A wide upland basin between the Salween and the Mekong.
The Burmese chronicle claims it for Pagan and most historians do not believe it; Pagan's real reach stops at the Salween. The Tai town of Chiang Tung is founded here about 1243 on the chronicle (Mangrai's man) or 1263 to 1267 on the Chinese records, so on 1 January 1200 it is Wa and Lua country with Tai (Khun) settlers moving in. The Wa say they held it and were displaced about 1229 (English Wikipedia, Wa people, citing an ambiguous source).
Tachileik on the Burmese side of the stream faces Mae Sai (Khmer and Tai north records).
Who holds it
- Title
- Lua, Wa and Khun village communities; no ruler known
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No source we read names a holder.
How things stand that morning
Held by its own peoples; Pagan's claim is paper.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- About 1229The Wa are displaced from the basin (Wa tradition).Depends on: The Tai (Khun) settlers' arrival. Stopped by: The date is ambiguous.
- 1243 (Kengtung Yazawin) or 1263 to 1267 (Chinese records)A Tai town is founded at Kengtung from Mangrai's Lan Na.Depends on: Mangrai's rise in Ngoenyang. Stopped by: No Lan Na.
Places of note
- Kengtung: Basin town site.
- Tachileik: Border crossing facing Mae Sai.
Where the sources disagree
- Tachileik is drawn at 20.449, 99.879, the town on the Sai river; the gazetteer's Tachileik point (20.684, 99.851) is the township centre and lies about 26 km north of it.
Evidence: Nineteenth-century chronicle, Chinese records of the 1260s and Wa tradition.
On the map: Drawn on the Burmese side; Mae Sai and the Mekong's far bank are in the Khmer and Tai north records and in Laos. The polygon is widened north to Mongyang, west to Mongping and east to the Burma-Laos tip on the Mekong.
Primary sources for Shan and Kachin valley lordships
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma, The Royal Historical Commission of King Bagyidaw (Monywe Sayadaw and others), drawing on U Kala's Maha Yazawin (about 1724) and earlier chronicles (1829 to 1832). The standard Burmese court chronicle, compiled six centuries after 1200 from older chronicles now lost. Read online
- Inscriptions of Pagan, Pinya and Ava; Inscriptions of Burma, Various (the Pagan kings, queens, ministers and donors), edited by Tun Nyein, Taw Sein Ko, G. H. Luce and Pe Maung Tin (inscriptions of the 11th to 14th centuries; editions 1899 and 1933 to 1956). The dedicatory inscriptions of Pagan are the only contemporary texts for the kingdom of Narapatisithu (reigning 1174 to 1211). Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.