evidence for modern human presence in the northern and central highlands of indochina that constitute the territories of the modern laotian nation state dates back to the lower paleolithic these earliest human migrants are australomelanesians associated with the hobenian culture and have populated the highlands and the interior less accessible regions of laos and all of southeast asia to this day the subsequent austroasiatic and austronesian marine migration waves affected landlocked laos only marginally and direct chinese and indian cultural contact had a greater impact on the country the modern nation-state laos emerged from the french colonial empire as an independent country in 1953. laos exists in truncated form from the 13th century lao kingdom of lanshang lanshang existed as a unified kingdom from 1357 to 1707 divided into the three rival kingdoms of luang prabong vientiane and champasak from 1707 to 1770 fell to siamese suzerainty from 1779 to 1893 and was reunified under the french protectorate of laos in 1893. the borders of the modern state of laos were established by the french colonial government in the late 19th and early 20th centuries limitations and current state of research archaeological exploration and laos has been limited due to rugged and remote topography a history of 20th century conflicts which have left over 2 million tons of unexploded ordnance throughout the country and local sensitivities to history which involve the communist government of laos village authorities and rural poverty the first archaeological explorations of laos began with french explorers acting under the auspices of the eccol francaise extreme orient however due to the lao civil war it is only since the 1990s that serious archaeological efforts have begun in laos since 2005 one such effort the middle mekong archaeological project has excavated and surveyed numerous sites along the mekong and its tributaries around luang prabang and northern laos with the goal of investigating early human settlement of the valleys of the mekong river and its tributaries prehistory in laos anatomically modern human hunter gatherer migration into southeast asia before 50 000 years ago has been confirmed by the fossil record of the region these immigrants might have to a certain extent merged and reproduced with members of the archaic population of homo erectus as the 2009 fossil discoveries in the tampa ling cave suggest dated to between 46 000 and 63 000 years old it is the oldest fossil found in the region that bears modern human morphological features recent research also supports more accurate understanding of migration patterns of early humans who migrated in successive waves moving west to east following the coastlines but also used river valleys further inland and further north than previously theorized an early tradition is discernible in the hobenian the name given to an industry and cultural continuity of stone tools and plagued cobble artifacts that appears around 10 000 bp in caves and rock shelters first described in hoa bin vietnam and later also in laos neolithic migrations the earliest inhabitants of laos australomelanations were followed by members of the austro-asiatic language family these earliest societies contributed to the ancestral gene pool of the upland lao ethnicities known collectively as lao theong with the largest ethnic groups being the como of northern laos and the brown catong in the south subsequent neolithic immigration waves are considered dynamic very complex and are intensely debated researchers resort to linguistic terms and argumentation for group identification and classification agriculture and bronze production wet rice and millet farming techniques were introduced from the yangtze river valley in southern china since around 2000 years bc hunting and gathering remained an important aspect of food provision particularly in forested and mountainous inland areas earliest known copper and bronze production in southeast asia has been confirmed at the site of ban chiang in modern northeast thailand and among the funguin culture of northern vietnam since around 2000 bc the plane of jars from the 8th century bce to as late as the 2nd century ce and inland trading society emerged on the shanghuang plateau around the megalithic site called the plane of jars the plane nominated to the tentative list of unesco world heritage site in 1992 is still being cleared from unexploded ordnance since 1998. the jars are stone sarcophagi date from the early iron age and contained evidence of human remains burial goods and ceramics some sites contain more than 250 individual jars the tallest jars are more than three meters in height little is known about the culture which produced and used the jars the jars and the existence of iron ore in the region suggest that the creators of the site engaged in profitable overland trade early indianized kingdoms funan kingdom the first indigenous kingdom to emerge in indochina was referred to in chinese histories as the kingdom of funan and encompassed an area of modern cambodia and the coast of southern vietnam and southern thailand since the first century ce funan was an indianized kingdom that had incorporated central aspects of indian institutions religion statecraft administration culture epigraphy writing and architecture and engaged in profitable indian ocean trade champa kingdom by the second century ce austronesian settlers had established an indian ice kingdom known as champa along modern central vietnam the chong people established the first settlements near modern champazok and laos funan expanded and incorporated the champa sock region by the 6th century ce when it was replaced by its successor paulie chanla chanwa occupied large areas of modern day laos as it accounts for the earliest kingdom on laotian soil chandler kingdom the capital of early