View source for Momeik

{{redirect|Mongmit|the present-day administrative division|Mongmit Township|the former Shan princely state|Mongmit State}}
{{Infobox settlement
|settlement_type         = Town
|official_name           = Mongmit
|other_name              = Mongmit ({{lang|my|မိူင်းမိတ်ႈ}})
|pushpin_label_position  = bottom
|pushpin_map             = Burma
|pushpin_map_caption     = Location in Burma
|image_skyline           =
|image_map               =
|map_caption             =
|subdivision_type        = Country
|subdivision_name        = {{flag|Myanmar}}
|subdivision_type1       = [[Administrative divisions of Myanmar|State]]
|subdivision_name1       = {{flag|Shan State}}
|subdivision_type2       = [[Districts of Burma|District]]
|subdivision_name2       = [[Mongmit District]]
|subdivision_type3       = [[Townships of Myanmar|Township]]
|subdivision_name3       = [[Mongmit Township]]
|unit_pref               = Imperial
|area_total_km2          =
|population              =
|population_as_of        = 2005
|population_blank1       = [[Shan people|Shan]], [[Palaung people|Palaung]]
|population_blank1_title = Ethnicities
|population_blank2       = [[Buddhism]]
|population_blank2_title = Religions
|population_density_km2  = auto
|coordinates             = {{coord|23|7|0|N|96|41|4|E|region:MM|display=inline}}
|leader_title            = Mayor
|elevation_m             =
|timezone                = [[Time in Burma|MMT]]
|utc_offset              = +6.30
|website                 =
}}
'''Momeik''' ({{langx|my|မိုးမိတ်}}), also known as '''Mong Mit''' ([[Shan language|Shan]]: {{lang|my|မိူင်းမိတ်ႈ}}) in [[Shan language|Shan]], is a town situated on the [[Shweli River]] in northern [[Shan State]]. It is the principal town of [[Mongmit Township]], Myanmar.
==Transport==
It is connected by road to [[Mogok]] and its [[ruby]] mines, and via Mogok to [[Mandalay]], and to [[Kyaukme (Shan State)|Kyaukme]] which is on the [[Mandalay]]-[[Lashio]] [[railway]] line. Momeik is also linked to [[Myitkyina]], capital of [[Kachin State]] via [[Mabein]] and [[Bhamo]].<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.modins.net/myanmarinfo/media/transport.htm|title=Transport in Myanmar|publisher=MODiNS.Net|access-date=2009-02-27}}</ref> There is an airport for domestic flights to Momeik.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
Whereas Mogok lies at an elevation of 4,000&nbsp;ft, Momeik is just 800&nbsp;ft above sea level and 28 miles to the north of Mogok. Sixty miles by road to the west of Mogok lie Twinnge Village and the town of [[Thabeikkyin]] on the [[Ayeyarwady River]] (Irrawaddy).<ref name=ME>{{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}}</ref> There is now a direct road linking Twinnge with Momeik.<ref name=NLM807>{{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}}</ref>
==History==
{{main|Mongmit State}}
Momeik, part of the state of [[Theinni|Hsenwi]], was founded in 1238. Thirteen villages of the Mogok Stone Tract were given to Momeik 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 language|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 [[Taungoo Dynasty|Burmese kings]].<ref name=GEH>{{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}}</ref><ref name=DM>{{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}}</ref> It was however not until 1597 that the Saopha of Momeik was forced to exchange Mogok and Kyatpyin with [[Tagaung, Mandalay|Tagaung]], and they were formally annexed by royal [[edict]].<ref name=DM/><ref>{{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}}</ref>
Earlier in 1542, when the Shan ruler of [[Ava Kingdom|Ava]] [[Thohanbwa]] (1527–1543) marched with the Saophas of [[Mohnyin]], [[Hsipaw]], Momeik, [[Mogaung]], [[Bhamo]] and [[Yawnghwe]] to come to the aid of [[Prome]] against the Burmese, he was defeated by [[Bayinnaung]]. In 1544, Hkonmaing (1543-6), Saopha of Onbaung or Hsipaw and successor to Thohanbwa, attempted to regain Prome, with the help of Mohnyin, Momeik, [[Mong Nai|Monè]], Hsenwi, Bhamo and Yawnghwe, only to be defeated by King [[Tabinshwehti]] (1512–1550).<ref name=GEH/>
Bayinnaung succeeded in three campaigns, 1556-9, to reduce the Shan states of Mohnyin, Mogaung, Momeik, [[Mong Pai]] (Mobyè), Saga, [[Lawksawk]] (Yatsauk), Yawnghwe, Hsipaw, Bhamo, [[Kalay]], [[Chiang Mai]], and [[Lan Xang|Linzin]] ([[Vientiane]]), before he raided up the [[Taping River|Taping]] and [[Shweli River]]s in 1562.<ref name=GEH/>
A bell donated by King Bayinnaung (1551–1581) at [[Shwezigon Pagoda]] in [[Bagan]] has inscriptions in [[Burmese language|Burmese]], [[Pali]] and [[Mon language|Mon]] recording the conquest of Momeik and Hsipaw on 25 January 1557, and the building of a pagoda at Momeik on 8 February 1557.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
===British rule===
The Saopha of Momeik had just died at the time of the [[Third Anglo-Burmese War|British annexation]] in 1885 leaving a minor as heir, and the administration at Momeik 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 [[Konbaung Dynasty|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
[[Sao Hkun Hkio]], Saopha of Momeik, 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 [[Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League|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.<ref>{{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=[[Shan Herald News Agency|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}}</ref> He was not one of the six Saophas who signed the Panglong Agreement on 12 February 1947.<ref>{{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}}</ref> The [[Cambridge University|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]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rulers.org/fm3.html|title=Foreign ministers|publisher=rulers.org|access-date=2009-03-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1967/jun/05/mrs-beatrice-mabel-hkio|title=Mrs. Beatrice Mabel Hkio|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=5 June 1967|access-date=2009-03-16}}</ref>
===After independence===
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 [[Tatmadaw|government military]] offensives.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
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 [[SLORC|Burmese military government]] (SLORC) in 1989, and its activities have been severely curtailed.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> In 2005, an attempt by the [[Shan State Army-South]] based near the [[Thailand|Thai]] border to fill the vacuum left by the cease-fire in the north was thwarted by the [[Tatmadaw|Burmese army]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>
During the [[Myanmar civil war (2021–present)|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> The [[Ta'ang National Liberation Army]] launched a renewed offensive on the town in July 2024, as part of their resumption of [[Operation 1027]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>
==Economy==
===Minerals===
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 language|Burmese]]) including the "mushroom" tourmaline, and [[Petalite]] or ''Salinwa'' are mined in this region.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.minclassics.com/PetBur1208.html|title=Petalite Crystals from Burma|work=Mineral Classics|access-date=2009-02-27}}</ref>
[[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.<ref>{{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=[[Society of Economic Geologists|Economic Geology]], January 2001, GeoScienceWorld|access-date=2009-02-27|display-authors=etal}}</ref> [[Gold]] mining in the area is being operated by [[Asia World]] and Shweli Yadana companies.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
===Agriculture===
Mogok ruby mines rely on the staple Momeik [[rice]].<ref name=ME/> Hsinshweli strain [[hybrid rice|high-yield rice]] as well as [[sugar cane]], [[rubber]], [[Jatropha curcas|physic nut]], [[jengkol]] bean and [[avocado]] are cultivated in the region.<ref name=NLM807/><ref>{{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}}</ref>
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[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] [[Shan Herald News Agency|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]]