Cobra Kingdom
Ngưu Hống (Vietnamese)
Tóushé Guo (Chinese)
1000?–1416 or 1432
Map of the Black River throughout northwest Vietnam
Map of the Black River throughout northwest Vietnam
CapitalMường Mỗi
Common languagesBlack Tai, Vietnamese
Religion
Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, animism
GovernmentMonarchy
 11th century–1067
Lạng Chượng
 1292–1329
Lò Lẹt
 1329–1341
Con Mường
 1341–1392
Ta Cằm
 1392–1418
Ta Ngần
 1420–1441
Mứn Hằm
History 
 First tribute to Dai Viet
1067
1250s
 Annexed by Ming dynasty
1416
 Annexed by Dai Viet
1432
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Nanzhao
Muang Then
Jiaozhi Province
Dai Viet
Sip Song Chau Tai

Nguu Hớu[1] (Vietnamese: Ngưu Hống, Hán tự: 牛吼, lit. Cobra) or Tóushé (Chinese: 頭蛇, lit. Cobra) were names for a medieval Black Tai polity that located in northwest Vietnam, mainly around the Black River. Its territory comprises modern-day provinces of Điện Biên, Lai Châu, Sơn La as well as western parts of Lào Cai and Yên Bái.

Early period

Tai peoples have settled in the northwestern parts of what now is Vietnam since the early first millennium CE or, at the latest, the 5th to 8th century. They mainly settled along the Black River (Sông Đà). One Black Tai chiefdom—located at the place today known as Điện Biên Phủ—was named Muang Thaeng, just like the legendary kingdom of Khun Borom, protagonist of a Tai creation myth and believed to be the progenitor of the Lao, Thai, Shan and other Tai peoples, who later spread to the territories of modern Laos, Thailand, Burma, northeast India and the south of China's Yunnan province.[2]

In early eleventh century, Lạng Chượng, leader of the Black Tai, led his people from Mường Lò, westward toward Mường Chiềng An (Mường La District), Mường Thanh (Điện Biên Phủ), and set up a new kingdom. The chronicle Đại Việt sử lược called this polity Ngưu Hống (cobra). In 1067 they sent a tribute gift to Dai Viet court of king Ly Thanh Tong (r. 1054–1072): gold, silver, aromatic woods, rhinoceros horns and elephant tusks.[3][4] A Chinese source in 12th century identified this chiefdom as Heishou Guo (Black River Kingdom), and its location was between Dali and Dai Viet kingdoms.[5] During late 13th/early 14th century, Lò Lẹt, the Black Thai ruler, went conflict with Dai Viet ruler Trần Minh Tông on the Black River (Xoong nạp tát tè).[4]

Ming and Later Lê conquest

Following the Ming conquest of Dai Viet in 1407, the Chinese subjugated the Black Tai kingdom in 1416. However the Chinese rule was short-lived. After driving out the Chinese in 1427, the Vietnamese emperor Lê Lợi sent two campaigns in 1431 and 1432 into the region and incorporated Black Tai territories in Dai Viet's province of Hưng Hoá.[5] The old independence polity experienced population expansion during the 15th century. In Gia Hưng District (Sơn La and Lai Châu), the number of villages grew by five times.[6] The incorporation of Black Tai lands into Dai Viet's territories provided significant economic benefits: Cobalt salts, the main ingredient for Vietnamese blue-white ceramics, were sneaked in large quantity from Yunnanese mines to Dai Viet through Hưng Hoá, which before 1433 the cobalt salts had to be imported from Middle East.[7]

References

Citations

  1. Robichaud 2018, p. 97.
  2. Wyatt 2004, p. 6.
  3. Li 2006, p. 137.
  4. 1 2 Walailak 2000, p. 12.
  5. 1 2 Wade 2010, p. 87.
  6. Wade 2010, p. 88.
  7. Wade 2010, p. 88–89.

Work cited

  • Li, Tana (2006), "The Rise and the Fall of the Jiaozhi Ocean Region", in Schottenhammer, Angela; Ptak, Roderich (eds.), The Perception of Maritime Space in Traditional Chinese Sources, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 125–141
  • Robichaud, William (2018). Dead in the Water: Global Lessons from the World Bank's Model Hydropower Project in Laos. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-31790-4.
  • Wade, Geoff (2010). Southeast Asia in the Fifteenth Century: The China Factor. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-9971-69-448-7.
  • Walailak, Mahāwitthayālai (2000). Tai Culture: International Review on Tai Cultural Studies · Volume 5. SEACOM Sudöstasien-Gesellschaft.
  • Wyatt, David K. (2004). Thailand: A Short History (2nd ed.). Silkworm Books. ISBN 974-9575-44-X.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.