The Lanna State

Project: The Lanna State
Author: Lem Chuck Moth

Started date: November/01/2006
Last updated: March/31/2018
All right reserved.
Note:
Since this paper is still drafted, the readers would be advised to ignore any context errors. The content is not final and subjected to be reviewed.


INTRODUCTION
Founded by a descendant of the Funan or Khmer king Rudravarman who was Chased out by the Chenla clan, the dynasty of Khun Borom was ruling Nan-Tchao under the protection of the Sui Dynasty (581-618). After Nan-Tchao was raid by the Chinese court of the Tang, the descendants of Khun Borom escaped south to join the Khmer consortium of Southeast Asia. After subduing Land-Chenla, the Khmer court founded Angkor to become the Middle Kingdom of the new Cakravatin Empire. Since then, Xiang-Mai became one of the cardinal states of Angkor and was politically isolated from Nan-Tchao. This disruption moreover accentuated when Haripangjaya was formed to strengthen the Khmer-mon legacies of the region. Under Angkor, Xiang-Mai became one of the important cardinal states of the Cakravatin Empire and the Xiang-Mai's legacy of Khun Borom became a God-King Paramesvara of Angkor. After the Dynastic crisis, the Angkorean court had diverged itself more and more from its Sivaite tradition. To make the matter worst, the political under-change of Angkor inflicted during the reign of Suryavarman II drove Xiang-Mai into obscurity. Under the adverse affect of the Vishnuite Cholan influence, Angkor conducted strong policy against its own progenator of Sivaite background. Only after the advent of the Mongol's incursion that Xiang-Mai managed to free itself from the Angkorean condemnation and to thrive as a new nation. With the help of his Guru Sri Mangalvarman, Jayavarman VII extended his control over northern Siam countries that went beyond Burma and the Shan Country. Unfortunately, this vast expansion was also spreading thin the Angkorean military control. While the unification was under way, the incursion of the Mongols fueled more internal unrest of Angkor. In conjunction to the development of the Tai world, the support of the Mongols provided members of the Tai pact with opportunity to launch their own endeavor. Royal houses of diverse background took the advantage of the Mongolian support to carve their own dominion on the broken ground of the Angkorean dependency. Beside Ramakamheang whose family tie with Kublai Khan resulted in Sokhodaya becoming a Mongolian commanding post, Mangrai was next in the line to receive the most benefit from the Khan. To avenge the mistreatment from Angkor, Mangrai joined the Tai Pact to support the Mongol's fight against Angkor.

The Foundation of Lanna
The formation of Lanna along with the breakaway of Sokhodaya from the Yoke of the Khmer Empire had been mistakenly portrayed during the writing of modern history, as the uprising of petty Tai nations for their own independence against the military dominant Angkorean Empire (Notes: The Birth of the Tai nations). Contrary to the misconception that the two countries were formed by the Tai people and fought for independence from Angkor, evidences show instead that they were formed as two different nations during the Mongolian incursion by local power-houses and expanded themselves at the expense of Angkor. In that regard, the Chiang-Mai chronicle is by far an important source that provides us with complete information of the new development of Lanna as an independent state. Coupled with the Nan chronicle, we could see the aggression of the Tai pact against many localities of previous Angkorean dependency including Rajapati, Nan and Lan-xang. It starts with a full description of Mangrai' s conquest over petty Siam states and later the absorption of Haripangjaya to form Lanna. According to the chronicle, Mangrai had to wage war against surrounding neighboring Siam states and to conquer the Mon Countries throug unjust maneuvers. The aggression would affect very much the Mon court of Haripangjaya that, after escaping to Angkor became the Khmer court of today's Cambodia (Nokor Caktomukh: The New Angkorean Court: The Refugees from the Mon Countries). Of Sivaite Background, Mangrai might see in the Mongols tradition a compatibility that the actual Angkorean court now could provide. What he could not see was the Tartarization' s implication that had already changed completely the mentality of the Mongolian belief into becoming a world class aggressive nation. Lanna itself was going to enhance its own aggressivity through out the rest of its contact with the Ho clan of Yunnan. After its formation, Lanna continued to use its past connection with the Mongols to work for its advantage, With the Mongolian support, Lanna' s rulers continued to use the same hostile policy against neighboring states of the Nan Countries. Little they knew that Lanna later was going to receive the same fate under the aggressivity of Ayudhya and later of Thonpuri that were under foreign leadership rule (The Kingdom of Syam: The Early Colonial work: The Strategy over its Dependency).

THE ANGKOREAN CONNECTION
To understand the split that set Lanna apart from the Khmer Empire, we need to go back to the last breakdown of Angkor during the hight of the Mongol's incursion. As we had seen, the Tai pact was actually formed by Kublai Khan when he took residence in Yunnan and prepared for a full-scale invasion over Angkor. It is important to note that among its members, Xiang-Mai 's dedication to the Mongolian cause was particularly strong. That could be due to the grudge nurtured by the Xiang-Mai court had nurtured against Angkor during the reign of Suryavarman II. Nevertheless, we shall argue compatibility of cultural or political background that linked the Kambojan aristocracy of Xiang-Mai' s court to the Mongolian past legacy of the Meru Culture did actually play important part in the split with Angkor.

Xiang-Mai as a Sivaite cultural Center of Angkor
As many northern parts of Indochina, there was strong concentration of Yueh aristocrats taking hold of Yunnan as a legacy of the overall Yueh migration during the Han era. By then Xiang-Mai, in close connection with Yunnan was under local Yueh leaderships in establishing themselves as feudal rulers under the control of the Han (Prey Nokor: The Han's expansion: The Yueh Migration). The Chao-fas whose origin was of the Yueh-Shih branch received investiture from the Han to rule over a mix stock of population of predominantly Lawa or Lua tribesmen. During the advent of the Chenla uprising, King Rudravarman from Prey-nokor established his suzerainty over Yunnan while the Chenla clan completed its subjugation of the Funan Empire. His immediate successors were chased out by the Tang and were invited back to rule as part of the overall power distribution initiated by the Chenla King, Aurudhha. During all of these developments, Anurudha placed the Sri Vijayan houses to take control of both Sri Dharmaraja and Xiang-Mai that were going to become the progenator of Angkor's two western cardinal states. Known in Khmer inscriptions as Aninditpura, Lavo became a Sivaite cultural center of Angkor (Xiang-Mai: The Chenla Connection: Aninditapura as the birthplace of the next Angkorean power elite). With strong Soma legacy, Lavo served as Angkor's military commanding post as well as a center of Siva-Buddhist inspiration for Angkor. The Brahman Sivakaivalia, the bearer of the cult of Devaraja, was known to come with his family to join the Angkorean court. During the Dynastic crisis, both Lavo along with Haripangjaya suffered serious attacks by the Sri Vijayan court of Ligor. Of Buddhist background, Jayaviravarman at first rejected the Sivaite tradition of the Devaraja Cult and at the same time tried to destroy major Sivaite practices in the Angkorean court. After many fail attempts to subdue Haripangjaya, his son Suryavarman I founded a northern Commanding post to exert more control into the northern Shan country. Khmer inscriptions of Prah Vihea later witness the establishment of Rajapati (that we had identified as Mouang Yang of Sipson Panna) for the safeguarding the northern control of Angkor. The temple of Prah Vihea was then built to accommodate the meeting of the Angkorean court with its northern dependency. Suryvarman I later changed his mind about the practice of Deveraja cult and allowed the Param-guru family to be back in his court for the royal ceremonies. During the rest of his reign and of Udayadityavarman II, the Sivaite house of Parama-guru was restored back to their old business while their services to the Angkorean court started to receive high recognition as before. Under the Buddhist rulers, the cult of devaraja had been reinstated back to carry on the legacy of Angkor as a cakravatin empire. The legacy stayed strong until the reign of Suryavarman II whose close relationship with the Cholan Empire resulted in the political clash with the orthodox Saivite clan of the Angkorean Param-guru (The Construction of Angkor Wat: The Dependency of the Shan Country: The Crack-down on Xiang-Mai). Suryavarman II' s devotion to Vishnuite is easily checked through the building of his masterwork, the temple of Angkor Wat that was dedicated to Lord Vishnu. This Cultural change, as we shall see, had a big impact on the relationship between Angkor and Xiang-Mai that was going to get worst during his reign. Even before his ascension to the Angkorean throne, the Sivaite Param-guru's legacy was seen demoted and was soon replaced by a new religious school under the presidency of Divakarapandita. Along with the disappearance of the family members of Param-guru Jayendrapandita from the Angkorean court, the Cult of Devaraja was never mentioned again in Khmer inscriptions. In connection to the high of the dynastic feud between the Sri Vijayan and the Cholan clans, the fight split Xiang-Mai and the rest of the Sri Vijayan dependency from the new Angkorean court. In his strong campaign to stabilize the Angkorean Cakravatin Empire, Suryavarman II crushed the Sri Vijayan resistance and placed Xiang-Mai along with its illustrated Param-guru family under condemnation. While Xiang-Mai was left to its darker period, Suryavarman II restarted the development of Rajapati into becoming the new commanding post for the northern Shan countries. These circumstances explain the primary catalyst of the medieval Lanna' s policy of breaking away from the khmer Empire. It is also known that Suryavarman II had conducted similar campaign against the hard core of the Cholan clan at Champapura with less success (The Construction of Angkor Wat: Maha Nokor: The Secession of Champapura). After his death, Angkor was once again in disarray. While the Cholan affair of Champapura turned to the worst, Xiang-Mai took the opportunity to free itself from the condemnation along with the grand-scale uprising of the Sri Vijayan court. Even though Jayavarman VII had reunited back the country, fractures were already formed to weaken the Angkorean strength during the Mongols incursion.

