Historical Setting: "The Shan who belong to the Tai ethnic group of Mongoloid family migrated from China into Myanmar before the Christian Era (Scott and Hardiman, 1901a). Although the date of their migration was still controversial, they had already present in Myanmar before the rise of Bagan in central Ayeyarwaddy Basin. In comparison, the area of settlements of Shans was larger than that of Bamar who entered in the Ayeyarwaddy Basin after the collapse of Pyu city-states (Than Tun, 2002). Since they lived in Yunnan Province, Shans established clusters of communities known as Mong, Muang, Keng-state or town which was ruled by a hereditary chief known as Saopha-lord of the sky. The Myanmar word saw-bwa derived from sao-pha (Zeng Peng: 1990). The first kingdom of Shans might be the Mao which located in a strategic place on the Yunnan border, from thence they entered Myanmar by crossing Chindwin and Ayeyarwaddy River. The Shans from Mong Mao area also moved south along the Ayeyarwaddy River. With the help of other groups from Shan States they later founded kingdoms and dynasties in central Myanmar, Upper Sagaing District, Mohnyin, Mong Kwang, Mong Mit and Bhamo. Tai immigrants on the other hand, established p etty states in Hsenwi, Hsi paw, Mong Nai, Mong Pai, Yawng Hwe (Nyaung Shwe), and Kyaing Tong. When Bagan was founded by Aniruddha (1044-77) in the first half of eleventh century A.D, the Shan principalities had already existed in Myanmar. It is attributed that the hegemony of the kings of Bagan could not be extended to the principalities of Shan States, particularly the trans- Than Lwin area (Than Tun, 2004)."......Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.