Both governments ruled on principles of strong, centralized rule. In reality the central government constantly wrestled with local leaders for control, especially for control of the tax revenue from agriculture. In the central lowland areas the king appointed his allies as leaders, but further away from his capital he had less control. In the furthest regions, inhabited by today’s minority ethnicities, local leaders had almost total autonomy. Local people lived under their own government and followed their own traditions. The Shan people were ruled by sawbwas, the Kachin by duwas, and other groups by their own chieftains. These leaders might pay no taxes at all or might pay tribute to the Burman king at the same time they paid tribute to other nearby rival monarchies. Uniform government did not exist, only a patchwork of local governments.