Kengtung Township
| Kengtung | |
|---|---|
| Township | |
 Kengtung
|
|
| Coordinates: 21°17′30″N 99°36′30″E / 21.29167°N 99.60833°ECoordinates: 21°17′30″N 99°36′30″E / 21.29167°N 99.60833°E | |
| Country |
 Burma
|
| State | Shan State |
| District | Kengtung District |
| Time zone | MST (UTC+6.30) |
Kengtung Township (Burmese: ကျိုင်းတုံမြို့နယ်; also spelled Kyaingtong, Kengtong, Thai: เมืองเชียงตุง or Mueang Chiang Tung) is a township of Kengtung District in the Shan State of Myanmar. The principal town is Kengtung. It lies almost entirely east of the Salween River and its area is over 12,000 square miles (31,000 km2). It is bounded on the north by the states of Mang Lon, Mong Lem and Keng Hung (Hsip Hsawng Pannh); east by the Mekong River, south by the Siamese Shan States, and west in a general way by the Salween River, though it overlaps it in some places. The state is known to the Chinese as Mhng Khng, and was frequently called by the Burmese the 32 cities of the Gn (HkOn). The classical name of the state is Khemarata or Khemarata Tungkapuri.
By the 14th Century Keng Tung was a sovereign state.
The present sawbwa (Thai: เจ้าฟ้า) or "prince" received his patent from the British government on the February 9, 1897. The early history of Keng Tung is very obscure, but Burmese influence seems to have been maintained since the latter half, at any rate, of the 16th century. The Chinese made several attempts to subdue the state, and appear to have taken the capital in 1765-66, but were driven out by the united Shan and Burmese troops. The same fate seems to have attended the first Siamese invasion of 1804. The second and third Siamese invasions, in 1852 and 1854, resulted in great disaster to the invaders, though the capital was invested for a time.
The Tai here call themselves Khün; their speech contains many variations from the western Shan, and their script is a version of the Lanna script.
Most of the Khuns would adopt Thai names and in the wats of Kengtong one would find the monks chanting their daily prayers in a similar manner as in Northern Thailand. Historically Thai rulers have laid a claim to the Kengtung area as Saharat Thai Doem, part of their old country.
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Wikipedia