Jesse Ventura

Si Kefa^[a] (1296-1369), known as Hsö Hkan Hpa^[b] in Tai and Thohanbwa in Burmese, was the ruler of Möng Mao from 1335 to 1369. He sacked the Burmese kingdoms of Sagaing and Pinya in 1364.^[1][2]

At birth, Si Kefa was named Sao Yi or Hkun Yi Kang Hkam, meaning "Second Lord" in Tai. On his coronation he obtained the name Hsö Hkan Hpa,^[b] meaning "Tiger Clawed Lord", and Tai chronicles attribute its origin to the claw marks left on his back by a tiger.^[3][4]

His name was translated into Chinese as Si Kefa,^[a] and into Burmese as Thohanbwa.^[c][3][5]

The exact date of Si Kefa's accession to the throne is unknown in Chinese records. In 1330, a native official of the Yuan dynasty was appointed to Luchuan Route (Möng Mao), but it's unclear if this official was Si Kefa. At the time, Luchuan was just one of many minor Tai polities in southwestern Yunnan. Luchuan was not mentioned again until 1342, by which point Si Kefa had already transformed his kingdom into the region's dominant power, and the Yuan were sending a punitive expedition against him.^[6][7]

Tai chronicles are also unclear about the exact date of his accession, sometimes differing considerably from one chronicle to another. The most plausible date is 1335, the year of his accession as the "supreme ruler of mist-cloaked Möng Mao".^[8]

Si Kefa first established his capital at Wing Sè Hai, but two years later he built a new capital at Sè Lan (between Namhkam and Muse), fortifying it with strong walls and deep moats.

Once he had established his power in Sè Lan, he sent messengers to the rulers of the Hsenwi states - Hkun Tai Paw and his three sons named Tao Noi Chè, Tao Noi Myen, and Saü Pan Noi - demanding their submission. They flatly refused, so Si Kefa raised an army and invaded Möng Yin, driving out Hkun Tai Paw and his sons. With the war lost, they came to terms with Si Kefa, agreeing to become his subjects and giving him the princess Nang Ai Hkam Hpawng in marriage.

One year later, Si Kefa sent messengers to the rulers of Möng Mit, demanding the submission of the brothers Sao Tai Hkön, Sao Tai Hkai, Sao Tai Tao, Sao Tai Ting, and Sao Hkam Awn. They killed seven of his messengers and sent back the remaining three to bid him defiance. Si Kefa then invaded Möng Mit with a large army and defeated them. The senior prince, Sao Tai Hkön, refused to surrender and was executed. The other princes submitted and Sao Tai Hkai was appointed as the new saopha of Möng Mit.^[9]

Si Kefa engaged in repeated raiding on neighboring chieftainships and in 1348–49 the Yuan court sent an expedition under Marshall Dashibadu to put an end to it. The expedition failed to subdue him, but Si did send his son Mansan to the Yuan court to offer allegiance. The Baiyi Zhuan reports that while Mansan "accepted the Court's calendar and offered tribute, his clothing, paraphernalia and system remained like those of a king."^[10] Both the Mong Mao and Hsenwi chronicles provide lists of the far-flung domains he is said to have controlled reaching to the border of the Kingdom of Dali in the north, Xishuangbanna to the south, Central Myanmar to the southwest, and Yongchang to the west.^[11]

In the Burmese chronicles, he is remembered as the leader of the Maw forces that sacked the kingdoms of Sagaing and Pinya in 1364. He brought back King Narathu of Pinya and the loot to the Maw country. In the wake of the attacks, a Sagaing prince named Thado Minbya founded the Ava Kingdom in 1365.^[12][13]

Si Kefa has a privileged position in Mong Mao chronicle history as defining "an age when the Tay [Tai] lived in an expansive independent kingdom ruled by their own kings and use it as a point of departure for their accounts of post-fifteenth century history"^[11]

• Daniels, Christian (2006). "Historical memories of a Chinese adventurer in a Tay chronicle; Usurpation of the throne of a Tay polity in Yunnan, 1573-1584". International Journal of Asian Studies. 3 (1): 21–48.
• Elias, N. (1876) Introductory Sketch of the History of the Shans in Upper Burma and Western Yunnan. Calcutta: Foreign Department Press. (Recent facsimile Reprint by Thai government in Chiang Mai University library).
• Fernquest, Jon (Autumn 2006). "Crucible of War: Burma and the Ming in the Tai Frontier Zone (1382–1454)". SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research. 4 (2).
• Liew, Foon Ming. (1996) "The Luchuan-Pingmian Campaigns (1436-1449): In the Light of Official Chinese Historiography". Oriens Extremus 39/2, pp. 162–203.
• Maha Sithu (2012) [1798]. Myint Swe; Kyaw Win; Thein Hlaing (eds.). Yazawin Thit (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (2nd printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Kala, U (2006) [1724]. Maha Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3 (4th printing ed.). Yangon: Ya-Pyei Publishing.
• Royal Historical Commission of Burma (2003) [1832]. Hmannan Yazawin (in Burmese). Vol. 1–3. Yangon: Ministry of Information, Myanmar.
• Wade, Geoff (1996), The Bai Yi Zhuan: A Chinese Account of Tai Society in the 14th Century. 14th Conference of the International Association of Historians of Asia (IAHA), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. (Includes translation of (Jiangliang, 1980), a copy can be found at the Thailand Information Center at Chulalongkorn Central Library)[1]
• Kirigaya, Ken (2015). "The Early Syām and Rise of Mäng Mao: Western Mainland Southeast Asia in the "Tai Century"". The Journal of the Siam Society. 103: 235–268. ISSN 2651-1851.
• Daniels, Christian (2018-11-28). "The Mongol-Yuan in Yunnan and ProtoTai/Tai Polities during the 13th-14th Centuries". The Journal of the Siam Society. 106. ISSN 2651-1851.
• 召帕雅坦玛铁・卡章戛 (1988). 勐果占壁及勐卯古代诸王史: 汉傣文对照 (in Chinese). 云南民族出版社. ISBN 978-7-5367-0352-0.
• Scott, J.G (1900), Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States. In five volumes.
  • Part 1 Volume 1
  • Part 1 Volume 2
  • Part 2 Volume 1
  • Part 2 Volume 2
  • Part 2 Volume 3