Early Northern Kingdoms
Singhanavati (691 BC - 545 AD)
Singhanavati was a semi-legendary kingdom located along the Kok River in the Chiang Rai Basin of northern Thailand. According to legend, the city of Yonok Nagaphan was founded in 691 BCE by Prince Singhanavati, who migrated from southern China. This migration story is supported by the discovery of a bronze drum near Chiang Saen, believed to have originated from Yonok city.
At its height, the kingdom's influence extended as far as present-day Yunnan in the north and the upper Chao Phraya River valley in the south. However, Yonok collapsed into the Chiang Saen Lake following a devastating earthquake in 545 AD. After this event, highland communities settled in areas along the Doi Tung mountain range. The end of the Singhanavati period marked the transition to the subsequent Hiran - Ngoenyang Kingdom.
Hiran-Ngoenyang (545 AD - 1292 AD)
Survivors of the earthquake that destroyed Singhanavati, later established a new city state centered in Hiran, in today's Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai. The city state was named Vieng Prueksa (prueksa means "to counsel"), a system of elective monarchy.
In 638 AD, a tribal chief named Lavachakkaraj was installed as king with the backing of the Lavo Kingdom, and ended the Vieng Prueksa system. The Lavachakkaraj or "Lao dynasty" would go on to rule the area for 700 years.
Lao Kiang, the ninth king of Hiran, founded the city of Ngoenyang (modern Chiang Saen) around 850 CE. He moved the capital there and thus became the first King of Ngoenyang. The territorial claims of Ngoenyang extended from Chiang Saen through parts of modern Laos and Vietnam.
In 1262 CE, King Mangrai - the 25th King of Ngoenyang, moved the capital to Chiang Rai. He subsequently launched a conquest of the Chiang Mai region where Mon rulers had centred their kingdom of Haripunjaya. He captured Haripunjaya (present day Lamphun) in 1281. In 1292, King Mangrai again decided to relocate again to a new capital, which established present Chiang Mai. This move also established the creation of the Lanna Kingdom.
Haripunjaya (629 AD - 1292 AD)
According to the chronicles, Haripunjaya was founded by hermit Rishi Vasuthep, who found support from Mon communities to build a city between two Kuang and Ping rivers in northwest Thailand.
The daughter of the King of Lavo, a kingdom that spanned areas of central and southern Thailand, was installed as its first ruler. While initially a Dvaravati vassal, Haripunjaya later became independent state with its own ruling dynasty over subsequent generations.
Queen Chamadevi gave birth to twins, with the older becoming ruler of Lamphun, and the younger becoming ruler of Lampang. The dynasty developed an advanced civilization that espoused Buddhism and Indian cultural influences. It flourished for generations through the development of irrigation practices, legal and administrative systems, as well as literature and artistic expression.
Conflict with regional powers including Khmer and other Dvaravati states from the 10th century onwards, eventually weakened the kingdom. It finally fell to King Mengrai in 1292 AD, who unified the northern regions into the Lanna Kingdom. Nevertheless, the civilization played a significant role thereafter to the cultural development of the Lanna Kingdom, as evidenced from sites seen around Wiang Kum Kam, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
Lanna (1292 AD - 1775 AD)
The Kingdom of Lanna or 'Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields', was essentially a continuation of the kingdom of Ngoenyang, starting with King Mangrai. The state grew in prosperity partly due to tributes received from surrounding vassal cities, as well as those from northern Loas and Vietnam.
The Lanna kingdom was at its height during the rule of King Tilokkarat (1441–1487). His reign is credited to recompiling the Tripitaka that was held near Chiang Mai, as well building and renovating many notable temples. Militarily, his accomplishments included conquering the neighboring Kingdom of Payao in 1456. as well as expansion into westerly Shan states in present day Myanmar.
Not long after the reign of King Tilokkarat, the Lanna started to face internal and external pressures exerted upon it. A failed internal rebellion in 1442 that was supported by the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, ignited a series of wars between the two states. King Paya Kaew who was the great-grandson of Tilokkarat, launched a failed attack Ayutthaya in 1507. Ayutthaya responded with an invasion in 1513, in which the city of Lampang was sacked. The loss was so devastating that Lanna lost its dominance.
Ayutthaya again attacked Lanna in 1545, resulting in the Lanna ruler of that time having to negotiate for peace the following year, by agreeing to Lanna becoming a tributary state under Ayutthaya. Lanna's weakened state also prevented it from maintaining it hold on its western domains. The Shan states eventually broke free from Lanna control, and they in turn came under the control of the growing military power of the Burmese Kingdom.
The subsequent 200 years was an era of upheaval with wars where Lanna was controlled back and forth with the Burmese. By that time, the Lanna areas were divided into five smaller principalities, namely the Chiang Mai, Nan, Lampang, Lamphun, and Phrae. By 1775, Lanna ceased to be an entity on its own after it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Siam.
Sukhothai (1238 AD - 1438 AD)
Sukhothai was originally a trade center in within the Lavo Kingdom. A Khmer-style town first appeared at Sukhothai around 1200 AD. Various monuments were built in the city, several of which still exist as part of the in the Sukhothai Historical Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 1238, the local inhabitants rebelled against their overlords and established Sukhothai as an independent state. This event was a turning point in the history of the Tai people, as it established them as a center of power.
Si Inthrathit was Sukhothai’s first king. Under his rule the kingdom expanded its influence to the bordering cities surrounding the capital. By the end of his reign in 1270, Sukhothai covered the entire upper valley of the Chao Phraya River.
The kingdom was centralized and expanded to its greatest extent during the reign of King Ram Khamhaeng between 1279 – 1298 AD. The monarch propagated Theravada Buddhism, and is attributed to the invention of the Thai script. The earliest evidence of this ancient Thai writing is seen in the Ram Khamhaeng Inscription stone stele that was discovered by King Mongkut (Rama IV) nearly six centuries later. The inscription had immense influence over the development of Thai historiography from the early 20th century, which came to regard Sukhothai as the first Thai national kingdom.
Tributary states of Sukhothai began to break away after the death of King Ram Khamhaeng. In 1349, the Ayutthaya Kingdom invaded Sukhothai and made it a tributary state. It was thereafter fully annexed by Ayutthaya in 1438 after the death of Sukhothai’s 4th and last monarch.
Under tributary status, Sukhothai continued to be ruled by local aristocrats, but under the dominion of Ayutthaya. Both city states became politically and culturally intertwined thereafter with Sukhothai's administrative systems, architecture, religious practices, and language influencing Ayutthaya. Sukhothai nobles aligned with Ayutthaya elite through marriage, and its military leaders served prominently in Ayutthaya’s service.