chandler was shresthapura which was located in the vicinity of champa in the unesco world heritage site of watfu watfu is a vast temple complex in southern laos which combined natural surroundings with ornate sandstone structures which were maintained and embellished by the chandler peoples until 900 ce and were subsequently rediscovered and embellished by the khmer in the 10th century by the 8th century ce chandler had divided into land chandler located in laos and water chandler founded by mahendra varman near sambar priyai cook in cambodia land chandler was known to the chinese as polu or when dan and dispatched a trade mission to the tang dynasty court in 717 ce water chandler would come under repeated attack from champa the madang sea kingdoms in indonesia based in java and finally pirates from the instability the khmer emerged khmer kingdom under the king jay of armand ii the khmer empire began to take shape in the 9th century c varavati city state kingdoms in the area which is modern northern and central laos and northeast thailand the hmong people established their own kingdoms during the 8th century sea outside the reach of the contracting chandler kingdoms by the 6th century in the jau priya river valley mon peoples had coalesced to create the bharavadhi kingdoms in the north harapunjaya emerged as a rival power to the barabati by the 8th century the moan had pushed north to create city-states known as muang infanta 8 sri gotaypura near modern the keck laos muang sua and chantaburi in the 8th century ce srikotepura was the strongest of these early city-states and controlled trade throughout the middle mekong region the city-states were loosely bound politically but were culturally similar and introduce their about a buddhism from sri lankan missionaries throughout the region the thai migrations there have been many theories proposing the origin of the thai peoples of which the lao are a subgroup including an association of the thai people with the kingdom of nansao that has been proven to be invalid the chinese han dynasty chronicles of the southern military campaigns provide the first written accounts of thai kadai speaking peoples who inhabited the areas of modern yunnan china and guangxi james r chamberlain proposes that thai kadai language family was formed as early as the 12th century bce in the middle young sea basin coinciding roughly with the establishment of the chu fiftem in the beginning of the joe dynasty following the southward migrations of crown light peoples from the ancient state of chu around the 8th century bce the bitai people started to break away to the east coast in the present-day jejeong in the 6th century bce forming the state of ua after the destruction of the state of ua by chu army around 333 bce ua people began to migrate southwards along the east coast of china to what are now guangxi guejo and northern vietnam forming luo ua and the thai peoples from guangxi and northern vietnam began moving south and westwards in the first millennium sea eventually spreading across the whole of mainland southeast asia based on layers of chinese loanwords in proto-southwestern thai and other historical evidence pitayat pidaya porn proposes that the southwestward migration of thai-speaking tribes from the modern guangxi and northern vietnam to the mainland of southeast asia must have taken place sometime between the 8th 10th centuries thai-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 rose in revolt behind a leader who declared himself the king of nanue in guangdong after the 722 revolt some 60 000 were beheaded in 726 after the suppression of a rebellion by a lao leader in the present-day guangxi over 30 000 rebels were captured and beheaded in 756 another revolt attracted 200 000 followers and lasted four years 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 in the 1040s a powerful matriarch shaminist by the name of aenong her chiefly husband and their son nang shi gao raised a revolt took nan nang besieged guangzhou for 57 days and slew the commanders of five chinese armies sent against them before they were defeated and many of their leaders were killed as a result of these three bloody centuries the thai began to migrate southwestward a 2016 mitochondrial genome mapping of thai and lao population supports the idea that both ethnicities originate from the thai kadai language family the thai from their new home in southeast asia were influenced by the khmer and the moon and most importantly buddhist india the thai kingdom of lana was founded in 1259 the tsukotai kingdom was founded in 1279 and expanded eastward to take the city of chantaburi and renamed it to vienchan viengkom and northward to the city of maungsuo which was taken in 1271 and renamed the city to shangdong shang thong or city of flame trees beside the river dong the thai peoples have firmly established control in areas to the northeast of the declining khmer empire following the death of the tsukotai king ram coming and internal disputes within the kingdom of lana both fiang chan vieng khan and shang dong sheng thong were independent city-states until the founding of the kingdom of lanshang in 1354. the tsukotai kingdom and later the iu tayyip kingdom were established and conquered the khmers of the upper and central menom valley and greatly extended their territory the legend of kunborom the history of the thai migrations into laos were preserved in myth and legends the nathan [ __ ] borom or story of kung borom recalls the origin myths of the lao and follows the exploits of his seven sons to found the thai kingdoms of southeast asia the myths also recorded the laws of kung borom which set the basis of common law and identity among the lao among the kamu the exploits of their folk hero tau hong are recounted in the tao hung tau chuang epic which dramatizes the struggles of the