The Reign of King Mangrai (1259-1317)
Since the formation of Lawasangharatha, the genealogy of the Lao Kings of Xiang-Mai was not disrupted. The last of the Lao princes of Ngoen Yang (Xiang-Saen), Mangrai was a son of king Lao Meng. Born in 1239, he was the fourth generation of king Lao Cuang' s descendants. Unlike Ramakamheang who had connection with the new Angkorean court of Sri Vijaya, Mangrai had deep connection with the lineage of the ParamKamboja kings through Lawacangkarat of Xiang-Mai. In either case, the two Siam rulers were blood-related through the original Khun Borom. He succeeded his father, Chao Lao Meng, in 1259. As soon as he took the throne of Xiang-Mai, Mangrai learnt that rulers of neighboring countries were fighting. Mangrai had a long reflection and saw that these rulers disputed over manpower and land, each claiming that they were all his, and that their fighting was a source of great suffering to the people.
Any land with multiple rulers is a source of great suffering to its people. Furthermore, much anxiety arises. All these rulers, even though they are of the same lineage from the king Lawacangkarat, descendants of Lao Kop and Lao Chang, no one was consecrated as king. Only my paternal grandfather, king Lao Kao, who was the young sibling of Cao Lao Khop and Lao Chang, was consecrated as king that continued down to me today.
The passage indicates that petty Siam's rulers who were once under Xiang-Mai might not been in subordination any more. By tradition, Xiang-Mai and its rulers received from Angkor' s insignia of an autonomous cardinal state and the higher authority over its surrounding petty states. Following the condemnation by Angkor, however, it is understandable that Xiang-Mai was stripped of any past dependency.
Further more, the regalia of coronation such as the Sword of Victory, the spear, the Srikanjaya Dagger, and the Auspicious Gems were coming down to me from Grandfather Lao Cong, and I have maintained to the present day. All of those who are my neighbor kings have not undergone coronation like me, and they cannot withstand me. I should attack and take those domains.
It is interesting to note that one of the regalia of coronation, the Sword of Victory (JayaSri) was also mentioned in the inscription of Ramakamheang as a token from the Angkorean monarch for recognizing Prah Ruang as an independent sovereign. Now that the control of the Angkorean Empire was already reduced considerably by the incursion of the Mongol, Mangrai saw the opportunity to reunite the Siam kingdoms under his control. He then gathered troops and attacked southern neighboring states; among his conquests were Muang Lai, Xiang-Khan, Xiang-Chang, Xiang-Rai, Xiang-Khong and Muang Soeng. His first son, Khun Khrung, was born during the foundation of Xiang-Rai and his second son, Khun Khrua was born during the conquest of Muang Soeng. Through his political ingenuity, Mangrai was able to unite the northern countries together in a pact that strengthen their position against Angkor. Since the early stage of the Mongolian incursion, Mangrai joined the Tai Pact to carry on his project. Through the Paramkambojan legacy, the leadership of Xiang-Mai had very deep past connection with the Tai legacy of Central Asia (The Nagadvipa: The lands of the Nagas: Sri Paramesvara). The connection stopped after the Tai-Yuan Country underwent political changes through tartaric incursions. Under various Tartaric rulers turned into Chinese, the people of the Tian Shan Range became more and more Cinicized. Nevertheless, evidences show that Yunnan still maintained its own autonomy under local rulership. After the fall of the Han, China had little interest to administer the mountainous regions and to deal with the barbaric life-style of theirs people. Most Chinese courts in the past left the local rulers opportunities to sustain their full authority. The Chinese court granted them investiture to rule autonomously and as long as they stayed faithful and kept paying tribute. The advent of the Mongol' s incursion however changed the whole situation. By invading Yunnan, the Mongol revived the Chinese legacy on the Yunnan population and at the same time reinforced the Tai legacy of the region. While Ramakamheang was seen at the forefront of the Tai Pact, there are however less evidences about Mangrai' s swearing allegiance to the Great Khan (Notes: Mangrai vs the Mongol). Unlike the other two members of the pact who received directly investitures from the Chinese Emperor, Mangrai appeared to keep his distance. Some scholars even posited that Lanna was actually the Pa-pai-si-fu of the Chinese texts and that the three Shan brothers who fought against the Mongol's occupation in Pagan might had been connected to Mangrai's court.

The Conquest of Haripangjaya
Along with its sister city Lavo, Haripangjaya were two of Angkor 's cardinal states. During the Dynastic crises, we had seen that Haripangjya had been an escape ground for the Angkorean king Jayavarman V whose connection with the Chola was well known. Continuous fights with Lavo occurred until it was back again under Angkor during the reign of Jayavarman VII. The Xiang-Mai chronicle did not provide information on the next king Yiba' s background who was going to become the victim of Mangrai' s opportunistic policy. Unlike other Mon states of Ramandesa that fell under the Vishnuite Talaing kings, new findings suggests that the lineage of the Pagan' s Sweet Cucumber king was actually the reigning dynasty of this Mon state. It explains why their Buddhist zeal did not need to compromise with Hindu practices of Vishnuite sect as at Pagan (The Ramana Desa: The Three Dynasties: The Cucumber Gardener). Of its own development, the court of the sweet Cucumber King was free of Zoroastrian influence. It was actually the only court of Southeast Asia that still retained its pure Siva-Buddhist background. In close conjunction with Angkor, the Mongols incursion was another important event that would shape the fate of the Cucumber King 's lineage. Unlike Pagan, Haripangjaya was unaffected by the Mongol's direct attack and was mentioned to be prosperous still under the reign of King Yiba. The fall of Pagan however would result in Haripangjaya becoming vulnerable to the aggression of the Tai pact. Apparently Mangrai saw the opportunity too good for him to let it passed by and decided to annex the neighboring country to his control. Nevertheless, Haripangjaya still presented itself of strong popular support that became a major setback to his ambitious plan. To conquer it, Mangrai' s strategy was to set an elaborate scheme to destroy its internal strength and most of all the support of the people to the Mon court. First he sent an emissary to work himself into becoming an important member of the Mon court. After winning the confidence of the king, the emissary used his assigned job at the office of preceptor to work out his plan in preparing Haripangjaya for the conquest by Mangrai. He succeeded to induce havoc into the Mon court and alienate the people against it. When he had sufficiently exasperated the Mon inhabitants against the king, he notified Mangrai of the situation. The Siam King sent his army marching toward Haripangjaya and took the city by storm without much resistance in 1291-92. The Mon king fled to Khelang (Khaleyang) and joined his son to stage back a return but failed. According to the chronicle, Yiba took refuge at Pitsanulok after his son was killed during the attack. Mangrai stopped his son to go further pursuing the fleeing King into Sokhodaya's territory. It is important to note that Pitsanulok that is located at the doorstep of Sokhodaya, was at the time a dependency of the Sokhodayan court. It was founded by king Thama-Trai-Pidak whom we had identified as king Luadayaraja (Sokhodaya: The decline of Sokhodaya: The Reign of King Sucharat). The allowance to the courts of Haripangjaya to take refuge in its territory reveals a political consortium between Sokhodaya and the Mon courts. There were evidences that Lu-daya, the new ruler of Sokhodaya already broke tie from the northern Tai Pact and Mangrai was wise enough to do not aggravate the situation. Instead, he took the opportunity to integrate Haripangjaya as part of his kingdom. With the blessing of the Mongols, Mangrai founded on the Mae Ping, north of Haripangjaya, the city of Lanna in 1296. We shall see that this city would become an important political center for the Tai world later in history. Through more contact with the Ho of Yunnan, Lanna was in the true sense the next spreading ground of the Tai culture. At the same time, we shall argue that the Tai migration theory did not apply to this Tai development of northern Siam countries. Like Sokhodaya, Lanna was formed mainly on the ground of the Khmer-mon and Lua people. Originally speaking of Autroasiatic family of Language, we had seen that the Lua tribesmen have already adopted the Tai language through their early contact with the Tai leadership of Mean-ta-tok. As happened during their early settlement at nothern Vietnam, the Lua people had already transformed themselves to become Tai Tribesmen. Nevertheless, there were no evidences of Tai migrations from these Tai communities back to the northern Siam countries. The lack of information prevented us from further commenting on the late Xiang-Mai court's cultural development during the late Angkorean era. In conflict with the Khmer-mon consortium, evidences show that the Xinag-Mai court extended their reach deep into Yunnan and Dai-Viet communitie4s to build up the Tai pact against Angkor. The absorption of Haripangjaya however would include the Khmer-mon speaking people as the majority of the population. In a short period of time, Haripangjaya lost its statehood and became a part of Lanna. Leaning toward his new policy, our assumption is that Mangrai would force conversion of all the Mon people to adopt the Tai culture.

