Kengtung

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Location of Kengtung in Burma

Kengtung (Burmese: ကျိုင်းတုံမြို့; MLCTS: kyuing: tum mrui., IPA: [tʃáintòuN mjo̰]; also spelled Kyaingtong, Chiang Tung, Cheingtung, and Kengtong) is a town in Shan State, Burma. It is the principal town of Kengtung Township.

History

The 'Sawbwa Palace, a historic landmark, was destroyed in 1991 by the Burmese government.

Kengtung was founded by the grandson of King Mangrai. This migration of the Chiangmai dynasty, made in the 13th century with the idea of founding a new kingdom which called Lannathai in Chiang Mai, has resulted in Kengtung having a different type of Tai population from the rest of the Shan State.

Kengtung, like other major towns in the Shan Plateau, was home to a Shan Saopah. Kengtung was the base of the Kengtung Sawbanate, and had a Sawbwa palace, built by Sao Kawng Kiao Intaleng in 1905.

The city hosted the headquarters of the Thai Phayap Army, which had briefly occupied the Shan States from 1942 until the end of the Second World War.

It is home to the Kyaing Tong Degree College.

See also

• Kengtung Airport

keng tong pictures and music

Bibliography

• J. G. Scott, Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States. 5 vols. Rangoon, 1900-1901.
• Sao Sāimöng Mangrāi, The Pādaeng Chronicle and the Jengtung State Chronicle Translated. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1981