Muang Sing
| Muang Sing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Coordinates | 21 ° 12 ′ N , 101 ° 9 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Laos | ||
| Luang Namtha | |||
| ISO 3166-2 | LA-LM | ||
| height | 700 m | ||
| founding | 1792 | ||
Muang Sing ( Laotian ເມືອງ ສີງ , also written Müang Sing ) is a city in the province of Luang Namtha in northern Laos , about 14 kilometers from the border with China . The place is located in a valley about 700 meters high in the midst of high mountains on the Nam Sing River and has been settled since 1792. From 1885 it was the capital of a Müang (principality) of the Tai Lü . In the 1890s, the colonial claims of France and Great Britain collided here. In 1916 it was incorporated into the French colonial empire.
population
The first detectable population of Muang Sing were Tai Lü , who were followers of Chao Surintha, the widow of the late ruler of Chiang Khaeng , who accompanied her and her son Chao Saengsi here. Chao Surintha had a large stupa (That) built here in 1792 . At the beginning of the 19th century, what was then Müang (Principality) Nan deported a large part of the inhabitants of Muang Sing and other ruled areas in northern Laos to Chiang Kham , where they had to do slave labor . As a result, the valley plain remained practically uninhabited for several decades and only isolated groups of " mountain peoples " who immigrated from the east remained.
In the 1870s , the ruler of Chiang Khaeng had individual residents of his dominion settle in the valley floor and exploit the natural resources of wood and other things. This met with angry resistance from the ruler of Nan, Chao Ananta Worarittidet , who arranged for the foreigners to be withdrawn from the area he claimed. As early as 1880, however, a renewed attempt by Chiang Khaeng can be proven when they wanted to break away from the Burmese Ava and looked for a better defendable capital. In 1887 around 1,000 residents of Chiang Khaeng were relocated to Muang Sing.
As a result of the French settlement policy, the population has increased since the beginning of the 20th century . Today it consists of Akha , Tai Lü , Tai Nüa , Yao , Thai , Hmong (Lao Sung) and Khmu (Lao Thoeng). In 1992 there were about 200 households.
Settlement history
The first settlement was about 5 kilometers southwest of today's Muang Sing near Ban Nam Dai. Within a generation, a second settlement with a rampart called the "city" arose: Wiang Fa Ya.
The large Phra That Siang Thuem pagoda was then built on one of the peaks to the south .
buildings
In the north of the city of Muang Sing, Wat Hua Khua was built in 1884 , and the actual new city of Muang Sing was completed in 1887 to the point that settlers could be accepted. The city was laid out like a chessboard with eight square fields. The distances between the squares were of different widths. Overall, the city has a side length of around 800 meters and an area of around 65 ha .
For 1890 121 houses have been counted, which were supplied by a temple, the Wat Luang, which was within the protective earth wall in the southeast. After 1896 the French built a fort and stationed troops. A paved road went from Muang Sing to the Chinese border. They had a market set up on this street near Muang Sing, which became the city's economic center.
Muang Sing owned a wooden palace with a very high sloping roof until at least the 1920s .
Political history
Muang Sing has been dependent on the Burmese since it was founded by the Lü rulers of Chiang Khaeng and, like Chiang Kheang, paid annual tribute to the Burmese capital Ava for many years. After the dark times of the Burmese turmoil, Chiang Khaeng broke away from Ava and in 1885, Muang Sing, was established as a new capital that was easier to defend against possible Burmese retaliatory attacks. When the capital was moved, its name also moved with it, and in many documents of the following period, Muang Sing was referred to as Chiang Khaeng.
At the same time, however, the Müang Nan in northern Thailand also claimed control of this area. Through a military action, Nan enforced the territorial claim in 1889. Like Nan, Muang Sing was a vassal of the Siamese king Chulalongkorn (Rama V) from 1890 onwards . In 1895/96 Muang Sing became part of the French Indochina colonial empire, whose colonial ruler had put Siam under military pressure and ensured that large areas on the eastern bank of the Mekong were ceded. The French were not welcomed, which is why conflicts broke out between 1907 and 1911 and the ruler of Muang Sing had to flee to the neighboring Müang Chiang Hung in the southern Chinese region of Sipsongpanna , which was also ruled by Tai Lü . The French deposed him in 1916 and placed Muang Sing directly under their colonial administration.
In 1946 the Kuomintang attacked Muang Sing from China and partially destroyed the market. In 1954 the French left Laos completely.
literature
- Volker Grabowsky : Population and State in Lan Na. A contribution to the population history of Southeast Asia . Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2004. In particular, section “Nan's advanced sphere of influence: the conflict over Chiang Khaeng” pp. 303–318.
- Volker Grabowsky: Introduction to the history of Müang Sing (Laos) prior to French rule. The fate of a Lü principality. In: Bulletin de l'École francaise d'Extrème-Orient Volume 86, 1999, pp. 233-291.
- Volker Grabowsky: Chiang Khaeng 1893-1896. A Lue Principality in the Upper Mekong Valley at the Center of Franco-British Rivalry. In: Contesting Visions of the Lao Past. Laos Historiography at the Crossroads. NIAS Press, Copenhagen 2003, pp. 35-70.
- Volker Grabowsky, Renoo Wichasin: Chronicles of Chiang Khaeng. A Tai Lü principality of the Upper Mekong. University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu 2008.
- Khampheng Thipmuntali: The Tai Lue of Muang Sing. In: Laos. Culture and Society. Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 1999, pp. 148-160.
Web links
- http://www.mp.haw-hamburg.de/pers/Kaspar-Sickermann/mgsing/dmgs.html Websites with a detailed description of the history and buildings of Müang Sing by Volker Grabowsky and Walther Kaspar-Sickermann, University of Applied Sciences Hamburg (last accessed on March 19, 2010)
Individual evidence
- ^ Grabowsky: Population and State in Lan Na. 2004, p. 310.