THE NAN'S CONNECTION
After the Mongols' exit from Yunnan, Mangrai was in a position to build himself into becoming a regional power. The breaking of the Tai Pact left Mangrai as the sole contender to claim on the leftover trophy from the Mongolian exploit. Under these circumstances, Lanna became stronger than ever and built itself as the new powerhouse of northern Siam countries. Two localities that might have been in Mangrai's mind for Lanna's expansion were Muang Pyao that the Mongols delegated to King Ngam Muang and Muang Nan that Mangrai himself delegated to the displaced court of King Kaeo Vamsa of Yunnan. Nevertheless, Mangrai died before he could finish his campaign and left the job to the next generations of his descendants to carry on.

Muang Pyao and King Ngam Muang
Among members of the Tai pact, the identity and background of King Ngam Muang of Pyao was the most mysterious one. Unlike the two Siam rulers who shared the Khun Borom's ancestry, there are no indications that Gnam Muang had the same deep connection with the Tai-Yuan ethnic ancestry (Notes: King Gnam Muang of Pyao). The Xiang-Mai chronicle however hints that his inclusion into the Tai Pact started when Mangrai was still ruling over Xiang-rai. While waiting for the progress of his emissary 's secret work at Haripangjaya, Mangrai brought his troops to subdue Muang Pyao. Facing with Lanna's attack, King Gnam Muang also brought his troops to fight against Mangrai at Ban Dai. Instead of fighting, the two came into agreement and became friends. The pact took place during the Mongol's incursion deep in Burmese territory that resulted in the abolition of Angkorean control over Burma. After the fall of Pagan (Pyao Kingdom) in 1287, we had seen that Kyozwa II had been granted investiture from Kublai to rule over a Chinese controlled territory of Cheng-Mien (The Fall of Nokor Thom: The fall of Raman desa: The last of the Pagan Dynasty). It was exactly at the same time that the Siam tradition mentioned about King Ngam Muang of Pyao joining with Mangrai and Ramakamheang to form the Tai Pact. Connecting to the advent of Asankaye rebelling against the Chief of Mien, in the Yunnan chronicle, we conclude that King Kyozwa II was no other than the Chief Mien mentioned in the account. Apparently, Kyozwa II received the investiture from the Khan not only to rule Pagan, but also over the northern Shan territory of Muang Yang as well. Before he was receiving appropriate protection from the Mongols, evidences show that Kyozwa had to yield to Mangrai's demand. According to the Xiang-Mai chronicle, when Mangrai sent an expedition to Pukam-Ava and requested to provide a retinue of 500 families of goldsmiths to him, the Burmese ruler had yielded to the demand (CHC: King Mangrai' s expedition to Phukham-Ava). During his assassination by Asankaye, one of his sons named Kumarakassapa escaped to China and was proclaimed king to replace his father by the Chinese court. There was no clarification of where he ruled since Pagan and Rajapati were now under the Three Shan Brothers. Our assumption is that Kumarakassapa ruled under the name of Gnam Muang over Muang Pyao and tried to extend his kingdom with the support of the Yuan Court. It was actually part of the Great Khan' s plan to make his way to Angkor after taking control of the whole of Pa-pai-si-fu. In cooperation with the Mongols, King Ngam Muang leant to Chinese support and managed to survive long after the Mongols widrawal from Yunnan. On the other side, members of the Three Shan Brothers and other remnant of the Angkorean courts who were still present in the Shan Maw country, regrouped themselves to become the next rulers of Rajapati. They were from local royal houses of Nan and Vieng-chan who emerged from their obscurity to carry on the legacy of Muang Mao after the withdrawal of the Mongol (The Lao Kingdom of Lang-xang: The Nan Country: The medieval Nan country). According to the Nan chronicle, Muang Yang was without a ruler after the death of Phraya Phukha. Chao Kao Kuan who was then king of Muang Pua (Vieng-chan) was invited to ascend the empty throne of Muang Yang. Reluctantly, he accepted the invitation and had to leave his pregnant wife to rule over Muang Pua. It was a rare opportunity for King Gnam Muang of Pyao to make his move and captured Muang Pua to become part of his dominion. He later delegated the city of Muang Pua to one of his consorts named Ua Sim whose similar story about the buffalo's soup connects her to the same consort of king Ngam Muang who went out her way to have an affair with Ramakamheang (Notes: The Buffalo Soup). Considering that the current King Ngam Muang is identified as Kumarakassapa, the son of Kiozwa II who himself was crowned as King Ngam Muang during the time of Ramakamheang, the story of the Buffalo soup furthermore connects the two kings as one. During the attack, the last pregnant queen of Muang Pua managed to escape and hid herself in the house of her previous cook. She later gave birth to a son who later grew up to become a court member of King Ngam Muang. Through his dedication, he was later promoted to become the governor of Muang Pratt and received the title of Chao Sai Yot. The lady Ua Sim whose similar incident identifies her as King Ngam Muang' s consort who had an affair with Ramakamheang apparently was still holding her grudge against her husband. Hearing of Chao Sai Yot as the new governor of Pratt, she sent messenger to request help from him to help her breaking free from her husband's control. By the time, she already had a grown-up son named Am-pom with Ngam Muang who stayed with her at Muang Pua. Seeing an opportunity to take back his country, Chao Sai Yot agreed and after marrying her was crown as king Chao Pha Nong of Muang Pua in 1320. Upon receiving the new, King Ngam Muang brought his army to fight the couple. When he saw his own son Am Pom conducting Muang Pua' s army to face him, he withdrew his troops back without fighting.

