Sawlon

Who is Sawlon?

Sawlon of Mohnyin was saopha of the Shan state of Mohnyin from 1482? to 1533. He is best remembered in Burmese history as the conqueror of Ava Kingdom.

Sawlon led a confederation of Shan states, and raided Avan territory throughout the first quarter of the 16th century. By the 1520s, his confederation included Shan states of Kale, Momeik, Bhamo as well as the Burman Kingdom of Prome. The allies accelerated their concerted attacks on Ava from all directions, and sacked Ava in 1524. But King Shwenankyawshin of Ava and his ally saopha of Hsipaw, Hkonmaing continued their resistance. In 1527, his forces again laid siege to Ava where Shwenankyawshin fell in battle. Sawlon placed his son on the Ava throne, ending Ava's 163-year reign of Upper Burma. Ava was just another Shan state, and many Burmans fled to Toungoo.

Sawlon made a fateful choice of not attacking Toungoo Kingdom in the southeast of Ava. Instead, he chose to attack his erstwhile ally Prome for he was unsatisfied with the assistance he received from his ally King Thado Minsaw of Prome in their war against Ava. In 1533, Sawlon and Thohanbwa marched south and captured Prome. After the conquest of Prome, Sawlon was murdered by his own ministers on his way back home to Mohnyin.