Editing History of Laos (section)

==Siam and suzerainty (1779–1893)==
{{main|Lao–Siamese War (1778–1779)|Thonburi Kingdom|Rattanakosin Kingdom|Lao rebellion (1826–1828)}}

[[File:Emerald Buddha.jpg|right|thumb|180px|[[Emerald Buddha]]]]

Siribunnyasan the last independent king of Vientiane had died by 1780, and his sons Nanthasen, Inthavong, and [[Anouvong]] had been taken to [[Bangkok]] as prisoners during the sack of Vientiane in 1779. The sons would become successive kings of Vientiane (under Siamese suzerainty), beginning with Nanthasen in 1781. Nanthasen was allowed to return to Vientiane with the [[Phra Bang]], the [[Palladium (protective image)|palladium]] of [[Lan Xang]], the Emerald Buddha remained in Bangkok and became a symbol to the [[Lao people|Lao]] of their captivity. 1 of Nanthasen's first acts was to seize Chao Somphu a [[Phuane|Phuan]] prince from [[Xieng Khouang province|Xieng Khouang]] who had entered into a tributary relationship with [[Vietnam]], and released him when it was agreed that Xieng Khouang would acknowledge Vientiane as suzerain. In 1791, Anuruttha was confirmed by [[Rama I]] as king of [[Kingdom of Luang Prabang|Luang Prabang]]. By 1792 Nanthasen had convinced Rama I that Anuruttha was secretly dealing with the [[Burma|Burmese]], and Siam allowed Nanthasen to lead an army and besiege and capture Luang Prabang. Anuruttha was sent to Bangkok as a prisoner, and through diplomatic exchanges facilitated by China, Anuruttha was released in 1795. After Anuruttha's release it was alleged that Nanthasen had been plotting with the governor of [[Nakhon Phanom]] to rebel against Siam. Rama I ordered the arrest of Nanthasen, and after he died in captivity. Inthavong (1795–1804) became the next king of Vientiane, and dispatched armies to aide Siam against Burmese invasions in 1797 and 1802, and to capture the [[Sipsongchuthai|Sipsong Chau Tai]] (with his brother [[Anouvong]] as general).<ref name="Viravond"/><ref name="Manich"/>

Anouvong's forces pushed south eventually to [[Saraburi]] to free the Lao there, and the flood of refugees pushing north slowed the armies’ retreat. Anouvong underestimated the Siamese arms stockpile, which under the terms of [[Burney Treaty]] had provided Siam with weaponry from the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in Europe. A Lao defense was staged at [[Nong Bua Lamphu]] the traditional Lao stronghold in the Isan, and the Siamese emerged victorious and leveled the city. The Siamese pushed north to take Vientiane and Anouvong fled southeast to the border with Vietnam. By 1828 Anouvong had been captured, tortured and sent to Bangkok with his family to die in a cage. Rama III ordered [[Bodindecha|Chao Bodin]] to return and level the city of Vientiane, and forcibly move the entire population of the former Lao capital to the Isan region.<ref name="Viravond"/><ref name="Manich"/>

In the aftermath of Vientiane's destruction the Siamese divided the [[Lao people|Lao]] lands into 3 administrative regions. In the north, the king of Luang Prabang and a Siamese garrison controlled Luang Prabang, the [[Sipsong Panna]], and [[Sipsongchuthai|Sipsong Chao Tai]]. The central region was administered from [[Nong Khai]] and extended to the borders of Tran Ninh (Xieng Khouang) and south to Champasak. The southern regions were controlled from Champasak and extended to areas bordering [[Cochin China]] and Cambodia. From the 1830s through the 1860s rebellions took place across Lao lands and the Khorat Plateau. At the end of each rebellion Siamese troops would return to their administrative centers, and no Lao region was allowed to have a buildup of force which could have been used in rebellion.<ref name="Viravond"/><ref name="Manich"/>

===Population transfers and slavery===
[[File:Ruins in Vientiane, depicted by Louis Delaporte (c.1867).jpg|thumbnail|right|Ruins in Vientiane, depicted by Louis Delaporte during the Mekong Expedition led by Francis Garnier (c. 1867)]]

The population transfers and slave raids ameliorated toward the end of the nineteenth century when European observers and anti-slavery groups made their presence increasingly difficult for the Bangkok elite. In 1880, slave raiding and trading became illegal, while debt slavery would persist until 1905 by decree of King [[Chulalongkorn]]. The French would use the existence of slavery in Siam as 1 of the major professed motivations for establishing a [[French Protectorate of Laos|Protectorate of Laos]] during the 1880s and 1890s.<ref name="Viravond"/><ref name="Manich"/>

===Haw Wars===
{{main|Haw Wars}}
[[File:Soldier Black-Flag.jpg|thumb|180px|right|A soldier of the Black Flag Army, 1885]]

By the 1860s, the first French explorers were pushing north charting the path of the Mekong River, with hope of a navigable waterway to southern China. Among the French explorers was an expedition led by [[Francis Garnier]], who was killed during an expedition by Haw rebels in [[Tonkin]]. The French would increasingly conduct military campaigns against the Haw in Laos and Vietnam (Tonkin) until the 1880s.<ref name="Viravond" /><ref name="Manich" />