Muang Pukha and the Three Shan Brothers
Under Angkor, we had argued that Muang Yang (known in Shan tradition as Muang Pukha) extended itself until Bengal. Under the leadership of Angkor's high priest Mangalavarman and descendants, it was unified with Bengal under the Vanga identity of ancient Ta-tsin. As we had seen, Vanga had played important role in the formation of the unified Pugarama country of Burma. During the formation of Pagan, evidences show that many Burmese legacies from Manipura and the northern Shan countries were resuscitated back to become part of the new Burmese nationality. They were remnants of old Brahmanism left untouched in isolated place by Anuruddha's campaign of making Buddhism of the Pali canon as the sole religion of Ramanadesa. During the Mongol incursion all ties broke loose and Muang Pukha became immediately prey to the expansion of Xiang-Mai and Sokhodaya. While the Three Shan Brothers and the Angkorean legacies of Shan Maw country were fighting against both the Tai pact and the Mongol interference, evidences show that the last Puga Dynasty reconstructed Pugarama into becoming the ancient Brahman country of the past (Notes: The Emergence of Burmese Culture). It is thus not surprising that they were successful in their endeavors as Athinkaya took the opportunity to build himself a strong support from the Barma communities of ancient Vanga. By including both the western sides of the Shan country and Arakan, Burma a reminiscence of Kiao-tche (a Union of States) mentioned in Chinese texts of the old days. After the Mongol's withdrawal from Yunnan, the Three Shan Brothers were facing with a tremendous challenge of restoring the Angkorean legacy. Leaving the eastern part to the local rulers who were descended from the Pagan Dynasty, the last of three brothers moved his court to Sagain. His work on uniting the western part of Pugarama failed against strong Muslim incursion from the west. After his death, internal crises broke out as rivalry in his court popped-up and fought in the open. Each one of the contenders was backed by one of the two distant relatives, Muang Yang of Rajapati and Vanga of northern Shan countries. Taking the opportunity, Lanna extended its control over the southern Shan country of Xiang-Tong (CMC: King Mangrai's Three Sons: The Shans: p. 54). Among Mangrai' s three sons, the eldest son Khun Khruang got himself out of his father's favor and was killed by challenging him. The middle son, Khun Khram was of good nature and was chosen to be his father successor. Mangrai assigned him to rule Xiang-Rai under the name of Phraya Cheyyasongkhram. The last son, Khun Khrua was of bad nature and was sent by his father to the southern Phong (Vanga or the Shan country) domain. He became the ruler of the Southern Shan Country. After the death of Mangrai, Phraya Cheyyasongk assigned his eldest son to rule Xiang-Mai and the rest of his sons to rule other Siam cities. Before his death in in 1317/18, Mangrai left a strong legacy of Lanna to his descendants. With the inclusion of Haripangjaya, Lanna became the next powerhouse of mainland Indochina. Nevertheless, the change of policy of Sokhodaya under King Sri Dharmaraja prevented Lanna from exertinhg its expansion at the expense of the falling Angkorean Empire. By then evidences show that the fallen court of King Yiba, after taking refuge at Pisnulok was on its way to settle at Angkor (Sokhodaya: The Decline of Sokhodaya: The Reign of King Ladayaraja). The lost of opportunity obviously had a big impact on the Lanna's court. Becoming victim of its own success, Lanna was itself falling into the dark side and was plagued with internal crises. His son Cheyasonghkram who was then a ruler of Xiang-rai took the opportunity to crown his eldest son Thao Saen Phu to rule Xiang-Mai while he himself continued to rule Xiang-rai. After ruling for one year, Thao Saen Phu 's reign was being challenged by other family's members. His uncle Cao Khun Khrua who was a ruler of Muang Nai (of the Shan Country) brought an army to subdue Xiang-Mai and usurped the throne. Hearing the news, Cao Phraya Cheyasonghkram then organized an army for his son Pho Thao Nam Thuam who was then the ruler of Fang, and instructed him to go take Xiang-Mai back from his uncle. Pho Thao Nam Thuam succeeded to infiltrate his army into the city and captured his uncle into confinement. He informed his father of his successful campaign and was awarded the throne of Xiang-Mai by the latter. Two years later, it was his turn to be taken away from the throne and was exiled to Muang Khem by his youngest brother, Cao Thao Ngua. Again it was a campaign orchestrated by his father, king Cheyasonghkram who was tipped of the disloyalty of his son. By his father's decision before he passed away at 1327, Chao Thao Saen Phu was crowned a second time at Xiang-Mai. After the death of his father, Chao Thao Saen Phu crowned his son, Cao Kham Fu, to be king of Xiang-Mai while he himself went to rule Xiang-rai. He ruled for seven years and died of an illness. Receiving the new, Cao Kham Fu arraigned his son, Cao Thao Phaya, to rule over Xiang-Mai while he himself took an army to arrange his father's funeral at Xiang-rai. He then ruled over Xiang-saen and continued to consolidate northern Siam countries under his rule.

Muang Nan and the Kaeo Vamsa
The next important event that was carried through by his endeavor might shed light to the history of modern Siam Country by the formation of Ayudhya in 1350. It was about a join venture between Cao Kham Fu and the Kaeo king of Nan against the ruler of Muang Pyao. Rooted from the Pagan court of Kyanzetha lineage, King Gnam Muang of Pyao was a Talaing King. He was installed to rule Pyao of Tcheng-Mien after his father Thihathu brought the Pagan court in submission to the Khan (The Fall of Nokor Thom: The Last of the Angkorean Court: The Attack on Pagan). After the Mongols' withdrawal, he became immediately the target of the Tai group's harassment. Unable to go after the Mon court of King Yiba, King Kam-Fu decided to go plunder the Mon court of Pyao. Joining into the venture was the Kaeo-vamsa' s court of Nan. As we shall see, the existence of this Kaeo court, far away from the Kaeo country of Yunnan was not a coincidence. We had seen that in the second half of the eleventh century, the Lao king Cuang went out his way to invade Yunnan. During his conquest deep in the Kaeo country, he took a Kaeo Princess for consort and left a lineage of him in the Kaeo court (The Sri Vijaya Connection: The Yunnan Leadership: The Progenator of the Ruang Family). During the consecration of King Mangrai, the contemporary Kaeo king named Kaeo Pongsa came to render him homage and recall their past connection (CMC:Chapter I: New Coronation for Mangrai).
My great-grandfather, king Cuang, even though he was lord of Lavaratha, then went on to conquer the Kaeo domain and reign there in the Kaeo domain. He had descendants, now down to me, so we are of the same lineage.
This rendering of homage to king Mangrai was a prelude to the drastic political changes at the Kaeo country under the new plan of Kublai Khan. After the Kaeo ministers (obviously from the court of Kaeo Pongsa) were founded guilty in murdering the Great Khan's envoi to Pagan, it is expected that the Great Khan would inflict hash punishment on the ruling Kaeo court. Presumably, Kaeo Pongsa was driven out and was seeking protection from his long lost relative King Mangrai. With the latter' s protection, they settled at Nan that was known as an important city of Rajapati. At the same time, Kublai anointed Rama-kamheang as governor of Ta-Li and allowed Sokhodaya to extend its control deep into Yunnan. Under the discretion of Mangrai, Kaeovamsa settled his court at Nan. The next event that drove his court out of Nan into a southern venture first at Campheng Pet and later at the island of Ayudhya was the work of the next Xiang-Mai's ruler. While ruling at Xiang-saen, Kham Fu had cooked-up a plan to attack Phraya Ngam Muang of Pyao and approached the Kaeo king of Muang Nan to join him in the venture. The two joined armies plundered Muang Pyao for the taking of its accumulated wealth and treasure (Notes: Phraya Ngam Muang of Pyao). Phraya Kham Fu amassed all the trophies but did not share them with the Kaeo court. Upset of the unfair business, the Kaeo king of Nan brought his army toward Xiang-saen to launch a retaliation. He later changed his mind and withdrew his forces and on the way plundered Muang Fang instead. Hearing the new, Phraya Kam-Fu was angry and brought up an army to fight off the Kaeo king. Loosing the battle, the Kaeo King fled and the troops of Phraya Kam-Fu pursued him as far as Muang Ngae. The chronicle mentions that the Kaeo king later found his way back to Nan by passing through Muang Salao and the district of Pyao. As we shall see later, his ordeal was far to be over. In later date he was driven from Nan for good, not by the court of King Kam-Fu, but by the Talaing court of Pyao that he had helped king Kam-Fu to plunder. As we shall see, his settlement first at and later at the island of Ayudhya would lead to formation of the southern Siam Country. After his exit, Nan was back under the Mon (Talaing) control and needless to say was delegated back to its original court to rule. In consort with Sokhodaya, Nan stayed connected with the Khmer-Mon pact led by King Lampangraja of the new Angkorean court. Under his initiative, Lan-Xang was formed and Nan became part of the new country. Nevertheless, the formation of Ayudhya by the displaced Kaeo King brought a new instability to the region. The next development at Yunnan by the Ming Dynasty created a ripple effect down south and, in a twist of fate gave Ayudhya its renewed strength to attack Angkor (Nokor Caktomukh: The Abandonment of Angkor: The Founding of Nokor Catomukh).

THE NAN-TCHAO'S CONNECTION
Winning over the Yuan Dynasty gave the Mings the opportunities to rule over a vast territory conquered by the latter. Never in the history of China, a single dynasty was able to handle a vast territory with little resource to run it. Just emerging from the war with the Mongols, the Mings had no treasury of theirs own. In spite of the fact that his court was facing with financial hardship inherited from the late rule of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Emperor Hongwu (1368-1398) did not scale down his ambition. In contrast, he was determined to complete the work of the Yuan Dynasty at all cost. Needless to say, his aggressive policy would undermine the future of both China and Southeast Asia in the long run. Among his first tasks, the conversion of Yunnan into a province of China started.

