Kingdom of Chiang Mai

Since Burmese conquest of Lanna in 1558, Lanna or modern Northern Thailand had been mostly under Burmese rule.[3] With the Burmese Toungoo dynasty weakened, Chiang Mai was able to exert independence from Burma in 1727 and the rest of Lanna followed but Lanna became fragmented into city-states, descending into anarchy. A local man named Thipchang was declared ruler of Lampang in 1732. The new Burmese Konbaung dynasty reconquered Chiang Mai in 1763 and installed Chaikaew, son of Thipchang, as ruler of Lampang in 1764. Lanna then again came under Burmese domination.

In 1769, Thado Mindin became the Myowun or Burmese governor of Chiang Mai. His rule was marked by oppression and cultural assimilation policies. Thado Mindin also held Chaikaew in political hostage in Chiang Mai, leaving Lampang under the rule of Chaikaew's son Kawila. In December 1774, the Siamese King Taksin of Thonburi marched his army north to attack Burmese-held Chiang Mai. Phaya Chaban Boonma,[4] a native Lanna nobleman in Chiang Mai, joined with Kawila of Lampang to cooperate with the invading Siamese to overthrow Burmese rule, initiating the Fuen Man (ฟื้นม่าน, 'to liberate from Burma') movement. King Taksin sent his generals Chaophraya Chakri and Chaophraya Surasi to successfully take Chiang Mai in January 1775.[4] After two centuries of Burmese rule, most parts of Lanna were transferred to Siam. However, the Burmese regrouped and reestablished their headquarters at Chiang Saen, retaining northern parts of Lanna. Kawila's sister Sri Anocha was married to Chaophraya Surasi. King Taksin appointed Phaya Chaban as governor of Chiang Mai and Kawila as governor of Lampang in 1775 as vassal rulers.[4]

Kawila, originally ruler of Lampang, became ruler of Chiang Mai in 1797 and was appointed as King of Chiang Mai in 1802 as a vassal ruler. Kawila played a great role in the transfer of Lanna from Burma to Siam and in defenses against Burmese invasions.

The Burmese were keen on reclaiming Lanna. In 1777, Burmese forces invaded Chiang Mai. Phaya Chaban had to abandon his city in the face of Burmese invasion due to numerical inferiority of his defense forces. Chiang Mai was, therefore, abandoned,[5] ceased to exist as a functional city with its population dispersed and left to be claimed by jungles.[6] Phaya Chaban was called to Thonburi where he was imprisoned for his failures and died. With Chiang Mai and Nan abandoned, Lampang under Kawila stood as main frontline defense against Burmese incursions.

In 1782, the new King Rama I of Rattanakosin Kingdom appointed Kawila as Phraya Wachiraprakarn (พระยาวชิรปราการ) as nominal governor of Chiang Mai in efforts to restore Chiang Mai as population center and forefront citadel against Burmese invasions. After decades of warfare, however, Lanna as a whole suffered from manpower shortage. Kawila was unable to take position at Chiang Mai right away due to inadequate population so he instead established himself temporarily at Pasang[4] to the south of Chiang Mai.[6] In 1785, during the Nine Armies' War, King Bodawpaya of Burma sent Burmese forces of 30,000 men from Burmese-held Chiang Saen to lay siege on Lampang. Kawila held out Burmese besiegers for four months until Bangkokian forces arrived to relief the siege. Again, in 1788, the Burmese forces of 45,000 men to attack Lampang and Pasang. Prince Sura Singhanat, Kawila's brother-in-law, brought relief forces from Bangkok to repel the Burmese.

After twenty years of abandonment, Chiang Mai was finally restored as political and cultural center of Lanna in 1797. Kawila entered Chiang Mai in March 1797[4] in a ceremony that involved chasing a Lawa man around four corners of the city and staying at Wat Chiangman.

As soon as Chiang Mai was restored, however, King Bodawpaya of Burma sent forces of 55,000 men to attack Chiang Mai in 1797. Kawila again held the city out until Prince Sura Singhanat, Prince Thepharirak and Prince Anouvong of Vientiane brought the allied forces to repel the Burmese. In 1800, Kawila named his new Chiang Mai city as Rattana Tingsa Aphinawaburi (รัตนติงสาอภินวบุรี, 'Great New city as jeweled abode of Indra'). In 1802, Bodawpaya installed a Chinese man named Chom Hong to be the ruler of all Lanna at Mong Hsat in direct challenge to Kawila. Kawila sent his younger brother Thammalangka to capture Mong Hsat and Chom Hong.[6] Thammalangka then proceeded to capture Kengtung or Chiang Tung, which had been under Burmese suzerainty, in 1802. These advances provoked Bodawpaya to send invading forces to Chiang Mai again in 1802. Siamese relief forces from the south managed to repel the Burmese from Chiang Mai for second time.

Wat Pasak in Chiang Saen is one of the few structures that survived the destruction of Chiang Saen in 1804.

In December 1802, in recognition of Kawila's contribution in defense of the north against Burma, King Rama I appointed Kawila as the tributary 'King of Chiang Mai' with regnal name Phra Boromma Rachathibodi (พระบรมราชาธิบดี), establishing the Chetton dynasty or Dynasty of Seven Princes who were sons of Chaikaew including Kawila himself and his siblings. In 1804, combined allied forces from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Nan and Vientiane attacked Chiang Saen, the last Burmese stronghold in Lanna,[7] to eliminate all Burmese influence on Lanna. Chiang Mai forces under Thammalangka managed to capture Chiang Saen in 1804 with its inhabitants deported and distributed among victors. With conquest and destruction of Chiang Saen in 1804, the Burmese were finally driven out from Lanna and Burmese incursions virtually ended.

