Möngkawng

Möngkawng, known in Burmese as Mogaung, lies in a northern valley connected to the Irrawaddy by the Mogaung River. It was the centre of a Shan principality and a meeting place for people of the surrounding uplands. The jade-bearing hills to the west gave the town a valuable role in the commerce of northern Burma, while its river offered a way to carry heavy stones downstream.

The history of Möngkawng was intertwined with that of neighbouring Möng Yang, and the names used for the northern Shan polities are not always distinct in older records. By the Konbaung period, jade from the mines passed through the region's trading settlements. In 1805, a consignment was carried down the Mogaung River to Sinbo on the Irrawaddy, illustrating the route by which the stone reached the wider Burmese world.