Introduction

Lanna or Lannathai is the given name of a prosperous self ruling kingdom, once the power base of the whole of Northern Thailand as well as parts of present day Burma (Myanmar) & Laos. The title means "Land of a million rice fields".

The rich culture and history owe much to the influence of Burma and, to a certain extent Laos. Still found in northern temples is the script of Lanna, which is probably the original Thai script and thought to be based on Mon. A similar script is still in use today by the Shan people.

Lanna is completely different from other provinces of Thailand in cuisine, culture and custom. It is generally acknowledged, throughout Thailand, that the Northern women are the most beautiful and people friendliest and politest in the country. The charm and gentleness of the Northerners seldom fail to impress even the most demanding of visitors.

The history of modern Thailand begins 5,000 years ago. The ancestors of today's Thai people lived in areas of Southern China. Through various migration streams they worked their way south to Thailand, Burma and Lao. They entered today's Thailand at Chiang Saen (Yonokanagakom) on the southern banks of the Mae Khong River; this gateway to Siam is known to have been a kingdom as early as 773 A.D.

The mighty Lanna kingdom was founded by King Mengri (1259 - 1317). He also brought a newly found unity to the North and annexed the Mon held territory south of Chiang Mai including their capital Lampoon (Hari Punchai). After the town fell he went in search for a new area to build a city. He found a well-watered meadow, stocked with game and other wild animals beside a huge mountain plentiful of waterfalls. Two of his friends were invited, King Ngarm Muang of Payao and King Rama Kampeng of Sukothai, to inspect the site and assist in construction to which they agreed. Each king made a small slit in his wrist and allowed the blood to spill into a silver goblet. When full they drank the contents vowing everlasting support and co-operation. (There was no war between the three kingdoms during the reign of these kings.) A monument to these three kings was built and can be located in the centre of Chiang Mai's old city. The town was built in 1296 and named Nopburi Sri Nakorn Ping Chiang Mai which was later shortened to Chiang Mai.
Mengri however did not live in Chiang Mai, preferring his own town of Chiang Rai, the then capital of Lanna. Chiang Mai did not become capital until 1345. His role was that of conqueror. A powerful man, it is perhaps fitting that he died after being struck by lightning in his 80th year. A shrine was built at the market where he fell and is found in the centre of Chiang Mai's old city, close to the three kings statue. Other Northern Kings met with more unusual fates such as King Kampoo who, in 1345, was eaten by a crocodile while taking a bath and King Muong Keo who passed away after eating a dish of raw horse meat. Another would be king was trampled to death attempting to rope wild elephants.

The most powerful period of this kingdoms history was during the reign of King Tilorokarat (1548-1580). Lanna's power began to wane by the end of the 15th century and was repeatedly attacked by Lao and Burma whose troops and puppet lords occupied the area on many occasions. They introduced their own styles of food, buildings, costume and culture. Chiang Mai swayed between Burmese and Central Thai control with intermittent spells of self-government; The Burmese occupied the Lanna region from 1556 until it was finally annexed by Central Thailand in the late 18th century. However their loyalties of the locals were to themselves and they sided with Thai or Burmese armies at different periods.

Chiang Mai was actually deserted for 15 years (1776-1791) as the result of successive wars. Lampang was made temporary capital. It was Rama I (of the present Chakri Dynasty) who re-established the city after several skirmishes with the Burmese. The Thai commander, Kawila, was given the title "Prince of Chiang Mai" for his valiant efforts. Chiang Mai has remained a part of Thailand (Siam) ever since despite frequent Burmese raids.

Around this time Chiang Saen was under siege by Thai forces attempting to starve out the Burmese occupiers. The Thai army did not succeed and retreated fearing a Burmese counter-attack. Meanwhile the residents revolted slaying the Burmese troops and opening the city gates for their liberating compatriots to enter.

Rama I ordered the destruction of Chiang Saen in 1804 to prevent the Burmese from using it as a springboard to attack Chiang Mai, he did likewise to the surrounding Shan states towns (now in Burma and Laos). With Chiang Saen in flames the 23,000 residents were sent to populate Chiang Mai, Lampang and Nan which is why, even today, the town of Chiang Saen is little more than a village.

