Lao muang, a crossing and landing.
The wide bend of the Mekong where the river turns east and the plain opens out, the natural crossing between the Khorat plateau and the Lao bank. Khmer-style stonework has been dug out from under later Lao buildings (board); a hospital founded by Jayavarman VII at Sai Fong near Vientiane in Saka 1108 (1186) is the only dated sign of a ruler's hand. A Vietnamese notice of 1159 read as naming Van Dan (Vientiane) a vassal of Zhenla (English Wikipedia, citing Taylor 1995) is the other.
Who ruled the bend in 1200 is not known; the Lao chronicle tradition that claims it was written centuries later. A city of Vientiane in the later sense does not exist.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not known (see the Wiang Chan record)
- Title
- Chao muang (not named)
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
English Wikipedia (Vientiane), the campaign board.
Lord in 1200
Not known (see the Wiang Chan record)
How things stand that morning
A landing and a hospital; nothing dated.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: One stele and one notice.
On the map: A point on the modern city.
Primary sources for Lao muang of the middle Mekong
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.
- 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
Sources and studies
- English Wikipedia, Vientiane
- OMNIA board notes for the Khmer and Lao area (a lead, not a source)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.