Prelude to the Fall: The Monarchy and Three Factions in Seventeenth-Century Laos

• In Event: 270. Socialist Narratives from Laos and Vietnam

Abstract

This paper will be presented in conjunction with that of Wynn Gadkar-Wilcox. The division of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang (1695-1707) is a pivotal moment in Lao history yet it remains poorly understood. Reading backwards, most scholars who have considered it have said simply that the division was due to intervention by Ayutthaya, despite numerous problems with such an account. Alternatively I will suggest that the division of Lan Xang is best understood as one of the major events in Lao-Vietnamese history. Specifically I will argue that the Vietnamese were the single most significant external factor to the division of the Lao kingdom. This is a necessary intervention as Lao and Vietnamese historians today may be reticent to probe too deeply into the events surrounding the division of the kingdom because it might harm the image of "Lao-Vietnamese friendship". I will present an account of the Lao kingdom in the century leading up to the division. At the beginning of the seventeenth-century there was a new line of rulers on the Lao throne who were weak and suffered questions of legitimacy. They were further challenged by three major factions within the kingdom including a rival city, foreigner interlopers at court and rebellious high ministers. These factions fatally weakened the kingdom in the period leading up to Vietnamese intervention. It was the unique combination of these factors which finally caused the division.

Author

• Ryan C. Wolfson-Ford, University of Wisconsin-Madison