Skirmishes, uprising and wars were an integral part of daily life in Lanna during these times and it would require much more space than we have here to cover many of the past conflicts.

The last ruler of Chiang Mai with Northern connections was Chao Keo Naovarat and a Bangkok appointed governor replaced him in 1939. A bridge, connecting the east of the city with the old city is named in his honour. Typical Lanna market scene mid 19th century

The Kingdom of Lanna (present day Northern Thailand) flourished for three hundred years under the Mengrai Dynasty (1258-1558) before the Burmese invaders put a stronghold on the region. For the next 216 years, the Kingdom was ruled by little more than "puppet kings" manipulated by the rulers of Burma. The Lanna people, aided by armies from its parent kingdom of Siam, continued to fight the Burmese, and finally achieved an opening for a proper Lanna king to take the throne in Chiangmai in 1732.

The Tipchang Dynasty
Northern Thailand's Last Royal Family

(1732-1939 A.D.)King (Jao) Tipchang took advantage of weakening Burmese forces and installed loyal rulers in various Lanna prefectures, including his son Prince Kaew, who he put in charge of Lampang. But the Burmese gathered another round of strength between 1764 and 1774 and attacked Siam a total of nine times during that period.

Birth of a Dynasty
The Lanna capital at Chiangmai was finally released from the Burmese stronghold on 5 Feb. 1774, when Siam's King Taaksin led an army into the city. Prince Kaew's son Prince Gawila of Lampang and Phraya Ja Baan of Chiangmai helped. After their heroic deeds, King Taaksin officially appointed Prince Gawila to rule Lampang and Phraya Ja Baan took over at Chiangmai.

But when Taaksins successor, Phraya Chakri (Rama I), took the throne in Siam's new capital, Bangkok, the new king accused Chiangmais Phraya Ja Baan of spending too much time rubbing elbows in the capital during Taaksins reign, when Chiangmai needed him more at home. Rama I then banished Phraya Ja Baan from the throne in Chiangmai and promoted Lampangs Prince Gawila to the northern capital. As Tipchang's grandson, Gawila in effect continued the family dynasty.

It was Three years after The War of Nine Armies, 1782, that Siam repelled the Burmese invaders out of the kingdom. By 1785, Jao Gawila was trying to repair Chiangmai after so many years of war and ruin, when the Burmese struck again this time in Lampang. The Kings army held them off for about four months, until Siamese troops from Bangkok stepped in yet again to help free the northern Kingdom from Burmese invaders. Together, the two armies managed to push the invaders back, and the struggle seemed to bring the two kings closer together as well.

In 1802 the Burmese surrounded Chiangmai with seven thousand troops. The siege lasted for two months. Again, Siamese troops marched from Bangkok to help. Again, the Burmese were expelled. This time Rama I, continuing the effort started by Taaksin to unify Siam as one kingdom, promoted Gawila as King of 57 Lanna cities.

But the Burmese still had a hold on Chiangsaen. In 1804, Gawila and Rama I marched their respective Lanna and Siamese armies into the city, but the Burmese fought hard. The Bangkok soldiers grew ill and lacked food and medicine, resulting in their temporary withdrawal. But Gawila's soldiers kept fighting, eventually seizing Chiangsaen along with many, many Burmese captives.

The following year, Rama I ordered Jao Gawila to attack Muang Yong, Chiangroong, Saenwee, Sipaw, Chiangtoong and other northern cities in some cases to drive out Burmese, and in others, simply to continue building a bigger Siam.

By the mid-1700s, The Lanna Kingdom consisted of seven prefectures, also known as the Seven Valleys that make up northern Thailand: Lampang, Lumpoon, Chiangmai, Prae, Naan and Mae Hong Sorn.
The Tipchang Dynasty reigned over this region until the Siamese military overthrew the power of the monarch, and stripped all regional rulers with the exception of the current Chakri dynasty still based in Bangkok from their status as royalty
 

Important Dates in Lanna History

• 1259 Mengrai ascends the throne.
   

• 1262 Mengrai founds Chiang Rai
   

• 1281 Mengrai conquers Haripunchai.
   

• 1287 Mengrai establishes the Kingdom of Lanna Thai
   

• 1297 Chiang Mai is founded.
   

