Sawlon of Mohnyin was saopha

Saopha

Saopha, Chaofa, or Sawbwa was a royal title used by the rulers of the Shan States of Myanmar . The word means "king" in the Shan and Tai languages...

 of the Shan state

Shan State

Shan State is a state of Burma . Shan State borders China to the north, Laos to the east, and Thailand to the south, and five administrative divisions of Burma in the west. Largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km², almost a quarter of the total...

 of Mohnyin

Mohnyin

Mohnyin is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is the administrative center for both Mohnyin Township and Mohnyin District.Shells of different sizes were found in mass on 19 September. Those were found in apple-pie order while rooting up a tree between MohnyinDistrict Court and the Township...

 from 1482? to 1533. He is best remembered in Burmese history as the conqueror of Ava Kingdom

Ava Kingdom

The Ava Kingdom was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1364, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms that had ruled central Burma since the collapse of Pagan Empire in the late 13th century...

.

Sawlon led a confederation of Shan states

Shan States

The Shan States were the princely states that ruled large areas of today's Burma , Yunnan Province in China, Laos and Thailand from the late 13th century until mid-20th century...

, and raided Avan territory throughout the first quarter of the 16th century. By the 1520s, his confederation included Shan states of Kale (Kalay), Momeik

Momeik

Momeik, known as Know as Mong Mit in Shan, is a town situated on the Shweli River in northern Shan State of Myanmar .-Transport:...

, Bhamo

Bhamo

Bhamo is a city of Kachin State in northernmost part of Myanmar, located 186 km south from the capital city of Myitkyina. It is on the Ayeyarwady River. It lies within 65 km of the border with Yunnan Province, China. The population consists of Chinese and Shan, with Kachin peoples in...

 as well as the Burman Kingdom of Prome (Pyay). The allies accelerated their concerted attacks on Ava from all directions, and sacked Ava

Ava

Innwa is a city in the Mandalay Division of Burma , situated just to the south of Amarapura on the Ayeyarwady River. Its formal title is Ratanapura , which means City of Gems in Pali. The name Innwa means mouth of the lake, which comes from in , meaning lake, and wa , which means mouth...

 in 1524. But King Shwenankyawshin

Shwenankyawshin

Shwenankyawshin Narapati was the last sovereign king of Ava who reigned 25 tumultuous years between 1502 and 1527. A confederation of Shan states led by Mohnyin continued their relentless attacks, and gradually absorbed Avan territory from the north, while their ally Prome took Avan territory in...

 of Ava and his ally saopha

Saopha

Saopha, Chaofa, or Sawbwa was a royal title used by the rulers of the Shan States of Myanmar . The word means "king" in the Shan and Tai languages...

 of Hsipaw

Hsipaw

Hsipaw , is a town in Shan State, Myanmar on the riverbank of Myitnge River. It is 200 km northeast of Mandalay.-Shan Saopha:Hsipaw is perhaps one of the most well known and powerful saopha states of Shan State...

 (Thibaw), Hkonmaing

Hkonmaing

Hkonmaing was king of Ava from 1543 to 1546. The long-ruling saopha of the Shan state of Onbaung Hsipaw was the main ally of King Shwenankyawshin of Ava in their 20 years' war against the Confederation of Shan States led by Mohnyin...

 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

Upper Burma

Upper Burma refers to a geographic region of Burma , traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery , or more broadly speaking, Kachin and Shan States....

. Ava was just another Shan state, and many Burmans

Bamar

The Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...

 fled to Toungoo.

Sawlon made a fateful choice of not attacking Toungoo Kingdom

Toungoo Dynasty

The Toungoo Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Burma from the mid-16th century to 1752. Its early kings Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung succeeded in reunifying the Pagan Empire for the first time since 1287, and in incorporating the Shan States for the first time...

 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

Thado Minsaw of Prome

Thado Minsaw of Prome was the founder of Prome Kingdom, who reigned the minor kingdom from 1482 to 1527. He was governor of Tharrawaddy during the reigns of his father King Narapati of Ava and his elder brother King Thihathura. After Thihathura died in 1481, the new king Minkhaung II was greeted...

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.