Yunnan as a Province of China
Through out their existence, Yunnan was more or less politically detached from the central control of China. In targeting Angkor, the Mongol subdued Yunnan and transformed it as a southern commanding post for the Great Khan. To build up a people resource for their own military support system, the Mongols brought the Miens with them in a mass migratory pattern. The Mongols recruited them to join in their armies or to administer the Shan communities. According to Marco Polo's records, Yunnan and all northern Shan countries were then referred as the Mien Country. The Yunnan chronicle, on the other hand, confirms that the Miens became the dominant people of Yunnan. It was from here on that the Tai Culture was implanted in both the Shan and the northern Siam countries through the heavy conquest of the Khans. The influx of the Mien migration started on a new wave of Cinicization that was going to spread its way into the mainland of Indochina. After the fall of the Mongol's empire, Yunnan as well as many other parts of northern Indochina became home of a high numbers Mien migrants. Their life style was noticeable different from the previous Shan natives by a set of cultural background. However, they were highly sociable and were immediately welcomed by the Lawa and Shan tribesmen who, seeing them more as their own civilizers, started to accept them as their leaders. After succumbing the Mongols, the Ming Emperor continued on the latter' s mission of expanding Chinese control down south. The Ming started the cinicization first at Yunnan where the last of Mongolian legacies were suppressed, but restored back again to carry on the next of the Ming tough campaign. Like the Hans had done in the past, it started with mass transplantation of Chinese families into the hard core of the regional demography. The Yunnan chronicle provides elaborate information on how the Ming destroyed the ancient Man legacy of the Miens to make Yunnan a Chinese province.
In the 17th year Hong-wou of Tai-tsou of the Mings, year Kia-tseu (1384), we transported to Yunnan Chinese families from the entire empire to populate the country. In the same year, Yunnan started to pay taxes. (HPNT: Recits Tires des Annales: P, 222)
They were mostly of bad elements from Chinese societies and their settlement created unrest among the local Mien leadership. As rebellion rose-up, the Ming used tough measures to crush the uprising. As the Ming's campaign was not anymore about fighting against the Mongols, but to start on the Yunnan's Cinicization. After the fall of the Mongols, many of Mongolian troops were left in disarray in the region and the Ming did not go further destroying them. At the contrary, the Ming Emperor found that it was more beneficial to recruit these Mongolian soldiers back and use them to crush the local Man rebels.
The 21th year (1388), at the 1st moon, order was given to Fou Yeou-to, ruler of Ying-koue, to head a big army of Chinese elite troops to lead an expedition to finish for good with all the Man of Yunnan. (HPNT: Recits Tires des Annales: P, 222)
The use of the Mongol troops to fight off the Miens at Yunnan did actually produce a good result. After a short period of time, most of the rebellious Miens were exterminated.
The corpses of the Man were everywhere in high numbered, spread out in disarray, laying one on top of the others. (HPNT: Recits Tires des Annales: P, 224)
In 1390, most of the Man rebels in Yunnan were killed or submitted and the establishment of Chinese authorities began. Despite that some rebellious activity still continued, the Ming succeeded in transforming Yunnan to become a province of China. Needless to say, the Cinicization of Yunnan created a big impact to the Indianized states of the south. While the crack down intensified, more migration of the Mien population further south would change once for all the demographic composition of northern Siam and Shan countries. After the death of Hongwu, his rightful heir who was then his grandson took the power for only a few years and was usurped by his uncle who became the next Ming Emperor Yongle (1402-1424). Far isolated, Yunnan was a challenge for the new Ming Emperor to administer and defend within his own mean. As he could no longer afford troops of his own to control this remote region, Yongle used the leftover Mongolian troops to control Yunnan as a tributary province of China. We know from the Xiang-Mai chronicle that there were surviving Ho contingents stationing at mount Prah Khan who the Ming Emperor Yongle entrusted to take control of Yunnan.

The Skirmish with the Ho of Mount Prah Khan
The reestablishment of the Ho's control in Yunnan reflects Yongle' s ambition to continue his father s policy at all cost over Yunnan. Pressed by the Ming court, the Ho authority started on the tribute collection for the Chinese court. In 1402, they sent an envoy to the Lanna King Sam Fang Kaen (1401-1442) of Xiang-Saen, requesting the tribute of rice of four thousand double-baskets. The Lanna's King then replied to the Ho chief to remind him that the tribute in question was a thing of the past and that Lanna owed no more tribute to the Ho.
The four thousands double-baskets of rice have not been required since they were ceased in the time of grand father King Ku Na. I won't have it. (CMC: Chapter 4: War with the Ho, p. 75)
King Kun Na of the passage was a Lanna's king, two generations down the line after King Kam-Fu. His reign over Lanna in 1367/68 coincided with the conquest of the Ming over Yunnan in 1368. The passage indicates that Lanna had sent tribute to the Ho during the Mongolian era, but stopped soon after the Ming took over of Yunnan. As expected, the Ho was offended by the Lanna's refusal and immediately commissioned Cao Fai Fa of M. Sae to lead an army and to attack Xieng-Saen. King Sam Fang Kaen was able to rally help from neighboring allies and set a trap to defeat the Ho' s army. The counter-attack seemingly stopped the attempt of the Chinese interference over the south for the time being. Three years later, the Ho brought up troops to attack Lanna again. King Sam Praya fang Kaen was informed and set up court sessions to discuss the matter. According to the Lao Tradition, there was consensus from his court astrologers that some sacrifice measures were needed to deflect the fate of the Lao country currently unfavorable by the cosmic forces. After the measures were performed, a big storm hit hard the Ho headquarters and after Lightning killed the Ho Chief and many of his subordinates, they were scared. The disaster forced them to have a second thought about their policy with Lanna.
The Ho though that the domain of the Lanna people had enormous and mysterious power, and they had sinned against the king of Lanna, causing so many men to die. Henceforth, we should not attack. (CMC: Chapter 4: Another Ho attack, 1405/06: p. 76)
After the reflection, the Ho apparently left the Siam Kings alone. With that arrangement, the relationship between the next Lanna' s rulers and the Hos of Yunnan became increasingly closer. The next Siam King to ascend the throne in 1442 was the sixth son of King Sam Praya fang Kaen named king Trilokaracha (1442-1487). He was at first anointed to rule Muang Phrao Wang Hin, but was removed to rule Muang Yuam Tai instead after a conflict with his father. After a series of palace intrigue, Trilokaracha ruled over Xiang-Mai with the help of his Uncle Mun Lok Nakhon or Lok Sam Lan. More internal conflict brought the unwanted interference from Ayudhya. Invited by Mun Sam Krai Han, king Borommaracha brought an army to encamp at Xiang-Tong. Mun Lok Sam La managed to uncover the intrigue and defeated the Ayudhya army. With that victory, Lanna was secured with its southern rival and concentrated its conquest toward the east. The first stop was against the Nan ruler, Phraya Kaen Thao (Intakaen in the Nan chronicle), who had refused to be vassal of Lanna and had plotted against Mun Phaeng of Pyao. Of the intrigue, Trilokaracha was furious and sent an army to attack and take the city of Phraya Kaen Thao. The war took six years and King Kaen Thao fled to take refuge with the king of the South. This account agrees with the Nan Chronicle about the Nan King Intakaen, losing the war with king Tilok of Xiang-Mai, took refuge at Muang Khaleyang in 1448. There was however a slight different version in the Nan chronicle about the cause that drove king Trilokaracha to annex Nan. It was the salt mine of Nan that king Trilokaracha was going after and not the bad policy of King Kaen Thao as mentioned in the Xiang-mai chronicle. The Muang Khaleyang where the Nan king Intakaen taking refuge was by then still under Angkor, but king Trilokaracha was now in a position to annex it to Lanna. In a fight with Ayudhya, the Lao king saw Khaleyang as a possible obstacle to his campaign. In a close connection with Sokhodaya, Khaleyang was always looking for the opportunity to free its sister city Haripangjaya from Lanna. King Trolokarat then allowed the governor of Nakhon to annex Khaleyang to its sister city Haripangjaya as vassal of Lanna.

