Momeik

It is connected by road to Mogok and its ruby mines, and via Mogok to Mandalay, and to Kyaukme which is on the Mandalay-Lashio railway line. Momeik is also linked to Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State via Mabein and Bhamo.{{Cite web|url= http://www.seat61.com/Burma.htm#Mandalay%20-%20Pyin%20Oo%20Lwin|title=Train Travel in Myanmar (Burma)|publisher=seat61.com|access-date=2009-02-17}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.modins.net/myanmarinfo/media/transport.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908101112/http://www.modins.net/myanmarinfo/media/transport.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 8, 2012|title=Transport in Myanmar|publisher=MODiNS.Net|access-date=2009-02-27}} There is an airport for domestic flights to Momeik.{{Cite web|url=http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?id=BM35977|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719010556/http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?id=BM35977|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 19, 2012|title=Momeik Airport|publisher=World Aero Data|access-date=2009-02-17}}

Whereas Mogok lies at an elevation of {{convert|4,000|ft}}, Momeik is just {{convert|800|ft}} above sea level and {{convert|28|mi}} to the north of Mogok. {{convert|60|mi}} by road to the west of Mogok lies Twinnge Village and the town of Thabeikkyin on the Ayeyarwady River (Irrawaddy).{{Cite web|url=http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs/Ehrmann-ocr.pdf|last=Ehrmann|first=Martin|title=Gem Mining In Burma|publisher=Gems & Gemology|date=Spring 1957|pages=3–4|access-date=2009-02-27}} There is now a direct road linking Twinnge with Momeik.{{cite news|url=http://myanmargeneva.org/NLM2007/eng/8Aug/n070826.pdf|title=Momeik, granary of Shan State (North), to extend cultivation of crops|newspaper=New Light of Myanmar|date=26 August 2007|access-date=2009-02-27|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727104921/http://myanmargeneva.org/NLM2007/eng/8Aug/n070826.pdf|archive-date=27 July 2011}}

{{main|Möng Mit State}}

Möng Mit was founded in 1238. Thirteen villages of the Mogok Stone Tract were given to Möng Mit in 1420 as a reward for helping Yunnan raid Chiang Mai. In 1465, Nang Han Lung, the daughter-in-law of the Saopha (Sawbwa in Burmese) of Momeik, sent ruby as separate tribute from Hsenwi and succeeded in keeping the former possessions of Hsenwi until 1484 when Mogok was ceded to the Burmese kings.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmIVhKXwrFcC&dq=momeik&pg=PA165|last=Harvey|first=G E|title=History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824|year=2000|publisher=Asian Educational Services, 2000|pages=101, 107, 109, 165–6|access-date=2009-02-17 | isbn=978-81-206-1365-2}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hKYPZGm37hMC&dq=momeik&pg=PA64|first=Diane|last=Morgan|title=Fire and Blood: Rubies in Myth, Magic, and History|year=2008|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007|pages=64|access-date=2009-02-17 | isbn=978-0-275-99304-7}} It was however not until 1597 that the Saopha of Möng Mit was forced to exchange Mogok and Kyatpyin with Tagaung, and they were formally annexed by royal edict.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ruby-sapphire.com/r-s-bk-burma.htm|first=Richard|last=Hughes|title=Ruby & Sapphire, chapter12:World Sources|publisher=Ruby-Sapphire.com|access-date=2009-02-17}}

Earlier in 1542, when the Shan ruler of Ava Thohanbwa (1527–1543) marched with the Saophas of Möng Yang, Hsipaw, Möng Mit, Möng Kawng, Man Maw and Yawnghwe to come to the aid of Prome against the Burmese, he was defeated by Bayinnaung. In 1544, Hkonmaing (1543-1546), Saopha of Onbaung-Hsipaw and successor to Thohanbwa, attempted to regain Prome, with the help of Möng Yang, Möng Mit, Möng Nai, Hsenwi, Man Maw and Yawnghwe, only to be defeated by King Tabinshwehti (1512–1550).

Bayinnaung succeeded in three campaigns, 1556-9, to reduce the Shan states of Möng Yang (Mohnyin), Möng Kawng (Mogaung), Möng Mit (Momeik), Möng Pai (Mobyè), Samka (Saga), Lawksawk (Yatsauk), Yawnghwe, Hsipaw, Man Maw, Kalay, Chiang Mai, and Linzin (Vientiane), before he raided up the Taping and Shweli Rivers in 1562.

