Lan Xang

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Location of the Lan Xang Empire

Lan Xang (also Lan Sang or Lan Chang; Pali : Sisattanakhanahut , Laotian ລ້ານ ຊ້າງ , [ lâːnsâːŋ ], Thai ล้าน ช้าง ( RTGS Lan Chang), Chinese  萬象 , 'million elephants', Vietnamese Vạn Tượng ) was a kingdom (or a federation dependent principalities ) in the area of ​​today's Laos and northeastern Thailand . Lan Xang was founded in 1354 by Fa Ngum . The capital was Luang Prabang until 1560 , then Vientiane . In 1707 Lan Xang disintegrated and three kingdoms emerged: Luang Phrabang in the north, Vientiane in the middle and Champasak in the south.

history

founding

Zones of influence in Southeast Asia around 1400: Lan Xang in dark green.

A Laotian prince of the Chiang Dong Chiang Thong Empire (Xieng Dhong Xieng Thong), who had to leave his homeland under the rule of the Khmer and possibly lived as a hostage in exile in Angkor , married one of the Khmer princesses and left Angkor in 1349 Head of a 10,000-strong army and conquered land in northern Laos, which was organized in Müang ("provinces" or "city-states"). He challenged Chiang Dhong Chiang Thong from his father and older brother. In Vientiane , one of the places of his victories, he was crowned King of Lan Xang in June 1354. The name is an allusion to his enormous war machine for the time. Fa Ngum's empire stretched from the border of China in the north to Sambor below the rapids of the Mekong near Khong Island and from the border with Vietnam to the western bulge of the plateau of Khorat . It formed one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. A short time later, Fa Ngum reclaimed the land from the Khmer and initiated the restoration of the Laotian empire, which was now formally called Müang Sua and formed the first kingdom that the ethnic Tai (Lao / Thai) successfully conquered from the Khmer.

Rear of the 16th century Vat Xieng Thong in Luang Prabang (example of the typical architecture of Lan Xang)

After the first uneventful years, a religious conflict broke out between 1362 and 1368, which was sparked by the Lamaistic orientation of Buddhism by Fa Ngum. The traditional form of the region was Theravada Buddhism. When the queen died in 1368, Fa Ngum married a princess of the Ayutthaya Kingdom who apparently had moderating influence on both sides. She played a key role in properly receiving the Phra Bang Buddha image , which was brought to the capital during a religiously and artistically motivated expedition. This figure later became an icon of the country, and the capital was also named Luang Phrabang after her . However, disputes continued, so in 1373 Fa Ngum had to retire to Mueang Nan . His son Oun Heuan took over the reign and finally took over his own government as King Samsaenthai after his father's death in 1393 . The Thai records record Samsaenthai and all of its successors as tributaries to the Kingdom of Ayutthaya .

Lan Xang was not a state in the European sense, but a loose network of interdependent Müang (“principalities” or “city states”). With its ethnically diverse population, it survived another 300 years and even briefly expanded to an even greater extent to the northwest. Lan Xang was able to remain independent for a long time, also due to complex vassal relationships with his neighbors ( mandala model ). Attempts at invasion by the Vietnamese (1478/79) and Siamese (1536) failed.

Heyday

Zones of influence around 1540: Lan Xang in red

King Sai Setthathirath I ruled Lan Xang from 1548 to 1571 and is considered one of the most important rulers in its history. His mother Yot Kham Tip was a princess from neighboring Lan Na in what is now northern Thailand. After his grandfather, the King of Lan Na, died without a son in 1545, Setthathirath was first elected King of Lan Na. Two years later he also ascended the throne in Lan Xang, which temporarily connected the two kingdoms in personal union. He also had the highly revered Emerald Buddha brought from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang before he was deposed in Lan Na in 1551.

Setthathirath, like the king of Ayutthaya, Maha Chakkraphat , and that of Pegu (Burma), Bayinnaung , claimed to be the Chakravartin , that is, the universal ruler of the Buddhist world. However, the Burmese ruler Bayinnaung turned out to be the most likely to actually enforce this claim. Within a few years, with the help of huge armies, he expanded his sphere of influence enormously. In 1558 he took the neighboring Lan Na. Under the influence of this Burmese threat, Setthathirath moved the capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane in 1560, which was further away from the Burmese sphere of influence and also had more inhabitants, better trade opportunities and a fertile environment. The Emerald Buddha migrated with them, while the country's most venerated Buddha image, the Phra Bang, remained in Luang Prabang, which continued to serve as Lan Xang's most important religious center. In the period that followed, important religious buildings were built in Vientiane, including the Ho Prakeo (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and Pha That Luang , today's Laotian national symbol .