After decades of Burmese-Siamese Wars, Lanna, as the frontline battlegrounds, were ravaged and faced manpower shortage. After reestablishment of Chiang Mai in 1767, Kawila and other Lanna lords pursued the policy of "putting vegetables into baskets, putting people into towns"[6] to wage wars to acquire manpower. Elimination of Burmese influence in Lanna in 1804 allowed Lanna lords to expand their dominions and military campaigns to the northernmost Tai princely states including Kengtung and Chiang Hung Sipsongpanna, which were known collectively as Lue-Khuen (ลื้อเขิน) in Thai sources. Trans-Salween states to the east of Salween River had political and cultural affinity towards Lanna and centers other than Burma.[8] These states were the main victims of Lanna's subjugations and subsequent forced resettlements into Lanna towns previously damaged and depopulated.[6] In 1805, Thammalangka captured Mong Yawng.[6] In the same year, around 10,000 people, including Tai Khuen people from Kengtung along with its saopha Sao Kawng Tai and Tai Lue people from Mong Yawng, were deported to settle in Chiang Mai and Lamphun, respectively, leading to foundation of Lamphun as the third princely seat in 1814. These major events were accompanied by minor rounds of deportation that gradually transferred population from northernmost Tai states into Lanna.

After the capture of Kengtung (Chiang Tung) by Chiang Mai forces in 1802, Kengtung was left abandoned and depopulated with its saopha Sao Kawng Tai deported to Chiang Mai. However, Maha Hkanan, younger brother of Sao Kawng Tai, established himself at Mong Yang, posing to be an independent ruler. Maha Hkanan faced intensive attacks from the Burmese who were eager to reconquer Kengtung. Thammalangka led Lanna forces to support Maha Hkanan but was defeated by the Burmese. Maha Hkanan eventually decided to accept Burmese suzerainty in 1813[6] and Kengtung was restored as a Burmese vassal. After the death of Kawila in 1816, Lanna's northern campaigns largely ceased. It is estimated that, during this period, about 50,000 to 70,000 people were deported from northern Tai principalities into Lanna towns.[6] These resettled people were viewed by Lanna as belonging to 'Lanna cultural zone' because they spoke mutually intelligible languages and used similar writing system.[9]

Ceremonial golden tree sent from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, kept at Phutthai Sawan Hall, Front Palace, Bangkok National Museum

King Kawila died in 1816 and was succeeded by his younger brother Thammalangka as the next ruler of Chiang Mai. After Kawila, rulers of Chiang Mai were not appointed as kings but were given a noble rank of Phraya from Bangkok court. There were three vassal rulers, each of them in Chiang Mai, Lampang and Lamphun, who were from the Chetton dynasty. Chiang Mai ruler presided over Lanna lords and, in turn, owed tributary obligations to Chakri kings of Bangkok in alignment with the mandala system. Succession of these Lanna princedoms was exclusively determined by Bangkok. There was no succession pattern as whoever held the princely position of Upahat or heir presumptive would be entitled to succeed. Lanna rulers were permitted to retain great autonomy and to appoint their own officials[10] as they had proven themselves to be loyal allies in mutual Lanna-Siam cooperation against Burma.

Khamfan succeeded his elder brother Thammalangka as ruler of Chiang Mai in 1822 and there began political conflicts between branches of Chetton dynasty that would plague the Chiang Mai polity for several decades. Khamfan faced political opposition from his cousin Khammoon and his brother Duangthip the ruler of Lampang marched to Chiang Mai in attempts to capitalize the conflicts. When Khamfan died in 1825, Duangthip of Lampang marched to seize Chiang Mai, prompting Khamfan's son Phimphisan to flee and take refuge in Bangkok. Eventually, rulership of Chiang Mai went to Phutthawong, another cousin of the Seven Princes. Phutthawong was an outlier as he was not among the Seven Princes, who had previously been influential. Phutthawong refused to reside in the same Heokham or palace as his predecessors and constructed his own palace. Political reconciliation took place as Phimphisan eventually returned to Chiang Mai. Tenure of Phutthawong was largely peaceful, earning him the epithet 'Lord of the Peaceful Reign'. Only military mobilization in his time was in 1827 when Lanna lords were asked by Bangkok to contribute forces to quell Anouvong's Lao Rebellion.

The British gained first foothold in Burma in aftermath of First Anglo-Burmese War in 1826. David Lester Richardson visited Chiang Mai in 1829 to purchase cattle to Burma.[11] In 1834, the British sent Richardson as representative to Chiang Mai[12] to ask Lord Phutthawong of Chiang Mai to settle boundaries between Chiang Mai and British Burma at Salween river, in which Phutthawong eagerly agreed without Bangkok's acknowledgement. Initially, native rulers did not realize significance of sovereignty territorial proclamations.[12][13] Chiang Rai and Phayao were restored as towns in 1843[14] after about forty years of abandonment. Phutthawong died in 1846, succeeded by Thammalangka's son Mahawong. Mahawong coexisted with Phimphisan, who had potential claims to Chiang Mai rulership and was then Upahat. In 1847, the British asked Chiang Mai court to put on boundaries markers at the Salween. Chiang Mai told the British to do right away because it was British concern not theirs.[12] The British then took the liberty to explore upstream the Salween river between 1847 and 1849 to survey the area.[13]

Prince Wongsathirat Sanit, younger half-brother of King Mongkut, led the Lanna-Siamese expeditions to Kengtung in 1852-1854.

