Lao
The Lao ( Lao : ລາວ , Isan: ลาว , IPA: [ laːw ], also Laotians ) are an ethnic group in the north of Southeast Asia and form a subgroup of the Tai peoples . Most of the Lao live on the central Mekong in Laos and Thailand . The Thai Lao are concentrated in the Isan region , although there are very many Isan workers in the other parts of Thailand, e.g. B. in Bangkok . The Lao speak different dialects of Lao and Isan , both of which are often represented as a single language. Many people in Isan prefer the term "Isan" for themselves as a " Thaiization campaign " was carried out in the 20th century . Even so, there are still many cultural links among the Lao as a whole. A distinctive feature is eating sticky rice as a staple food.
Lao (including Isan) lived in 2000 in:
- Thailand about 10-15 million,
- Laos about 2.6 million,
- Cambodia about 100,000,
- Myanmar about 80,000,
- Vietnam about 9,600.
Names
Members of the Lao - just like those of other Tai peoples - call themselves Tai (Lao: ໄທ , Isan: ไท , IPA: [ tʰɑj ]), more precisely Tai Lao ( ໄທ ລາວ , ไท ลาว ). The naming situation in Isan is a bit more complex, as there are old people who call themselves Lao, but this is viewed as an offense to the central Thai . Generally they are called Khon Isan or Tai Isan (Lao: ໄທ ອີ ສານ , Isan: ไท อีสาน , IPA: [ iːsaːn ]), which identifies them as residents of a part of Thailand - in contrast to the Lao of Laos. The Lao in Laos call the Lao in Thailand Tai Isan.
In the 19th century, the Tai Yuan or Khon Müang , the majority population of what was then Lan Na (now northern Thailand ), were considered "western Lao" by their southern neighbors in Siam . Because of their tradition of tattooing , they were also called Lao Phung Dam ("black-bellied Lao"). The eastern (actual) Lao, however, were called Lao Phung Khao ("white-bellied Lao").
history
The history of the Lao, like the other Tai peoples , is characterized by the Müang , territories defined by the personal relationships of a ruler ( Chao ) with surrounding settlements, which received their land rights from him.
The origin of the name Lao is not known, but long before the 13th century small Müang were built on the Mekong and on the Khorat plateau , from which the independent Lao identity developed. The Mongol invasion provided an opportunity for the expansion of the Tai peoples, including the Lao, who took over a small Khmer town : Mueang Swa . The area, later called Luang Prabang, became the historic heartland of the Lao. Fa Ngum (ruled 1357 to 1371) extended the influence of the empire to Vientiane and named the empire Lan Xang . This is considered to be the first Lao empire.
From 1574 the empire was under the influence of Burma . In 1707/1713 Lan Xang fell into three parts, which increasingly came under the influence of Siam . In 1893 a territory called Laos was established by the French colonial administration.
In more recent times the Lao have been divided into several states by drawing borders. The break became official through the Franco-Siamese treaties of 1893 and 1904, which laid the border between Siam and French Indochina between Isan and Laos. The Mekong, until then the central connecting axis and lifeline of the Lao countries, became a border river.
See also: History of Laos , History of Thailand , Shan State , Peoples of Vietnam
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hayashi, Yukio. (2002) Practical Buddhism Among the Thai-Lao: Religion in the Making of a Region. Kyoto: Trans-Pacific Press.
- ^ Volker Grabowsky: Population and State in Lan Na. A contribution to the population history of Southeast Asia. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-447-05111-6 , p. 267.
- ↑ Oliver Tappe: History, nation building and legitimation politics in Laos. Lit Verlag, Berlin / Münster 2008, p. 5.
- ↑ Volker Grabowsky : The Isan up to its Integration in the Siamese State. In: Regions and National Integration in Thailand, 1892-1992. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 1995, p. 124.