By popular recall, in the 6th century A.D., a Tai chieftain
from Yunan, Prince Singhanuwat สิงหนวัต migrated
his armies and followers to a spot just south of Southeast Asia’s
Golden Triangle—where the Ruak river confluences with the
Mae Kong river to form a natural border among Myanmar, Thailand,
and Laos. Singhanuwat’s settlement on the western bank
of the mighty Mae Kong river (the Chiang Saen district in Chiang
Rai province of today) would rapidly become the center of a reckonable
new kingdom.
The ancient capital at Chiang Saen was initially known as Singhanuwat
Nakorn—named after the ruler—but was later changed
to Yonok Nakorn Chai Buri Sri Chiang Saen โยนกนครไชยบุรีศรีเชียงแสน.
In such feudalistic times, power, ranking, and political administration
was based on rice field division. There were pan-na (thousand
paddies), meun-na (10,000 paddies), saen-na (100,000 paddies),
and lan-na (1,000,000 paddies). Chiang Saen, meaning the city
of 100,000, is considered the predecessor of Anajak Lanna, or
the kingdom of a million rice paddies.
From the 6th to the 13th century, the Chiang Saen kingdom would
see dozens of monarchs struggle to maintain prosperity and autonomy
as powerful neighboring kingdoms such as Lan Chang (Ancient Lao
kingdom also written Lan Xang), Khmer (Ancient Cambodian), Phayao
(an ancient Northern Thai kingdom), Dvaravati (an ancient Mon
kingdom), and Sukhothai (Ancient Thai) came into ever close proximity,
contesting for regional influence and control.
The Dawn of Lanna : Phaya Mengrai
Lanna’s sprouting as a kingdom is marked in the 13th century,
when Phaya or King Mengrai, a revered descendant of the Chiang
Saen dynasty, united local masses and brought a new stability
in the region through conquest and diplomacy. Evading Mongol
aggressions from the north, Mengrai turned his attention Southwest
away from the vulnerable capital at the Mae Kong river, and built
a new capital in 1262 at Chiangrai.
Towards the end of the 13th century, the Lanna kingdom began
to gain momentum when Phaya Mengrai set to expand his borders
and influence even further southwards.
King Mengrai is credited to have acted as a key liaison between
the two powerful Thai kingdoms of Sukhothai and Phayao, initiating
a pact of friendship with King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai and
King Ngam Muang of Payao. {picture of statue} Such a triad pact
would prove monumental for regional stability, sprouting a golden
era for Thai civilization to flourish over the next few centuries.
Mengrai is remembered for not only his diplomacy, but also his
cunning abilities in the art of war and conquest. Mengrai’s
most famous conquest was of the powerful northern Dvaravati capital
at Hariphunchai (based around the modern day cities of Lamphun
and Lampang). Mengrai infiltrated the Mon stronghold by sending
a trusted merchant, Meun Fah (10,000 skies) to the ancient Mon
capital, who pretended to be banished by King Mengrai in order
to gain the Mon ruler, King Yiba’s confidence and trust.
With clandestine wit and precision, Mengrai via Meun Fah sparked
turmoil within the Mon court, and King Yiba was oblivious
to the fact as his popularity among his people degraded. Mengrai’s
armies finally besieged the city and brought it under Lanna control
around 1292.
By 1296, Mengrai ordered the foundations for a new city be laid
at a pristine spot on the fertile banks of the Ping river and
base of the towering Suthep mountain (Doi Suthep).
Mengrai named his new city Nopburi Si Nakorn Ping Chiang Mai.
With its fertile valleys, rich rivers and streams, and serene
surroundings, the city quickly flourished to become Lanna’s
prime new center of expansion and rule, though for decades, Mengrai
continued to live and administer his budding kingdom from Chiangrai.
The Rise and Fall
After King Mengrai’s demise from a lighting strike in
1317, his lineage and legacy would see Lanna persevere over the
next few centuries. Various monarchs of the Mengrai dynasty would
come to rule the kingdom, shifting kingdom administration between
Chiang Rai, Chiang Saen, and Chiangmai, which was fully established
as the primary capital by the mid 14th century.
Ruled by 14 kings and one queen in three centuries, the Lanna
kingdom maintained regional influence and power as an autonomous
and reckonable kingdom, rising its golden era in the 15th century
when its territory expanded to include the formerly glorious
Payao, Phrae, and Nan (in present day Northern Thailand).
Buddhism manifested and flourished in the region, marked by
a major Buddhist council held near Chiangmai from 1475-1477.
The monarchs of Lanna emphasized Buddhism to become an essential
part of the state and way of life by initiating key reforms and
customs that would outlive the kingdom. Under the reign
of King Tilokarat (1441-1485) Lanna experienced its religious
and cultural climax, expanding not only its territory to its
grandest stretch in all directions, but also solidifying its
religious and cultural foundations with the mass construction
of several major temples and shrines, of which the ruins can
still be visited today.
The Emeral Buddha, a major attraction now in Bangkok, was brought
to Lanna from Ceylon during the reign of Tilokarat. When Tilokarat
left his throne in Lanna to fulfill his obligations to the Lao
throne, he brought the elegant artifact to Laos, where it remained
for several centuries before ultimately ending back up in Thailand.
Prosperity was only short lived as internal and regional tensions
stirred in the early 16th century. A nasty feud over disputed
claims to the throne saw the Mengrai dynasty finally dispel as
contesting Thai and Burmese forces imposed unrest and instability
in the region. Chiang Mai fell to Burmese forces by the
1560, taking Lanna into a new era of vassal rule under the contesting
Burmese and Ayuddhaya (Siamese) power houses.
Over the next few centuries, Burmese princes ruled over the
annexed kingdom from both Chiangmai and Chiang Saen, seeing several
unsuccessful rebellion attempts by Lanna people who resented
their Burmese care-takers. On a few occasions, Ayutthaya forces
temporarily invaded and occupied Burmese Lanna, but the Burmese
would prevail, seeing the Siamese capital at Ayutthaya obliterated
around the mid 18th century.
By the 1770’s, the Siamese commoner turned king, Taksin
the great, unified the scattered Siamese and gathered an army
to push Burmese forces out of Siam once and for all. By 1775,
Taksin’s armies successfully assisted a Lampang prince,
Kawilla in taking control of Lanna territory from the Burmese.
Kawilla was crowned monarch of a new Siam-aligned Lannathai kingdom.
Nine more kings would rule over Lannathai, which all were to
become in close relations with the Chakri dynasty of Siam. While
the Burmese were drenched in internal conflict and colonial warfare
with the British, the Lanna people and culture gradually assimilated
Siamese customs and language, and thus became associated as ‘Northern
Siam’. It was formerly annexed to the Kingdom of Siam in
1892 and saw its last reign by King Kaew Naovarat, who died in
1939, after which no successor was named.
