Other lordship · Self-governing peoples of Mainland Southeast Asia · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Lawa chiefs

The Lawa speak a Palaungic language (Austroasiatic, related to Blang and Wa).

Western Lawa live near Mae Sariang and eastern Lawa round Bo Luang and the Doi Inthanon hills; the Lawa were in this country before either Mon or Tai. They hold the hill tracks toward the Salween and bring lac, wax, honey, iron and forest drugs to the valley markets. The chronicles cast them as enemies of Haripunjaya's founding queen and as the people on whose walled town Chiang Mai is later laid out; those are legend, but the Lawa as the people of the uplands is not in doubt.

They are known as ironworkers and live by hill rice and spirit cults; each village governs itself.

Who he is

Title
Village chiefs and spirit-priests of the Lawa
Since
not known
Born
not known
Family
No Lawa chief is named for 1200. The chronicles name only legendary ones: Khun Luang Wilangka, the Lawa enemy and then father-in-law of Camadevi's sons, in the Camadevivamsa (15th century).
Confidence
low

English Wikipedia (Lawa people, Camadevi).

Overlord

none; the Lawa pay nobody regularly

What it holds

  • The hill country west of the Ping plain from the Doi Suthep foothills to Doi Inthanon, Bo Luang and Mae Chaem
  • The Mae Sariang and Mae La Noi valleys on the Salween side
  • Iron, lac, wax and honey for the valley markets

How it was acquired

Native to the hills.

Allies and rivals

Trade with the Mon towns of the Ping; raids on their edge; the Karen to the south-west and the Tai to the north.

How things stand that morning

Self-governing villages, in contact with Lamphun and paying it no regular tribute. Their spirit cults (the guardian spirits of the mountains round the later Chiang Mai) are later tradition.

Wealth

Hill rice, iron, lac, wax, honey, forest drugs.

Military

Village fighters; no numbers.

Threats

  • Valley rulers pressing up the hill tracks (all later)

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 1201 to 1300 (13th century, legend)King Mangrai is said to have taken Kengtung from the Lawa by deceit.Depends on: Mangrai's rise. Stopped by: None; legend.

Places of note

  • Bo Luang: eastern Lawa country, ironworkers
  • Mae Sariang: western Lawa valley

Where the sources disagree

  • Board (lawa-uplands): "held by the Lawa ... who were in this country before either the Mon or the Tai". The English Wikipedia page cautions that the Lawa are not shown south of the middle Ping.

Evidence: Linguistic and ethnographic knowledge plus the late chronicles; no inscription of 1200 names a Lawa chief.

On the map: Two blocks of hill country; the Lawa live in scattered villages and the polygons are the ranges, not boundaries.

Sources and studies

  1. Wikipedia, Lawa people
  2. Wikipedia, Camadevi (legend of the Lavo queen; Baker and Pasuk on the archaeology)
  3. Wikipedia, Haripunjaya (Mon inscriptions of 1213, 1218 and 1219; chronicle king list and its caveats)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.