Wars with neighboring Countries
The formation of Lanna served as an example on how a country could be recovered back from a natural or man-made disaster. Based on the self-sustainment principle, the decentralizing way of governing made sure that each member state survives the disasters and could recover itself mainly by its own mean. Unfortunately, Lanna 's dependency on foreign intervention prevented it to join in with the Khmer-mon consortium that with the formation of Lan-xang and the unification of Burma almost brought the Angkorea might back to life. With the Ming taking hold of Yunnan, Lannan found itself isolated and became increasingly the target of the emerging neighboring nations. To make the matter worst, the affair with the south (Ayudhya) was far to be friendly. Taking the opportunity Lan-Xang made its move to claim back Nan.
Just as he was arriving, the king of Chawa, seeing that Nan was weak and unstable, brought his army to attack Nan, encamping his troops at Thap Saom Poi, with ten thousands troops. The king Trilokaracha then had Mun Ngoen, the ruler of M. Phrao, together of men of other domains, go to set up his troops at a place Thap Som Moi, where they fought with the Chawa and contested without issue. (CMC: War With Luang Prabang: p. 85)
The Chawa in this account was no other that the leadership and the people of Luang Prah Bang who already got hold of Nan and decided to defend it at all cost. The Lao King brought his troops to fight Nan, but had to return to Xiang-Mai after hearing the new about the death of his queen. He soon returned to the battleground after the home affair had been taken care of. In the campaign, the legacy of the Khun Borom' s connection with Lan-Xang was totally forgotten. To recall back, the Lao legacies of Khun Borom was actually established through the Khmer King Rudravarman of Prey Nokor that led to the recovery of the Khmer Empire (Xiang-Mai: The Tai Mythology: The Tai's Flood Myth). Modern Thai historian wrongly claimed that it was a common ancestry between Laos and Thai people. Fa-Ngum was able to use it when he helped his father in law to recover Angkor from Ayudhya. Now that Angkor was destroyed, there was no brotherhood lost between the two countries. Mith the Ho court of Chao Lum-fa and the Mings behind his back, the Lao King was strong enough to stand Lan-xang' s attack but to make its own offensive against its eastern neighbor. After recapturing Nan, the Lanna troops went straight to invade Lan-xang.
Mun Ngoen of Phrao then sent word to the king. The King then had another 100,000 Xiang-Mai troops sent to fight the Chawa at Thap Som Poi, and defeated them. The Chawa fled. (CMC: War With Luang Prabang: p. 85)
In a relentless move against Lan-Xang, king Trilokarat succeeded to annex many localities along the way but was facing with stiffer resistance from Lan-xang.
In 1454/1455, the king went to M. Chawa and obtained Xiang-Tin Khrong Noi Khrong Luang. Reaching kaet Laeng, he had Mun Koeng Tin Xiang and all the Xiang-Mai men and all the various domain men go by way of M Luak and Nun, on the Mekong. When the King reach M. Chawa, he sent Mun Koeng Tin Xiang to Nun, and then returned. The king of Chawa had Mun Phren Dong reported that the Chawa people were advancing on the king on the King's forces. He volunteered to fight the Chawa and push them into the Mekong, killing many of them. The king Trilokaracha replied "That Mun Phran has volunteered is very good, as you have said. So Mun Phran took troops, elephants, and horses, and hid at a place in the forest. There he pretended to beat the horse and break his leg, and led it across the sand with the cavalrymen following it behind. The Chawa men saw the horse on the strand. Mun Phran Dong then set his troops to attack the Chawa along the river, and killed many of them. The Chawa realized their bad situation and fled back. (CMC: Tilok Attacks Muang Chawa: p. 87). The victory over Lan0xang was by no mean securing Lanna's success story foe a long run, as it was going to be challenged by neighboring states. In their own development, Cambodia and Burma were on their mission to rebuild Angkor, according to their past Khmer-Mon heritage. The indecision of the Sokhodaya and Lan-xang's courts gave Lanna more edge to bring the Tai pact back to life. The aggressivity of Ayudhya however hindered Lanna's plan to become the sole master of the Siam Country. To nake the matter worst, Lanna' s connection with the Hos furthermore drove it to face with the aggressiveness of the free agent Annam. In their own history, the Viets were always looking to break away from the Chinese central control and the arrival of the Great Khan provided them with fresh opportunities. With a powerful army under their control, the need of revenue pressed Annam for military exploitation.

THE TAI-YUEH'S DILEMMAS
Following the occupation by the Mongols, organized Mien migration into Yunnan and some other parts of northern Indochina transformed the conquered territory by the Khan, as the country of the Mien. After the fall of the Mongols, the Tai-Yuan legacy already took hold of the northern Siam country of which Lanna had long been more or less connected through many centuries of contact. As the Ming was in the process of rebuilding Yunnan to be a province of China, the Miens were themselves driven out to take refuge at the south while Han Chineses were brought to replace them. Under this extensive cinicization, northern Siam Countries were induced to the Tai-Yueh incursion in a big scale.

The Tai and Yueh Migration Theories
When the Thai historians started to compile the history of modern Thailand, many chronicles of Tai traditions were available as part of the Southeast Asian past history. From these records, it was clear that the Tai Culture and not the Tai population that was responsible for the Tai (Tai-Kadai to be exact) language and culture' s existence in the mainland Indochina. Nevertheless, these records were rarely given consideration when scholars proposed the Tai Migration theory as probable cause of the break-off the modern Thai speakers from the Khmer-Mon societies. In supporting the theory, scholars made-up all kind of scenarios tO support the split. Following the same inference, they postulated that the Khmers were not of Southeast Asian origin, but were themselves migrating from India (Notes: The Indian Khmer Intrusion). The reverse situation happened when the history of modern Vietnam was being compiled during the colonial era. In an effort to break-off the Annamete root from Chinese ancestry, Vietnamese historians used historical data retrieved from Dai-Viet' s past to construct the history of Vietnam as indigenous of the Red River Delta. To support the Vietnamese claim, linguists looked for austroasiatic connection within Vietnamese tongue to link the Vietnamese root with the Khmer-Mon stocks. To make it worst, scholars attributed other Khmer-Mon cultural past as of Vietnamese heritage. With recent findings from linguistic study, they went ahead rejecting altogether Sinologist' s previous works on Vietnamese past connection with China. The Yueh migration theory that stressed the foundation of new southern Dai-Viet communities as the outcome of Yueh migration from the north was opposed and ridiculed by opposite views (BViet: Appendix E: The Yueh Migration Theory: P. 314-315). Among many reasons that restricted the Yueh migrating south was the misconception that sophisticate Han Chinese could not be mixed with vagabonds from the north (Champapura: The Birth of Annam: The Yueh Migration down South). The rejection was moreover re-enforced by the revised theory of alien cultural implantation on ancient societies by a leadership group. The review recognizes that ancient identity and culture were mostly imposed by the ruler-house regardless of the conquered people' s background. As we had seen, the theory applied perfectly to the early formation of ancient societies through the implantation of the Man and later the Meru Culture on top of indigenous communities regardless of their background and ethnicity (Notes: The Modern Theory of Cultural Implantation). We also argued that the actual formation of Southeast Asian Thai communities fit into the same model of heavenly governing as well (Notes: The Heavenly Way of Governing). According to their own chronicle, the Tai leadership made it clear that it was them and not the mass migration of Tai People from abroad that implanted the Tai Culture to the northern Siam Countries (The Sakadvipa: The Tai Incursion: King Suvanna Kahamdeng and the Formation of Nararatha). Coming from Day Desa (Parthia), the Tai leadership implanted their culture on the indigenous Lawa People who were particularly disposed (or even happy) to receive the new Tai Culture. At the same time, evidences show instead that the Tai leadership had to yield to indigenous customs and that the local language had been left to the natives to speak in their communities. Similar situation however was seen taking place at Dai-Viet concerning the formation of Annam by the Han Dynasty. During its early phase, evidences show that the Yueh Chao-fas took away the leadership role from some Khmer-mon village chiefs but ended-up becoming Buddhist and used the Khmer way to administer theirs communities. This was because they were not strong enough to impose their Yueh Culture on the natives Khmer-mon people. Under the loose control of the Xiang and later the Khmer cakravatin establishment, the Yueh Chao-phas became part of the Khmer' s administration. Precaution however needs to be made when inferred the same theory to the Vietnamization that was carried down by the Han Dynasty during the convertion of the Tsu State as a part of the Han China (Notes: The Centralized Way of Governing). To build Annam, the Hans needed to organize mass Annamete migration from Central China to replace the Kun-lun people. Furthermore, to build up their southern military commanding posts to organize mass migration from the northern Yueh Country (of Quangzu). After chasing the Kun-lun out, the Hans mobilized mass Yueh Migration from both Central China and the north to build the Southern part of China into becoming the country of the 100 Yueh (to include Nan-Yueh and Min-Yueh among them). In that though, the Modern Theory of Cultural Implantation that emphasizes the role of a strong leadership group to impose a new culture or policy on a native community in the old days no longer applied. As the heavenly way of governing was gradually phased out, caution needs to be made when applying the theory to the modern era of colonial rule.

