From 1524, the ruler of Möng Yang, Sawlon, invaded the Kingdom of Ava and succeeded in the conquest of the kingdom, placing his son Thohanbwa on the Avan throne in 1527.

During this Shan rule over Ava, the Burmese chronicles refer to the existence of a confederation of Shan states. Historical sources are not clear about when or how this alliance or confederation arose, but by 1543 the Burmese chronicle indicates the cooperation between the states of Möng Yang, Möng Mit, Bhamo, Hsipaw, Möng Nai, Yawnghwe, and Kale (modern Kalay).

In 1532, Sawlon marched on his erstwhile ally, the Prome Kingdom, feeling that Prome had not provided sufficient support in their war against Ava. On his journey back to Möng Yang, a dispute between two factions arose in the Shan ruling elite, and Sawlon was assassinated by his own ministers.

The Shans neglected to intervene in the first four years of Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War (1535–1541) in Lower Burma. The saophas sent a force to relieve Prome from a new invasion only in 1539, and were ultimately unable to hold Prome against another Toungoo attack in 1542.

In 1543, the Burmese ministers assassinated Thohanbwa and placed Hkonmaing, the saopha of Hsipaw, on the Ava throne. Möng Yang leaders, led by Sithu Kyawhtin, had to grudgingly agree to Hkonmaing's leadership in light of the Toungoo threat. The confederation's bickering resumed in full force after failed invasions leading to Toungoo forces taking Bagan in 1544 and Hkonmaing's death in 1546. 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's Toungoo forces. Bayinnaung captured Ava in 1555 and conquered all of the Shan States in a series of military campaigns from 1556 to 1557. A record of the conquest of Möng Yang in 1557 is mentioned in a bell inscription relating the conquests of King Bayinnaung.

Beginning with its subjugation by King Bayinnaung, the state was gradually integrated into the central Burmese administration, though still retaining its own native dynasty. Eventually, during the reign of Alaungpaya or possibly even as late as the end of the 18th century, native rule by Shan sawbwas in Möng Yang was permanently abolished in favour of centrally appointed Burmese governors.

Rulers

Saophas

Myowuns

Under the Konbaung dynasty the area of the former state was administered by a Viceroy called a Myowun, who was appointed by the king and possessed civil, judicial, fiscal and military powers.

• 1853–18?? Nemyo Minhtin Themanta Yaza (Six Myowuns – Mohnyin, Kawng Ton, Shwegu, Moe Ta, Yin khia, Kat Hsa)

Citations

Bibliography

• Fernquest, Jon (2005). "Min-gyi-nyo, the Shan Invasions of Ava (1524-27), and the Beginnings of Expansionary Warfare in Toungoo Burma: 1486-1539". SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research. 3.
• Kirigaya, Ken (2018). "Tay (Shan) Encroachments into the Irrawaddy Basin and the Fall of Ava: Western Mainland Southeast Asia in the "Age of Commerce"". Journal of the Siam Society. 106.
• Nisbet, John (1901). Burma Under British Rule—and Before. Vol.1. Archbald Constable & Company.
• Sun, Laichen (2000). . University of Michigan. ISBN978-0-599-83328-9.

External links

• Scott, J[ames] George; Hardiman, J[ohn] P[ercy] (1901). Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan states. Part II.—Vol. III. Rangoon: superintendent, government printing, Burma. LCCN. OL. Google Books . Internet Archive .

27°47′N 96°22′E/27.783°N 96.367°E/ 27.783; 96.367