Editing Phonsavan (section)

== History ==
[[File:Photo 2020 - Phonesavan seen from the sky.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Panoramic view, {{Circa|2020}}]]

The recorded history of Xiangkhouang is interlinked with the [[Phuan people|Tai Phuan]]. 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 of [[Muang Phuan]] at the Plain of Jars, with Xiangkhouang (contemporary Muang Khoun) as the capital. In the 14th century, Muang Phuan was incorporated into the [[Lan Xang]] kingdom under King [[Fa Ngum]].

The Phuan population were able to retain a degree of autonomy, while they had to pay tax and tribute to Lan Xang. The capital was dotted with temples in a Xiangkhouang style, with lower roofs and 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 [[Thonburi Kingdom|Kingdom of Siam]] extended control to territories east of the [[Mekong]] in the 1770s, Muang Phuan became a Siamese vassal state and maintained tributary relations with [[Đại Việt]]. To exert greater control of the lands and people of Muang Phuan, the Siamese launched three separate campaigns (1777–1779, 1834–1836, and 1875–1876) to resettle parts of the Phuan population to the south into regions under Siamese control. Subsequent [[Haw wars|invasions by Haw marauders]] and splinter groups of ex-[[Taiping Rebellion]] revolutionaries from southern China plundered Luang Prabang and Xiangkhouang in the 1870s, and desecrated and destroyed the temples of the Phuan region.

The Franco-Siamese treaties of the 1890s placed Xiangkhouang under colonial rule as part of [[French Indochina]] until after [[World War II]]. The French used Xiangkhouang as their provincial capital. Some ruined colonial public buildings remain, such as the governor's residence, church, and the French school.<ref>Provincial Tourism Department Xiangkhouang, A Guide to Xieng Khouang</ref><ref name=Stuart-Fox-1998>{{cite book|last=Stuart-Fox|first=Martin|title=The Lao Kingdom of Lān Xāng: Rise and Decline|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GnxuAAAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=White Lotus Press|isbn=978-974-8434-33-9}}</ref>

During the [[Laotian Civil War]], Xiangkhouang was the scene of ground battles and aerial bombardment due to its strategic importance. [[Houaphanh province|Houaphanh]] and [[Xiangkhouang province|Xiangkhouang]] provinces were strongholds of [[Pathet Lao]] forces and their [[North Vietnam]]ese allies. There is the [[Operation Barrel Roll|covert air campaign]] conducted by the [[United States Air Force]] to neutralize communist forces or to drop unused ordnance after returning from missions in Vietnam.

Phonsavan was built after the fighting ended in 1975 to replace the former provincial capital, [[Khoune district|Muang Khoun]] (old Xiang Khouang), which was destroyed by wartime bombing and partially rebuilt since.<ref name=Ciochon-2009>{{cite journal |last1=Ciochon |first1=Russell L. |title=Laos Plain of Jars in the Wake of American Bombing |journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal |date=15 June 2009 |volume=24-3-09 |url=https://apjjf.org/-Russell-Ciochon/3171/article.html |access-date=16 May 2020}}</ref>

<gallery>
Image:Phakeo-JarSite-b.JPG|Jars, Ban Phakeo
Image:Jarssite3.jpg|Jar Site 3
Image:WatPiawat.JPG| Ruins, [[Wat Phia Wat]] (16th century)
</gallery>