Shan States

The Shan States were a collection of minor Shan kingdoms called möng whose rulers bore the title saopha (sawbwa). In British Burma, they were analogous to the princely states of British India.

The term "Shan States" was first used during the British rule in Burma as a geopolitical designation for certain areas of Burma (officially, the Federated Shan States, which included the Karenni States, consisted of today's Shan State and Kayah State). In some cases, the Siamese Shan States was used to refer to Lan Na (northern Thailand) and Chinese Shan States to the Shan regions in southern Yunnan such as Xishuangbanna.

Historical mention of the Shan states inside the present-day boundaries of Burma began during the period of the Pagan dynasty; according to the Tai chronicles, the first major Shan State of that era was founded in 1215 at Möng Kawng, followed by Möng Nai in 1223. These were part of the larger Tai migration that founded the Ahom Kingdom in 1229 and the Sukhothai Kingdom in 1253. Shan political power increased after the Mongols overran Pagan in 1287 and the Shans came to dominate many of the northern to eastern areas of Burma—from northwestern Sagaing Division to the present-day Shan Hills. The newly founded Shan States were multi-ethnic states that included a substantial number of other ethnic minorities such as the Chin, Palaung, Lisu, Pa-O, Kachin, Wa, and Burmans.

The Shan States were a dominant force in the politics of Upper Burma throughout the 13th to 16th centuries. The strongest Shan States, Möng Mao, Möng Yang and Hsenwi, constantly raided Upper Burma. Möng Mao ended the kingdoms of Sagaing and Pinya in 1364. However, the Shan States were too fragmented to resist the encroachment of bigger neighbours. In the north, the Chinese Ming dynasty conquered today's Yunnan in the 1380s, stamping out the final Shan resistance by the 1440s.

The rulers of Möng Mao moved to Möng Yang, and in 1527 they led the Confederation of Shan States which captured the Ava Kingdom and ruled Upper Burma until 1555. In the south, the Toungoo dynasty captured all those Shan States that would become known as the Burmese Shan States in 1557. Though the Shan States came under the suzerainty of Burmese kingdoms based in the valley of the Irrawaddy River, the Shan saophas (chiefs) retained a large degree of autonomy.

When Burma gained independence in 1948, the Federated Shan States became Shan State while the southern portion became Kayah State within the Union of Burma with the right to secede from the Union. However, the Shan States and the saophas' hereditary rights were removed by General Ne Win's military government in 1962.