Shan State is the largest and most populous state in Myanmar, with about 6.5 million people, at least more than 20 ethnic groups living together, the main ethnic groups are Shan (about 60%), Wa, Kachin, Han, etc., the Shan are called Dai in China, and Tai in Thailand.
Historically, the Shan State region has been under the jurisdiction of China many times, but it has always been administered by the local Tusi autonomous "fetters". Shan State is located in the Shan Plateau, which can be seen as an extension of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau;The mountains are high and the forests are dense, there are many rivers and valleys, and various ethnic minorities live in them, and the customs are differentIn the ** "Ghost Blowing Lantern", Hu Bayi found the prototype of the boss soaking the corpse in the coffin shop in Shaanxi Province, which is the famous scenic spot "Inlai Lake" in Shan State, it is rumored that there is a local tribe who puts the corpse of a deceased relative in a coffin drilled with many small holes, sinks into the lake, and lets the small fish get into it to eat the corpse, and after two years, the coffin will be fished out, and it will be full of fat big fish.
After the British annexed Burma in 1886, the "Shan Federal Administrative Region" was established in the Shan State region, but this administrative region was equal to Burma proper, and both were under the direct administration of the Governor-General. However, the British's main focus was on the "Lower Burma" region of Burma proper, and the Shan State was actually managed by the Tusi themselves.
In February 1947, General Aung San met with leaders of the Shan, Kachin, Chin and other ethnic groups in Panglong, Shan State and signed the "Panglong Agreement", stipulating that all northern Burmese states would join the soon-to-be-established Union of Burma and fully guarantee the autonomy and national rights of all ethnic minorities. Although General Aung San was assassinated in July, the spirit of the Panglong Agreement was fully embodied in the "Constitution of the Union of Burma" adopted in September, one of which specifically stated that 10 years after the promulgation of the Constitution, that is, after September 1957, Shan State and Kachin State have the right to decide whether to secede or remain in the Union of Myanmar ......That is to say, at the beginning of the establishment of the Myanmar state, the Shan State was given the right to separate from Myanmar.
In 1948, Myanmar was formally established, and the first ** elected was the Shan Su Rui Tai, and the Burmese U Nu served as the prime minister, but Myanmar implemented a parliamentary system, ** no real power, power was concentrated in the hands of the prime minister, and then the Great Burmese nationalism prevailed, and the autonomy and equal citizenship rights granted to ethnic minorities by the Panglong Agreement were not fulfilled, and in 1962, Ne Win launched a military coup d'état and began the military ** rule, and the army ** abolished the "Constitution of the Union of Myanmar" in 1947 , which deprived the states of the right to withdraw from the Union of Burma, and militarily suppressed the independence of the states, and the civil war continues to this day.
There are a number of local armed forces in Shan State, the most famous of which is Khun Sha, Khun Sa relied on drug trafficking to build a strong armed Mongol Army, declared the independence of Shan State in 1993, and appointed himself as the ** of this "Shan State Republic", but happy and sad, Khun Sha's move was surrounded and suppressed, and the Burmese ** army took the opportunity to unite Thailand and Wa State to strike at the Khun Sha armed forces, and finally Khun Sha was forced to surrender in 1996, and he was placed under house arrest in Yangon until his death in 2007. Some of his subordinates who were unwilling to surrender, under the leadership of the former regiment commander Zhao Yaoshi, broke away from Khun Sa and established the Southern Shan State Army, which was supported by the United States and Thailand, and is now estimated to have a total strength of about 150,000 people, organized into 4 brigades. Controls the southern, eastern, and central parts of Shan State, accounting for about 40% of Shan State.
In April 2010, some troops in Northern Shan State accepted the proposal of the Tatmadaw Army**, and were reorganized into the National Guard Force by Zhao'an, but the troops under the control of Pan Phat refused to be reorganized, and on this basis, the Northern Shan State Army was rebuilt, and gradually grew with the support of the Wa State, and now it is estimated that the total strength is about 8,000 troops, controlling the area of the north-central Shan State, the west bank of the Salween River, and becoming the intermediate buffer zone for the Wa State to resist the attack of the Burmese army.
The Northern Shan State Army is supported by the Wa State Army, and the Southern Shan State Army and the Wa State Army are mortal enemies, and the two sides have fought for more than 20 years for turf, so battles often break out between the North and South Shan State Army, but when one side is attacked by the Burmese Army, the two sides will be at the same gunpoint to the outside world, "the enemy of the enemy is a friend" This sentence does not seem to apply to the North and South Shan State Army, and "blood is thicker than water" should be more appropriate.
In this joint military operation of the Kokang Allied Army, the De'ang Army, and the Arakan Army, so far the North and South Shan State Army have not participated in the war, and in terms of mutual relations, the Northern Shan State Army and the Allied Army have a good relationshipWhen the Southern Shan State Army expanded its territory into the center, it often fought with the De'ang Army, and the alliance with the Three Brothers was not friend or foe.
Although at present the Shan armies in the north and south have given up the idea of independent statehood and are willing to accept a high degree of autonomy, historically speaking, the Shan people have a very strong sense of independence, and they are even more backed by the strong support of Thailand, which is of the same ethnic group, and there are many factions in the state, not only have independent "four special zones" but also have a number of ethnic armed forces, and the relationship between them is also complicated, and they cannot simply be "friend or foe" However, in recent years, the Burmese army has reached a ceasefire agreement with a number of ethnic armed forces, and the Shan State has a long border line with China, Thailand, and Lao, and all ethnic groups in Shan State have brothers of the same ethnicity in neighboring countries, so the stability of Shan State is very important to neighboring countries.