Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Brief history
The Shan
saophas
, or “sky lords”, of Hsipaw were among the most powerful leaders in the
Shan states, thanks to Hsipaw's strategic location at the edge of the Shan Plateau, poised
above the Bamar-dominated lowlands. In 1886,
Sao Hkun Hseng
was among the first Shan
saophas
to submit to British rule, and the first Shan chieftain to meet Queen Victoria. His
colourful son, Sao Hke (later
Sir Sao Hke
), took forty wives and ruled from a jewel-encrus-
ted throne in his magnificent court at Sakandar, which now lies in ruins just outside Hsipaw.
The most well known of Hsipaw's
saophas
, however, was
Sao Kya Seng
, who ruled Hsi-
paw with his Austrian
mahadevi
, Inge Sargent, from 1954. Hsipaw flourished under their
rule, until in 1962 Sao Kya Seng disappeared on his way home from a political conference
in the immediate aftermath of Ne Win's coup. Save for two letters that were smuggled to his
wife from a military camp near Taunggyi, Hsipaw's last
saopha
was never heard from again,
and the regime never acknowledged his death - a story told in Inge Sargent's book
Twilight
over Burma,
written after she and the couple's two daughters had left Burma for the US. Sao
and Inge's wedding portrait can be seen around Hsipaw today, a lasting testament to their
popularity.
