Laihka State

Laihka (Legya)
State of the Shan States
1505–1959

Laihka State (in yellow) in a map of the Shan States
Area 
• 1901
3,711 km2 (1,433 sq mi)
Population 
• 1901
25,811
History 
• State founded
1505
• Abdication of the last Saopha
1959
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Hsenwi
Shan State
An elephant-supported pagoda in Laihka, a Shan capital which suffered terribly in the civil war that marked the reign of King Thibaw. A very similar pagoda stands in Muong Nan, one of the Lao Shan States

Laihka State (Shan: လၢႆးၶႃႈ), also spelt Legya or Lecha (Burmese: လဲချား), was a state in the central division of the Southern Shan States of Burma, with an area of 3,711 square kilometres (1,433 sq mi).

The general character of the state was hilly and broken, with a mean altitude of a little under 3,000 feet (910 m). The main rivers were the Nam Teng, an important tributary of the Salween, and the Nam Pawn. Laihka, located in the plain of the Nam Teng, was the capital where the saopha had his palace (haw).[1] The town of Panglong, where the Panglong Agreement took place, is located close to Laihka.