indigenous peoples with the influx of thai during the migration period in later centuries the lao themselves would preserve the legend in written form becoming one of the great literary treasures of laos and one of the few depictions of life in southeast asia prior to their abatta buddhism and thai cultural influence lanshang lanshang was one of the largest kingdoms in southeast asia also known as the land of a million elephants under the white parasol the kingdom's name alludes to the power of the kingship and formidable war machine of the early kingdom the founding of lanshang was recorded in 1353 after a series of conquests by phangnam from 1353 to 1560 the capital of lanshang was luang prabang under successive kings the kingdom expanded its sphere of influence over an area that now incorporates all of modern laos the sipsong chutai of vietnam sipsong panna of southern china karat plateau region of thailand and the stung trying region of northern cambodia lanshang existed as a sovereign kingdom for over 350 years the first serious foreign invasion came from the dai beyet in 1479 which was defeated though leaving the capital of luang prabang largely destroyed the first half of the 16th century allowed for the power prestige and cultural influence of the kingdom to be restored under a series of strong kings in the 1540s a series of succession disputes in the neighboring kingdom of lana created a regional rivalry between burma iu taya and lanshang in 1540 lan shang defeated an incursion from ayutaya by 1545 the kingdom of lana was attacked by the burmese and then ayutthaya lanshang entered into an alliance with lana and aided in the defense of the kingdom in 1547 the kingdoms of land shang and lana were briefly unified under photoserath of lanshang and his son said hatharath and mana seth hatharath would go on to become the king of land shang on the death of his father and become one of the greatest kings of lanshang the burmese tungu dynasty began a series of expansions during the late 1550s which culminated under king baenong said hatharath moved the capital of lan shang from luang prabang to vientiane in 1560 to better defend against the threat of burma and to more ably administer the central and southern provinces bayonng subjugated the kingdom of lana and went on to destroy the kingdom and city of ayutthaya in 1564. king said hatharath fought two successful guerrilla campaigns against the burmese invasions leaving lan shang the only independent thai kingdom until his death in 1572 while on campaign against the khmer the burmese succeeded with the third invasion of lanshang around 1573 and lan shang became a vassal state until 1591 when the son of seth hatharath nokio comain was able to successfully reassert independence lanshang recovered and reached the apex of its political and economic power during the 17th century under king sauerk navangsa who became the longest reigning of lanshang's monarchs in the 1640s the first european explorers to leave a detailed account of the kingdom arrived looking to establish trade and secure christian converts both were ultimately largely unsuccessful upon the death of sauragnabangsa a succession dispute erupted and the kingdom of lanshang was ultimately divided into constituent kingdoms in 1707. regional kingdoms beginning in 1707 the lao kingdom of lan shang was partitioned into regional kingdoms of vientiane luang prabang and later champasak the kingdom of bienten was the strongest of the three with vientiane extending influence across the corrupt plateau and conflicting with the kingdom of luang prabang for control of the shang kwang plateau the kingdom of luang prabang was the first of the regional kingdoms to emerge in 1707 when king xi ong-hu of lan shang was challenged by king kirat the grandson of sauragnabangsa xi aung hee and his family had sought asylum in vietnam when they were exiled during the reign of sauerk navangsa xiaonghu gained the support of the vietnamese emperor ladui hayep in exchange for recognition of vietnamese suzerainty over lanshang at the head of the vietnamese army xiaong he attacked vientiane and executed king nandharat another claimant to the throne in response sauragnabangsa's grandson king kira rebelled and moved with his own army from the sipsong pana toured luang problem king kiarot then moved south to challenge xi on hugh and vientiane xiaonghu then turned toward the kingdom of aiutaya for support and an army was dispatched which rather than supporting xiaonghu arbitrated the division between luang prabang and vientiane in 1713 the southern low nobility continued the rebellion against xianghu under nokissad a nephew of sauerkraut nabangsa and the kingdom of champasak emerged the kingdom of champasak comprised the area south of the zibang river as far as stung trying together with the areas of the lower moon and she rivers on the korat plateau although less populous than either luang prabang or vientiane champasak occupied an important position for regional power and international trade via the mekong river throughout the 1760s and 1770s the kingdoms of siam and burma competed against each other in a bitter armed rivalry and sought out alliances with allow kingdoms to strengthen their relative positions by adding to their own forces and denying them to their enemy as a result the use of competing alliances would further militarize the conflict between the northerly lao kingdoms of luang prabang and bianchian between the two major lao kingdoms if an alliance with one was sought by either burma or siam the other would tend to support the remaining side the network of alliances shifted with the political and military landscape throughout the latter half of the 18th century siam and suseranti by 1779 general tixon had driven the burmese from siam had overrun the lao kingdoms of champazok and vientiane and forced luang