| Total population |
|---|
| Unknown |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Burma, Thailand |
| Languages |
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Kayah, Karen (Kanyaw), Kayaw, Kayan |
Red Karen (Kayah) also known as Karenni, is a subgroup of the Karen people, a Sino-Tibetan people living mostly in Kayah State of Burma.
According to a 1983 census, the Red Karens (Karenni) consist of the following groups: Kayah, Geko (Kayan Ka Khaung, Gekho, Gaykho), Geba (Kayan Gebar, Gaybar), Padaung (Kayan Lahwi), Bres, Manu-Manaus (Manumanao), Yintale, Yinbaw, Bwe, Shan and Pao. [1] Several of the groups (Geko, Gebar, Padaung) belong to Kayan, a subgroup of Red Karen.
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Karen-Ni was the country of the Red Karens, a collection of small states, formally independent, which had feudal ties to Burma. The states were bounded on the north by the Shan states of Mong Pai, Hsatung and Mawkmai; on the east, they were bounded by Thailand; on the south by the Papun district of Lower Burma; and on the west a stretch of mountainous country, inhabited by the Bre and various other small tribes. During British rule in Burma, Karen-Ni had a guard of military police, which was posted at the village of Loikaw.
Main article: Kayah State
The Karenni States is the name formerly given to the three states of Kantarawadi (3,161 square miles or 8,190 square kilometres, pop (1931) 30,677), Kyebogyi (790 square miles or 2,000 square kilometres, pop (1931) 14,282) and Bawlake (568 square miles or 1,470 square kilometres, pop (1931) 13,802), located south of the Federated Shan States and east of British Burma.
The British government recognized and guaranteed the independence of the Karenni States in an 1875 treaty with Burmese King Mindon Min, by which both parties recognized the area as belonging neither to Burma nor to Great Britain. Consequently, the Karenni States were never fully incorporated into British Burma. The Karenni States were recognized as tributary to British Burma in 1892, when their rulers agreed to accept a stipend from the British government. In the 1930s, the Mawchi Mine in Bawlake was the most important source of tungsten in the world. The Constitution of the Union of Burma in 1947 proclaimed that the three Karenni States be amalgamated into a single constituent state of the union, called Karenni State. It also provided for the possibility of secession from the Union after 10 years. In 1952, the former Shan state of Mong Pai was added, and the whole renamed Kayah State, possibly with the intent of driving a wedge between the Karenni (in Kayah State) and the rest of the Karen people (in Karen State), both fighting for independence.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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