In 1849, dynastic conflicts in Tai Lue Sipsongpanna confederacy prompted some Tai Lue royal figures to take refuge in Siam to seek for assistance.[9] King Rama III at Bangkok was determined to take Chiang Hung and ordered Mahawong to sent Lanna forces of 7,500 men[9] to capture Kengtung (Chiang Tung) in 1850 to pave way to Sipsongpanna. Mahawong sent his own son Noi Mahaphrom to attack Mong Hsat and Upahat Phimphisan to attack Mong Yawng, in which both armies were planned to converge on Kengtung. However, Phimphisan and Noi Mahaphrom failed to cooperate due to political resentment, resulting in failure of the campaign. Bangkok resumed another campaign against Kengtung in late 1852. This time Bangkok sent its own troops under Prince Wongsathirat Sanit to join with Lanna forces to attack Kengtung. High hope was at stake as Burma, the suzerain of Kengtung, had been embroiling in Second Anglo-Burmese War. Joint Lanna-Siamese forces attacked Kengtung in March 1853 but were effectively resisted by Maha Hkanan the saopha of Kengtung. Due to rugged mountainous terrain and uncooperative sentiments[15] of Lanna commanders, the invaders were obliged to retreat. To light up Lanna rulers, King Mongkut appointed Mahawong as King Mahotaraprathet of Chiang Mai in July 1853, first since enfeoffment of Kawila in 1802 and raised the ranks of Lanna lords from Phraya to Chao. However, Mahotaraprathet died five months after. Upahat Phimphisan also died in 1856. King Mongkut then appointed Nan Suriyawong, a son of Kawila, as King Kawilorot Suriyawong of Chiang Mai in 1856.

King Kawilorot Suriyawong (r. 1856-1870) of Chiang Mai, whose strong absolutist rulership was respected by Bangkok and undeterred by the British.

Lanna lords had benefitted from their traditional hereditary ownership of vast northern teak forests. Lanna princes issued land leases to Burmese and British loggers,[15] in which Lanna aristocrats reaped income from taxation on teak logs. The British acquired Lower Burma after Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852, leading to British economic interests in Lanna.[16] Traditional timber production was transformed into larger-scale industry as economy of Lanna was adjoined to world trade. British Moulmein became the main trade center connecting inland trade from Chiang Mai to the British-Burmese port.[9] However, Lanna rulers sometimes granted overlapping and conflicting patents to loggers[16] owing to ill-defined nature of land ownership and contracting terms. This led to legal disputes between individual loggers and Lanna lords.

In 1855, Siamese government in Bangkok concluded the Bowring Treaty that granted extraterritoriality to the British in Siam,[15][17] meaning that legal cases concerning any British subjects in Siam would be under jurisdiction of British consular court at Bangkok rather than indigenous court and law. Question about whether the Bowring Treaty affected the autonomous Lanna was, however, subjected to political reality.[17] In 1860, Robert Schomburgk the British consul at Bangkok traveled to Chiang Mai[15][18] to observe political situation. Schomburgk complained to King Kawilorot of Chiang Mai that British subjects in Lanna were not treated in accordance with Bowring Treaty terms.[15][18] Kawilorot replied that the Bowring Treaty did not apply to Lanna as there was no mention about Siam's tributary states in the agreement.[18] Kawilorot also viewed that Lanna teak forest was his personal property not subjected to free trade regulations stipulated by the treaty.[18] Kawilorot even suggested the British to conclude a separate treaty with Chiang Mai. The British, however, chose to refer the issue to Bangkok,[18] who was unable to coerce the ruler of Chiang Mai to accept anything.

Daniel McGilvary (1828-1911), the American Presbyterian missionary, went to Chiang Mai in 1867 to establish the Laos Mission.

In 1865, Kolan the saopha of the Shan state of Mawkmai, whose ancestor was from Chiang Mai,[19] sought Kawilorot's support in his conflict against Mongnai. Kawilorot responded by sending war elephants to aid Kolan in his wars. However, some princes in Chiang Mai, who were Kawilorot's own relatives, informed Bangkok in 1865 that Kawilorot had exchanged gifts with and sent elephants as tributes to the Burmese king at Ava. Kawilorot was then summoned to Bangkok for trials, in which he was acquitted of accusations. Kawilorot was known for his absolutist and autocratic ruling style. During his reign, Chiang Mai enjoyed a great autonomy. In 1867, Daniel McGilvary the American Protestant missionary took an arduous journey from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to establish his Laos Mission there.[20] The American missionary made some Lanna converts. The first and most notable one was Nan Inta[21] (หนานอินต๊ะ). However, abandoning Buddhism was considered sedition and punishable by death according to Lanna law. In 1869, Kawilorot executed two Lanna Protestant converts. McGilvary then filed the case to Bangkok, who was unwilling to interfere in Chiang Mai but did summon Kawilorot to Bangkok to explain. Also in 1869, Kawilorot sent forces to plunder Mawkmai because the latter refused to submit to Chiang Mai. The old Chiang Mai ruler traveled to Bangkok in late 1869. During Kawilorot's journey to Bangkok, however, Kolan of Mawkmai retaliated by attacking and burning down Lanna towns of Pai, Chiang Dao and Phrao,[14] nearly reaching Chiang Mai but was eventually repelled. Kawilorot died on his way back to Chiang Mai in 1870.

