Kengtung basin

Who he is

Name

not known (the Kengtung Yazawin names a Mang Khum from 1243, a founding by a Mangrai delegate; the Chinese records give Mang Kun from 1263 or later: both later than 1200)

Title

Lord of the valley (chao muang; called saopha in the later records)

Since

not known

Born

not known

Family

not known

Confidence

low

English Wikipedia, Kengtung State: 'most of the early history ... is made up of myths and legends'; a predecessor Khemarattha said to be Tai Khun; Wa tradition says the Wa held the country and were displaced about 1229; the Tai town is founded about 1243 on the chronicle (Mangrai's delegate Mang Kun), or 1263 to 1267 on the Chinese records; the Kengtung Yazawin was written in Burmese in the nineteenth century.

Overlord

None shown. Pagan claims and the nearer valleys may pay tribute in some years; Dali claims on the Shweli side.

What it holds

• The basin floor and its villages
• The caravan and salt roads across the Salween and Mekong

How things stand that morning

A basin held by Lua, Wa and Khun communities; no ruler known; 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.

1. 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 (founds Chiang Rai 1262). Stopped by: No Lan Na.

Places of note

• Kengtung: Basin town site; Tai town founded later.
• Tachileik: Border river crossing; Mae Sai across the stream is on the Thai side (Khmer and Tai north records).

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board entry kengtung-basin: 'The Tai town of Chiang Tung is founded here by Mangrai in 1243': that is the chronicle's date; the Chinese records give 1263 to 1267 for the first governor.
• Brief: Mae Sai and the Thai-side neighbours belong to the Tai north and Khmer records; this record stays on the Burmese side.
• 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: Chronicles of the nineteenth century and Chinese records of the 1260s and later.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

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