Tip Htila

Last updated
Tip Htila
TipHtila.jpg
Saopha of Kenghkam
Reign1905 - 1914?
PredecessorHkun Un
SuccessorHkun Nawng Hkam
Queen consort of Kenghkam
Reign1897 - 1905
Regent of Kengtung
Reign1895 - 1897
PredecessorSao Kao Kham Phu
Successor Sao Kawng Kiao Intaleng
Born1874
Kengtung
Died1935
Spouse Hkun Un
Issue Hkun Nawng Hkam
House Kengtung State (by birth)
Kenghkam State (by marriage)
FatherSao Kawng Tai II
Religion Theravada Buddhism

Sao Nang Tip Htila (Burmese : စဝ်နန်းတစ်ထီလာ; 1874 — 1935 [1] ) was a Saopha of Kenghkam State. She was the only female Saopha in Burma and Shan History. [2] She married Hkun Un, Saopha of Kenghkam and became the Mahadevi of Kenghkam. After her husband's death, she became the Saopha in lieu of her adolescent son and became one of the most powerful women in Kenghkam, controlling the state economically and politically. A powerful figure in her own right, she was renowned for her cunning and charisma and was admired by her countrymen and the British. [3]

Life

Tip Htila was born in 1871 as the only daughter of Sao Kawng Tai II, Saopha of Kengtung. She had two siblings: an elder brother (Sao Kawn Kham Hpu), and younger brother (Kawng Kiao Intaleng). She was energetic in her youth, which sometimes got her into trouble with her father. [4] In 1887, at 16, her father died, and her brother became the 52nd Saopha. She was a skilled horseman and was passionate about fighting. She accompanied the Chiang Hung front line.

Her brother Sao Kawn Kham Hpu died in 1895, and his successor, Kawng Kiao Intaleng, was too young to be Saopha, so she temporarily ruled over Kengtung on his behalf. [5] Two years later, after Kawng Kiao Intaleng acceded to the throne, she married Hkun Un, Saopha of Kenghkam, and moved to Kenghkam. She became the Mahadevi of Kengkham. She had a son named Hkun Nawng Hkam. Her husband died when Hkun was 11 and she ruled as the female Saopha for 11 years. [6] Along with Kawng Kiao Intaleng, she attended the Delhi Durbar in 1903 in celebration of the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.

She attended the party of King George V and Queen Mary when they visited British India. Along the way, her royal jewellery disappeared, which her maid allegedly tipped overboard. When the time came to meet the Queen in Delhi along with prestigious rulers from across the Kingdom's protectorate, Tip Htila did so without any of her customary adornments, such that Queen Mary commented, "Tip Htila, I heard that you came across the sea to honour me but your jewellery was lost". Tip Htila then said, "My jewels are gone, yet I have come to see the King." Queen Mary was so moved that she removed one of her rings and gave it to Tip Htila to wear. She was the only ruler who rode on an elephant at the Delhi Durbar Procession. [7]

When her son grew up, he succeeded her. However, in a fit of pique, he shot and killed a servant in the palace. He was then deposed as Saopha, and the state of Kengkham was integrated into Mongnai State.

Tip was a powerful businesswoman, frequently involved in trading elephants and motor cars and later in teak extraction and road-building. According to Maurice Collis who met her in her old age "In her day, she must have been rash, magnificent, and as bold as a lion".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hso Khan Pha</span> Head of the royal house of Yawnghwe

Prince Hso Khan Pha of Yawnghwe was a prince of Yawnghwe. He was a son of Sao Shwe Thaik, the Saopha of Yawnghwe and Sao Nang Hearn Kham, the Mahadevi (consort). He was a consulting geologist based in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kengtung</span> Town in Shan State, Myanmar

Kengtung, also spelt Kyaingtong, is a town in Shan State, Myanmar. It is the principal town of Kengtung Township and the former seat of Kengtung State, a minor principality. Kengtung is located on the National Highway 4 (NH4) and at the AH2 and AH3 of the Asian Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laihka State</span>

Laihka State, also spelt Legya or Lecha, was a state in the central division of the Southern Shan States of Burma, with an area of 3,711 square kilometres (1,433 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sao Saimong</span>

Sao Sāimöng was a member of the princely family of Kengtung State. He was a government minister in Burma soon after independence; he was also a scholar, historian and linguist. His wife, Mi Mi Khaing, was also a scholar and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sao Kawng Kiao Intaleng</span> Saopha of Kengtung State

Sao Kawng Kiao Intaleng succeeded his brother to become the 53rd ruler (Sawbwa) of the Shan state of Kengtung in 1895. He, his first wife, and his sister, Princess Tip Htila, all attended the Delhi Durbar in 1903 in a party of Shan princes guided by J. G. Scott. After this journey, in 1905, he built a new palace in Imperial Indian style at his capital, Kengtung. He was a popular and capable ruler, and abolished domestic slavery in the state. He died in 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kengcheng</span> Former Shan state in Burma

Kengcheng or Keng Cheng was one of the Shan states. In 1896, part of Keng Cheng was incorporated into the neighbouring state of Kengtung in what is today Burma, and the other part, which is now in Laos, went to French Indochina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenghkam</span>