At the death of Kawilorot in 1870, his son-in-law Upahat Inthanon, also a grandson of Khamfan, was expected to succeed. Also in 1870, Tai Khuen Kengtung forces came to occupy the ruins of Chiang Saen. Inthanon visited Bangkok in 1873[9] to be confirmed as the new Chao Luang King Inthawichayanon of Chiang Mai but also inherited 466,000-rupee compensation debt to British loggers from his predecessor that was obliged to be paid in seven years.[9] Inthawichayanon was considered inexperienced and actual handling of government affairs laid in the hands of his wife Queen Thipkraisorn – Kawilorot's daughter.[9]

Inthawichayanon (r. 1873–1896), last king of a semi-independent Chiang Mai. Doi Inthanon is named after him.

Legal cases involving British subjects in Lanna had been watched by British Government of India with worrying eyes. Burma-Lanna Salween perimeter was far from stable. Occasional Karen, Karenni and Shan raids damaged British business in teak forest areas and sometimes British subjects were hurt. Government of India addressed these issues to young King Chulalongkorn on his state visit to British India in 1872.[22] In 1873, British India urged Siamese government to ensure safety in the frontiers lest they would take matter into their own hands by occupying those areas. Both Siam and the British agreed that Lanna autonomy was the cause of these problems. Chiang Mai's debts and mishandling of British entrepreneurs might provoke British intervention, in the eyes of Bangkok. Chulalongkorn sent his representative to Calcutta in 1873 to conclude the Chiangmai Treaty of 1874 with British India[22] (despite the name, the treaty was concluded in Calcutta not in Chiang Mai[9] and no Lanna delegate was present in negotiations). Siam and Lanna were obliged to pose police forces at Salween frontiers to prevent 'dacoity and heinous crimes',[15] in which the British indirectly recognized the Salween as border. Siam was to appoint judges at Chiang Mai to oversee cases involving British subjects.[15][22]

Chiangmai Treaty of 1874 provided context for Siam to interfere with Lanna administration. Siamese intervention in Lanna was to preserve the kingdom's sovereignty but also put strain on relations between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, who viewed their traditional powers and privileges as being compromised. In 1875, King Chulalongkorn appointed Phra Narinthra Ratchaseni to be the first Kha Luang or Central Siamese royal commissioner[15] to oversee Chiang Mai government and to act as judge. Phra Narin sent forces to expel Kengtung occupying forces from Chiang Saen. Anglo-Siamese system postulated by 1874 Treaty to govern British subjects in Lanna was proven to be ineffective due to lack of British legation in Chiang Mai.[22] In 1878, Nan Inta was to marry his daughter to a Protestant man in the first Christian marriage in Lanna but faced opposition from Lanna princes. McGilvary again sought assistance from Bangkok, prompting King Chulalongkorn to issue an edict in 1878 guaranteeing freedom of religion in all parts of Siam including Lanna. To combat Kengtung and Shan aggression, Mae Hong Son was founded in 1874, Chiang Saen and Fang were restored in 1881[14] to push boundaries claims.

Princess Dararasami, daughter of Inthawichayanon, entered Bangkok royal palace as one of consorts of King Chulalongkorn in 1886. She played important role in Lanna-Siam relations.

In 1881, there was rumor about adoption of Princess Dararasami, daughter of Inthawichayanon, by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, although this arrangement was not found in British documents.[9] The rumor alarmed Chulalongkorn and Bangkok government as it invoked their biggest fear of Lanna being incorporated into British Burma. Dararasami was engaged to be Chulalongkorn's future consort in 1882.[9] Siam and British Empire agreed to new Chiangmai Treaty of 1883 that confirmed implementation of existing Bowring Treaty in Lanna,[10] stipulated establishment of Anglo-Siamese mixed judicial court and appointment of British Vice-Consul in Chiang Mai.[15][22] Second Chiangmai Treaty of 1883 escalated Anglo-Siamese efforts to end Lanna autonomy. Lanna law and traditions were simply overlooked in favor of Siamese institutions. Kha Luang was also to control forest leasing of Lanna princes to make sure that it was not conflicting.

Prince Phichit Prichakorn, half-brother of King Chulalongkorn, was the Kha Luang or viceroy in Chiang Mai in 1884-85. He introduced reforms aimed at integration of Chiang Mai into Siam.

In 1884, Chulalongkorn appointed Prince Phichit Prichakorn to be new Kha Luang of Chiang Mai.[15] Phichit Prichakorn introduced sweeping reforms to integrate Chiang Mai government. Central-Siamese-style six Chatusadom departments were established.[17] More effective and stringent taxation were imposed to raise revenue. Bangkok favored Thipkraisorn as capable and cooperative leader but her abrupt death in 1884 left Inthawichayanon broken.[9] Other successive Kha Luangs were either corrupted or ineffective. In 1885, Dararasami left Chiang Mai to enter royal palace at Bangkok as one of Chulalongkorn's consorts.[9] Inthawichayanon strove to stall Bangkok-pioneered integration reforms. One Kha Luang even collaborated with Chiang Mai against the reforms. In 1889, Phaya Phap, a local Lanna nobleman, arose in armed rebellion[16][23] against unpopular tax system. Even though the rebellion was quelled, Bangkok decided to tone down the reform pace and preceding changes were rescinded – a temporary triumph for the Chiang Mai ruler. Siam initially laid claims on trans-Salween states on eastern side of Salween including Kengtung, Kengcheng, Mong Yawng, Mong Hsat, etc. After British conquest of Burma in Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885, however, Siam unofficially acceded to British occupation of these teak-abundant Shan states in 1889.