However, Bayinnaung's troops also captured Luang Prabang and Vientiane in 1565. However, Setthathirath was able to remain on the throne. As from other states subject to Burma, members of the nobility of Lan Xang, including Setthathirath's younger brother and "viceroy" ( Uparat ) as well as his queens and concubines, were deported to Pegu as "hostages". Setthathirath tried repeatedly to shake off the Burmese supremacy and to use guerrilla methods to resist the occupying power. In 1568–70 and 1572–74, independence was so factually restored, but then Lan Xang was again subjected to each other by Briman punitive expeditions. Setthathirath disappeared without a trace in 1571, after which Lan Xang succumbed to the throne. During the following 20 years, four men took turns on the throne, some were removed and reinstalled several times. King Bayinnaung of Burma died in 1581, his son Nandabayin lost control of Lan Xang in the 1590s and Lan Xang became permanently independent again.

Lan Xang only had a really stable rule again under King Sulinyavongsa , who, according to various sources, came to the throne in 1633 or 1637. His reign is considered the "golden age" of Lan Xang. In contrast to the reign of Setthathirath, this period was not characterized by armed conflicts, but a period of peace, economic and cultural prosperity.

Decay and inheritance

Successor states of Lan Xang (around 1750)

After Sulinyavongsa's death around 1694, disputes over the throne broke out again and the empire gradually fell apart. It was finally dissolved in 1707 after mediation by the Siamese king Phrachao Suea and split into two parts: Luang Phrabang and Vientiane . In 1713 the south of the empire finally also declared its independence and formed the Kingdom of Champasak . In 1779 all three states became vassal principalities of Siam.

In Laotian historiography, Lan Xang is often treated as the forerunner of today's Laos or even equated with it. This is accompanied by occasional irredentist demands for the "return" of the "lost Laotian territories" in present-day Thailand. However, this is historically incorrect. In pre-modern Southeast Asia there were no nation states. Boundaries were determined by feudal power and personal relationships of dependency and in many cases were not precisely defined. Areas of power overlapped, local principalities could pay tribute to several overlords at the same time. Ethnic affiliation or national identity hardly played a role.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Martin Stuart Fox: Conflicting Conceptions of the State. Siam, France and Vietnam in the Late Nineteenth Century. (PDF; 301 kB) In: Journal of the Siam Society , Volume 82, Part 2, 1994, pp. 135-144.
  2. ^ A b Oliver Tappe: History, nation building and legitimation politics in Laos. Lit Verlag, Berlin / Münster 2008, p. 118.
  3. ↑ Oliver Tappe: History, nation building and legitimation politics in Laos. Lit Verlag, Berlin / Münster 2008, p. 119.
  4. ↑ Peter Simms, Sanda Simms: The Kingdoms of Laos. Six Hundred Years of History. Curzon Press, Richmond (Surrey) 2001, p. 73.
  5. ↑ Oliver Tappe: History, nation building and legitimation politics in Laos. Lit Verlag, Berlin / Münster 2008, pp. 119–120.
  6. ↑ Peter Simms, Sanda Simms: The Kingdoms of Laos. Six Hundred Years of History. Curzon Press, Richmond (Surrey) 2001, p. 77.
  7. ↑ Peter Simms, Sanda Simms: The Kingdoms of Laos. Six Hundred Years of History. Curzon Press, Richmond (Surrey) 2001, pp. 88-89.
  8. ↑ Peter Simms, Sanda Simms: The Kingdoms of Laos. Six Hundred Years of History. Curzon Press, Richmond (Surrey) 2001, p. 94.
  9. ↑ Oliver Tappe: History, nation building and legitimation politics in Laos. Lit Verlag, Berlin / Münster 2008, pp. 118–119.
  10. ↑ Volker Grabowsky: The Isan up to its Integration into the Siamese State. In: Regions and National Integration in Thailand 1892–1992. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 1995, p. 125.
  11. ↑ Martin Stuart-Fox: Historiography, Power and Identity. History and Political Legitimization in Laos. In: Contesting Visions of the Lao Past. Lao Historiography at the Crossroads. NIAS Press, Copenhagen 2003, p. 82 ff.

literature

  • Volker Grabowsky : Buddhism, Power and Political Order in Pre-Twentieth Century Laos. In: Buddhism, Power and Political Order. Routledge, 2007, pp. 121-141.
  • Sarassawadee Ongsakul: History of Lan Na . Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books 2005. ISBN 974-9575-84-9 .
  • Peter Simms, Sanda Simms: The Kingdoms of Laos. Six Hundred Years of History. Curzon Press, Richmond 1999.
  • Martin Stuart-Fox : The Lao Kingdom of Lan Xang. Rise and Decline. White Lotus, 1998.