Mong Mao, Möngmao or Mao kingdom (Mong is the etymological equivalent of Thai Mueang, meaning nation) is an ethnically Dai state that controls several smaller Tai states or chieftainships along the frontier of what is now Myanmar and China in the Dehong region of Yunnan with a capital near the modern-day border town of Ruili.
The name of the main river in this region is the Nam Mao, also known as the Shweli River.
Mong Mao arises in the power vacuum left after the Kingdom of Dali in Yunnan falls to the Mongol Yuan Dynasty around 1254.
The Yuan ruled the region indirectly in what was known as the Native Chieftain System.
This kingdom had asserted some unity over the diversity of ethnic groups residing along the southwest frontier of Yunnan.
In 1448, a combination of Ming, Xishuangbanna, and other allied forces subjugate Mong Mao.