Kenghkam or Keng Hkam was a Shan state in what is today Burma. The capital was the town of Keng Hkam, located by the Nam Pang River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hsipaw</span> Town in Shan State, Myanmar

Hsipaw, also known as Thibaw, is the principal town of Hsipaw Township in Shan State, Myanmar on the banks of the Duthawadi River. It is 200 kilometres (120 mi) north-east of Mandalay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kantarawadi</span>

Kantarawadi, also known as Gantarawadi, was one of the Karenni States in what is today Kayah State in Burma. It was also known as "Eastern Karenni" owing to the location of part of its territory east of the Salween River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burmese–Siamese War (1849–1855)</span> Military expeditions

The Burmese–Siamese War of 1849–1855 or Siamese Invasions of Kengtung or Kengtung Wars were military expeditions of the Siamese Rattanakosin Kingdom against the Tai Khün State of Kengtung, which had been under Burmese suzerainty under the Konbaung dynasty. The dynastic struggles in Tai Lue State of Chiang Hung or Sipsongpanna prompted Siam, in cooperation with the Kingdom of Lanna, to invade Kengtung in order to gain access to Chiang Hung. In the First Invasion in 1850, the Siamese court had ordered the Lanna Lord of Chiang Mai to organize the offensives against Kengtung. Lanna troops failed to conquer Kengtung. Two other expeditions occurred in 1852 and 1853 as Bangkok commanded its troops to directly participate in the invasions. Both expeditions also failed because of internal issues and geographical unfamiliarity. The State of Kengtung under the leadership of Saopha Maha Hkanan, with limited assistance from Burma who had been embroiling in the Second Anglo-Burmese War, managed to resist Siamese-Lanna invasions three times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hsipaw State</span> Former Shan state in Burma

Hsipaw, also known as Thibaw, was a Shan state in what is today Myanmar. Its capital was Hsipaw town. Hsipaw State was perhaps one of the most well known and powerful Shan States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Hsenwi</span> State

North Hsenwi was a Shan state in the Northern Shan States in what is today Burma. The capital was Lashio town which was also the headquarters of the superintendent of the Northern Shan State. North Hsenwi, with an area of 6330 m², had a population in 1901 of 118,325 persons and an estimated revenue of £6000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kengtung State</span> Former Shan state in Burma

Kengtung, known as Menggen Prefecture or Möng Khün Chiefdom or Mueng Khuen Fu from 1405 to 1895, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sao Nang Hearn Kham</span> Queen consort of Yawnghwe

Sao Nang Hearn Kham was the Mahadevi of Yawnghwe one of the most important Shan States. Her husband Sao Shwe Thaik was the 23d and last Saopha of Yawnghwe and became the first President of Burma and she became the first First Lady of Myanmar. She is an important figure in Shan history and was known as "Rebel Queen" being the leader of the Shan State War Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mongkawng</span> Former Shan state in Burma

Mogaung or Möngkawng was a Shan state in what is present-day Myanmar. It was an outlying territory, located away from the main Shan State area in present-day Kachin State. The state existed until 1796. The main town was Mogaung.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sao Kya Seng</span> Myanmar politician, engineer, and agriculturalist

Sao Kya Seng or Sao Kya Hseng was a politician, a mining engineer, an agriculturalist and the last Saopha of Hsipaw State, Myanmar, from 1947 to 1959.

Maha Myat Muni Temple, also known as Wat Phra Sao Luang is a Buddhist temple in Kengtung, Shan State, Myanmar (Burma). The temple is known for its replica of the Mahamuni Buddha image in Mandalay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukantha of Kengtung</span> Princess of Kengtung

Sao Nang Sukantha of Kengtung, later known as Sukantha na Chiengmai, was the wife of Inthanon na Chiengmai. She was the daughter of Kawng Kiao Intaleng of Kengtung State in what is today Myanmar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sao Sanda</span> Last princess of Yawnghwe (born 1928)

Princess Sao Sanda is the last princess of Yawnghwe, a now disestablished Shan state in present-day Myanmar. She is the eldest daughter of the last Saopha of Yawnghwe Sao Shwe Thaik by his consort Sao Nang Sanda. A journalist at Reuters, she coauthored several books with her husband Peter Simms. Her 2008 book The Moon Princess: Memories of the Shan States chronicles a turbulent period in Burma's history, providing both her life story and a chronicle of her father, the first president of the Union of Burma after its independence.

References

  1. Conway, Susan (2006). The Shan: Culture, Art and Crafts. River Books. ISBN   978-974-9863-06-0.
  2. "စော်ဘွား သို့မဟုတ် နေဝင်သွားသော ဘုရင်များ". BBC News မြန်မာ (in Burmese). 16 November 2017.
  3. Action, Burma Rights Movement for (1905). Report on the Administration of the Shan and Karenni States.
  4. Mi Mi Khaing, Kanbawsa - A Modern Review
  5. Conway, Susan (2006). The Shan: Culture, Art and Crafts. River Books. ISBN   978-974-9863-06-0.
  6. Seidenfaden, Erik (1967). The Thai Peoples: The origins and habitats of the Thai peoples with a sketch of their material and spiritual culture. Siam Society.
  7. Murdoch, W. G. Burn (1 August 2022). From Edinburgh to India & Burmah. DigiCat.