Kingdom of Heokam or Kingdom of Chiang Hung was a political entity of Tai Lue people centered on the city of Chiang Hung or modern Jinghong

Jinghong

Jinghong romanised as chiang rung, chiang hung, chengrung, cheng hung, jinghung, keng hung and muangjinghung) is the capital of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China, and the historic capital of the former Tai kingdom of Sipsongpanna.-Location:Located between 100°25' -...

 the capital of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture

Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture

Xishuangbanna is an autonomous prefecture in Yunnan Province, China. The capital city is Jinghong, the largest settlement in the area and one that straddles the Mekong River, called the Lancang River in Chinese.-Name:...

. The kingdom, in the most powerful state in the 13th century, covered a large area of northern highlands before being overwhelmed by neighboring powers such as Yuan dynasty

Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...

, Lanna

Lanna

The Kingdom of Lanna was a kingdom centered in present-day northern Thailand from the 13th to 18th centuries. The cultural development of the people of Lanna, the Tai Yuan people, had begun long before as successive Tai Yuan kingdoms preceded Lanna...

 kingdom, and Burmese Empire. In the late 18th century, the Siamese went on the immense campaign to move the majority of Tai Lue people to Lanna. Nowadays, a large number of Tai Lue people can be found in the northern provinces of Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 and Laos

Laos

Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

. The assimilation policies of Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...

 in the 20th century further encouraged Tai Lue diaspora.

Early history

Paya Jueang or Chao Jueang Han was said to wage wars with the native Akha and other Tai peoples

Tai peoples

The Tai ethnicity refers collectively to the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia, stretching from Hainan to eastern India and from southern Sichuan to Laos, Thailand, and parts of Vietnam, which speak languages in the Tai family and share similar traditions and festivals, including...

 in the area and established the kingdom in favor of Tai Lue people at Chiang Hung or Heo Kam on the Mekong

Mekong

The Mekong is a river that runs through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is the world's 10th-longest river and the 7th-longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annually....

 in 1180. In the early 13th century, King Inmueng greatly expanded Heokam territories. The tributaries of Heokam kingdom includes Kengtung, Ngoen Yang, Thaeng (modern Dien Bien Phu

Dien Bien Phu

Điện Biên Phủ is a city in northwestern Vietnam. It is the capital of Dien Bien province, and is known for the events there during the First Indochina War, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, during which the region was a breadbasket for the Việt Minh.-Population:...

 – the capital of Tai Dam

Tai Dam

The Tai Dam or Tai Dum are an ethnic group of Laos, Vietnam, China, and Thailand.Tai Dam speakers in China are classified as part of the Dai nationality along with almost all the other Tai peoples...

 people), and Xieng Thong (Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang, or Louangphrabang , is a city located in north central Laos, where the Nam Khan river meets the Mekong River about north of Vientiane. It is the capital of Luang Prabang Province...

), making Heokam the sole leader of Tai kingdoms in the north. The Tai Lue people then began scattering throughout Heokam’s area of influence.

However, Heokam then fell to the Mongol invasions in 1292 and became a tributary of Yuan dynasty. The Mongols granted the title Chao Saenwi Fa and the surname of Dao to the Kings of Chiang Hung. The power vacuum in the area was filled by newly-formed Lanna kingdom evolving from Ngoen Yang state. Mangrai the Great of Lanna put Chiang Hung under Lanna tributary. The Ming dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

 recorded the kingdom in the name of Cheli . However, Lanna authority weakened in the early 16th century and Heokam enjoyed a brief period of autonomy until Lanna was conquered by Burmese Toungoo dynasty

Toungoo Dynasty

The Toungoo Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Burma from the mid-16th century to 1752. Its early kings Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung succeeded in reunifying the Pagan Empire for the first time since 1287, and in incorporating the Shan States for the first time...

 in 1558. The Burmese under Bayinnaung

Bayinnaung

Bayinnaung Kyawhtin Nawrahta was the third king of the Toungoo dynasty of Burma . During his 30-year reign, which has been called the "greatest explosion of human energy ever seen in Burma", Bayinnaung assembled the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, which included much of modern day...

 had already put the area under its control and Chiang Hung became a Burmese tributary. The Burmese divided Heokam into twelve pans (administration units), therefore giving the name Sipsong Panna (i.e. Twelve thousand fields). Sipsong Panna served as the battlegrounds between Burma and the Qing dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

.

Heokam faced three centuries of Burmese rule. In efforts to recover the manpower taken by Burma, Buddha Yodfa Chulalok ordered Prince Adthavorapaño of Nan to invade Kengtung and Chiang Hung to gather the Tai peoples there into Nan and other Lanna cities. Today, Nan hosts the largest Tai Lue community in Thailand. Also King Kawila of Chiangmai

Kingdom of Chiangmai

Kingdom of Rattanaingsa or Kingdom of Chiangmai was the vassal state of Siamese Rattanakosin Kingdom in the 18th and 19th century before being annexed due to the centralization policies of Chulalongkorn in 1884...

 invaded Chiang Hung to get the people. The Tai Lue people and culture therefore surged into Lanna.

Dynastic struggle

A dynastic struggle in 1847 brought chaos to Chiang Hung. Siamese chronicles have the details about the event:

King Mahawan of Chiang Hung died in 1847, to be succeeded by his son Prince Sarawan. However, Mahawan's uncle Prince Mahakhanan took the throne. Prince Sarawan fled to Dali

Dali

-Places:*Dali City, Yunnan , a city in Yunnan province in the People's Republic of China*Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture , prefecture in Yunnan, China*Kingdom of Dali , centered in modern Yunnan...

 in dismay and sought supports from Qing dynasty. Sarawan returned and killed Mahakhanan, Mahakhanan's son, Prince Nokam, went to Ava

Ava

Innwa is a city in the Mandalay Division of Burma , situated just to the south of Amarapura on the Ayeyarwady River. Its formal title is Ratanapura , which means City of Gems in Pali. The name Innwa means mouth of the lake, which comes from in , meaning lake, and wa , which means mouth...

 to gain supports from Pagan Min

Pagan Min

Pagan Min , was the ninth king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma. Born Maung Biddhu Khyit, he was granted the title of Prince of Pagan by his father Tharrawaddy in August 1842. Pagan Min became king when Tharrawaddy died on 17 November 1846, with the formal title of His Majesty "Pyinsama...

. The Burmese invaded and took Chiang Hung - culminating a large Tai Lue emigration into Lanna. Prince Nokam was then crowned but was later killed by his own nobles. Ava then re-installed Sarawan as the king.

Sarawan's brother, Oalnawudh, fled to Luang Prabang and proceeded to Bangkok

Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

 in 1852. The Siamese nobles then saw this as an opportunity to gain control over Shan states and Chiang Hung and planned to take Kengtung on the way to Chiang Hung. The Siamese invaded the north but were unable to penetrate the mountainous highlands. In 1855, another attempt was made to march to Chiang Hung but yet failed.

Later history and legacy

Chiang Hung then came under the suzerainty of Qing dynasty for about a century. After the Chinese Empire was overthrown by the revolution, the kingdom status of Chiang Hung technically ended. In 1953, the armies of People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

seized Chiang Hung. Some royal members fled to northern Thailand. The modern descendants royal family of Chiang Hung still bear the surname Dao.