Shan States

The Shan States were a collection of Shan (Tai) principalities called möng whose rulers bore the title saopha (sawbwa). The term "Shan States" was first used during the British rule in Burma as a geopolitical designation for certain autonomous areas of Burma, analogous to the princely states of British India. The terms "Siamese Shan States" and "Chinese Shan States" were also used to refer to the Tai principalities in northern Thailand and southern Yunnan, which instead came under the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Siam or Qing dynasty. 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.