20/06/2024
Tai Khamti (Hkamti)
History in Burmese times and after.
In Burmese times it is said that seven Sawbwas ruled in Hkamti Long. They were
under the nominal jurisdiction of the Mo- gaung Wun and gave homage presents to
the Burmese King. It seems probable that these seven Chiefs were rather Kachins of
the hills than Shans of the Mall plain, and that as far as the Shan population is
concerned there has not at any time been more than the one ruler. The only Chief who
is known is Lao Khun, who came down to Bhamo in 1893 to do homage, as he had
been accustomed to do in Burmese times. He maintained that he was recognized as
sole Chief.
Hkamti has shrunk very much from its old size. It was no doubt the northernmost
province of the Shan Kingdom rounded at Mogaung by Sam Long Hpa, the brother of
the ruler of Kambawsa, when that empire had reached its greatest extension. With
Zingkaling Hkamti and Hsawng Hsup it is all that remains of the Mogaung Kingdom,
and of the three Sawbwaships west of the Irrawaddy it is the only one that can claim
to be in any degree Shan. The people of Hsawng Hsup and Hkamti on the Chin-dwin
are nearly as Burmanized as the inhabitants of Bhamo or Mo-hnyin.
No history of Hkamti has been obtained, and no doubt in old days it was only an
outlying district of Möng Kawng or Mong Yang. When the Burmese overthrew that
Shan Kingdom, Hkamti nominally became subordinate, along with the rest of
Mogaung, but it does not appear that the present Hkamti valley was ever occupied.
Hkamti, however, formerly held the Hu-kawng valley; in fact, most of the former
inbabitants of that plain are now in Hkamti, and there the Burmese for a time had
Wuns and Nahkans and other officials. The irruption of the Kachins not only resulted
in the expulsion of the Shans from the Hu-kawng valley, but interposed a barrier of
Chingpaw settlements between Burmese authority and the Hkamti State, so that the
visits paid to the Mogaung Wun to bring tribute from Hkamti became more and more
irregular.
The country has-become more and more hemmed in by Kachins and other wild
tribes, and it is probable that its only hope of escape from eventual extinction rests in
support from the British Government. Lao Khun has paid homage and tribute, and has
been told that he has a right to the protection and consideration of the British
Government, but the State is a long way beyond the administrative border.
Account of Khamti given by Prince Henri d'Orleans.
Prince Henri d'Orleans says that Hkamti Lông is known to the Kiu-tzes, the
people of the hills between the Irrawaddy and the Salween, as the Kingdom of Moam,
a name which does not seem to be known further to the south.
The Prince says :--"We passed through the village Tsaukan and at once found
ourselves on the borders of the river. This was the Nam Kiou or Meli Remai of the
Kioutzes, the western branch of the Irrawaddy. It was about 160 yards in width and 12
feet deep; water clear and sluggish. We crossed without delay in five or six pirogues,
and saw grounds for the arrogance of the natives in the ease with which they could
have prevented our passage. A series of streams succeeded at close intervals; the
region seemed a veritable cullender for Indo-China. Some we forded, others we
passed in dug-outs. Their gliding currents mingled or diverged without visible cause
in this flat delta-like country, in marked contrast to the riotous torrents we had so
lately left. They cannot come from far, as the chain of the Dzayul mountains running
south-west bounds them to the north of the plain of Moam.
"As far as the eye could reach stretched rice-fields, yellow as the plains of
Normandy. A splendid territory, fertile in soil, and abundant in water, where tropical
and temperate culture flourish side by side, and the inhabitants are protected on three
fronts by mountains. That they were fairly opulent was to be assumed from the silver
bracelets of the children and the small Indian coins used as buttons.
"We approached the capital, which, save for slightly larger dimensions and a
higher stockade, was not distinguishable from other villages. They led us direct to a
small pavilion outside, like a music kiosque, clean and well-built. Four columns
supported a demi-cone-shaped roof of rice-straw thatch. Round the cornice were
panels painted over white ground to represent seated Buddhas with a flame upon their
heads, cars drawn by red horses, and Devadas dancing.
"These were like what one had met with in Laos, only rougher. Without the fence
that surrounded this building long bannerols fluttered from bamboo poles.
"The outskirts of the town were occupied by fenced rectangular gardens, in which
chiefly women were hoeing; the soil looked extremely rich and well-tended. Between
them and the village were rows of small bamboo ricegranaries on piles about three
feet from the ground. Passing them we came to the enceinte, which consisted of a
stockade made of wattled bamboos, twelve feet high, supported on the inner face by
an embankment. This palisade was armed at one-third and again at two-thirds of its
height by projecting sharpened stakes like chevaux de frises. It was pierced by narrow
entrances closed by a gate, formed in most cases of a single solid baulk of timber.
"Once inside the detached houses did not admit of streets; but in all directions ran
narrow plank causeways a foot or so from the earth, necessary in the rains. The roofs
were thatched and sloping, with a conical excrescence at either end, and in the centre a
small gable, like a bonnet, that allowed light to enter and smoke to escape. At one
extremity of the building was an open platform under the eaves, which admitted more
light horizontally. Each dwelling ran from eighty to one hundred and thirty feet in
length, and was erected on piles, which formed commodious pens underneath for the
liye-stock. The whole village was arranged on a system of parallels.