A bell donated by King Bayinnaung (1551–1581) at Shwezigon Pagoda in Bagan has inscriptions in Burmese, Pali and Mon recording the conquest of Momeik and Hsipaw on 25 January 1557, and the building of a pagoda at Momeik on 8 February 1557.{{Cite web|url= http://www.arts.chula.ac.th/~complit/event/hantawadi.htm|title=Accounts of King Bayinnaung's Life and Hanthawady Hsinbyu-myashin Ayedawbon, a Record of his Campaigns |author=U Thaw Kaung|publisher=Chulalongkorn University|access-date=2009-02-25}}

The Saopha of Möng Mit had just died at the time of the British annexation in 1885 leaving a minor as heir, and the administration at Möng Mit was weak. It was included under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of the Northern Division instead of the Superintendent of the Northern Shan States. A pretender named Hkam Leng came to claim the title, but he was rejected by the ministers. A Burmese prince called Saw Yan Naing, who had risen up against the British, fled to the area and joined forces with Hkam Leng, and caused a great deal of problems during 1888-9 to the Hampshire Regiment stationed at Momeik.{{Cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Opeig29e4ikC&dq=shweli+river&pg=RA1-PA277|last= Crosthwaite|first=Charles|title=The Pacification of Burma|date= June 1968|publisher=Routledge, 1968|pages=267–280|access-date=2009-02-25 | isbn=978-0-7146-2004-6}}

Sao Hkun Hkio, Saopha of Möng Mit, was one of the seven Saophas on the Executive Committee of the Shan State Council formed after the first Panglong Conference in March 1946. On 16 January 1947, they sent two memoranda, whilst a Burmese delegation headed by Aung San was in London, to the British Labour government of Clement Attlee demanding equal political footing as Burma proper and full autonomy of the Federated Shan States.{{Cite news|url=http://www.shanland.org/general/2000/shans_send_memoranda_to_his_maje.htm/|title=Shans send Memoranda To His Majesty's Government|publisher=S.H.A.N.|access-date=2009-02-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211123857/http://www.shanland.org/general/2000/shans_send_memoranda_to_his_maje.htm|archive-date=2009-02-11}} He was not one of the six Saophas who signed the Panglong Agreement on 12 February 1947.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/panglong_agreement.htm|title=The Panglong Agreement, 1947|publisher=Online Burma/Myanmar Library|access-date=2009-02-28}} The Cambridge-educated Sao Hkun Hkio however became the longest serving Foreign Minister of Burma after independence in 1948 until the military coup of Ne Win in 1962, with only short interruptions, the longest one of which being between 1958 and 1960 during Ne Win's caretaker government.{{Cite web|url=http://rulers.org/fm3.html|title=Foreign ministers|publisher=rulers.org|access-date=2009-03-16}}{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1967/jun/05/mrs-beatrice-mabel-hkio|title=Mrs. Beatrice Mabel Hkio|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|date=5 June 1967|access-date=2009-03-16}}

The Shweli river valley and the hills around Momeik and Mogok are old strongholds of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) as early as the 1950s, but it was not until 1968 that the 1st Brigade of the CPB People's Army regained control of the area, and briefly captured Momeik itself in 1977. Their plan to strike west to the plains north of Mandalay however was thwarted by clashes with the Shan State Army and the Palaung State Liberation Army as well as government military offensives.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tMBtwdQ9ZUsC&dq=shweli+river&pg=PA79|author=Bertil Lintner|author-link=Bertil Lintner|title=The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB)|year=1990|publisher=SEAP Publications|pages=72–79|access-date=2009-02-28 | isbn=978-0-87727-123-9}}

The Shan State Army-North's 3rd Brigade has been active in Momeik, Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Namtu and Lashio. It reached a cease-fire agreement with the Burmese military government (SLORC) in 1989, and its activities have been severely curtailed.{{Cite news|url=http://www.shanland.org/politics/2005/Ceasefire-group-gets-marching-orders/|title=Ceasefire group gets marching orders|date=2005-08-30|publisher=S.H.A.N.|access-date=2009-02-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210234607/http://www.shanland.org/politics/2005/Ceasefire-group-gets-marching-orders/|archive-date=2009-02-10}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.shanland.org/politics/1999/truce_brings_only_grief.htm/|title=Truce Brings Only Grief, Says Ceasefire Leader|publisher=S.H.A.N.|date=2005-05-23|access-date=2009-02-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210233203/http://www.shanland.org/politics/1999/truce_brings_only_grief.htm/|archive-date=2009-02-10}} In 2005, an attempt by the Shan State Army-South based near the Thai border to fill the vacuum left by the cease-fire in the north was thwarted by the Burmese army.{{Cite news|url=http://www.shanland.org/war/2006/News-01030106/|title=The big chase|publisher=S.H.A.N.|date=2006-01-03|access-date=2009-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211145117/http://www.shanland.org/war/2006/News-01030106|archive-date=2009-02-11|url-status=dead}}

