Qualla: Kingdom of Vientiane

Kingdom of Vientiane: Introduction

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit JPSwimmer, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Emerald Buddha now sits in Bangkok's Grand Palace, the most sacred object in Thai Buddhism. But for two centuries before that, it belonged to the kings of Vientiane. Its journey from one capital to the other is the story of a kingdom's destruction -- looted, burned, and erased so thoroughly that the city of Vientiane itself had to be rebuilt from ruins when the French arrived decades later. The Kingdom of Vientiane lasted just 121 years, from 1707 to 1828, and in that time it was vassalized by Burma, sacked by Siam, invaded by Vietnam, and finally annihilated by the very overlords it had tried to overthrow.

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Image: JPSwimmer | CC BY-SA 3.0

Kingdom of Vientiane: The Fracture of Lan Xang

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nicolas Eynaud, CC BY-SA 4.0. For centuries, the Kingdom of Lan Xang had unified the Lao peoples under a single crown. That unity collapsed in 1707 when Kitsarat, an heir of the great King Sourigna Vongsa, declared the separation of Luang Prabang from the kingdom. He marched south against King Setthathirath I...

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Image: Nicolas Eynaud | CC BY-SA 4.0

Kingdom of Vientiane: Trapped Between Empires

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Aaron Smith from London, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0. Geography made Vientiane a prize and a victim. Sitting on the Mekong at the crossroads of mainland Southeast Asia, the kingdom attracted the attention of every regional power. In 1773, when Luang Prabang forces attacked, King Ong Bun turned to Burma's Konbaung dynasty for protect...

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Image: Aaron Smith from London, United Kingdom | CC BY 2.0

Kingdom of Vientiane: Anouvong's Gamble

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Aaron Smith from London, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0. The last king of Vientiane was also its most defiant. Anouvong ascended in 1805 and spent two decades preparing a rebellion against Siamese dominance. In December 1826, he launched his bid for independence, sending an army of 10,000 men across the Khorat Plateau toward Nakhon Rat...

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Image: Aaron Smith from London, United Kingdom | CC BY 2.0

Kingdom of Vientiane: Erasure and Resurrection

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Aaron Smith from London, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0. The destruction was so complete that the word "obliterated" is not hyperbole -- it is what the historical record says. The Siamese divided Lao territories into three administrative regions controlled from Luang Prabang, Nong Khai, and Champasak. They forced mass population transf...

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Image: Aaron Smith from London, United Kingdom | CC BY 2.0