Phayao

Who holds it

Title

Chao (phaya) of Phayao

Since

not known

Born

not known

Family

The Phayao Chronicle (several versions) names a line that begins with Chomtham, a younger son of Lao Ngoen Rueang of Ngoenyang. None of its names can be dated to 1200. Ngammueang (1258 to about 1318) is the first ruler attested outside the chronicles.

Confidence

low

English Wikipedia (Phayao Kingdom, Ngoenyang).

Overlord

none (in the chronicles a cadet line or friend of Ngoenyang)

What the town holds

• The town on the lake shore and the fishing and rice land round it
• The head of the Ing valley and the road north to Chun and Chiang Kham
• The ridge roads south to the Wang and east to the Yom

How it was acquired

By descent in the chronicle line; not datable.

Allies and rivals

Ngoenyang (kin or friend in the chronicles); Haripunjaya and Khelang Nakhon on the south (some chronicle traditions say Phayao bordered them); the Nan chiefs east over the ridge (Phayao takes Pua in 1263, later).

How things stand that morning

A lake muang with its own line of chiefs, at peace so far as any source shows. The chief of 1200 is not known.

Wealth

Fish of the lake, rice of the Ing, tolls on the ridge roads.

Military

Not recorded; no numbers.

Threats

• None dated

Council

Not known; a chao and his kin, with the abbots of the town if it had any.

Communities

Tai, with Lawa and Kha hill villagers in the ridges.

Walls and castle

Whether the muang had a bank and ditch in 1200 is not recorded in anything we could read; the regional type is a stockade or an earth bank and ditch.

Trade and crafts

Fish, rice, the ridge road trade; no craft is dated.

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. 1258 to about 1318; 1263; 1338Ngammueang rules Phayao, takes Pua (1263) and is named in the Sukhothai inscription as Mangrai's friend; Phayao is brought under Lan Na in 1338 in the usual reading.Depends on: The Phayao Chronicle and the inscription being read right. Stopped by: A war with Ngoenyang before Mangrai, or a different succession at Phayao.

Places of note

• Kwan Phayao (the lake): the lake the muang stands on

Where the sources disagree

• Board (phayao): "contested", "by tradition a cadet foundation of the Ngoenyang line and in practice its own place". Kept as independent but with allegiance "not pinned".
• English Wikipedia (Ngoenyang infobox) says Phayao seceded in 1094. The Phayao article says the 1094 date is not in its source and that the versions run from 1037 to 1131. Not used.
• The campaign board entry point 19.167 N, 99.90 E lies on the lake; the gazetteer has Phayao at 19.192 N, 99.879 E. The gazetteer is used.

Evidence: Phayao Chronicle versions (undated compilations, all later than 1200) and the Ngoenyang chronicles; the first outside attestation is of the 1250s to 1290s.

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

On the map: Near land by the tierra; the wider Ing valley is in the province record.

Primary sources for Ngoenyang

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 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.