prabang to accept vasilage traditional power relationships in southeast asia followed the mandala model warfare was waged to secure population centers for corvain labor control regional trade and confirm religious and secular authority by controlling potent buddhist symbols to legitimize the tonbori dynasty general tickson seized the emerald buddha and prabang images from vienton dixon also demanded that the ruling elites of the lao kingdoms and their royal families pledge basilage to siam and in order to retain their regional autonomy in accordance with the mandala model in the traditional mandala model vassal kings retained their power to raise tax discipline their own vassals inflict capital punishment and appoint their own officials only matters of war and succession required approval from the soucerin vassals were also expected to provide annual tribute of gold and silver provide tax and tax in kind raise support armies in time of war and provide corvae labor for state projects however by 1782 tixon had been deposed and rama i was king of siam and began a series of reforms which fundamentally altered the traditional mandala many of the reforms took place to more closely administer and assimilate the corrupt plateau which was traditionally and culturally part of the lao kingdom's tributary networks in 1778 only knock on rochasima was a tributary of siam yet by the end of the reign of rama i sissakat obon roi et yasotan khon ken and kala sin paid tribute directly to bangkok according to thai records by 1826 the number of towns and cities in isan had grown from 13 to 35. forced population transfers from lao areas were further reinforced by corvae labor projects and increased taxes siam required labor to help rebuild from repeated burmese invasions and growing sea trade increasing the productivity and population living on the corrupt plateau provided the labor and material access to strengthen siam siribunius assan the last independent king of vientiane had died by 1780 and his sons nanthasan into vong and anubong had been taken to bangkok as prisoners during the sack of the antion in 1779. the sons would become successive kings of vientiane beginning with nantheson in 1781. nantheson was allowed to return to vientiane with the pragbang the palladium of lanshang the emerald buddha remained in bangkok and became an important symbol to the lao of their captivity one of nantheson's first acts was to seize zhao sumpu a puan prince from shang huang who had entered into a tributary relationship with vietnam and released him only when it was agreed that sheng kuang would also acknowledge fiantiana's suzerain in 1791 a new route that was confirmed by rama i as king of luang prabang by 1792 nantheson had convinced rama i that a new route that was secretly dealing with the burmese and siam allowed nanteson to lead an army and besiege and capture luang prabang a new route that was sent to bangkok as a prisoner and only through diplomatic exchanges facilitated by china was a new route that released in 1795. soon after a new rutha's release it was alleged that nantheson had been plotting with the governor of naconpanone to rebel against siam rama i ordered the immediate arrest of nanthasan and soon after he died in captivity in davong became the next king of the antion and dispatched armies to aid siam against burmese invasions in 1797 and 1802 and to capture the sipsong chao thai anu vong's hero and lao nationalism anu vong is a symbolic and controversial figure even today his short-lived rebellion against siam from 1826 to 1829 ultimately proved futile and led to the total annihilation of vientiane as a kingdom and a city yet among the laohi remains a potent symbol of unyielding defiance and national identity thai and vietnamese histories record that anu vong rebelled as the result of personal insult suffered at the funeral of rama 2 in bangkok yet the anu vong rebellion lasted three years and engulfed the whole of the korat plateau for more complex reasons the history of forced population transfers corvae labor projects loss of national symbols and prestige formed the backdrop to specific actions taken by rama-3 to directly annex the isan region in 1812 siam and vietnam were at odds over the succession of the cambodian king the vietnamese gained the upper hand with their chosen successor and siam compensated itself by annexing territory on the dangrek mountains and along the mekong river in stung trying as a result lao international trade along the mekong was effectively blockaded and heavy duties were imposed on lao merchants who were viewed suspiciously by siam for their trade with both the cambodians and vietnamese in 1819 a rebellion in champasak provided anu vong with opportunity and he dispatched an army under his son yo who managed to suppress the conflict in exchange and nubong successfully made the case that his son be crowned as king in champa sak which was confirmed by bangkok anu vong had successfully expanded his influence throughout vientiane isan sheng huang and now chompasak anu vong dispatched a number of diplomatic missions to luang prabang which were viewed suspiciously in light of his growing regional influence by 1825 rama ii had died and rama 3 was consolidating his position against prince monkote in the ensuing power struggle before the accession of rama 3 one of anu vong's grandsons was killed when anu vong arrived for the funerary services he made several requests of the king rama the third which were dismissed including the return of his sister who had been captured in 1779 and lao families which had been relocated to sarah bori near bangkok before returning to vientiane annubong sunungao the crown prince was forced to perform manual labor during which he was beaten early in his reign rama 3 ordered a census of all peoples on the corrupt plateau the census involved the force