Map of Chiang Mai as Monthon Phayap in 1900

Prince Damrong became Minister of Interior in 1892 and proposed formation of British-colonial-inspired[24] Monthon Thesaphiban (มณฑลเทศาภิบาล) administrative system that would replace traditional allegiance system of tributary polities with hierarchy of territorial administrative units governed by Kha Luangs and centrally-appointed officials. After the Franco-Siamese War in 1893 that threatened Siam's sovereignty, Siam took more serious steps at integration of satellite princedoms. In 1894, Monthon Lao Chiang (มณฑลลาวเฉียง) was formed, composing all of Lanna or modern Northern Thailand. Phraya Songsuradet (An Bunnag) was sent to be the Kha Luang Yai or supreme commissioner of Lao Chiang or Lanna. Songsuradet reintroduced previous reforms, which were extended to Nan and Phrae. Six Departments were reinstated and Lanna's financial autonomy was ended. Revenue was in direct control of Kha Luang who distributed 'salary' to Lanna rulers and princes.

By this time, timber logging in Lanna had escalated into competition between large European conglomerates[25] including British Borneo Company and Bombay Burmah Company, with huge amount of money at stake in business. To prevent disputes, Prince Damrong established modern Department of Forestry in 1896 to regulate forest leasing in Northern Siam.[25] Herbert Slade, a British forestry expert, was hired as the first director of Forestry Department.[25] Slade suggested that Siamese government should end traditional ownership of Lanna princes over the forests. So, northern teak forests, previously belonged to Lanna aristocrats, were confiscated to be under control of the Forestry Department. Lanna lords found themselves transforming from landlord leasers to become renters in their own ancestral lands. Inthawichayanon died in 1897 when his son Upahat Noi Suriya was away in Bangkok. Phraya Songsuradet took this chance to seize control of all Lanna finance, outraging the Lanna lords.[25] Lanna lords expressed their negative opinions about Songsuradet to King Chulalongkorn,[25] who eventually recalled Songsuradet in 1899 but the progress of integration had already taken pace.

In December 1899, Monthon Phayap (มณฑลพายัพ) or Northwestern Circle was established as a full-fledged Monthon to succeed the previous Monthon Lao Chiang. Direct administration by central government was imposed and indigenous institutions were simply abolished as Lanna was eventually annexed into Siam, ending centuries of tributary relationships between Lanna and Siam as well as the existence of Lanna as distinct polity itself. Establishment of Monthon Phayap was formalized in 1900 with Bangkok achieving full control of the north.[10] Noi Suriya, son of Inthawichayanon, was appointed as Prince Inthawarorot Suriyawong the nominal ruler of Chiang Mai in 1901, serving as nothing but ceremonial figurehead as he held no actual powers. The government was to run by the Monthon system. Dissention about changes inspired Shan Rebellion of Phrae in 1902, under banners of Lanna traditions, as a resistance to centralization policies. Inthawarorot died in 1910 to be succeeded by his son Prince Kaew Nawarat as the last ruler of Chiang Mai. Trainline from Bangkok finally reached Chiang Mai in 1921,[10] connecting Northern Siam to the Central Plains. Siamese Revolution of 1932 put the end to both Lanna ceremonial titles and the Monthon system itself.

Prince Kaew Nawarat was the last Prince of Chiang Mai, and after his death in 1939 the title was abolished under the government of General Plaek Phibunsongkhram who sought to unify Thailand and suppress regional differences.

The modern descendants of the rulers of Chiang Mai bear the surname Na Chiangmai (Thai: ณ เชียงใหม่) as granted by King Vajiravudh under his 1912 Surname Act.

Ruler under Thonburi royal

1. Phraya Vachiraprakarn, 1774 - 1776

Chet-ton Dynasty

1. King Kawila, 1782-1813
2. Prince Thammalangka, 1813-1822
3. Prince Khamfan, 1823-1825
4. Prince Phutthawong or Buddhavansa, 1826-1846
5. King Mahotaraprathet, 1847-1854
6. King Kawirolot Suriyawong, 1856-1870
7. King Inthawichayanon, 1873-1896

Figurehead rulers under Siamese administration

8. Prince Inthawarorot Suriyawong, 1901-1909 (Siam annexed Lanna)
9. Prince Kaew Nawarat, 1911-1939 (title abolished)

When the Burmese Konbaung dynasty retook control of Chiang Mai in 1763, the whole inhabitants of Chiang Mai were deported to Burma. Due to chronic warfare in the late eighteenth century, Lanna as a whole suffered from depopulation[14] and manpower shortage. Southern Lanna, including Chiang Mai, Lampang, Lamphun and Nan came under Siamese suzerainty in 1775 after centuries of Burmese rule. In 1777, Burmese King Singu Min sent armies of 15,000 men to reclaim Lanna.[27] Phaya Chaban Boonma the governor of Chiang Mai was eventually compelled to abandon the city due to overwhelming Burmese forces. Inhabitants of Chiang Mai fled into the jungles and authorities collapsed. Due to Burmese military pressure, Chiang Mai was abandoned for twenty years from 1777 to 1797. Chiang Mai Chronicle describes the deserted city of Chiang Mai in this period as being overgrown by forests and filled with wild animals.[14] Other Southern Lanna cities and towns suffered similar fate. Lampang or Lakhon under Kawila stood as the only Southern Lanna stronghold against Burmese invasions. Meanwhile, Northern Lanna, centered on Chiang Saen, was still flourishing because it remained under Burmese rule.

