Hsipaw

Hsipaw, or Thibaw, stands on the Namtu River in the northern Shan highlands. It was the centre of the principality of On Baung, whose rulers held the valley amid the competing Shan states and the Burmese kingdoms to the west. The river descends from the hills towards the Irrawaddy, connecting the highland country with the plains around Ava.

In 1543 a prince of On Baung, Sao Hkun Möng, became king of Ava after the fall of its previous ruler. A few years later the expanding Toungoo kingdom brought the Shan country under its authority. In 1557 Bayinnaung took Hsipaw, built a pagoda there and installed Hsum Hsai as its saopha. The local principality continued under its own ruler while recognising the Burmese king's supremacy.