Sawlon of Mohnyin ( my, မိုးညှင်းစလုံ ; 1486–1533) was
saopha
Chao-Pha (; Tai Ahom: 𑜋𑜧𑜨 𑜇𑜡, th, เจ้าฟ้า}, shn, ၸဝ်ႈၾႃႉ, translit=Jao3 Fa5 Jao3 Fa5, my, စော်ဘွား ''Sawbwa,'' ) was a royal title used by the hereditary rulers of the Tai peoples of ...
of the
Shan state
Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos ...
of
Mohnyin
Mohnyin ( my, မိုးညှင်း, ; Shan:မိူင်းယၢင်း) is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is the administrative center for both Mohnyin Township and Mohnyin District and it has a population of 33,290.
History ...
in the early the 16th century. He is best remembered in
Burmese history
The history of Myanmar (also known as Burma; my, မြန်မာ့သမိုင်း) covers the period from the time of first-known human settlements 13,000 years ago to the present day. The earliest inhabitants of recorded history wer ...
as the conqueror of
Ava Kingdom
The Kingdom of Ava ( my, အင်းဝခေတ်, ) was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagai ...
.
Sawlon led a confederation of
Shan states
The Shan States (1885–1948) were a collection of minor Shan kingdoms called '' muang'' whose rulers bore the title ''saopha'' in British Burma. They were analogous to the princely states of British India.
The term "Shan States" was fi ...
, and raided Avan territory throughout the first quarter of the 16th century. (The earliest reported date in the Burmese chronicles of a raid led by Sawlon of Mohnyin came in 1502.
[Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 103] It is unclear if the Sawlon in 1502 was this Sawlon who would have been only 16 years old, then. The Sawlon in 1502 may have been Sawlon's father.)
By the 1520s, his confederation included Shan states of
Kale
Kale (), or leaf cabbage, belongs to a group of cabbage (''Brassica oleracea'') cultivars grown for their edible leaves, although some are used as ornamentals. Kale plants have green or purple leaves, and the central leaves do not form a hea ...
(Kalay),
Momeik
Momeik ( my, မိုးမိတ်), also known as Mong Mit (Shan language, Shan: ) in Shan language, Shan, is a town situated on the Shweli River in northern Shan State of Myanmar (Burma).
Transport
It is connected by road to Mogok and its r ...
,
Bhamo
Bhamo ( my, ဗန်းမော်မြို့ ''ban: mau mrui.'', also spelt Banmaw; shn, မၢၼ်ႈမူဝ်ႇ; tdd, ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥛᥨᥝᥱ; zh, 新街, Hsinkai) is a city in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, south of the ...
as well as the Burman
Kingdom of Prome
The Prome Kingdom ( my, ဒုတိယ သရေခေတ္တရာ နေပြည်တော်) was a kingdom that existed for six decades between 1482 and 1542 in present-day central Burma (Myanmar). Based out of the city of Prome (P ...
(Pyay).
[Fernquest 2005: 348–349] The allies accelerated their concerted attacks on Ava from all directions, and sacked
Ava in 1524. But King
Shwenankyawshin of Ava and his ally
Hkonmaing I of Onbaung–Hsipaw
Hkonmaing ( my, ခုံမှိုင်း , Shan: ၶုၼ်မိူင်း; also Hkonmaing Gyi, Tamma Hkun MöngAung Tun 2009: 104) was ''saopha'' of the Shan principality of Onbaung–Hsipaw in what is now Myanmar. He was the only m ...
continued their resistance. In 1527, his forces again laid siege to Ava where Shwenankyawshin fell in battle. Sawlon placed his son on the Ava throne, ending Ava's 163-year reign of
Upper Burma. Ava became just another Shan state, and many
Burmans
The Bamar (, ; also known as the Burmans) are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group native to Myanmar (formerly Burma) in Southeast Asia. With approximately 35 million people, the Bamar make up the largest ethnic group in Myanmar, constituting 68% of ...
fled to
Toungoo
Taungoo (, ''Tauñngu myoú''; ; also spelled Toungoo) is a district-level city in the Bago Region of Myanmar, 220 km from Yangon, towards the north-eastern end of the division, with mountain ranges to the east and west. The main industry ...
.
Sawlon made a fateful choice of not attacking
Toungoo Kingdom in the southeast of Ava. Instead, he chose to attack his erstwhile ally Prome for he was unsatisfied with the assistance he received from his ally King
Thado Minsaw of Prome
Thado Minsaw of Prome ( my, သတိုးမင်းစော, ; 1440s–1526) was the founder of Prome Kingdom, and reigned the minor kingdom from 1482 to 1527. In 1524, he entered into an alliance with the Confederation of Shan States, an ...
in their war against Ava. In late 1532, Sawlon and Thohanbwa marched south and captured Prome. After the conquest of Prome, Sawlon was murdered by his own ministers on his way back home to Mohnyin.
[Harvey 1925: 104–107]
Notes
References
Bibliography
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{{s-end
Ava dynasty
1486 births
1533 deaths
16th-century Burmese monarchs