Muang Phuan

Principality of Phuan

1707–1949
Capital Xiangkhouang
Language(s) Lao
Religion Buddhism
Government Monarchy
History
 - Lan Xang divided 1707
 - Kingdom of Laos formes 1949
History of Laos

This article is part of a series
Early history of Laos
Lan Xang (1353–1707)
Dark ages of Laos (1707–1893)
Kingdom of Luang Phrabang (1707–1949)
Kingdom of Vientiane (1707–1828)
Principality of Phuan (1707–1949)
Kingdom of Champasak (1713–1946)
Colonial era
French rule and colonial administration (1893–1953)
Lao Issara (1945–49)
Modern era
Post-independence Laos (1953–75)
Pathet Lao
North Vietnamese Invasion
Laotian Civil War (1953–75)
Communist Laos (1975–present)
Insurgency in Laos (since 1975)

Laos Portal

Muang Phuan - principality, existed on the territory of modern Xiangkhouang Province in Laos.

The Tai Phuan or Phuan people are a Buddhist Tai-Lao ethnic group that migrated to Laos from southern China and by the 13th century had formed the independent principality Muang Phuan at the Plain of Jars with Xieng Khouang (the contemporary Muang Khoun) as the capital. They prospered from the overland trade in metals and forest products. In the mid-14th century, Muang Phuan was incorporated into the Lane Xang Kingdom under King Fa Ngum.[1][2]

The Phuan population were able to retain a high degree of autonomy although they had to pay tax and tribute to Lane Xang. During the 16th century expressive Buddhist art and architecture flourished. The capital was dotted with temples in a distinct Xieng Khouang style, i.e. simple low roofs with a characteristic ‘waist’ at the foundation. In 1930 Le Boulanger described it as ‘a large and beautiful city protected by wide moats and forts occupying the surrounding hills and the opulence of the sixty-two pagodas and their stupas, of which the flanks concealed treasures, obtained the capital a fame that spread fear wide and far.”

After the Kingdom of Siam, contemporary Thailand, extended control to Lao territories east of the Mekong in the 1770s, Muang Phuan became a Siamese vassal state and also maintained tributary relations with Dai Viet (Vietnam). To exert greater control of the lands and people of Muang Phuan, the Siamese launched three separate campaigns (1777–79, 1834–36 and 1875/76) to resettle large parts of the Phuan population to the south in regions under firm Siamese control. Subsequent invasions by Haw marauders, splinter groups of ex-Taiping Revolution rebels from Southern China plundered Luang Prabang and Xieng Khuang in the 1870s, and desecrated and destroyed the temples of the Phuan region.

The Franco-Siamese treaties of the 1890s placed Xieng Khouang under colonial rule as part of French Indochina until briefly after World War II.

References

  1. ^ Provincial Tourism Department Xieng Khouang, A Guide to Xieng Khouang
  2. ^ <Martin Stuart-Fox The Lao Kingdom of Lao Xang: Rise and Decline, White Lotus Press, 1998