Editing History of Laos (section)

==Tai migrations==
{{further|Old Yue language|Tai peoples}}
[[File:Kra-Tai-Migration1.png|350px|thumb|right|Kra-Dai (Tai-Kadai) migration route according to James R. Chamberlain (2016).<ref>Chamberlain, James R. (2016). "[https://www.academia.edu/26296118/Kra-Dai_and_the_Proto-History_of_South_China_and_Vietnam Kra-Dai and the Proto-History of South China and Vietnam]", p. 67. In ''Journal of the Siam Society'', Vol. 104, 2016.</ref>]]
[[File:Tai Migration.svg|thumb|350px|right|Map showing linguistic family tree overlaid on a geographic distribution map of Tai-Kadai family. This map only shows general pattern of the migration of Tai-speaking tribes, not specific routes, which would have snaked along the rivers and over the lower passes.<ref>Baker, Chris and Phongpaichit, Pasuk (2017). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=GHiuDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 A History of Ayutthaya]", p. 27. ''Cambridge University Press''.</ref>]]
[[File:Southeast Asian history - 13th century.png|thumb|right|The mainland of Southeast Asia at the end of the 13th century]]

There have been theories proposing the origin of the [[Tai peoples]]—of which [[Lao people|the Lao]] are a subgroup—including an association of the Tai people with the [[Kingdom of Nanzhao]] that has been proven to be invalid.<ref name="JSS_077_1c_DuYutingChenLufan">{{cite journal | author = Du Yuting | author2 = Chen Lufan
 |year= 1989|title=  Did Kublai Khan's Conquest of the Dali Kingdom Give Rise to the Mass Migration of the Thai People to the South? |journal= [[Journal of the Siam Society]] |volume= JSS Vol. 77.1c |issue= digital |at=  image 7 of p. 39|publisher= Siam Heritage Trust |url= http://www.siamese-heritage.org/jsspdf/1981/JSS_077_1c_DuYutingChenLufan_KublaiKhanConquestAndThaiMigration.pdf|access-date= 17 March 2013
|quote= The Thai people in the north as well as in the south did not in any sense "migrate en masse to the south" after [[Kublai Khan]]'s conquest of the [[Dali Kingdom]].}}</ref>

James R. Chamberlain (2016) proposes that Tai-Kadai (Kra-Dai) language family was formed as early as the 12th century BCE in the middle Yangtze basin, coinciding roughly with the establishment of the [[Chu (state)|Chu]] and the beginning of the [[Zhou dynasty]].<ref name="Chamberlain-Kra-Dai">Chamberlain, James R. (2016). "[https://www.academia.edu/26296118/Kra-Dai_and_the_Proto-History_of_South_China_and_Vietnam Kra-Dai and the Proto-History of South China and Vietnam]", pp. 27–77. In ''Journal of the Siam Society'', Vol. 104, 2016.</ref> Following the southward migrations of [[Kra languages|Kra]] and [[Hlai languages|Hlai]] (Rei/Li) peoples around the 8th century BCE, the Be-Tai people started to break away to the east coast in [[Zhejiang province|Zhejiang]], in the 6th century BCE, forming the [[state of Yue]].<ref name="Chamberlain-Kra-Dai" /> After the destruction of the state of Yue by Chu army around 333 BCE, Yue people (Be-Tai) began to migrate southwards along the east coast of China to what later are Guangxi, Guizhou and northern Vietnam, forming [[Luo Yue]] (Central-Southwestern Tai) and [[Âu Việt|Xi Ou]] ([[Northern Tai languages|Northern Tai]]).<ref name="Chamberlain-Kra-Dai" /> The Tai peoples, from [[Guangxi]] and northern Vietnam began moving south—and{{Clarify|reason=Why is there a dash here? Should there be a second dash instead of a comma after CE, or should this dash be omitted?|date=December 2023}} westwards in the first millennium CE, eventually spreading across the whole of mainland Southeast Asia.<ref name=Evans>{{cite web| url=https://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/history/A%20Short%20History%20of%20Laos.pdf | title= A Short History of Laos – The land in between |author = Grant Evans | publisher=Higher Intellect – Content Delivery Network | access-date=30 December 2017}}</ref> Based on layers of Chinese [[loanword]]s in proto-[[Southwestern Tai]] and other historical evidence, Pittayawat Pittayaporn (2014) proposes that the southwestward migration of Tai-speaking tribes from Guangxi and northern Vietnam to the mainland of Southeast Asia must have taken place sometime between the 8th and 10th centuries.<ref name="PittayawatPittayaporn" /> Tai speaking tribes migrated southwestward along the rivers and over the lower passes into Southeast Asia, perhaps prompted by the Chinese expansion and suppression. Chinese historical texts record that, in 722, 400,000 'Lao'<ref group=lower-alpha name="Lao">The term "Lao" used in this context refers to Tai-Kadai speaking peoples resided in what later are Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam in general. It is unnecessarily applied solely to the ancestor of [[Lao people|the Lao]].</ref> rose in revolt behind [[Mai Thúc Loan]], who declared himself the king of [[Nanyue]] in [[Guangdong]].{{sfn|Baker|2002|p= 5}}{{sfn|Taylor|1991|p= 193}} After the 722 revolt, some 60,000 were beheaded.{{sfn|Baker|2002|p= 5}} In 726, after the suppression of a rebellion by a 'Lao' leader in the [[Guangxi|present-day Guangxi]], over 30,000 rebels were captured and beheaded.{{sfn|Taylor|1991|p= 193}} In 756, another revolt attracted 200,000 followers and lasted four years.{{sfn|Baker|Phongpaichit|2017|p= 26}} In the 860s, many local people in what is now north Vietnam sided with attackers from [[Nanchao]], and in the aftermath some 30,000 of them were beheaded.{{sfn|Baker|Phongpaichit|2017|p= 26}}{{sfn|Taylor|1991|pp= 239–249}} In the 1040s, a matriarch-shamaness by the name of [[A Nong]], her chiefly husband, and their son, [[Nong Zhigao]], raised a revolt, took [[Nanning]], besieged [[Guangzhou]] for 57 days, and slew the commanders of 5 Chinese armies sent against them before they were defeated, and some of their leaders were killed.{{sfn|Baker|Phongpaichit|2017|p= 26}} As a result of these 3 centuries, the Tai began to migrate southwestward.{{sfn|Baker|Phongpaichit|2017|p= 26}} A 2016 mitochondrial genome mapping of Thai and Lao populations supports the idea that both ethnicities originate from the Tai–Kadai (TK) language family.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://pubman.mpdl.mpg.de/pubman/item/escidoc:2366068:2/component/escidoc:2366066/Kutanan_Complete_HumGen_2016.pdf |title = Complete mitochondrial genomes of Thai and Lao populations indicate an ancient origin of Austroasiatic groups and demic diffusion in the spread of Tai–Kadai languages   |date = 27 October 2016 |access-date = 31 December 2017 |publisher = Max Planck Society }}</ref>

