The outlying tributary fiefdoms on the edges of the kingdom were autonomous in practice and nominally administered by the king. These included the Tai-speaking (what became the Shan States during British rule), Palaung, Kachin and Manipuri kingdoms. The tributary princes of these fiefdoms regularly pledged allegiance and offered tribute to the Konbaung kings (through rituals called "gadaw pwedaw") and were accorded with royal privileges and designated "sawbwa" (from Shan saopha, 'lord of the sky') In particular, the families of Shan "sawbwa"s regularly intermarried into Burmese aristocracy and had close contact with the Konbaung court.