• 1317 Death of Mengrai
   

• 1338 Payao is annexed to Chiang Mai.
   

• 1340 Wat Phra Sing is founded in Chiang Mai.
   

• 1355-1385 Reign of Ku Na
   

• 1385-1401 Reign of Saen Muang Ma
   

• 1401-1441 Reign of Kham Ku (Kaen)
   

• 1423 Lanna monks are ordained in Sri Lanka.
   

• 1441 Chao Lok ambushes and captures his father to ascend to the throne as King Tilokaraja.
   

• 1451-1460 War with Ayutthaya
   

• 1455 Eighth World Buddhist council meets in Chiang Mai.
   

• 1478 Wat Chedi Luang is constructed in Chiang Mai.
   

• 1487 Death of Tilokaraja
   

• 1508-1515 Wars with Ayutthaya
   

• 1545 After a series of unworthy kings, a revolt in Chiang Mai attracts an Ayutthayan army.
   

• 1545 An earthquake destroys many temples in Chiang Mai.
   

• 1548 A Siamese army unsuccessfully besieges Chiang Mai.
   

• 1558 Chiang Mai is invaded by King Bayinnaung of Pegu (Burma).
   

• 1565 Luang Prabang (in Laos) falls to the Burmese.
   

• 1569 Ayutthaya falls to the Burmese.
   

• 1598 Naresuan recaptures Chiang Mai.
   

• 1600 King Naresuan of Ayutthaya defeats the King of Pegu, leaving Ava to become the paramount power in Burma.
   

• 1615 The Burmese regain control over Lanna Thai, a rule which lasts almost uninterrupted for one century.
   

• 1717 Phya Tun is nominated by the King of Ava to become Prince of Nan, a title his family will retain until the end of absolute monarchy in Siam in 1932.
   

• 1727-1770 Rebellions and wars against the Burmese
   

• 1727 A general named Thip defeats a Burmese army and is proclaimed ruler of Lampang under the name Phra Sulawa. His descendents will rule over Lampang, Lamphun and Chiang Mai until the 19th century.
   

• 1767 The Burmese attack and destroy Ayutthaya.
   

• 1771 General Phya Tak (who will later become King Taksin of Thonburi, the third capital of Thailand) dispatches an army to Chiang Mai to fight the Burmese.
   

• 1774 King Kawila, ruler of Lampang, fights the Burmese and hands Chiang Mai over to Phya Tak. The city, impoverished by long civil wars, is abandoned for 20 years.
   

• 1782 Phya Chakri becomes the first king of the Chakri Dynasty, under the name of Ramathibodi, and founds Bangkok (the present capital of Thailand).
   

• 1787-1801 The Burmese mount periodic expeditions attempting to regain Lanna Thai.
   

• 1796 Kawila repopulates Chiang Mai.
   

• 1804 Ramathibodi (later posthumously renamed Rama I) and King Kawila finally defeat the Burmese. The last Burmese stronghold, Chiang Saen, is razed to prevent reoccupation by the invaders, and the population is deported to Lampang.
   

• 1813 Kawila dies.
   

• 1874 A Siamese High Commissioner is sent to reside in Chiang Mai, and the Bangkok government begins to administer Lanna Thai directly.
   

• 1885 The British conquer upper Burma, ensuring peace on the western border, although the British will start to meddle in northern affairs.
   

• 1887 Siam cedes to France some provinces in Laos, which the Thais had controlled for a hundred years since the war in the North by Phya Tak.
   

• 1890 Bands of Chinese Haw, many of them bandits, enter northern Thailand and Laos.
   

• 1893 Thailand loses to France some territories on the west bank of the Mekong River (Present day Laos and Cambodia).
   

• 1921 The railway reaches Chiang Mai.
   

• 1927 Rama VII visits Chiang Mai, entering the city with a stately procession of elephants.
   

• 1932 Khruba Srivijaya, a highly revered northern monk, refuses to accept the authority of the national Sangha.
   

• 1939 The last Prince of Chiang Mai, Kaew Nawarat, dies. Siam changes its name to Thailand.

From Luca Invernizzi Tettoni, A guide to Chaing Mai and Northern Thailand, p.50-51