Deutsch
North
Thailand / Chiang Mai / History
Chiang Mai
has an history of more than 700 years. Oddly enough, it doesn't
begin in what is today Northern Thailand but the Southern Chinese
province of Yunnan, a few hundred kilometers to the north.
There, the well developed Thai kingdom of Nanchao existed
from the middle of the 7th until the middle of the 13th century
(for 604 years to be exact). In 1254, however, the Nanchao Kingdom
was conquered by Kublai Khan, resulting in the southward
migration of a large number of Thais. Most of these Thais settled
in what is today northern Thailand.
A result
of this influx of Thais from southern China was the founding of
several towns and principalities in what is today
northern Thailand. Among the towns founded and the principalities
established in the second half of the 13th century was Chiang
Mai.
However,
a predecessor of Chiang Mai was Chiang Rai, some 180km
(113mi) to the north. There, a prince of the Nanchao Kingdom who
had migrated south with his people, Mengrai, established
in 1262 the Lannatai principality (commonly translated
as Kingdom of one Million Rice Fields). If one prefers to speak
of a Lannatai Kingdom instead of a Lannatai Principality at that
early stage, one of course has to upgrade Mr. Mengrai's rank to
that of King. However, one must be aware that Mengrai was of course
designated in Thai and with a Thai title, and ranks of
nobility in Western and Thai history are not equivalent to each
other. Certainly, Mengrai was an independent and absolute
ruler, but his realm just had the size of what would be considered
as a principality in Europe
Photo: Part of Chiang Mai's old wall and moat