Kengtung

Kengtung (Shan: ၵဵင်းတုင်; Burmese: ကျိုင်းတုံမြို့; MLCTS: kyuing: tum mrui., pronounced: [tɕáɪɴtòʊɴ mjo̰]; Thai: เชียงตุง, rtgs: Chiang Tung, pronounced [t͡ɕʰīaŋ tūŋ]; also spelled Kyaingtong, Chiang Tung, Cheingtung, and Kengtong) is a town in Shan State, Burma. It is the principal town of Kengtung Township. Kengtung is located on the National Highway 4 (NH4) and at the AH2 and AH3 of the Asian Highway.

The city is served by Kengtung Airport and it is home to the Kyaingtong Degree College.

Formerly located at the crossroads of the trade between China and Siam, Kengtung lost its importance owing to the international isolation of the military-ruled Burmese state.

History

The early history of Kengtung is made up of myths and legends. The oral tradition of the Wa people says that the ancient city of Kengtung was founded in the distant past by them as the original inhabitants of the region, and was later reestablished by the grandson of King Mangrai after defeating the Wa. This migration of the Chiang Mai dynasty in the 13th century, with the founding a new kingdom which was later named Lanna, has resulted in Kengtung having a different type of Tai population from the rest of the Shan State, the Tai Khün.

Kengtung State

Kengtung (Burmese: ကျိုင်းတုံ; Thai: เชียงตุง Chiang Tung) was a Shan state in what is today Burma. The capital and the residence of the ruler was Kengtung in the centre of the state. It was the only urban area in this mountainous state whose landscape is dominated by the Daen Lao Range.

Kengtung was the largest of the states in present-day Shan State and ranked first in the order of precedence at the time of the invasion of the Shan States by the British Empire. It was also the easternmost of the Southern Shan States, lying almost entirely east of the Salween and stretching eastwards to the Mekong. It was separated from the northern Shan state of Manglon by the Hka River.

Most of the early history of Kengtung is made up of myths and legends. At the time of British rule in Burma the Tai Yai people were the majority of the population in Kengtung state with other groups such as Akha and Lahu, forming sizeable communities. According to Wa tradition, in the distant past the territory had belonged to the Wa people who were displaced around 1229 and were later defeated by King Mangrai. The Wa now form a minority of only about 10% in Kengtung State despite having been the original inhabitants.