Editing Northern Thai people (section)

=== Independent state of Lan Na ===
[[Mangrai]], the ruler of ''Mueang'' [[Ngoenyang]], united a number of these principalities after his accession to the throne around 1259 and founded the city of [[Chiang Rai]] in 1263. Around 1292 he conquered the [[Mon people|Mon]] kingdom of [[Hariphunchai]], which had dominated large parts of what is now northern Thailand in political, economic and cultural terms. That laid the foundation for the new [[Kingdom of Lan Na]] ("One Million Rice Fields") when its capital, Mangrai, founded [[Chiang Mai]] in 1296. The remaining ''Mueang'', which were dependent on Lan Na, retained their own dynasties and extensive autonomy, but had to swear loyalty to the king and pay tribute ([[Mandala (political model)|mandala model]]). Lan Na was ethnically very heterogeneous and the Northern Thai did not constitute the majority of the population in large parts of their domain.<ref>Grabowsky: ''Bevölkerung und Staat in Lan Na.'' 2004, S. 89.</ref>
[[File:Wat Chiang Man.jpg|thumb|Wat Chiang Man, the first temple constructed in Chiang Mai (in 1297), a typical example of Lanna art]]

However, the different cultures converged, so the originally [[Animism|animist]] and illiterate Tai Yuan adopted their religion, [[Theravada Buddhism]], and their writing system from the Mon of Hariphunchai (the [[Tai Tham script]] is developed from the [[Old Mon script]]).<ref>Grabowsky: ''Bevölkerung und Staat in Lan Na.'' 2004, S. 90.</ref> As a result, a common identity among the peoples of Lan Na became increasingly common in the 14th century, and the non-Tai peoples largely assimilated to the Tai Yuan.<ref>Grabowsky: ''Bevölkerung und Staat in Lan Na.'' 2004, S. 94.</ref> Anyone who integrated themselves into the communities in the river valleys and plains ''(Mueang)'' was regarded as Tai, regardless of ethnic origin, hence the self-designation ''Khon Mueang''. Only the indigenous peoples such as the [[Lawa people|Lawa]], who lived outside the ''Mueang'' in the highlands of the mountains and practiced [[slash-and-burn]] agriculture, were not included. They were grouped together by the Tai as ''kha''. Ethnicity was defined less by descent than by way of life.<ref name="Turton11"/><ref>Cholthira Satyawadhna: ''A Comparative Study of Structure and Contradiction in the Austro-Asiatic System of the Thai-Yunnan Periphery.'' In: ''Ethnic Groups Across National Boundaries in Mainland Southeast Asia.'' Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapur 1990, S. 76.</ref>

The Tai Yuan had very close ties with the Lao kingdom of [[Lan Xang]]. In 1546, [[Setthathirath]], a Lao prince, was elected king of Lan Na.<ref>Grabowsky: ''Bevölkerung und Staat in Lan Na.'' 2004, S. 61.</ref> By the middle of the 15th century at the latest, they had the technology to manufacture and use cannons and fireworks rockets.<ref>Grabowsky: ''Bevölkerung und Staat in Lan Na.'' 2004, S. 106.</ref> The expansion of the sphere of influence of Lan Na reached a climax in the second half of the 15th century under King [[Tilokaraj|Tilok]]. The sphere of interest of Lan Na clashed with that of the central Thai kingdom of [[Ayutthaya Kingdom|Ayutthaya]], which resulted in several wars over the ''Mueang'' of [[Sukhothai (city)|Sukhothai]], [[Phitsanulok]] and [[Kamphaeng Phet]], that lied between the two kingdoms.<ref>Grabowsky: ''Bevölkerung und Staat in Lan Na.'' 2004, S. 99–102.</ref>

The first decades of the 16th century are considered to be the heyday of the Lan Na literature. The classical works of the time, however, were written not in the native language of the Tai Yuan but in the scholarly language of [[Pali]].<ref>Grabowsky: ''Bevölkerung und Staat in Lan Na.'' 2004, S. 103.</ref> At the same time, however, Ayutthaya was expanding north and Siamese troops penetrated deep into the Yuan-inhabited area of Lan Na. The fighting was extremely costly, and a number of high-ranking generals and nobles of the Yuan perished. In addition to the population losses of men of armed age as a result of the war, much of the population also fell victim to natural disasters and epidemics around 1520, which initiated the decline of Lan Na.<ref>Grabowsky: ''Bevölkerung und Staat in Lan Na.'' 2004, S. 107.</ref> In 1558, Lan Na came under the rule of the Burmese [[Taungoo dynasty]] ([[Kingdom of Ava]]).

As there was often a shortage of labour in pre-modern Southeast Asia, it was customary after wars to drag parts of the population of the defeated party to the area of the victor. In the 17th century, after the subjugation of Lan Na by the Burmese, some Tai Yuan were brought to their capital [[Inwa|Ava]], where they belonged to the category of royal servants and provided lacquerware.<ref>Grabowsky: ''Bevölkerung und Staat in Lan Na.'' 2004, S. 31–32.</ref> The Burmese control over the Tai Yuan increased the differences between them and the Siamese in Ayutthaya.

Nevertheless, after the fall of Ayutthaya, the Tai Yuan nobility of Lan Na entered into an alliance with King [[Taksin]] of [[Thonburi Kingdom|Thonburi]] (the new Siamese kingdom) and, with his support, shook off Burmese supremacy in 1774, but that  was immediately replaced by that of the Siamese (from 1782 under the [[Chakri dynasty]] and with the capital of Bangkok). After [[Burmese–Siamese War (1802–1805)|conquering Chiang Saen in 1804]], the last Burmese outpost in what is now Thailand, the Siamese deported thousands of Tai Yuan residents to the Siamese heartland, the [[Chao Phraya River|Chao Phraya Basin]] of central Thailand. As a result, a significant number of Tai Yuan still live in the provinces of [[Ratchaburi Province|Ratchaburi]] and [[Saraburi Province|Saraburi]], where in the [[Sao Hai District]] an enclave with a Tai Yuan majority still exists.<ref>Grabowsky: ''Bevölkerung und Staat in Lan Na.'' 2004, S. 264 ff.</ref>