Historical eras, tribes and kingdoms of South East Asia
South East Asia is home to many different peoples, for centuries the high and lowlands of Thailand, Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and surrounding countries have been home to thousands of tribes and groups of people. Their interactions, intermarriages, trade and communication has created a diverse and beautiful harmony of different peoples living side by side.
Since the days of small chiefdoms and warring factions each and every group or people has created their own and unique, artwork, handicrafts and jewelry which are engrained in their culture and tribal identity. The back and forward flow of boarders and peoples thought South East Asia has allowed for such a huge diversity of traditions, sports, art and ways of live, it makes South East Asia one of the most interesting and diverse locations on the planet.
Tribes and Kingdoms of distinction in South East Asia:
Lan Na – Now commonly known as the word describing north west Thailand Lan Na (Land of the Million Rice Fields) was once a powerful Kingdom, the last Lan Na King of Chiang Mai only died in 1939. This Lan Na Kingdom was actually made up of many diverse tribes from the hills and lowlands many taking their descent from southern China and the Shan states all the way up to Nepal. Common tribes in this area include the Karen’s, Lisu, Lahu, Akha and Hmong.
Lan Xang – Now known as the People’s Republic of Lao’s, this country was once the kingdom of Lan Xan (Kingdom of a million elephants). This kingdom was rules by very similar peoples to that of Lan Na, infact at one point in the 16th Century the king of Lan Xan also ruled Lan Na as well. The mix of ethnic and tribal peoples was very similar to that of Lan Na as they all share a common migration route down from Southern and Central China.
The Shan or Thai Yai were once the rules of Burma (nowadays Myanmar) taking much of their cultural ideas and philosophy from Yunan and are the original “Tai” people from this area. They are spread throughout Eastern Burma, Northern Thailand and Laos with all 3 areas sharing the same language all be it slightly different from area to area. The Tai Shan created the first Siamese kingdom of Sukhotai which is the predecessor of Ayuthaya in central Thailand.
The Mon are believed to some of the earliest peoples of South East Asia originating in central Thailand and converting to Theravada Buddhism early on through contact with Sri Lankan Buddhist monks. This initiated the spread of Buddhism throughout the Khmer and predominantly Hindu areas of Indochina at that time. Today they are mainly situated in the east of Burma and lower west Thai states although there is still Mon people living on Koh Kret in the center of modern-day Bangkok.
Srivijaya – Southern Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia dating back to the late 7th Century this once powerful and unique Kingdom was even ruled by 4 powerful warrior princesses. Predominantly buddhist the Srivijayan empire was once one of the most powerful kingdoms in all of South East Asia, gaining much of their wealth from the vast coastline of their kingdom which incorporated much of peninsular Thailand / Malaysia as well as parts of Borneo, Java and Sumatra. Spices, precious metals, natural resources were all traded from this part of South East Asia through to the ancient Arab world and later onwards to Europe through the help, first of the Portuguese and later the Dutch and British.
