Karenni people

Kayah

Among the 9 sub-tribes of the Karenni, Kayah sub-tribe made up the majority of the population followed by the Kayan sub-tribe. Kayah sub-tribe is also further divided into 2 major groups: Western and Eastern Kayah, primarily based on where they live relative to the Salween River that run through the middle of the Karenni Land. The groups is also distinguish based on the distinct dialect spoken among them. Karenni is well known as the root of the tribes.

Karenni represent Kayah and the term Karennies is used to represent all nine tribes native to the Kayah state. Karennies consist of nine sub-tribes namely Kayah, Padaung (Kayan) (), Geko (), Geba (), Zayein (), Bre (), Manu-Manau (), Yintale () and Yinbaw ().

Karenni States

Main article: Karenni States

The Karenni States were a collection of small states inhabited by Karenni people, ruled by petty princes named myozas. These included Kantarawadi, the only state whose ruler was promoted to a saopha or Sawba (စော်ဘွား) (like that of Maharaja in India), Kyebogyi, Bawlake, Nammekon and Naungpale. They were independent until British rule in Burma, and had feudal ties to the Burmese kingdom. The states bordered the Shan States of Mong Pai, Hsatung and Mawkmai to the north, Thailand to the east, the Papun district of Lower Burma to the south, and a stretch of the Karen Hills inhabited by the Bre and various other small tribes to the west. During British rule, the Karenni had a garrison of military police, which was stationed at the village of Loikaw.

The British government formally recognised and guaranteed the independence of the Karenni States in an 1875 treaty with Burmese king Mindon Min, by which both parties recognised the area as belonging neither to Burma nor to Great Britain. Consequently, the Karenni States were never fully incorporated into British Burma. The Karenni States were recognised as tributary to British Burma in 1892 when their rulers agreed to accept a stipend from the British government. In the 1930s, the Mawchi Mine in Bawlake was the most important source of tungsten in the world. The Constitution of the Union of Burma in 1947 proclaimed that the three Karenni States be amalgamated into a single constituent state of the union, called Karenni State. It also provided for the possibility of secession from the Union after 10 years. In 1952, the former Shan state of Mong Pai was added, and the whole renamed Kayah State, possibly with the intent of driving a wedge between the Karenni (in Kayah State) and the rest of the Karen people (in Karen State), both fighting for independence.

Gallery

File:Kayanlahta.jpg|A Kayăn Lahta couple in traditional dress File:Kayar.jpg|A Kayah (karenni) couple

References

Related

Karrani dynasty

References

1. ခွန်းဆက်နေ. (7 February 2016). "ဒွေးမယ်နော်တို့ပျော်စံရာ ကယားမြေ". ပြန်ကြားရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန.
2. {{cite EB1911