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The History of the Siyin Tribe by Carey and Tuck (1896) | Ni Kong Hong | Page 7

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ENGLISH, SIZANG SIYIN ONLINE MAGAZINE SINCE 2011 APRIL

The History of the Siyin Tribe by Carey and Tuck (1896)

POSTED BY THAWNGNO APRIL 11, 2013 LEAVE A COMMENT FILED UNDER TUCK AND CARREY Defeat of the Burmans. Kuppow then set out to meet the Burmans and attacked them on the Letha range 1 and entirely overthrew them and chased them back to Burma. The Siyins state that they took four heads, two prisoners, one cannon, two guns, and all the baggage of the force. Kuppow then started out to meet the second Burmese army, which was advancing on Koset from the north; but it had already heard of the overthrow of the eastern force and retreated through the Sukte tract back to the plains, paying the Soktes a bribe for assisting them in their retreat. 2 This was the last Burmese attempt before our occupation of Upper Burma. The next foreign force to enter thc Siyin tract was that under General Faunce in 1888-89. The Siyins say that they never raided in Burma before the time when Kanhow was Chief of the Kanhows and No-man was Chief of the Twantaks. The same cause which urged Kanhow to ravage the plains impelled No-man to do likewise, the cause being that a deputation which was sent by Kanhow to the Sawbwa of Kale, with a slave, on the occasion of the Sawbwa Kadaws death, was foully slain at Yazagyo. Army of the Siyins. In No-mans first wars thc Siyins were chiefly armed with spears, and hence their heavy losses. Noman, however, realized that the Siyins were but a small community and that to hold its own it must be well armed. During his lifetime thc Siyins first became possessed of arms, procured for the most part from Burma, In Kuppows time the majority of guns acquired by the tribe came from the west and were purchased from the Lushais. The deadly feud with Burma, which commenced in No-mans time owing to the murder of Chins in the Kale valley, was prosecuted originally from motives of revenge. But the Siyins soon discovered that raiding was profitable also, as the captives whom they carried off could be ransomed for guns. In No-mans time the Siyins armed themselves by capturing Burmans, whom they exchanged for guns, sulphur, lead and iron. In Kuppows time the tribe was fully armed and the raids were perpetrated to acquire slaves to cultivate the fields and do all menial offices. To quote ________________________________________________________________________________
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1 The fight took place at the same spot which the Siyins held so doggedly against General Faunces 1/2

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1 The fight took place at the same spot which the Siyins held so doggedly against General Faunces advance in 1889. 2 It is said that Re. 1 per man was paid to the Soktes for granting the Burman force safe conduct through the Sokte tract back to Burma. The Barman version as given by an Amat who accompanied the expedition is as follows: In Kason 1239 B. E, (1878) we set out to attack Koset village. Our force was 1,500 strong, divided into two columns. The first was composed of men drawn from Mingyin, Taungdwin, Kale, and Yaw, 1,000 strong, and commanded by the Kampat Wun, Maung Pauk Tun. This column marched west from Kalemyo with its objective Koset. The second column, 500 strong, was commanded by Maung Shwe Maung of Kendat, head clerk of Kalemyo ; under Slating Shwe Maung were three Bos, Mating Min Gaung, Maung Tet Po, and Maung Shwe Bu. The force was drawn from the following centres; Tein Nyin 70, Legayaing 100, Kalewa 70, Yasagyo 16o; besides these the Yan Aung Min Wundauk sent 100 Ye Ahmudans collected from the Chindwin who were commanded by the Legayaing Sitke. The column advanced from Nansoungpu up the NaWga stream to Tiddim, where it was met by the brothers of the Chief Kochim. who guided the column south to Shwimpi, which village the Soktes declared was not under Kuppow but under Kochim. Therefore it was not attacked. Shortly after the arrival at this village news was brought in that Kuppow had routed the Kalemyo force, so the column at once retreated, the Bos considering that it was not sufficiently strong to move alone against Koset. The northern column returned without fighting and made suitable gifts to the friendly Soktes, The Kalemyo column lost 27 killed and two or three were taken prisoners. > Page 8 Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

The History of the Siyin Tribe by Carey and Tuck (1896) | Ni Kong Hong | Page 7

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