The Tai, from their new home in Southeast Asia, were influenced by the Khmer, the Mon and Buddhist India. The Tai [[kingdom of Lanna]] was founded in 1259 (in the north of what later is Thailand). The [[Sukhothai Kingdom]] was founded in 1279 (in what later is Thailand) and expanded eastward to take the city of ''Chantaburi'' and renamed it to ''Vieng Chan Vieng Kham'' and northward to the city of ''Muang Sua'' which was taken in 1271 and renamed the city to ''Xieng Dong Xieng Thong'' or "City of Flame Trees beside the River Dong". The Tai peoples had established control in areas to the northeast of the [[Khmer Empire]]. Following the death of the Sukhothai king [[Ram Khamhaeng]], and internal disputes within the kingdom of Lanna, ''Vieng Chan Vieng Kham'' ([[Vientiane]]) and ''Xieng Dong Xieng Thong'' (Luang Prabang) were independent city-states until the founding of the [[kingdom of Lan Xang]] in 1354.<ref name="Viravond"/><ref name="Manich"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/plape/citiesaut11/readings/Fletcher-water%20management%20in%20angkor%20Antiquity%202008.pdf   |title= A Short History of South East Asia Chapter 3. The Repercussions of the Mongol Conquest of China ...The result was a mass movement of Thai peoples southwards... | publisher= Stanford University |access-date=26 June 2015}}</ref> The Sukhothai Kingdom and later the [[Ayutthaya kingdom]] were established and "...conquered the Khmers of the upper and central [[Chao Phraya River|Menam]] valley and greatly extended their territory."<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=2049480 |title=Siamese Attacks On Angkor Before 1430|journal=The Far Eastern Quarterly|volume=8|issue=1|pages=3–33| publisher= Association for Asian Studies |last1=Briggs|first1=Lawrence Palmer|year=1948|doi=10.2307/2049480|s2cid=165680758 }}</ref>

===The Legend of Khun Borom===
{{main|Literature of Laos}}

The history of the Tai migrations into Laos were preserved in myth and legends. The ''Nithan Khun Borom'' or "Story of [[Khun Borom]]" recalls the origin myths of the Lao, and follows the exploits of his 7 sons to found the Tai kingdoms of Southeast Asia. The myths recorded the laws of Khun Borom, which set the basis of common law and identity among the Lao. Among the [[Khamu]] the exploits of their folk hero Thao Hung are recounted in the ''Thao Hung Thao Cheuang'' epic, which dramatizes the struggles of the indigenous peoples with the influx of Tai during the migration period. In later centuries the Lao themselves would preserve the legend in written form, becoming a depiction of life in Southeast Asia prior to Therevada Buddhism and Tai cultural influence.<ref name="Viravond"/><ref name="Manich"/>