tattooing of each villagers census number and name of their village the aim of the policy was to more tightly administer loud territories from bangkok and was facilitated by the nobility siam had installed in the newly created cities throughout the region popular resentment against the forced tattooing and increased taxes became casa's belly for rebellion toward the end of 1826 annubong was making military preparations for armed rebellion a new vong's strategy involved three objectives first was to repatriate all ethnic lao living in siam to the right bank of the mekong and execute any siamese engaged in the tattooing of lao the second objective was to consolidate lao power by forging an alliance with chiang mai and luang prabang the third and final goal was to gain international support from either the vietnamese chinese burmese or british in january hostilities commenced and the lao armies were sent from bianchian to capture nakon rochasima khalasine and lomsak from champa sock forces rushed to takuban and suvanapham while pursuing a scorched earth policy ensuring allow time to retreat anu vong's forces pushed south eventually to sarah bori to free the lao there but the flood of refugees pushing north slowed the army's retreat annuvong also severely underestimated the siamese arms stockpile which under the terms of bernie treaty had provided siam with weaponry from the napoleonic wars in europe a loud defense was staged at nang pualampu the traditional lao stronghold in the isan but the siamese emerged victorious and leveled the city the siamese pushed north to take vientiane and anu vong fled southeast to the border with vietnam by 1828 anu vong had been captured tortured and sent to bangkok with his family to die in a cage rama 3 ordered zhao boden to return and level the city of vientiane and forcibly move the entire population of the former lao capital to the isan region aftermath and vietnamese intervention following the anuvong rebellion siam and vietnam were increasingly at odds over control of the indo-chinese peninsula in 1831 emperor min hmong sent vietnamese troops to see shanghuang and annex the area as the province of tran nine also in 1831 and again in 1833 king mantha turret sent a tributary mission to the vietnamese which were quietly ignored so as not to antagonize the siamese further in 1893 these tributary missions from luang prabang were used by the french as part of a legal argument for all the territories on the east bank of the mekong in late 1831 siam and vietnam had a series of wars over control of shang huang and cambodia in the aftermath of vientiane's destruction the siamese divided the lao lands into three administrative regions in the north the king of luang prabang and a small siamese garrison controlled luang prabang the sipsong panna and sipsong zhaotai the central region was administered from nangkai and extended to the borders of tran nine and south to champasak the southern regions were controlled from champazok and extended to areas bordering coach in china and cambodia from the 1830s through the 1860s small rebellions took place across lao lands and the corrupt plateau but they lacked both the scale and coordination of the anuvong rebellion importantly at the end of each rebellion siamese troops would return to their administrative centers and no lao region was allowed to have a build-up of force which could have been used in rebellion population transfers and slavery population transfers of ethnic law to siam began in 1779 with siamese suicide artisans and members of the court were forcibly moved to sarabori near bangkok and several thousand farmers and peasant who were transported throughout siam to pecha bury rotpuri and nakon chazy in the southwest and to prakenbury in chanthaburi in the southeast however massive deportations estimated between 100 000 and 300 000 people began following the defeat of king anuvong in 1828 and would continue until the 1870s from 1828 to 1830 over 66 000 people were forcibly relocated from bianchian in 1834 the first of several relocations of the puan areas of chiang kuang began transferring more than 6 000 people most of those relocated were settled in the nissan region and were considered that cha loy or war slaves who were to serve as serfs and under-populated areas for the thai elite the result changed the demographics and cultural traditions of thailand and laos and continues today with a fivefold disparity between the ethnic lao living on the west bank of the mekong and those left in the east in what is today laos although slavery existed in lao areas before the rebellion in 1828 the defeat and subsequent removal of most ethnic lao left a depopulated and vulnerable position for the remaining people of the east bank of the mekong lauthyang hill tribes which had little involvement in the 1828 rebellion bore the brunt of organized slave raids into laos and became known collectively and pejoratively in thai and lao is ca or slaves lauthean were hunted or sold into slavery frequent organized raiding parties from vietnam cambodia siam laos and china larger tribes of lao theon such as the brow would conduct slave rates against weaker tribes the raids continued throughout the remainder of the 19th century a siamese military campaign and laos in 1876 was described by a british observer as having been transformed into slave hunting raids on a large scale the population transfers and slave rates ameliorated toward the end of the 19th century when european observers and anti-slavery groups made their presence increasingly difficult for the bangkok elite in 1880 both slave rating and trading became illegal although debt slavery would persist until 1905 by decree of king chalancorn the french would use the existence of slavery in siam as one of the major professed motivations for establishing a protectorate of laos during