The western hills of Quảng Trị, Huế and the Quảng Bình ranges: Bru, Pacoh and Ta Oi villages (Katuic speakers).
The A Sắp valley at A Lưới drains west to the Sê Kông and so gives a way over the watershed without a real climb, a track for traders and small parties, not for an army with baggage (board). The Ai Lao pass (Lao Bảo) is the shortest line between the sea and the Mekong; the Mụ Giạ pass in Minh Hóa is the lowest gap in the northern chain, and the people of the pass take a cut of what goes through (board). Dai Viet does not garrison either.
The group names are those of the nineteenth and twentieth century; the Chinese and Cham sources of the time use general labels. We use the later name only to say which people the ground is for, and we read their society backwards from later ethnography: villages with headmen and elders, shifting fields, no kings and no towns.
Who holds it
- Title
- Village headmen and councils of elders; no overall chief is known for 1200
- Confidence
- low
Later ethnography read backwards; Chinese trade lists and Cham inscriptions that name hill goods (board)
Overlord
Neither Champa nor Dai Viet rules these hills; both take what comes down.
How things stand that morning
Governing itself under village headmen; the lowland courts trade with it and claim it in name; not pinned further.
Wealth
Eaglewood, bark, ivory, elephants, captives.
Military
Village fighters; no numbers.
Places of note
- A Luoi: A Sap corridor
- Lao Bao: Ai Lao pass
- Mu Gia: Mu Gia pass
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Chinese trade lists, Cham inscriptions that name hill goods, and ethnography written six centuries later (board); no dated event for 1200.
On the map: A union of modern districts standing for the people's country; there was no border, and the groups overlapped and traded across any line we draw.
Sources and studies
- OMNIA board notes for the Vietnam and Champa area (a lead, not a source)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.