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Myanmar
Shan -
Burmese Shan
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Burmese Shan, Shan
Sate, Inle
Lake, Kalaw, Pa-Oo, leg rower.
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- Myanmar Shan
or Burmese Shan
are one of
the most active ethnic
groups in the country plenty
innovations come from them,
negative ones like the drug
production and positive ones
like the first Myanmar cars
assembled with parts
smuggled in from China and
Thailand.
Shan State is
one of the most beautiful
areas in Burma and this is
not only Inle Lake, there
are plenty of interesting
things to see, such as the
wooden palaces of their
rulers of the past.
Unfortunately they were
tricked by the British
offering them their own
State when they help them
against the Burmese but this
was only the usual lies the
Brits did everywhere
according to the old
philosophy, divide and
conquered they copied from
the old Romans.
Actually they
did this not only with them
but also with the Chin and
Karen, all of |
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them were
cheated on purpose by the
Brits. The Brits were like a
devil to many parts of the
country. They also
encouraged them in the north east to plant opium
poppies which the Brits sold
to the Chinese, payable in
silver. There was no drug
production and problems in
this part of the country
before the British
colonialists.
Today it's
different, the
colonialists are gone but
their legacy still are the
source of many problems in
the country. Luckily slowly
another kind of foreigners
move in with good
intentions, this are the
tourists since this is one of the most
magnificent travel
destinations in the country,
that’s the Inle Lake.
Actually the ethnic group
living around Inle Lake are
the Pa-Oo which are rather
Mon who fled long time ago
from the border area south
of Bago because of the
constant fighting with the
Thai’s a few hundred years
ago.
They are the
famous leg rower” of today
and their cooperative run
the Golden Cottage Hotel
built on stilts right into
the lake. Exploring and
trekking |
Shan State
Inle Lake
Inle Lake Pa-Oo
Festival |
Trip to the
5 day market
at Inle Lake |
the area is
called soft adventure travel
these days. The capital is Kalaw
not far from Inle Lake with
an old wooden palace of the
ruler before he got ousted
by the Yangon communists /
Military.
Around are
lush hills, plenty of water
and lots to see, among them
is the legendary 5 day
market when the people of
the lake come together at
the market, this market
moves around every five
days. There are festivals
such as the famous Phaundaw
Oo Pagoda Festival and
nearby are the Pindaya Cave
Pagodas one of top pilgrim
destinations in the country.
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Inle is
easy to reach there are
several Myanmar Airlines
touching down a coulple of
times ever day at He Ho
Airport with is close to the
lake. This is a
very rustic area with small
workshops near the Phaundaw
Oo Pagoda where all kind of
local handicrafts are
created such as clothing,
metal items such as knives
and more.
Shan's or
T'ai are Chinese they had a kingdom of their
own in the eight century ay Yunnan, called Nanchao., a
kindom which was
administered in Chinese
manner by civil service. The
snobs at the imperial court of
China called them
barbarians which
means nothing, they
also called the
Europeans barbarians
and got defeated by
them.
Nanchao lasted until
the middle of the
thirteenth century
when it was
overwhelmed by the
Tartars. Because of
that they were
driven southwards
into today Myanmar
or Burma, Thailand
and Indo – China.
They conquered Burma
and Siam with the
result that the
modern Thai people
are actually Shan
people. But their
conquest of Burma
did not last. By the
sixteenth century
the Burmese, who has
a more unitary
system of
government, more of
a dedicated nation,
drove them into the
hills of the east. By
the eighteenth
century the Burmese
extended their
authority over the
hill area at the
border to Siam,
today Thailand. The
people were organized
under chieftains,
who were feudal
lords and hereditary
princes. There was
no central king. The chieftains
were forced by
Burmese arms to
acknowledge the
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Phaundaw Oo
Pagoda
Shan People |
rule
of the King of
Burma. The practical
effect of this
depended upon the
strength of the
Burmese monarchy of
the moment. Sometimes it
amounted to no more
than a nominal
yearly tribute;
sometimes the
Burmese maintained
garrisons in the
principal town. Princesses resided
at the court of Ava
and Mandalay as
wives or concubines
of the “golden
foot”.
There were frequent
civil wars in their
country which come
to be called Shan
State. One feudal
prince would invade
his rival’s
territory next door,
and tribes of
savages who lived on
the hill tops, like
the Kachin, who are
mainly Christians
would swoop down and
carry away heads and
plunder, this area
was constantly at
war in the past.
This
disorder increased
during the 19.
Century. The population declined
and wide areas of land
went out of
cultivation; walled
towns were ruined
und caravan routes
closed. Such
disasters, the cause
of great suffering
to the people were
due to there being
no effective central
government. They had
no king and the
Burmese King was not
strong enough to
control the feudal
chiefs, and was
unable to extend his
administration into.
When
affairs were at this
very low level the
English entered
Mandalay, took the
Burmese King captive
and annexed Myanmar.
As Burma nominally
included the State
their feudal chiefs
became vassals of
the English. In this
way the resident
within the
boundaries of Burma
came into the
British colonial
empire. At that time
their number was around two
million. The British
did not conquer them
in the usual way
since there was no
invasion into the
territory.
Immediately after
the fall of Mandalay
British
representatives were
sent and assured
when pay homage to
the British Crown
their rights and
privileges as
hereditary princes
were secured for
them forever. In
pursuance of that
agreement the
British did not
install their usual
administration which
was set up in Burma.
Probably the best
the British did was
to prevent them from
fighting each other
and they got
protection from
raids of the savage
hill tribes and
adventurers across
the Chinese border.
That
policy was enough to
bring back
prosperity. The
population increased
again, land was
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Shan State
Shan Population
Burma Shan
Burmese Shan |
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cultivated again,
trade routes opened
and the great silver
mines of Bawdwin
started to work
again.
To
advice assist the
chiefs, who were
totally ignorant at
that time of the
modern world,
English officials
were placed in the
state. These
officials became the
Frontier Services
afterwards. In 1922
the different
counties were made
into a federation
called Shan State. A
council of Chiefs
was set up with an
senior English
official as
President of the
Council. This gave
the state what they
had lacked in the
past to their unity.
The sons of the old
chiefs who had
fought each other ,
now met round at the
council table to
discuss measures for
the common benefits
of the whole State.
This
level was ousted and
killed by the mad Ne
Win under his
similar lunatic
communist ideas and
today people still
struggle but it
looks (mid 2011)
that things getting
better. |
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