"The palace dominated the rest of the village, and was surrounded The Prince says :--"We passed through the village Tsaukan and at once found ourselves on the borders of the river. This was the Nam Kiou or Meli Remai of the Kioutzes, the western branch of the Irrawaddy. It was about 160 yards in width and 12 feet deep; water clear and sluggish. We crossed without delay in five or six pirogues,
and saw grounds for the arrogance of the natives in the ease with which they could have prevented our passage. A series of streams succeeded at close intervals; the region seemed a veritable cullender for Indo-China. Some we forded, others we passed in dug-outs. Their gliding currents mingled or diverged without visible cause in this flat delta-like country, in marked contrast to the riotous torrents we had so
lately left. They cannot come from far, as the chain of the Dzayul mountains running south-west bounds them to the north of the plain of Moam.
"As far as the eye could reach stretched rice-fields, yellow as the plains of
Normandy. A splendid territory, fertile in soil, and abundant in water, where tropical
and temperate culture flourish side by side, and the inhabitants are protected on three
fronts by mountains. That they were fairly opulent was to be assumed from the silver
bracelets of the children and the small Indian coins used as buttons.
"We approached the capital, which, save for slightly larger dimensions and a
higher stockade, was not distinguishable from other villages. They led us direct to a
small pavilion outside, like a music kiosque, clean and well-built. Four columns
supported a demi-cone-shaped roof of rice-straw thatch. Round the cornice were
panels painted over white ground to represent seated Buddhas with a flame upon their
heads, cars drawn by red horses, and Devadas dancing.
"These were like what one had met with in Laos, only rougher. Without the fence
that surrounded this building long bannerols fluttered from bamboo poles.
"The outskirts of the town were occupied by fenced rectangular gardens, in which
chiefly women were hoeing; the soil looked extremely rich and well-tended. Between
them and the village were rows of small bamboo ricegranaries on piles about three
feet from the ground. Passing them we came to the enceinte, which consisted of a
stockade made of wattled bamboos, twelve feet high, supported on the inner face by
an embankment. This palisade was armed at one-third and again at two-thirds of its
height by projecting sharpened stakes like chevaux de frises. It was pierced by narrow
entrances closed by a gate, formed in most cases of a single solid baulk of timber.
"Once inside the detached houses did not admit of streets; but in all directions ran
narrow plank causeways a foot or so from the earth, necessary in the rains. The roofs
were thatched and sloping, with a conical excrescence at either end, and in the centre a
small gable, like a bonnet, that allowed light to enter and smoke to escape. At one
extremity of the building was an open platform under the eaves, which admitted more
light horizontally. Each dwelling ran from eighty to one hundred and thirty feet in
length, and was erected on piles, which formed commodious pens underneath for the
liye-stock. The whole village was arranged on a system of parallels.
"The palace dominated the rest of the village, and was surroundeby small
gardens within a paling. Save in point of size, it was very similar to the other domiciles, but had a second roof with two dragons carved in wood at the
corners. We were ushered into a spacious hall beside the terrace. Tall wooden
columns twenty-seven feet high ran up to the roof, and the chamber was shut off from
the rest of the house by a bamboo partition, on which were hung black Hindu bucklers
studded with gold, and some lances. The beams were decorated with figures of tigers
and monkeys painted red, and on the lower parts of the pillars were fastened horns of
animals draped with strips of calico of bright hues. In rear of this fringe stood the
royal throne. It was made of a long chest, on the front panel of which was depicted a
cavalcade of gods or warriors, mounted on strange beasts, evidently of Hindu design.
On either side of its base twin-serpents reared their heads slightly in advance of a
grotesque squatting wooden effigy, in whose hands were a sword and a lance. Behind
a trophy of flint and match-locks was arranged.
"Under the palace we observed some men at work forging sword-blades; the fire
was in a sunk trench, and for bellows a man seated on a trestle worked two pistons in
bamboo tubes pump-wise.
"There was a pagoda in a grove near the village, wherein was placed a row of
gilded Buddhas with conical head-dress, and some smaller ones of marble, painted or
gilded as in India. Flags bearing Buddhist subjects and Thai inscriptions hung from
the ceiling, but we saw nothing unusual, artistic, or finely sculptured as in Laos. Some
tablets of black wood served as boards, which were written on with a white substance
obtained from the bamboo.
"We inquired of our interlocutors as to their origin. They said the people of
Khamti had always dwelt there, under their own name of Thais, like the Laotians. The
mountain tribes to the east, west, and north of Khamti were known by the general term
of Khanungs. One portion of the plain was called Lakhoum and another, comprising
about a dozen villages in the west, Manchi Khamti.
"In the people themselves we recognized the Laotian type, which is not a strongly
marked one. They had straight-set rather wide-open eyes with slightly puckered lids,
broad nose, arch of eye-brow and frontal bones prominent, thick lips, and olive
complexion somewhat deeper than among the folk of Laos. Most of the men were
ugly; but the younger females had pleasant faces and sometimes fine eyes. The
costume of the men was the langouti (paso), and a garment passing under the left arm
and fastened on the right shoulder. Nearly all carried the short sword across the breast,
Kioutze fashion; these had finely tempered blades and a good balance. A rather course
thread stuff, with a red or blue pattern on a light ground, is made in Hkamti itself, and
calico prints are seen equally with vests of Tibetan poulou. The women invariably
wear a blue cotton skirt, rather long and fitted to the figure. Their bosoms were not
exposed as in Laos, and they no longer bathed openly in the river like their sisters of
the south-east. Both sexes smoked pipes, bamboo-root with silver mounts, or a long
cigarette made of the leaf of a tree.
"From Hkamti to Bishi, the first village in Assam, was said to be only nine days'
march."
From this it appears that, though the Shans of Hkamti have some points of
difference from the Tai race as a whole,. the general resemblances are very great.
Source - THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER AND THE SHAN STATES
Artist In England
