Sulinyavongsa

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Sourigna Vongsa ( Lao ພຣະ ເຈົ້າ ສຸ ຣິ ຍະ ວົງ ສາ ທັມ ມິ ກະ ຣາ ຊ (old spelling) / ເຈົ້າ ສຸ ລິ ຍະ ວົງ ສາ ທໍາ ມິ ກະ ລາດ (new), ALA-LC : Phra Chao Surinyavongsā Thammikarat / Chao Sourigna Vongsa Thammikalāt ; Thai พระเจ้า สุริย วงศา ธรรมิก ราช , RTGS Phra Chao Suriyawongsa Thammikarat ; full throne name Samdach Brhat Chao Suriyalinga Varman Dharmika Raja Parama Payitra Prasidhadhiraja Sri Sadhana Kanayudha ; * 1618 in Luang Phrabang ; † 1690 , 1694 or 1695 ) was king of the Laotian kingdom of Lan Xang from 1633 or 1637 until his death and is thus the longest ruling Laotian monarch. Sulinyavongsa's rule is considered a golden age of peace and prosperity in Lan Xang's history. At the same time, the country had hardly any contact with the outside world and the sources of the events are very poor and in some cases contradictory. His death, which caused turmoil over the line of succession, heralded the end of the Lan Xang empire.

Life

Sulinyavongsa was born as the youngest son of King Ton Kham (also Upayuvaraj II.) And initially received the title of prince ( Chaofa ) Suriyalinga Kumara (Soulinga Khumane). He was trained at court. After the death of his uncle, King Viksai , in 1637/38, the nobles of the empire chose him instead of his older brothers or his cousins, who mostly went abroad or as Buddhist monks in the temple. He successfully fought against other warlords in the country.

Domination

Sulinyavongsa is portrayed as a great and benevolent leader who ruled just, enlightened, and promoted religion and the arts. He made peace with Ayutthaya , ended border disputes with his king Narai the Great and together with him built a pagoda near Songrak . He also received the first European ambassadors who visited Laos : in 1641 the Dutchman Gerrit van Wuysthoff and the following year the Venetian Giovanni Maria Leria . Both were impressed by the country's prosperity. Giovanni Filippo de Marini (1608–1682), who reported on their stay for Leria, describes the king's palace:

“... its structure and its remarkable symmetry are visible from afar. It's really big and stretches out so far that you can think of it as a city of its own ... The king's quarters ... show a very beautiful and wonderful facade ... richly decorated inside and out with wonderful reliefs, the are so finely gold-plated that they look like they are coated ... I would have to fill a whole book ... to describe the other places in the palace in detail: their wealth, their rooms, their gardens ... "

- Giovanni Filippo de Marini

Wuysthoff wrote admiringly that Vientiane , as a center for Buddhist studies, attracted monks even from Burma and Cambodia, claiming that the number of monks there was "greater than that of the soldiers of the German emperor".

Both Wuysthoff and Leria visited Lan Xang in the 1640s, at the beginning of Sulinyavongsa's rule. In the following half century of his rule there were no further visits from European travelers, merchants or missionaries, so there is no documentation in Western sources about this time.

The only documented armed conflict during Sulinyavongsa's rule was around 1651. Sulinyavongsa requested the daughter of the Phuan prince in Xieng Khouang , widely praised for her beauty and intelligence. However, the father rejected the application because it had already been promised. Sulinyavongsa saw this as a rebellion, since Müang Phuan was subordinate to the Mandala system of Lan Xang and sent an army to Xieng Khouang. The prince of the Phuan was subjugated and Sulinyavongsa married his daughter. The army of Vientiane devastated the Phuan land and deported 500 families of this people as labor to Vientiane, where their descendants still live today. The previously friendly relationship between Vientiane and Xieng Khouang was damaged.

Sulinyavongsa is also portrayed as a strict ruler who adhered to the law and did not tolerate any luxury.

progeny

Sulinyavongsa was married twice and had a son and two daughters. He had his son Chao Rajaput executed after he had found him guilty of adultery, because as the chief judge he wanted to bring justice to everyone and refuse to favor his own family members. However, this consequence turned out to be detrimental to the existence of Lan Xang, since Sulinyavongsa no longer had a male heir as heir to the throne.

Succession

After his death, which according to some sources was in 1690, in others it was 1694 or 1695, fights broke out for the succession to the throne. The high-ranking minister Tian Thala (or Phagna Muong Chan) proclaimed himself the new king. To give his claim more legitimacy, he proposed marriage to Princess Sumangala, Sulinyavongsa's widowed younger daughter. However, she rejected him. According to South Laotian tradition, she then fled south to the Kingdom of Champasak , whose first king was her younger son Nokasat . Two of Sulinyavongsa's grandchildren, the sons of Prince Rajaput, secretly fled Vientiane to Luang Prabang in order not to be murdered as possible competitors of Tian Thalas. Princess Sumangala's elder son, Ong Lo, stayed safe in Nakhon Phanom . He was supported by a majority of the nobility who were dissatisfied with the rule of Tian Thala. Tian Thala was captured and executed after six months on the throne, and Ong Lo was crowned the new king.

See also

literature

Remarks

  1. Other transcriptions of the name used in the literature include: a. Souligna Vongsa, Surinyavongsā, Soulignavongsa, Suriyawongsa, Suriya Vongsa, Suliyavongsa, Soulingna Vongsa, Sulinya Vongsa, Souliyavongsa, Sourigna Vongsa, Sulinyawongsa, Sulinyavong.

Individual evidence

  1. Peter and Sanda Simms: The Kingdoms of Laos. Six Hundred Years of History. Curzon Press, Richmond (Surrey), 1999, p. 219.
  2. a b c d Martin Stuart-Fox: A History of Laos. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1997, p. 13.
  3. ^ Grant Evans: A Short History of Laos. The Land in Between. Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest NSW 2002, p. 24.
  4. cit. after Stuart-Fox: A History of Laos. 1997, p. 13.
  5. Simms: The Kingdoms of Laos. 1999, pp. 99-100.
  6. Simms: The Kingdoms of Laos. 1999, pp. 100-102
  7. Simms: The Kingdoms of Laos. 1999, p. 102
  8. Simms: The Kingdoms of Laos. 1999, pp. 103-105
  9. Simms: The Kingdoms of Laos. 1999, p. 105