Zo People Built Kale Palace
~ Vum Son
In 1368 Sao Saw Ke (1368— 1401) a Shan Sawbwa or prince became the king of the new dynasty founded at Ava. He took advantage of the quarrel between Kale and Mohnyin and annexed both states and replaced the Sawbwas with his relatives. Kyitaun-gnyo, his very ambitious nephew, became the Sawbwa of Kale, who even attacked Ava in 1425 circling the city for seven months but failed to dethrone the king. In 1374 he built the palace of Kale. It had a double moat. measuring 30 yards (30 m) wide, and massive walls a kilometre square, enclosing an area of 2,34 acres. The remains of the massive walls of Kale city, still stand today two miles south of the present Kale. (The author did not see the remains himself.)
The Asho from the Sandoway distict of Burma have ballads that mentioned the bricked-wall city of Kale.
Ania la chap don a kho a, e e e e
htoan za na baleng a hpuan a, e e e e
apok a poichi a oat limit it, c e e e
htoan za na baleng a hpuan a,
ane ye olo ve dimo e, e e e e
si sho e lo po e hnaung e, e e e e
son sho e a toan e sy c. e e e c
kanau o suam ei o htui yo
Translation
To the upper country
To the plains and dry grasses
To the brick city of our forefathers
To the plains and dry grasses
Which are so charming
Let us, hie, come along!
Let us haste with every speed
Oh my fairy-like young brother
(Taken from Vumkhohau)
Zo (the Lusei) verbal history states a cruel king and a great famine which killed thousands of people in the Shan country as the reason for their migration to the hill.” The Sizang records the oppressive Governor of Kale as the cause. He forced the people to construct a moat running all around the Kale palace. There were so many people involved in the construction and the fingers cut accidentally during the construction filled a whole basket. At the same time the people had to defend themselves against the Manipuris who invaded the Zo-Shan country constantly. They therefore could devote little time cultivating their fields and eventually famine struck the area. The Zo then decided to leave the plains and migrated to the hills.
Whenever there was a possibility of assimilation, the Zo moved away, and it was time for them to move away from the Burman because some Zo had assimilated to the Burman. They climbed the hills of the Zo country and following the highest ridges they looked for suitable locations for settlement, and they settled down wherever they came across caves big enough to protect them from rain and weather.
They left behind the Kale-Kabaw-Myittha Valleys, a land they occupied for some centuries. To this rich land they came back again and again to hunt for the vast forest of the valleys was inhabitat by bountiful wild animals such as bison, bear, wildboar, huge herds of deer, tiger, elephants herds and even rhinoceras. The streams were full of trout and fishing was done with the nets obtained from the Shan and the Burman. They came back when they need slaves, and human heads for sacrificial purposes. And they came back to trade. They were the friends of the plains people until they quarrel, and they were enemies until they agreed once more to be friends. When peace was established after the British invasion, they came back to settle and today they live peacefully together.
Conclusion :
Zo people must have come to the area between the Chindwin and the Irrawaddy rivers before the 8th century, possibly at the beginning of the Christian era. Zo people had built a Kingdom there. with capital at the confluence of the two rivers, which protects them from their enemies. Their Kingdom was destroyed by the Nanchaos during the 9th century. The Masho might have migrated to the Zo country without first living in the Chindwin Valley or their migration might have happened imme-diately after the Zo Kingdom was detroyed. Most Zo people lived together with the Shans from the 9th century upto the 14th century. The Burmese came to the Zo country in the 13th century. The majority of Zo migrated to the Zo country starting in the 14th century.
Source :
Zo History
