Kengtung

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kengtung (Burmese: က္ယုိင္‌းတုံမ္ရုိ့; MLCTS: kyuing: tum mrui., also spelled Kyaingtong, Chiang Tung, Cheingtung, and Kengtong) is a town in Shan State, Myanmar. It is the principal town of Kengtung Township.

Contents

[edit] History

The 'Sawbwa Palace, a historic landmark, was destroyed in 1991 by the Burmese government.
The 'Sawbwa Palace, a historic landmark, was destroyed in 1991 by the Burmese government.

Kengtung was founded by the grandson of King Mangrai. This migration of the Chiangmai dynasty, made in the 13th century with the idea of founding a new kingdom which called Lannathai in Chiang Mai, has resulted in Kengtung having a different type of Tai population from the rest of the Shan State.

Kengtung, like other major towns in the Shan Plateau, was home to a Shan Saopah. Kengtung was the base of the Kengtung Sawbanate, and had a Sawbwa palace, built by Sao Kawng Kiao Intaleng in 1905.

Sao Sāimöng, a famous politician and minister of independent Burma (now Myanmar) was born and raised in Kengtung, being son of Sao Kawng Kiao Intaleng.

The city hosted the headquarters of the Thai Phayap Army, which had briefly occupied the Shan States, during the Second World War. However, the Japanese forced the Phayap Army to withdraw, concerned that the Thais might have been planning to annex it for themselves. The Japanese military soon replaced the Phayap Army in Kengtung.

[edit] Other Facts

It is home to the Kyaing Tong Degree College.

[edit] See also

[edit] Bibliography

  • J. G. Scott, Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States. 5 vols. Rangoon, 1900-1901.
  • Sao Sāimöng Mangrāi, The Pādaeng Chronicle and the Jengtung State Chronicle Translated. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1981

Coordinates: 21°17′25.00″N, 99°35′59.30″E

  This Shan State location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.