Möngnai

Mong Nai, also known as Mone, was the seat of a Shan principality in the southern highlands. Northern Thai chronicles associate its foundation in 1318 with a son of Mangrai, the ruler of Lan Na. Its history was tied to both the Tai polities to the east and the Burmese kingdoms to the west, whose expanding power brought the Shan states into a larger political orbit.

In 1556 the ruler of Mong Nai submitted to the Burmese king Bayinnaung, who was consolidating control over the Shan country. Its allegiance did not end the struggle for authority in the region: Mong Nai later joined a revolt involving Lan Na. The fortunes of the principality were thus closely bound to the campaigns and rivalries of its more powerful neighbours.