payable to the Shwedaik (Royal Treasury) in fixed instalments and retained whatever was left over. Each myo was subdivided into districts called taik (), which contained collections of villages called ywa (). The kingdom's peripheral coastal provinces (Pegu, Tenasserim, Martaban and Arakan) were administered by a Viceroy called a Myowun, who was appointed by the king and possessed civil, judicial, fiscal and military powers. Provincial councils (myoyon) consisted of myo saye (town scribes), nakhandaw (receivers of royal orders), sitke (chiefs of war), htaunghmu (jailer), ayatgaung (head of the quarter), and dagahmu (warden of the gates). Each province was divided into districts called myo, each led by a myo ok (if appointed), or by a myo thugyi (if the office was hereditary). The Viceroy of Pegu was assisted by several additional officials, including an akhunwun (revenue officer), akaukwun (customs collector), and a yewun (conservator of port). 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 sawbwas regularly intermarried into Burmese aristocracy and had close contact with the Konbaung court. Royal agencies The government was centrally administered by several advisory royal agencies, following a pattern established during the Taungoo dynasty. The Hluttaw (, lit. "place of royal release," c.f. Council of State) held legislative, ministerial and judicial functions, administering the royal government as delegated by the king. Sessions at the Hluttaw were held for 6 hours daily, from 6 to 9 am, and from noon to 3 pm. Listed by rank, the Hluttaw was composed of: Head of the Council – the king, his heir apparent, or a high-ranking prince who presided over the Hluttaw as its nominal head. Wunshindaw (, Prime Minister) – served as the Chief Minister of the Hluttaw, an office established during the reign of Mindon Min and most notably served by the Kinwun Mingyi U Kaung Four Wungyi (, Minister) – jointly administered the Hluttaw's administrative portfolio and shared joint responsibility for the kingdom's administration. Four Wundauk (, Deputy Minister) – served as deputies to the