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Ancient and Medieval Army Lists

Lan Xang (1300 - 1428 AD)
(DBA 110a)

In the 13th Century, the SE Asian region roughly comprising modern Laos was populated by the Lao Lum (migratory Tai from southern China), who settled small principalities (meuang or mandalas) in the fertile river valleys and by the Lao Theung (Lao natives) who had been pushed aside into the hills. In the early 1300s, a Lao Lum noble by the name of Fa Ngum was forced south into exile with his father to Angkor Wat, where he married a princess and gained the favor of his father-in-law, the Khmer emperor Jayavarman Paramesvara. With a Khmer army of 10,000, Fa Ngum set forth on a campaign of conquest and by 1353 AD, he had defeated the dominant Laotian kingdom of Xiang Doug Xiang Thong and successfully united the Lao meuang into a new kingdom, known as Lan Xang, the "Land of a Thousand Elephants."

Fag Ngum ruled Lan Xang for 20 years, surviving periods of religous strife and almost constant warfare along his ill-defined borders, until he was deposed by the court ministers in favor of his son Oun Hueun (Sam Sen Thai) in 1373 AD. Apparently, the ministers felt that a less belligerent Lan Xang would benefit due to its central location from trade between the Siamese (Thai) kingdoms to the west and Annam (Vietnam) to the east. The change also reflected the declining influence of the Khmer Empire to the south. Oun Hueun was no puppet, however, maintaining a large army and ruling nearly 43 years until 1416 AD. By the end of his reign, Lan Xang was the dominant power in the region. Oun Hueun was succeeded by his son Lam Kham Deng, who ruled until 1428 AD.

With the exception of an Annamese invasion in 1479 AD, Lan Xang enjoyed a long period of peace until the reign of Photisarath (1520-48 AD). Photisarath involved Lan Xang in what became a 200 year struggle against Myanmar and Siam. Photisarath waged three wars against Ayutthaya (in Siam) and succeeded in placing his son Setthathirath on the throne of the Siamese province of Chiang Mai (Chiengmai), marking Lan Xang's maximum territorial expansion. Setthathirath assumed the throne on Photisarath's death, and ruled for 23 years (1548-1571 AD) with mixed results, losing Chiang Mai to the Myanmar and being forced to transfer his capital from Luang Prabang to Vien Chan (now Vientiane). Hard-pressed by Myanmar (Burma), he repulsed two invasions in1565 and 1570 AD. But on his death in 1571 AD, Lan Xang was ravaged by the Burmese and reduced to vassal status until 1637 AD.

The kingdom was restored and enjoyed it's "Golden Age" under Souligna Vongsa (1637 - 1694 AD), who reestablished Lan Xang's borders with Siam and Annam by diplomacy and conducted successful campaigns against the principality of Chieng Khouang in the south. On his death, however, the kingdom was split into three rival kingdoms by factions influenced by the Vietnamese, thus marking the end of Lan Xang as a unified kingdom.

Enemies

Annam (Vietnam), Khmer (Chieng Khouang), Myanmar (Burma), Siam (Thailand) and pre-Conquest or rebellious Lao meuang.

Army List

The following army lists were developed by Andrew Bird to support DBA gaming during the early Lan Xang period (i.e. the original conquest by Fa Ngum through the reign of Oun Hueun and his son). As Bird notes, there is very little evidence available in English on how the armies were composed, and his lists reflect assumptions drawn from the DBA Khmer and other regional army lists.

Other Resources

Andrew Bird, "'Land of a Thousand Elephants': The Founding of the Kingdom of Lan Xang," Slingshot (Society of Ancients, No. 212, Nov. 2000).

Martin Stuart-Fox, The Lao Kingdom of Lan Xang: Rise and Decline, (White Lotus, 1998)

Martin Stuart-Fox, A History of Laos, (Cambridge University Press, 1997) (brief introductory history, but primary focus on Lao is on the period post 1800.)

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Last Updated: Nov. 25, 2000

Questions, comments, suggestions welcome. Send them to Chris Brantley, brant@erols.com.