Annam and Dai-Viet
Having been through on its own for a period of time, Annam depletion of its own treasury forced the Viet court to look for solution at the expense of its neighbors. Fertile for the rice field production as it was, the Red River Delta could never yield enough crop for the over population of Annam. As soon as the Great Khan moved out of the way, Annam immediately made its move to invade Champapura and after chasing the last Cham court out to Java, took control of the country's economy t feed itself. Like Tonkin, Champa was always known for its seaport activity that could supplement Annam's revenue. After the Ming took control of Yunnan, evidences show that Annam was isolated and lost the fight to the Khmer-Mon consortium. When king Suryavamsa of Angkor and Fa-Ngum of the Lan-Xang's court fought against the Tai world to recover Angkor (The Establishment of Lan-Xang: The Reign of King Fa-Ngum), King Simha Jayavarman coming from Sri Dharmaraja also fought Annam to free Chamapura. Annam had no other choice than to set Champapura free and allowed Fah-Ngum to build Lan-xang at its doorstep (The Lao Kingdom of Lang-xang: The Establishment of Lan-Xang: The Reign of King Fa-Ngum). After usurping the Chinese throne, the emperor Yongle reversed the policy of his father in regard to the surviving Mongolian army that was stationing in Yunnan. After the throne of Annam itself was usurped by a minister (named Li Ki Li in the chronicle), it was Yongle who organized a campaign against the usurper and assigned his own people to take control of the Annamete court (HPNT: Recits tires des annales: pp. 229-231). Unlike his father, Yongle knew perfectly what he had to do with Annam for the benefit of China. As had been done in the past, Yongle formed a confederation of states (Kiao-Tche) and placed Annam as its commanding post. Under a new organization known as Dai-Viet, Annam lost its identity to Kiao-Tche as it became the capital of a Chinese province (Notes: The New Kiao-Tche). According to the Nan-Tchao chronicle, the Ming court placed itself in charge of the administration of the new province with general commissaries to take care of its treasury and provincial judiciary. The New Kiao-Tche was formed by confederating seventeen fous that were ramnents of the Tai states of the past (HPNT: VI: Recits tires des Annales: p. 231). In addition, we knew from the Xiang-Mi source that the Hos of Mount Prah Khan must play a big role of the Ming administration to administer the Dai-Viet 's affair. Annam was not listed among the seventeen fous, but we have the reason to believe that it was replaced by Tai-Yuan as one of the fous. As we recalled back Tai-Yuan was the place where the Man Barbarians launched attack on the Chenla territory during the Tang Dynasty (Xiang-Mai: The Nan-Tchao' s Affair: The Return of Khun Borom). Coupling withe the fact that Ko-Lo-Feng occupied Annanm at the time, we had the reason to believe that Annam and Tai-Yuan was the same country that Ko-Lo-Feng launched his attack against Chenla. As the word indicates, Tai had a deep root from Parthia (Day Desa in Sanskrit), the original hometown of the Kambuja. Theirs legacies could be checked out by the presence of the Fu (or Fou) communities in Central Asia and in Kiao-Tche itself. The fou was actually a Chinese reference to a Kambujan administrative district where the ancient Gog (Ho or Tai) leadership was taking refuge after driven out from Southeast Asia by Buddha Gautama. One of their communities at Koshan (Cuu-cann in Vietnamese) became later a stronghold of Mahayana Buddhism. Another compelling evidence was that Yuan is always a Khmer reference to the Annamite nationality as attested in many Khmer inscriptions of the late Angkorean era. The Yuan legacy was actually known to have its origin from the Shang Dynasty that might been shared later with Annam through the Wu Dynasty. In later time, the Mongolian Khans took this Yuan legacy for theirs own identity, implicating that they were actually the survivors of the Shang Dynasty. Under the Gog legacy, the Yuan Dynasty reemerged itself to fulfill the Ezykiel Prophecy of the Bible's old teastament. At the mean time, evidences show that Annam (often referred as Annam Gog in Khmer source) had been long initiated to Tartaric culture first through the Shang and later the Wu dynasty (Sakadvipa The Sakan Expansion: The Tchou and the Yueh-Shih). As the Yueh culture was evolved from the Yuan, we believe that they were by then already subjected to Yueh leadership at lower stratum and continued to receive the Yueh Culture even though China was ruled by the Tchou Dynasty. The replacement of Yuan by the Yueh leadership was actually the catalyst of identity change from Tai-Yuan to Tai-Yueh that was to become Dai-Viet in Vietnamese reference. When the Ming assigned Annam as the capital of Kiao-Tche, Annam did no longer exist on its own and became known as Kiao-Tche (a part of Dai-Viet) until modern time. Needless to say, this mixture of identity would create identity confusion during the mass migration of Vietnamese and the Han Chinese to the south later in the history of Southeast Asia (Notes: Dai-Viet as the Tartaric Gate to the South).