In 1782, King Rama I appointed Kawila as Phraya Wachiraprakarn the new governor of Chiang Mai and tasked him with restoration of Chiang Mai as administrative center of Lanna and as frontline defense against Burma. However, due to inadequate population, Kawila was not able to take his position in Chiang Mai right away so he established himself at Pasang to the south of Chiang Mai as his temporary headquarters.[6] Kawila spent a decade clearing the forests, rebuilding fortifications in Chiang Mai and accumulating people. Eventually in 1797, King Rama I ordered Kawila to take some population from Lampang to found Chiang Mai right away. After two decades of abandonment, Chiang Mai was restored as political and cultural center of Lanna in 1797. In 1804, the combined, allied forces of five cities, namely Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Lampang, Nan and Vientiane, took Chiang Saen the last Burmese power center in Lanna. The 23,000 inhabitants of Chiang Saen were divided equally into five portions and given to each victor party.[6] Northern Lanna inhabitants from Chiang Saen were settled on the eastern suburbs of Chiang Mai. Northern Lanna area around Mekong and Kok River were cleared and intentionally depopulated[14] in order to serve as buffer zone between Lanna and the invading Burmese. Northern Lanna towns including Chiang Saen, Chiang Rai, Phayao and Thoeng were evacuated and left deserted.

Depopulation of Lanna put it in military and economic disadvantages, especially against Burmese threats. Kawila and his relatives who were the princes of the Chetton dynasty took on the policy of 'Gathering vegetables and putting them into baskets, gathering people and putting them into towns'[14] – a metaphor of waging military campaigns against other smaller Tai states to capture those Tai population to resettle in Ping, Kuang and Wang river valleys[6] of Southern Lanna in order to serve as manpower force in defense against Burma, to work as government labor forces and to sustain economy. Major deportation events conducted by the rulers of Chetton dynasty were:

• Chiang Mai forces under Upahat Thammalangka captured Kengtung and Mong Hsat in 1802.[6] 6,000[6] Tai Khuen inhabitants of Kengtung, including their saopha Sao Kawng Tai, were deported down south to resettle in southern suburbs of Chiang Mai. 5,000 people from Mong Hsat were also deported.
• Upahat Thammalangka captured Mong Yawng in 1805 and deported the whole 10,000[6] Tai Yong (a subgroup of Tai Lue) population of Mong Yawng to resettle in Lamphun, leading to establishment of Lamphun as the third princely seat in 1819. Another portion of people from Kengtung were also deported to Chiang Mai in 1805.[6]

These major deportation events were accompanied by smaller events resulting from minor perennial raids by Lanna princes against the small states. Some expeditions went far to reach the cis-Salween Shan states on western side of Salween river including Mongpu, Mongpan and Karenni tribes. In 1809, remaining people of Kengtung and Mong Yawng were again deported into Lanna.[6] On many occasions, the princely ruler of that state was deported along with his subjects as a whole to resettle in Lanna, where a whole community was set up to imitate the town that he came from, reflecting in modern place names. It is estimated that the total of 50,000 to 70,000 people from northern Tai states were deported to settle in Lanna during this period.[6] These resettlement campaigns also shaped linguistic and ethnographic profile of modern Northern Thailand.[6] As the trans-Salween states, including Kengtung, Mong Yawng and Mong Hsat, were vassals of Lanna in most of pre-Burmese period, these captured Tai Khuen and Tai Lue people were not considered by Lanna people as foreigners but as people belonging to the same greater Lanna cultural zone.[6] Yuan Northern Thai, Khuen and Lue people speak mutually intelligible languages and use similar Dharma scripts.[6] After the death of Kawila in 1816, resettlement campaigns largely ceased albeit with minor occurrences into mid-nineteenth century.

Chiang Mai was the second most populated city after Bangkok in the Siamese empire.[28] As the days of warfare had been gone, Lanna experienced relative peace and stability and its population grew considerably during the course of the nineteenth century.[14] William Couperus McLeod visited Chiang Mai in 1837, where Lord Phutthawong the ruler of Chiang Mai provided McLeod the information about number of troops previously deployed by Lanna in 1827 to fight against Anouvong's Lao Rebellion.[14] McLeod then used this data to estimate the population of Lanna. McLeod proposed that there were 50,000 people in the province of Chiang Mai, 30,000 people in province of Lampang and 10,000 people in province of Lamphun. However, both McLeod himself and modern historians took critical view on this information[14] as traditional Lanna census method was far from reliable. Lanna authorities conducted census only on able-bodied men on purpose of conscription of these men into labor and warfare. Women, children, elders and slaves were not counted.

As the Burmese threats subsided, Lanna princes commanded people to repopulate Northern Lanna, which had previously been left depopulated. Chiang Mai took its own population to restore Chiang Rai in 1843 and Lampang also founded Phayao and Ngao in the same year.[14] In 1850, Lord Mahawong of Chiang Mai, under commands from Bangkok, sent troops to attack Kengtung. Lanna troops were able to take Mong Hsat, Mong Yawng and Mong Hpayak but were not able to take Kengtung itself. In spite of campaign failures, Lanna managed to deport another up to 5,000 people from these towns into Chiang Mai.[6] By 1850, the total population of Lanna probably exceeded 500,000.[14] Robert Schomburgk, who visited Chiang Mai in 1860, estimated that the population of Chiang Mai was 'less than 50,000'. An indigenous Thai report in 1859 told that there were 30,000 able-bodied men in Chiang Mai, 32,000 men in Lampang and 8,000 men in Lamphun.[14]

