| Karenni States | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Princely States ofBritish Burma | |||||||||
| 18th century–1959 | |||||||||
 1917 map of the Karenni States | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• 1901 | 8,106 km2 (3,130 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1901 | 45,795 | ||||||||
| • Type | Monarchy | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Independence of the feudatory Karenni predecessor state. | 18th century | ||||||||
• Abdication of the Kayah rulers | 1959 | ||||||||
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| History of Myanmar |
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TheKarenni States, also known asRed Karen States, was the name formerly given to the states inhabited mainly by theRed Karen, in the area of present-dayKayah State, easternBurma. They were located south of theFederated Shan States and east ofBritish Burma.
TheBritish government recognised and guaranteed theindependence of the Karenni States in an 1875 treaty with Burmese KingMindon Min, by which both parties recognised the area as belonging neither to Burma nor toGreat Britain. Consequently, the Karenni States were never fully incorporated intoBritish Burma. The Karenni states formed for a time the "Kayah State" inpost-independent Burma,[1] but on 29 April 1959 both the Shan and the Kayah rulers formally surrendered their ruling powers to the Burmese government.[2]
There are no historical data on the Karenni States before the 19th century. According to local tradition in the early times of the Karenni states there was a principality led by a"Sawphya" that was under the over lordship of aShan prince. This state finally became independent in the 18th century. In the 19th century the Karenni state was divided into five principalities(sawphyas).
In 1864 a Karenni prince requested the status ofBritish protectorate for his state, but the British authorities did not show any interest. After the death of this prince in 1869 his two sons renewed the petition claiming that they feared Burmese ambitions on their state.The British refused again, but agreed to arbitrate before theKing of Burma. Since theBurmese monarchy insisted in their demands on the Karenni territories, the British granted recognition to four states, Kyebogyi, Namekan (Nammekon), Naungpale and Bawlake, which became independent under British protection on 21 June 1875. Kantarawadi state, however, remained independent without official protection.[3]
The Karenni States were recognized as tributary toBritish Burma in 1892, when their rulers agreed to accept a stipend from the British government. An Assistant Superintendent of the Shan States was based atLoikaw asAgent of the British government. He was exercising control over the local Karenni Rulers, being supervised by the Superintendent atTaunggyi.[3]
On 10 October 1922 the administrations of the Karenni states (Bawlake,Kantarawaddy, andKyebogyi) were placed under the administration of theFederated Shan States, established in 1900.[4] under a commissioner who also administered theWa States. This arrangement survived the constitutional changes of 1923 and 1937. By the 1930s, theMawchi Mine in Bawlake was one of the most important sources oftungsten in the world.
On 27 May 1942, duringWorld War II, nearbyKengtung State was invaded and its capital captured by the ThaiPhayap Army.[5] Following a previous agreement between Thai Prime MinisterPlaek Phibunsongkhram and theJapanese Empire, in December the same year the Thai administration occupied Kengtung and parts ofMöngpan. Theannexation by Thailand asSaharat Thai Doem northern province was formalized on 1 August 1943.[2]
Thailand left the territories in 1945, but officially relinquished its claim over the trans-Salween part ofKantarawadi State only in 1946 as part of the condition for admission to theUnited Nations and the withdrawal of all wartime sanctions for having sided with theAxis powers.[6]
The Constitution of theUnion of Burma in 1947 proclaimed that the three Karenni States be amalgamated into a single constituent state of the union, calledKarenni State. It also provided for the possibility of secession from the Union after 10 years. In 1952, the formerShan state ofMong Pai was added, and the whole renamedKayah State, possibly with the intent of driving a wedge between theKarenni in Kayah State and the rest of theKaren people inKaren State, both fighting for independence.
The division failed, with the Karenni fighting alongside the other Karen peoples against the Myanmar dictatorship. Their military organisation, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), had 20 000 members by the 1980s. However, the political branch of the KNLA, the Karen National Union (KNU), sought to resolve the conflict through political means. In 1992, it appointedRóbert Cey-Bert as its international ambassador, whose diplomatic efforts[7][8] led to the KNU's admission to theUnrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) in 1993.[9]
Under the Burmese government control, the states subjected to changes throughout the small state. Resources like the hydropower and mining led to massive military presence around the state; thus, leading many of its people without a home and more problems to arise. The heavy military presence had created issues that people of the state faces as consequences. Mistreatment of the local people include land taken away by the military,human rights violations likeforced labor andsexual violence and overall safety of the people resulting from landmine planted around the state.[10]
The armed conflict did not end there, however, with the KNU's new headquarters being established in Mu Aye Pu, on theBurma-Thai border. In 2004, theBBC, citing aid agencies, estimated that up to 200,000 Karen, including Karenni, had been displaced during the decades-long war, with a further 160,000 living inrefugee camps on the Thai side of the border. The largest refugee camp is located inMae La, Tak (ตาก) province, Thailand, which hosts around 50,000 Karen refugees.[11]
In February 2010, reports said the Burmese army was continuously burning Karen villages, displacing thousands of people.[12] Many Karen, including people such as Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, former KNU secretary, and his daughter Zoya Phan, have accused the Myanmar military government ofethnic cleansing.[13][14][15][16] TheUS State Department has also accused the Burmese government of suppressing religious freedom.[17]
There were five Karenni states, divided into two regions.
TheWestern Karenni States were the four Karenni states located west of theSalween River:
Kantarawadi State was also known as "Eastern Karenni". It had an area of 2,500 square miles or 6,500 square kilometres and a population of 26,333 in 1901.[3] More than half of its territory was located east of theSalween River, an area that was annexed by Thailand during World War II.