the 1880s and 1890s the hall wars in the 1840s sporadic rebellions slave raids and movement of refugees throughout the areas that would become modern laos left whole regions politically and militarily weak in china the qing dynasty was pushing south to incorporate hill peoples into the central administration at first floods of refugees and later bans of rebels from the taiping rebellion pushed into lao lands the rebel groups became known by their banners and included the yellow flags red flags and the black flags the bantic groups rampaged throughout the countryside with little response from siam during the early and mid-19th century the first lao sung including the hmong mean yao and other sino-tibetan groups began settling in the higher elevations of pongsali province and northeast laos the influx of immigration was facilitated by the same political weakness which had given shelter to the hall bandits and left large depopulated areas throughout laos 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 early french explorers was an expedition led by frances garnier who was killed during an expedition by hall rebels in tonkin the french would increasingly conduct military campaigns against the hall in both laos and vietnam until the 1880s colonialism and the french protectorate of laos origins of french colonialism in laos french colonial interests in laos began with the exploratory missions of dudart de la gray and francis garnier during the 1860s france hoped to utilize the mekong river as a route to southern china although the mekong is unnavigable due to a number of rapids the hope was that the river might be tamed with the help of french engineering and a combination of railways in 1886 britain secured the right to appoint a representative in chiang mai in northern siam to counter british control in burma and growing influence in siam that same year france sought to establish representation in luang prabang and dispatched august pavi to secure french interests pavian french auxiliaries arrived in luang prabang in 1887 in time to witness an attack on luang prabang by chinese and thai bandits who hoped to liberate the brothers of their leader deo van try who were being held prisoner by the siamese paidi prevented the capture of the ailing king own com by ferrying him away from the burning city to safety the incident won the gratitude of the king provided an opportunity for france to gain control of the sipsong chutai is part of tonkin and french indochina and demonstrated the weakness of the siamese and laos in 1892 pavi became resident minister in bangkok where he encouraged a french policy which first sought to deny or ignore siamese sovereignty over lao territories on the east bank of the mekong and secondly to suppress the slavery of upland lao theong and population transfers of lao long by the siamese as a prelude to establishing a protectorate in laos siam reacted by denying french trading interests which by 1893 had increasingly involved military posturing and gunboat diplomacy france and siam would position troops to deny each other's interests resulting in a siamese siege of kong island in the south and a series of attacks on french garrisons in the north the result was the paknam incident of july 13 1893 the franco-siamese wore in the ultimate recognition of french territorial claims in laos the french were aware that the east bank territories of the mekong were a depopulated devastated country the siamese force population transfers following the anuvang rebellion had left only a fifth of the original population on the east bank the majority of lao and puan peoples had been resettled to the areas around the kurak plateau territorial gains in 1893 were only a springboard to secure french control of the mekong to deny siam as much territorial control as possible by acquiring the mekong's west bank territories including the korok plateau and by negotiating stable borders with british burma along the former territories which paid tribute to the kingdom of luang prabang france settled the treaty with china in 1895 gaining control of luang namtha and pong sali british control of the sean states and french control of the upper mekong increased tensions between the colonial rivals a joint commission completed its work in 1896 and the city of muang sang was gained by france in exchange france recognized siamese sovereignty over the areas of the chaofria river basin however the issue of siamese control over the corrupt plateau which was ethnically and historically lao was left open for the french as was siamese control over the malay peninsula which favored british interests political events in europe would shape french indo-chinese policy however and between 1896 and 1904 a new political party took power in paris which viewed britain much more as an ally than as a colonial rival in 1904 britain and france signed the anton cordial which developed ultimately into part of the alliance against germany and austria-hungary that fought the first world war in 1914-1918 the anton cordial agreement established respective spheres of influence in southeast asia although french territorial demands would continue until 1907 in cambodia 1893-1939 the french protectorate of laos established two administrative regions governed from vietnam in 1893. it was not until 1899 that laos became centrally administered by a single resident superior based in savannah quet and later in vientiane the french chose to establish vientiane as the colonial capital for two reasons firstly it was more centrally located between the central provinces and luang prabang and secondly the french were aware of the symbolic importance of rebuilding the former capital of the lanshang kingdom which the siamese had destroyed as part of french indochina both laos and cambodia were seen as a source of raw materials and labor for the