During the Myanmar Civil War, the town was temporarily taken by the Kachin Independence Army, but then retaken by the Tatmadaw on 2 January 2024. The junta counter-offensive destroyed large parts of the town and the fighting left scores of civilians dead.{{Cite web |date=29 February 2024 |title=Myanmar Junta Announces Martial Law in Town Held by KIA |url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-announces-martial-law-in-town-held-by-kia.html |website=The Irrawaddy}} The Ta'ang National Liberation Army launched a renewed offensive on the town in July 2024, as part of their resumption of Operation 1027.{{Cite web |date=13 July 2024 |title=Two Myanmar Junta Bases Fall in Northern Shan: TNLA |url=https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/two-myanmar-junta-bases-fall-in-northern-shan-tnla.html |website=The Irrawaddy}}

Momeik is famous for its precious and semi-precious stones in its own right. Elbaite, a variant of Rubellite (Tourmaline or Anyant meaning 'inferior' in Burmese) including the "mushroom" tourmaline, and Petalite or Salinwa are mined in this region.{{Cite web|url=http://canmin.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/45/4/891|author=Andreas Ertl|title=Tetrahedrally Coordinated Boron in Li-bearing Olenite from "Mushroom" Tourmaline from Momeik, Myanmar|publisher=The Canadian Mineralogist, August 2007, GeoScienceWorld|access-date=2009-02-27|display-authors=etal}}{{Cite web|url=http://minmag.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/72/3/747|author=A. J. Lussier|title=Mushroom elbaite from the Kat Chay mine, Momeik, near Mogok, Myanmar: I. Crystal chemistry by SREF, EMPA, MAS NMR and Mössbauer spectroscopy|publisher=Mineralogical Magazine, June 2008, GeoScienceWorld|access-date=2009-02-27|display-authors=etal}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.rockhound.cz/english/vyhledat.php?odkud=0&lokalita=Momeik|title=Momeik|publisher=Rockhound.cz|access-date=2009-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708173805/http://www.rockhound.cz/english/vyhledat.php?odkud=0&lokalita=Momeik|archive-date=2007-07-08|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.minclassics.com/PetBur1208.html|title=Petalite Crystals from Burma|work=Mineral Classics|access-date=2009-02-27}}

Diamond found in Momeik region is believed to be derived from primary sources in north-western Australia but distinguishable from similar stones from eastern Australia.{{Cite web|url=http://econgeol.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/96/1/0159|author=W. L. Griffin|title=Diamonds from Myanmar and Thailand: Characteristics and Possible Origins|publisher=Economic Geology, January 2001, GeoScienceWorld|access-date=2009-02-27|display-authors=etal}} Gold mining in the area is being operated by Asia World and Shweli Yadana companies.{{cite news|url=http://www.myanmar.gov.mm/NLM-2003/enlm/Nov28_rg3.html|title=Lt-Gen Aung Htwe inspects Twinnge-Momeik Road construction, gold mines in Momeik|newspaper=New Light of Myanmar|date=November 28, 2003|access-date=2009-02-27|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040326192706/http://www.myanmar.gov.mm/NLM-2003/enlm/Nov28_rg3.html|archive-date=March 26, 2004}}

Mogok ruby mines rely on the staple Momeik rice. Hsinshweli strain high-yield rice as well as sugar cane, rubber, physic nut, jengkol bean and avocado are cultivated in the region.{{cite news|url=http://www.myanmargeneva.org/06nlm/n060902.htm|title=Service personnel to discharge duties assigned by local authorities for accomplishment of five rural development tasks|newspaper=New Light of Myanmar|date=2 September 2006|access-date=2009-02-27|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201103327/http://www.myanmargeneva.org/06nlm/n060902.htm|archive-date=2008-12-01}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.geonames.org/maps/google_23.117_96.683.html Satellite map] GeoNames
• [http://www.finestminerals.com/new.php Tourmaline "Rubellite", Burma Momeik] Finest Minerals
• [http://www.fabreminerals.com/search_results.php?LANG=EN&MineralSpeciment=Elbaite%20(Rubellite) Elbaite (Rubellite)] Fabre Minerals
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090211213355/http://www.shanland.org/drugs/2004/high_yield_rice_yields_low.htm High yield rice yields low] S.H.A.N.

{{Coord|23|07|00|N|96|41|00|E|type:city|display=title}}

{{Shan State}}

Category:Populated places in Shan State