Möngyang

Möng Yang, called Mohnyin in Burmese, was a powerful Shan principality in the northern Irrawaddy region. Its rulers governed a country of valleys and forested hills and stood among the northern powers whose fortunes were closely tied to those of Ava. The principality's position placed it between the Burmese heartland and the Shan lands reaching toward Yunnan.

In the early sixteenth century its sawbwa, Sawlon, led a coalition of Shan states against Ava. After repeated campaigns, the allies captured the city in 1527 and placed Sawlon's son Thohanbwa on its throne. Their success did not bring lasting unity: Sawlon was murdered by his own ministers, and rivalries weakened the coalition. In 1557 Bayinnaung of Toungoo conquered Möng Yang as his expanding kingdom brought the northern Shan states under its authority.