more important holdings in vietnam french colonial presence in laos was light the resident superior was responsible for all colonial administration from taxation to justice and public works the french maintained a military presence in the colonial capital under the guard indigene made up of vietnamese soldiers under a french commander in important provincial cities like luang prabang saba naquette and pak say there would be an assistant resident police paymaster postmaster school teacher and a doctor vietnamese filled most upper level and mid-level positions within the bureaucracy with lao being employed as junior clerks translators kitchen staff and general laborers villages remained under the traditional authority of the local headman or zhao mwang throughout the colonial administration and laos the french presence never amounted to more than a few thousand europeans the french concentrated on the development of infrastructure the abolition of slavery and indentured servitude trade including opium production and most importantly the collection of taxes under the french rule the vietnamese were encouraged to migrate to laos which was seen by the french colonists as a rational solution to a practical problem within the confines of an indochina wide colonial space by 1943 the vietnamese population stood at nearly 40 000 forming the majority in the largest cities of laos and enjoying the right to elect their own leaders as a result 53 percent of the population of vientiane 85 of take and 62 percent of pak se were vietnamese with only an exception of luang for bang where the population was predominantly law as late as 1945 the french even drew up an ambitious plan to move massive vietnamese population to three key areas i.e the vientiane plain sabanaket region bolaven plateau which was only discarded by japanese invasion of indochina otherwise according to martin stewart fox the lao might well have lost control over their own country the lao response to french colonialism was mixed although the french were viewed as preferable to the siamese by the nobility the majority of lao lom lao the young and laosung were burdened by regressive taxes and demands for corvae labor to establish colonial outposts the first serious resistance to the french colonial presence began in southern laos as the holy man's rebellion led by ong ko and would last until 1910. the rebellion began in 1901 when a french commissioner in salaban was attempting to pacify laotheung tribes for taxation and corvain labor ongeo provoked anti-french sentiment and in response the french burned a local temple the commissioner and his troops were massacred and a general uprising began throughout the bulaban plateau ong keo would be killed by french forces but for several years his harassment and protest gained popularity in the southern laos it was not until the movement spread to the corot plateau and threatened to become an international incident involving siam that several french columns of the guard indigene converged to put down the rebellion in the north tai lu groups from the areas around pongsali and huang singh also began to rebel against french attempts at taxation and corvae labour in 1914 the tai lu king had fled to the chinese portions of the sip song panna where he began a two-year guerrilla campaign against the french and northern laos which required three military expeditions to suppress and resulted in direct french control of muang sing in northeast laos chinese and lao the young rebelled against french attempts to tax the opium trade which resulted in another rebellion from 1914 to 1917. by 1915 most of northeast laos was controlled by chinese and lauthean rebels the french dispatched the largest military presence yet to laos which included 160 french officers and 2 500 vietnamese troops divided in two columns the french drove the chinese-led rebels across the chinese border and placed pong sali under direct colonial control yet northeastern laos was still not entirely pacified and among shaman named pasha view attempted to establish among homeland through a rebellion which lasted from 1919 to 1921. by 1920 the majority of french laos was at peace and colonial order had been established in 1928 the first school for the training of lao civil servants was established and allowed for the upward mobility of law to fill positions occupied by the vietnamese throughout the 1920s and 1930s france attempted to implement western particularly french education modern healthcare and medicine and public works with mixed success the budget for colonial laos was secondary to hanoi and the worldwide great depression further restricted funds it was also in the 1920s and 1930s that the first strings of lao nationalist identity emerged due to the work of prince fetzerat rattanavansa and the french a cold front-sized extreme orient to restore ancient monuments temples and conduct general research into lao history literature art and architecture french interest in indigenous history served a dual purpose and laoset reinforced the image of the colonial mission as protection against siamese domination and was also a legitimate route for scholarship world war ii developing lao national identity gained importance in 1938 with the rise of the ultra-nationalist prime minister fabun sonkram in bangkok pabun songkram renamed siam to thailand a name change which was part of a larger political movement to unify all thai peoples under the central thai of bangkok the french viewed these developments with alarm but the vichy government was diverted by events in europe and world war ii despite a non-aggression treaty signed in june 1940 thailand took advantage of the french position and initiated the franco thai war the war concluded unfavorably for lao interest with the treaty of tokyo and the loss of trans-mekong territories of zanubori and part of