The Annamite Affair
During the Mongol's incursion, Annam escaped the Khan's direct control mostly by self-determination. Using Champapura as wild card, Annam managed to resist the Mongols' repetitive attack, but had to pay tribute to the Yuan court after the Sung was subdued by the Khan. After the fall of the Mongols, the Annam saw the development of the eastern Lao country as good revenue's source for its own high expenditure. With a slight incident concerning a white elephant, the Viet Court attacked Luang Prah Bang for retaliation. After pillaging the Lao country, the Viets continued on marching toward Muang Nan that was at the time under the control of Xiang-Mai. King Trilokaracha was despaired to find a solution to induce the Viets to go back home. Consulting with his court, the king was not satisfied with any solution so far suggested. From freeing a mad elephant into the Viet camp to a more realistic suggestion in fighting off the Viets solders, a military campaign was clearly not a viable solution for the Lanna's court. Two Ho brothers who were retainers of the Lao court then volunteered themselves to outmaneuver the Viets.
We and the Viets speak the same language. We two brothers can induce the Viets to withdraw just by the prestige of the royal majesty. (CMC: The Vietnamese attack Nan, 1480: p. 103)
Having no other viable solution for the moment, king Trilokaracha agreed and awarded the Ho retainers handsomely. The two brothers embarked to meet the Viets and told them a lie.
The rulers of the West will bring up troops in great numbers. Chao Kha Kan will be in command to take on the Viets. Innumerable Viets would die and not a single one will be left. The preparation has been quite immense. Your commander has just died. You like fighting, don't you? It's too bad that you have not withdrawn. (CMC: The Vietnamese attack Nan, 1480: p. 103)
It is interesting to note that the Ho retainers spoke the same language with the Viets, which indicates that at least Dai-Viet's rulers were themselves of Ho race. As the Mongolian legacies were strong in Kiao-tche, the Viets speaking the same language as the Ho is not a surprise. After they heard the warning, the Viets were quite afraid, so they withdrew. The Lao tradition of Lan-xang however gave a different version of the same event. It was the Lao Court who drove out the Viets from their country and the Viet army was almost exterminated by the Lao counter attack (The Lao Kingdom of Lang-xang: The Last of the Khmer Consortium: The Affair with Annam). Besides that, the Prime Minister of the reigning King Saya-Chakkaphat provoked the attack of Dai-viet, it was Chao Then-Kham, a son of King Saya-Chakkaphat, who drove the Viets out of the Lao Kingdom and that they headed back into their country, with only a few survivors left. After the withdrawal of the Viets, King Trilokaracha decided to make the best of the situations and took that advantage to make a good impression with the Ho court. He sent messengers to inform Chao Lum Fa of his latest exploit.
The Viets brought their troops to attack Lan-xang, 200,000 strong, fought and defeated the Lan-xang people, and then crossed the river to invade the frontiers of Nan. The king of Lanna had Chao Kha Kan, the ruler of Nan, with an army of 40,000, go out to fight the Viets, many of whom died. Chao Kha Kan cut off many of their heads and presented them to the king of Lanna. Many Viet were taken prisoner. The king of Lanna then had me presented them to Chao Lung Fa, who is his superior. (CMC: Diplomatic Maneuvers With the Ho: p. 104)
The Ho Ruler who obviously was pressured by the Chinese court to stabilize the region and still had hard time in controlling the Viets, was so moved upon hearing the report.
Unbelievable! In this world, I am just one man, with the power to conquer all domains. The king of Lanna is verily the man with the second best power and bravery. (CMC: Diplomatic Maneuvers With the Ho: p. 104)
He then issued commands to treat the king of Lanna in high regard.
Henceforth, do not let the king of Lanna have just the rank of a lord of a hundred thousands. Give him the status of a lord of a million. (CMC: Diplomatic Maneuvers With the Ho: p. 105)
The recognition was soon followed by an assignment, the Ho ruler had two high-ranking Ho officers carrying a seal script as special envoys to Xiang-Mai anointing its king to act on his behalf.
Whatever enemies of Chao Lum Fa might arise, the kings of Lanna should have all local rulers take their troops and subdue them. (CMC: Diplomatic Maneuvers With the Ho: p. 105)
As we shall see, it was just an unnecessary measure that the Ho court thought as a viable solution to its dilemma. After the incidence, the Viets however decided to stop their western venture altogether.
Reference:
  1. ISSA: The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, by G. Coedes
  2. CKH: The Chonicle of Khmer heroes, by Sot Eng
  3. CMC: The Xiang-Mai Chronicle, by David K. Wyatt and Aroonrut Wichienkeeo
  4. HPNT: Histoire particuliere du Nan-Tchao, by Yang Chen, Translated by Camille Sainson
  5. NC:The Nan Chronicle, Translated by Prasoet Churatana, Edited by David K. Wyatt
  6. LAO:History of Laos, Maha Sila Viravong, Translated by the U.S. Joint Publications research Service
  7. SIAM: Annales du Siam, Translated by Camille Notton
  8. SHAN:The Shan State and the British Annexation, by Sao Saimong Mangrai
Notes:
  1. Chronology
    1239: Birth of Mangrai; 1253: Kublai Khan took control of Yunnan; 1259-1317: The reign of King Mangrai; 1287: Fall of Pagan to the Mongol; 1287: Mangrai, Ngam Muang, and Rama Kamhaeng formed the Tai Pact; 1291-92: Mangrai conquered Haripangjaya; 1327: The reign of Jayavarmadiparamesvara (at Angkor); 1328-1375: The Reing of Kham Fu (at Lanna); 1340-1345: The reign of Prah Nipanapada (at Angkor); 1350: The Formation of Ayudhya by King U-Tong; 1351: Formation of Lan-xang; 1359-1369: The reign of Prah Suryavang at Angkor; 1360: The reign of Jayasimhavarman (at Champa); 1407: The reign of Indravarman (at Champa); 1347-1368: The reign of King Ladayaraja (at Sokhodaya); 1368: The Ming drove out the last of the Mongolian court from Yunnan; 1368-1398: The Hongwu Emperor ruled China; 1384: The Ming Establish Yunnan as a province of China; 1402-1424: The Yongle Emperor ruled China; 1442-1486: The reign of king Trilokaracha; 1471: Le Loi liberated Annam and attacked Champapura; 1551: The reign of King Mae Ku; 1572-1620: The Wangli Emperor ruled China; 1546-1547: The Reign of King Saya Sethathirath
  2. Lanna-tai
    The association of Lanna to the Cham legacy of the Lam dynasty explains the connection claimed in the Lao tradition between Ayudhya, Xiang-Mai and Lan-xang (LAO: The Lan-xang Kingdom: Footnotes: 25).
    In the legend of Khun Borom, the three countries of Lao, Thai and Xiang-Mai were called under the terminology of Lan. Thus, the Lao country was called Lan-xang; Xiang-Mai as Lanna, and the capital of Si-Ayudhya as Lan-phya.
    It indicates that the three locations had their past connected with the Lam dynasty of the Cham kings in Southeast Asia. As Lanna received its legacy from the queen Chamadevivamsa, Ayudhya was once a city ruled by the Chenla King Bhavavarman or Pya Krek and was known as Lan-pya, Lan-xang must to share the same Cham legacy. We have argued that the Lam Dynasty of the Cham (Champa) origin had played important role in the formation of the Angkorean Empire along with other dynasties of Kamara (Khmer) and western Kamboja (Tai) origins. This consortium in the leadership stratum however gave way to the identity confusion as Lanna is often referenced in modern Thai history as Lanna-tai. This connection with the Tai legacy once again was misled to support the claim that the people of the three locations were in fact of Tai stock.
  3. The Birth of the Tai nations
    The formation of the Tai Pact had induced scholars to postulate that the northern Siam countries were in fact fighting for their independence. The postulation led to the misconception that the Tai people who inhabited of both Lanna and Sokhothai, had been submitted to the Khmer people after the latter's arrival in the mainland Indochina from India. As much as we had argued that there were no Tai people coming from China or Central Asia, we also argued that there were neither Khmer people coming from India, On the same argument, we conclude that the Tai nationality was only formed later after the Mongol's incursion by new generation of Mien migrants from China looking to fit themselves in the new political underchange of Southeast Asia.
  4. Mangrai vs the Mongol
    Wrongly identifying as Pa-pai-si-fu, scholars had postulated that Lanna had fought the Mongol as part of the Shan countries. The leadership of the three Shan brothers was also wrongly identified as Tai. Evidences show that under the control of Angkor, Pa-pai-si-fu or Muang Yang of Sip-son-pa-na fought against the Mongol' occupation while Lanna was at the contrary a close ally of the Mongols (The Fall of Nokor Thom: Notes: Pa-pai-si-fu).
  5. King Gnam Muang of Pyao
    As much as we know about the two first members of the Tai Pact, we have virtually no information about the background of King Gnam Muang. Northern Siam chronicles, having gone a great length to cover the origin of Mangrai and Ramakamheang, left Gnam Muang's past in the dark, which leads us to believe that he was not local to the Siam country. At first, his title Ngam Muang does not sound like of northern Siam tradition. On the other hand, the name of his city Pyao also indicates a Burmese legacy of Pyuksettra. Contrary to general assumption by modern scholars that King Gnam Muang was a local Siam king, indication shows instead that he was a Burmese King.
  6. The Buffalo Soup
    The Nan chronicle identifies her as the queen of Muang Pua named Ua Sim.
    On one occasion, while visiting King Ngam Muang, the queen of Maung Pua made a buffalo meat curry for the king. After having eaten the curry, the king said, in jesting manner, "Your curry was delicious, but it was a little watery". The queen of Maung Pua was highly offended, but kept it to herself. ( NC: Section 1: The formation of Muang Pua by the Phukha Dynasty: P. 4)
    The Xiang-Mai chronicle, on the other hand, identifies her as the Queen Ua of Xiang-Saen.
  7. Phraya Ngam Muang of Pyao
    At this late stage, it is unlikely that Phraya Ngam Muang of Pyao was the same as the third member of the Tai Pact of the Mangrai era, but was a descendant of him. If this is the case, the legacy of the Pagan King Kiozwa II stayed at Pyao while another branch, perhaps of Saw Hnit side, had already moved down to take the Angkorean throne. We know now how his legacy at Pyao ended, destroyed by the Phraya Kham Fu of Lanna.
  8. Yunnan as the Southern Part of Tian Country
  9. The New Kiao-Tche
    Etymologically, the word Kiao-Tche means a confederation of states. It was not to be confused with the Old Kiao-Tche that was then including Yunnan as its center-state. The new Kiao-Tche was formed by the emperor Yongle to include seventeen fous as listed in the chronicle (HPNT: Recits tires des annales: p.231). They were the old fous (including Tai-Yuan) that were formed as Tai communities in the past; thus Dai-Viet was the name for the new province of China.
  10. Dai-Viet as the Austronesian Gate to the South
    Examining the vestiges of the two top layers found at the archeology site of Dien Bien Phu, scholars identified two cultures in a tight relationship with Southeast Asia. Laying on top of the Tian Culture, the Dong-son culture was actually about the conception of the race of Giants and its spread through out the south by sea channel. The next layer where of Han tombs were found among unearths vestiges could be dated during the formation of Annam by the Han Dynasty, independently from the spread of the Dong-son Culture.
  11. Dai-Viet as the Austronesian Gate to the South
    Examining the vestiges of the two top layers found at the archeology site of Dien Bien Phu, scholars identified two cultures in a tight relationship with Southeast Asia. Laying on top of the Tian Culture, the Dong-son culture was actually about the conception of the race of Giants and its spread through out the south by sea channel. The next layer where Han tombs were found among unearthed vestiges could be dated during the formation of Annam by the Han Dynasty long after the spread of the Dong-son Culture.
  12. The Heavenly Way of Governing
    Through the Meru Culture, the cakravatin monarch ruled his empire on a decentralized system of governing. On the top level, each ruler of four cardinal states assists him governing the central kingdom, while he himself ruled over a confederation of subordinate states. Each ruler is mandated by the Heaven to rule his state or Kingdom with the support and consent of his subordinated states. He would lose the mandate when the people of his kingdom are unhappy and rose up to revolt against him.
  13. The Centralized Way of Governing
    Originated from the west, the centralized government was a way of governing nations through a stable structural hierarchy modeled after a pyramid, Based on a uniform nationality, the rulers built the pyramids from the bottom up (from the basement to the top stones). Once it was built, the basement stayed suppressed to provide stable support for the top few stones. By imposing migrants on the basement that was made up by native people, the pyramid provides stable ground for a big nation to thrive. To keep the bottom stones for uprising, migrant stones were added on top of them.
  14. The Indian Khmer Intrusion
    To give the Tai-Kadai language its false antiquity, they went further claiming that the Indian Khmers drove the austronesian Thais to the Southern sea where austronesian language was found widespread among polynesian and Melanesian islanders. On the same setting, they argued that the Khmers also supplanted themselves over the austroasiatic Mon people. Needless to say, this misconception added more dilemma to the well known Dai migration theory, in the formation of modern Thailand.
  15. The Modern Theory of Cultural Implantation
    The theory recognizes that in ancient times, a predatory princely retinue could impose its name on the people it succeeded in conquering regardless of that people's true origin (BViet: Appendix E: The Yueh Migration theory: p. 315).