The Kakhyen or Singpho are the most numerous people occupying the mountainous region stretching from Upper Assam across Northern Burma beyond the Chinese boundary into Yunan. In Burma they extend as far south as Momeit and Theinni.

During the last forty years, at different times, more or less attention has been called to this interesting people. On the Assam side, Hannay, Robinson, Bronson, Brown and Dalton, and on the Burman side, Anderson, Bowers, and Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries have published sketches of their language and mode of life.