champasak the result was loud distrust of the french and the first overtly national cultural movement in laos which was in the odd position of having limited french support charles rochette the french director of public education in vientiane and lao intellectuals led by nui faye and katai don sarath began the movement for national renovation yet the wider impact of world war ii had little effect on laos until february 1945 when a detachment from the japanese imperial army moved into shanghuang the japanese preempted that the vichy administration of french indochina under admiral de cou would be replaced by a representative of the free french loyal to charles de gaulle and initiated operation mako the japanese succeeded in the internment of the french living in vietnam and cambodia but in the remote areas of laos the french were able with the help of allow and guard indigene to establish jungle bases which were supplied by british air drops from burma however french control in laos had been sidelined lauisara and independence 1945 was a watershed year in the history of laos under japanese pressure king sisa bongbong declared independence in april the move allowed the various independence movements and laos including the lao serie and lao penlao to coalesce into the laui sara or friedlao movement which was led by prince fetzerat and opposed the return of laos to the french the japanese surrender on august 15 1945 emboldened pro french factions and prince fetzerat was dismissed by king sisa bongbong undeterred prince fetzerat staged a coup in september and placed the royal family in luang prabang under house arrest on october 12 1945 the lauisara government was declared under the civil administration of prince fetzerat in the next six months the french rallied against the laui sara and were able to reassert control over indochina in april 1946. the lauisara government fled to thailand where they maintained opposition to the french until 1949 when the group split over questions regarding relations with the viet men and then the communist pathet lao was formed with alawi sarah in exile in august 1946 france instituted a constitutional monarchy in laos headed by king sisubong and thailand agreed to return territory seized during the franco-thai war in exchange for a representation at the united nations the franco-lao general convention of 1949 provided most members of the lao isara with a negotiated amnesty and sought appeasement by establishing the kingdom of lao saquasia independent constitutional monarchy within the french union in 1950 additional powers were granted to the royal lao government including training and assistance for a national army on october 22nd 1953 the franco-lao treaty of amity and association transferred remaining french powers to the independent royal lao government by 1954 the defeated dean bianfu brought eight years of fighting with the viet minh during the first indo-chinese war to an end in france abandoned all claims to the colonies of indochina the kingdom of laos and the lao civil war elections were held in 1955 and the first coalition government led by prince savana poma was formed in 1957. the coalition government collapsed in 1958. in 1960 captain kangla staged a coup when the cabinet was away at the royal capital of luang prabang and demanded reformation of a neutralist government the second coalition government once again led by sabana poma was not successful in holding power righteous forces under general fumi no saban drove out the neutralist government from power later that same year the north vietnamese invaded laos between 1958 to 1959 to create the ho chi minh trail a second geneva conference held in 1961-62 provided for the independence and neutrality of laos but the agreement meant little in reality and the war soon resumed growing north vietnamese military presence in the country increasingly drew laos into the second indochina war as a result for nearly a decade eastern laos was subjected to some of the heaviest bombing in the history of warfare as the u.s sought to destroy the ho chi minh trail that passed through laos and defeat the communist forces the north vietnamese also heavily backed the pathet lao and repeatedly invaded laos the government and army of laos were backed by the usa during the conflict the united states trained both regular royal lao forces and irregular forces among whom many were among and other ethnic minorities shortly after the paris peace accords led to the withdrawal of u.s forces from vietnam a ceasefire between the pathet lao and the government led to a new coalition government however north vietnam never withdrew from laos and the pathet lao remained little more than a proxy army for vietnamese interests after the fall of south vietnam the communist forces in april 1975 the pathet lao with the backing of north vietnam were able to take total power with little resistance on december 2nd 1975 the king was forced to abdicate his throne and the lao people's democratic republic was established around 300 000 people out of a total population of 3 million left laos by crossing the border into thailand following the end of the civil war the lao people's democratic republic the new communist government led by kazon from bihan imposed centralized economic decision-making and incarcerated many members of the previous government and military and re-education camps which also included the h-mongs while nominally independent the communist government was for many years effectively little more than a puppet regime run from vietnam the government's policies prompted about 10 of the lao population to leave the country laos depended heavily on soviet aid channeled through vietnam up until the soviet collapse in 1991. in the 1990s the communist party gave up centralized management of the economy but still has a monopoly of political power