Mon lords of the Ping plain

Who he is

Title

Lords of the moated towns

Since

not known

Born

not known

Family

Not named in any source we could reach.

Confidence

low

The excavated sites are Mon-period; the lords are inferred.

Overlord

the king of Haripunjaya

What it holds

• Wiang Tha Kan and its near land
• Wiang Mano and its near land
• The Mon-period villages and monasteries of the plain between Doi Suthep and the Ping

Allies and rivals

Loyal to Lamphun in the tradition; the Lawa of the western hills raid or trade on their edge.

How things stand that morning

Settled rice towns with Mon monasteries, at peace so far as the sources show.

Wealth

Rice, fish, cloth and market; the road to the Ping.

Military

Earth bank and ditch; no numbers.

Threats

• Lawa raiding from the west
• Floods of the Ping (the chronicles tell of them in Mangrai's time, which is later)

Places of note

• Wiang Tha Kan: moated Mon-period town
• Wiang Mano: moated town of the same family

Where the sources disagree

• Board: Wiang Tha Kan "secure". The excavated site is Mon-period; we could not read the excavation dates, so it is kept as "likely".

Evidence: Archaeology of moated sites (reported by the campaign board, not re-read), no names.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: Two moated sites and their near land; others of the same kind probably existed.

Primary sources for Haripunjaya

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma, The Royal Historical Commission of King Bagyidaw (Monywe Sayadaw and others), drawing on U Kala's Maha Yazawin (about 1724) and earlier chronicles (1829 to 1832). The standard Burmese court chronicle, compiled six centuries after 1200 from older chronicles now lost. Read online
• The later Tai, Lao and Mon chronicles of the north, Ratanapanna (Jinakalamali); Bodhiramsi (Chamadevivamsa); anonymous monks and court scribes (the Chamadevivamsa about 1410; the Jinakalamali 1516 to 1528; the Chiang Mai Chronicle in its surviving form 1827; the Nithan Khun Borom 16th to 17th century). There is no text of 1200 for the Mon kingdom of Haripunjaya, the Tai muang of Ngoenyang (Chiang Saen), Chiang Rung, the Yom and Nan valleys, or the Lao middle Mekong.
• Epigraphia Birmanica, being lithic and other inscriptions of Burma, Various, edited by Taw Sein Ko, C. Duroiselle and C. O. Blagden (inscriptions of the 11th to 15th centuries; the series ran from 1919 to 1936). The Archaeological Survey of Burma's series of edited inscriptions with full translations. Read online
• Inscriptions of Pagan, Pinya and Ava; Inscriptions of Burma, Various (the Pagan kings, queens, ministers and donors), edited by Tun Nyein, Taw Sein Ko, G. H. Luce and Pe Maung Tin (inscriptions of the 11th to 14th centuries; editions 1899 and 1933 to 1956). The dedicatory inscriptions of Pagan are the only contemporary texts for the kingdom of Narapatisithu (reigning 1174 to 1211). Read online
• The Inscriptions of Cambodia, Various (the Khmer kings and their officers), edited by George Coedes (inscriptions of the 6th to 14th centuries; edited 1937 to 1966). The Khmer empire of 1200 is known almost entirely from the great foundation stelae of Jayavarman VII (reigning from 1181), which Coedes edited: the Ta Prohm stele of 1186 (K. Read online