Mae Kut

King Mae Kut

Thao Mae Kut or Mae Ku (Yun Bayin Mekuti, Thai : พระเจ้า เม กุฏิ สุทธิ วงศ์ , Birman .: ယွန်း ဘုရင် ; †  1564 in Chiang Mai ) was king of the Laotian kingdom of Lan Na in what is now northern Thailand between 1551 and 1564 .

In 1551 the ruler of the Phrae Empire appeared in front of Chiang Mai and was able to take the city. He was expelled two months later, and shortly afterwards the former King Setthathirath returned, but only to hand over the reign of his wife Chaofa Nying Dharmadevi (Ton Thip).

The Chiang Mai nobles were looking for a suitable male heir to the throne and found the one in Mae Kut, who was believed to be the direct descendant of King Mengrai , the founder of the Lan Na kingdom. Mae Kut accepted the offer and ascended the throne, but that did not end the regional conflicts. He had to impose a heavy tax burden on the population to finance the fighting.

In 1557 a new threat emerged: King Bayinnaung of Burma with his huge armed force, who immediately took Chiang Mai after a 45-day march through the mountains in the course of the suppression of the Shan . Lan Na was now a vassal state of Burma, but Bayinnaung left Mae Kut on the throne of Lan Na in exchange for the payment of tribute in the form of elephants, horses and silk. A Burmese garrison and hostages from the royal family who are being transported to Hongsawadi guaranteed Burma's sovereignty over Lan Na. At the same time, Lan Na acted as a border area against Lan Xang and Siam .

Mae Kut died in Chiang Mai in 1564.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Phayre (1883), p. 109

literature

• GE Harvey: A History of Burma. From the earliest Times to March 10, 1824, the Beginning of the English Conquest. Cass, London 1967.
• Arthur P. Phayre : History of Burma: including Burma proper, Pegu, Taungu, Tenasserim, and Arakan. Trübner, London 1883.