Lan Xang
Political organization

The Mekong River formed the political and economic arteries for the Kingdom of Lan Xang, so much so that the Chinese name for the river Lán Cāng 瀾滄 is synonymous with the Lao kingdom. The river provided the means for the people, commerce and armies of Lan Xang to move between regional power centers, but also formed important geographic and defensive barriers. Major rapids formed the boundaries between the areas (and subsequent kingdoms) of Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak. The Khone Falls and Si Phan Don region were not navigable and provided a natural defense for Lan Xang from invasion coming upriver.

The major cities of Lan Xang were located in Luang Prabang, Vientiane including the towns in Nong Khai, Muang Phuan, Muang Sa or Muang Champa Nakhon (Champassack), Nong Khai, Sikhottabong (which in later periods would become Thakhek, Nakhon Phanom, and Sakon Nakhon), and Xiang Hun (Jinghong) (later Muang Sing) in Sip Song Panna. These major cities were known as "muang" or "vieng" and were classified based on substantial fortifications and city walls, the Lao chronicles record five supporting cities, and ninety-seven border "muang."

Supporting cities were found along the Khorat Plateau, and were based on trade or military importance. Say Fong was a Khmer trading post which became famous as a Lao cultural center for writing and arts. Vieng Khuk was mentioned by Van Wuysthoff, and was the "port city" for Vientiane, where trade between Chinese merchants took place before being destroyed in the Lao-Siamese War in 1827. South of Vientiane on the Khorat Plateau, Nong Bua Lamphu (or Muang Dan) was a major fortified city and traditionally administered by the Lao crown princes.

Nong Bua Lamphu was where the Lao defeated Ayutthaya in 1571, and was the site of a major battle against King Anouvong in 1827 when the city was totally destroyed by Thailand for its symbolic importance. Roi Et on the southern Khorat Plateau was also heavily fortified, and had been founded by the Khmer as a major trading center between the Pao, Mun and Chi Rivers. Trade cities also existed at Loei, and Nong Han Noi on the Song Khram River.

The mueang or "city-states" formed independent polities bound to the regional power of the king in a system known as a mandala. Each city was headed by a city lord or chao mueang. The mandala formed an important interdependent system of trade and tribute, which was based more on controlling resources and local populations than it was regional territories. Both wars and the production of rice required large scale labor forces. In Southeast Asia it was common practice for an invading army to forcibly move a population to where they may be more accessible for taxation, conscription or corvee labor. War was also an important means of generating wealth via tribute, and it was not uncommon in the mandala system to pay tribute to more than one regional power at a time.
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