In the 1870s, Kolan the saopha of Mawkmai seized control of Mae Hong Son area[19] and Kengtung sent forces to occupy the ruins of Chiang Saen. Fearing that the Shans would claim these territories, Mae Hong Son was founded in 1874 and Bangkok ordered Chiang Mai to restore Chiang Saen and Fang in 1881[14] in order to push the border proclaimations against the Shans. Mae Hong Son became ambiguous contesting area between Chiang Mai and Mawkmai. Kolan of Mawkmai gave Mae Hong Son to his niece Lady Nang Mya,[19] while Chiang Mai appointed a Shan man named Taikdaga Sa as governor of Mae Hong Son at the same time. Nevertheless, Nang Mya and Taikdaga Sa had been married to each other. Taikdaga Sa died in 1884, leaving his wife Nang Mya as the sole governess of Mae Hong Son and she eventually chose to be under Siamese control.[19]

Like other Continental Southeast Asian polities, economy of Lanna before arrival of Western entrepreneurs mainly involved self-subsistence rice agriculture and forest products gathering[10] with limited trade contacts with outside world. Lanna court levied tax from common people in form of commodity and shares of their produces. There were taxes on agricultural products including rice, coconuts, betel, areca nuts and fruits. Lanna had some forms of currency but they were handcrafted and not so widely used as barter exchange was more prevalent. There was also household tax that was levied from every single family.

Situating between Burma to the west, Yunnan to the north and Siam to the south, Chiang Mai had been an important trade entrepôt and served as the place for commodity exchanges between regions. There was no indigenous merchant class as all non-elite Lanna men were subjected to periodic corvée obligations. Long-distance trades were conducted by Shan and Yunnanese merchants in cattle and horse caravans. Teak, lacquer, lac, ivory and cattle were native products of Lanna. In 1829, David Lester Richardson arrived in Chiang Mai to purchase cattle to feed British garrisons at Moulmein.[9] Cattle was the most valuable Lanna export until it was surpassed by teak in the 1860s.[9] Salt was imported from Nan to be sold elsewhere. Imports were foreign exotic products including textile, iron, opium, beeswax and brass pans.[10] Teak timber logging was the monopoly of Lanna royalty or Chao. Small-scale marketplaces thrived in towns and Lanna authorities collected market fees.

Teak (Tectona grandis) is native to mountainous Indo-malayan forests. Owing to its strong and weather-resistant wood, teak global demand rose in the 19th century.

Teak forest was abundant in Lanna or Northern Thailand.[10] British acquisition of Tenasserim after the First Anglo-Burmese War in 1826 led to British economic interest in Lanna over valuable teak forestry[16] and subsequent entrance of British entrepreneurs into Lanna. Lanna rulers were the hereditary owners of vast northern teak forests. Starting around 1835 or 1840,[11] Lanna rulers and princes began to lease teak forest lands to Burmese and British individual timber loggers, in which the contracts were written on palm leaves. Teak cutters were obliged to pay cutting fees, which were negotiation per occasion, to Lanna prince-leasers depending on the number of logs produced.[9] Teak logs were dumped afloat into the Salween river to be transported to Moulmein.

In the 1850s, profitable teak timber business in Lanna grew exponentially. British logging industry took over Lanna economy as Lanna was suddenly exposed to world capitalism. British Moulmein in British Burma became the main export market for Lanna products. Lanna became integrated into British-Burmese trading network. British Indian rupee, owing to precipitous rise in transactions, poured into Lanna to totally replace local currencies. The rupee became the main currency in use in Lanna and was even preferred over Central Siamese currency. Cutting fees were fixed and improvised to depend on the breadth size of the logs, from one to three rupees per log.[9] Lanna was more connected to Lower Burma than to Central Siam. It took around two weeks for traders from Chiang Mai to sail down the Salween to reach Moulmein,[10] while it took arduous three months to journey from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. British entrepreneurs cannot hire native Lanna men because they were bound by their corvée to their Chao or overlord princes so Khmu and Shan laborers were hired instead in saw mills[10] for the wood to be cut into pieces. By 1851, Chiang Mai court received annual income of 150,000 rupees from from timber leasing, not including bribes forced onto the loggers.[9]

However, the forest-leasing system led by Lanna aristocrats was not perfect. Owing to ill-defined nature of land ownership, sometimes Lanna lords granted duplicated and conflicting land leases such as granting land that was not theirs or issuing to more than one renters at the same time. This led to loggers suing Lanna overlords in legal dispute cases. Signing of Bowring Treaty by Bangkok in 1855 complicated the issue as it granted extraterritoriality to the British in Siam. In 1860, King Kawilorot Suriyawong of Chiang Mai asserted to Robert Schomburgk the British consul that Bowring Treaty did not apply to Lanna and his teak business was not subjected to free trade agreement.[18] The most famous case was a dispute between a Burmese logger and Kawilorot himself. Kawilorot was called to Bangkok in 1863, where King Mongkut told the ruler of Chiang Mai to conduct business in accordance with the new trade treaty terms.[15]

Before 1874, Siamese authority at Bangkok did not control leasing conducts between Lanna and British entrepreneurs. When King Inthawichayanon became ruler of Chiang Mai in 1870, he took over the burden of 466,000-rupee[9] indemnity to the British inflicted by legal defeats of his predecessor to the loggers. After signing of the Chiangmai Treaty of 1874, King Chulalongkorn sent Phra Narinthra Ratchaseni to be the first Kha Luang or royal commissioner in Chiang Mai.[15] Phra Narin introduced financial reforms. In order to pay debts owed to the British, more taxes were needed to generate revenue. Central-Siamese style taxes were introduced including land tax, alcohol tax, swine tax, lacquer tax and fruits tax. Tax farming auction was also introduced from Bangkok, in which mostly-Chinese merchants from Central Siam competed for tax monopolies granted by the government. The most prominent Chinese entrepreneur in Chiang Mai was Tio Teng (張丁),[29] a Teochew Chinese from Bangkok who acquired vast array of tax monopolies and possessed chains of timber business from Chiang Mai to Tak down to Bangkok, where his warehouse Kim Seng Lee (金成利) stood. Chinese merchants from Bangkok migrated to Chiang Mai to seek for opportunities, settling down around Wat Ket Karam on the eastern bank of Ping river. The commissioner was also to control forest-leasing patents by Lanna princes to make sure that they were not conflicting.

Princess Ubonwanna, daughter of King Kawilorot, was one of most prominent entrepreneurs in Lanna in 1870s as she owned wide array of businesses.

These taxes, however, affected Lanna common folk[9] because they had to pay more taxes while earning the same income. Moreover, these taxes were to be paid in currency money not in commodities. Unlike Central Siam, whose economy was monetized due to trade liberalization,[30] in spite of burgeoning timber industry that benefitted only the elites, Lanna economy by then had still been self-sufficient and mostly barter-based. Lanna common people did not manage to conduct trade to acquire currency. Resistances arose against these Bangkok-led financial reforms. Princess Ubonwanna, daughter of Kawilorot and sister of Queen Thipkraisorn, posed herself as a shaman and spoke that ancestral spirits were against tax monopolies.[9] In 1889, it was decreed that the fruit tax was to be levied annually at fixed rate instead of per transaction, leading to sudden increase of tax obligation by areca nut growers in Nongchom in modern Sansai district. The areca nut tax collector imprisoned and physically tortured the growers who failed to deliver their taxes. Phaya Phap, a local leader in Nongchom, decided to take up arms and raise forces against this new tax aimed at Chinese tax collectors. Even though the rebellion was eventually defeated, Bangkok then chose to stall further reforms and loosened its control over Lanna for some years until 1894.

Demands on teak in Lanna was on the rise in the 1880s as teak resources in Burma faced shortage[10] as Burmese teak forest was depleted.[9] Teak was to replace oak in British constructions of railroad sleepers in India and in shipbuilding.[10] Anglo-Siamese Chiangmai Treaty of 1883 allowed Westerners to handle logging directly without having to buy from the natives.[10] In 1882-84, Siam-Lanna exported 20,000 tons of teak, worth 130,000 pounds, generating the revenue of 686,000 baht annually in 1886.[10] Teak became a major export commodity of Siamese kingdom as a whole.

Monthon Lao Chiang was established over Lanna in 1894. Lanna was put under Monthon administration system. Phraya Songsuradet (An Bunnag) was appointed as supreme royal commissioner over all Lanna. Monthon government took control of state finance from Lanna lords. It was the Kha Luang who managed treasury and distributed 'salaries' to Lanna princes and aristocrats. King Inthawichayanon of Chiang Mai was accorded the annual stipend of 80,000 rupees, while Prince Noranantachai the ruler of Lampang received 30,000 rupees annually and the ruler of Lamphun received 30,000 rupees. Other Lanna princes and nobles received lesser shares.

By the 1890s, teak cutting fee price had risen to twelve rupees per tree[9] owing to increasing demand and declining availability due to deforestation. Timber industry in Lanna escalated to involve large European firms[25] rather than individual private entrepreneurs as it had been. British Borneo Company, who had been in Siam since 1862, entered teak timber business in Lanna in 1889 under management of Louis T. Leonowens. Bombay Burmah Company arrived in 1892. Largest European companies in Lanna by the 1890s were British Borneo Company, Bombay Burmah Company and Danish East Asiatic Company. Bombay Burmah took over enormous Chinese timber business of Kim Seng Lee and became the largest teak producer in Siam.[31]

Siamese government took cautious eyes on rapid flourishing of British timber companies.[31] Tremendous scale of timber industry prompted Prince Damrong the Minister of Interior to found the Department of Forestry in 1896, which Herbert Slade the British forester was appointed as the first director and other British personnel filled the positions.[10][25] Forestry Department was to regulate forest renting contract terms and profit sharing between companies and the government[10] and to possibly contain concession to large British firms.[31] Herbert Slade suggested that, in order to gain full control over timber business, Bangkok government should take over forest ownership from Lanna lords. Northern teak forests were then transferred from traditional ownership by Lanna princes to the Forestry Department. British companies rented forest lands from Forestry Department instead of Lanna princes.[10] Growth of Western timber companies undermined economic dominance of Lanna lords. Lanna princes had to become renters in their own ancestral lands to earn living and many princes failed in their businesses. Prince Boonwat Wongmanit of Lampang conducted his own timber operation but was outcompeted by British companies and his business had to shut down, earning him the debt of 145,000 baht.[10]

By 1899, investment in teak industry was 2.5 million pounds, mostly from European companies.[10] Teak transportation took the second route. Apart from going to British Burma, teak logs were float along the Chaophraya river to reach Bangkok, with stopover at Paknampho. Native Siamese entrepreneurs did not favor timber industry as it was considered dangerous and labor-consuming.[10] The whole process was under control of British companies, from cutting to transportation and distribution.[10]