{ "id": "epbgx3zthr", "slug": "nanthasen", "title": "Nanthasen", "updated": "2026-10-15", "topic_path": [ { "id": "society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society" }, { "id": "society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history" }, { "id": "society.history.asia", "label": "Asian history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.southeast-asia", "label": "Southeast Asia", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.southeast-asia" }, { "id": "society.history.asia.southeast-asia.la-lan-xang", "label": "Lan Xang and the Lao kingdoms (1353 to 1893)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.asia.southeast-asia.la-lan-xang" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.asia.t1000.society.history.asia.southeast-asia.la-lan-xang", "label": "Asia (other) · 1000 to 1799: Lan Xang and the Lao kingdoms (1353 to 1893)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1000.society.history.asia.southeast-asia.la-lan-xang", "path": [ { "id": "geo.asia", "label": "Asia (other)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1000", "label": "Asia (other) · 1000 to 1799", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1000" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1000.society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1000.society" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1000.society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1000.society.history" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1000.society.history.asia", "label": "Asian history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1000.society.history.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1000.society.history.asia.southeast-asia", "label": "Southeast Asia", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1000.society.history.asia.southeast-asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1000.society.history.asia.southeast-asia.la-lan-xang", "label": "Lan Xang and the Lao kingdoms (1353 to 1893)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1000.society.history.asia.southeast-asia.la-lan-xang" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Nanthasen, eldest son of King Siribunyasan, was king of Vientiane from 1781 to about 1795 as a Siamese vassal, warring with Luang Prabang before being recalled to Bangkok.", "snippet": "Nanthasen, eldest son of King Siribunyasan, was king of Vientiane from 1781 to about 1795 as a Siamese vassal, warring with Luang Prabang before being recalled to Bangkok.", "node": "society.history.asia.southeast-asia.la-lan-xang", "markdown": "# Nanthasen\n\nNanthasen was king of [Vientiane](https://www.edgepedia.org/vientiane), a Lao principality, from 1781 to about 1795, reigning as a vassal of the kings of Siam. He was placed on the throne by the Siamese after their conquest of Vientiane in 1778–79, and was later recalled to Bangkok.[1](https://slovar-vocab.com/english/britannica-vocab/nanthasen-chao-7115633.html) • [5](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-history/article/abs/siam-and-laos-17671827/5E7FC0DE01826F3BFCEA08E737EC7039)\n\n| Fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Office | King (vassal ruler) of Vientiane[1](https://slovar-vocab.com/english/britannica-vocab/nanthasen-chao-7115633.html) |\n| Reign | 1781 to about 1795[1](https://slovar-vocab.com/english/britannica-vocab/nanthasen-chao-7115633.html) |\n| Father and predecessor | Siribunyasan (Si Bunyasan), king of Vientiane[1](https://slovar-vocab.com/english/britannica-vocab/nanthasen-chao-7115633.html) • [3](https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/JSS_097_0d_VanRoy_UnderDuressLaoWarCaptives.pdf) |\n| How the throne was gained | Appointed by the Siamese king after the 1778–79 conquest of Vientiane[1](https://slovar-vocab.com/english/britannica-vocab/nanthasen-chao-7115633.html) • [2](https://www.britannica.com/place/kingdom-of-Vientiane) |\n| Other campaigns | Invasions of Chiang Khwang, capital of the Phuan state, in 1786 and 1794[3](https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/JSS_097_0d_VanRoy_UnderDuressLaoWarCaptives.pdf) |\n| End of reign | Recalled to Bangkok[1](https://slovar-vocab.com/english/britannica-vocab/nanthasen-chao-7115633.html) • [5](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-history/article/abs/siam-and-laos-17671827/5E7FC0DE01826F3BFCEA08E737EC7039) |\n\n## Accession and family\n\nNanthasen was the eldest son of Siribunyasan (Si Bunyasan), the king of Vientiane.[1](https://slovar-vocab.com/english/britannica-vocab/nanthasen-chao-7115633.html) • [3](https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/JSS_097_0d_VanRoy_UnderDuressLaoWarCaptives.pdf)\n\nIn late 1778 and early 1779, Siamese troops, moving across the [Khorat Plateau](https://www.edgepedia.org/khorat-plateau) and up the Mekong River from Cambodia and aided by an army from [Luang Prabang](https://www.edgepedia.org/luang-prabang), captured Vientiane and seized the prized Prabang and [Emerald Buddha](https://www.edgepedia.org/emerald-buddha) images from the city.[2](https://www.britannica.com/place/kingdom-of-Vientiane) • [4](https://countrystudies.us/laos/6.htm) The First Reign Chronicle of the Chakri Dynasty gives a different account: it states that Siribunyasan returned to Vientiane, killed Phraya Supho, whom the Thai had left in control, and took over the city, and that the Thai king then appointed Nanthasen ruler; the chronicle reports that Siribunyasan died \"not long afterwards.\"[5](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-history/article/abs/siam-and-laos-17671827/5E7FC0DE01826F3BFCEA08E737EC7039)\n\nNanthasen himself spent the conquest years as a hostage.[2](https://www.britannica.com/place/kingdom-of-Vientiane) • [3](https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/JSS_097_0d_VanRoy_UnderDuressLaoWarCaptives.pdf) In 1781 the Siamese chose him to succeed his father, and he was appointed king of Vientiane that year, returning home in 1782 to take up his post as vassal ruler.[1](https://slovar-vocab.com/english/britannica-vocab/nanthasen-chao-7115633.html) • [3](https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/JSS_097_0d_VanRoy_UnderDuressLaoWarCaptives.pdf)\n\n## Reign: policies, administration, and wars\n\nUnder what one study calls his vigorous rule, resurgent Vientiane invaded Chiang Khwang, capital of the Phuan state in the Lao uplands north of Vientiane, in 1786 and again in 1794, carrying off thousands of Lao Phuan captives.[3](https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/JSS_097_0d_VanRoy_UnderDuressLaoWarCaptives.pdf)\n\nThe major war of the reign was against Luang Prabang. In 1791 Nanthasen accused Luang Prabang of conspiring with the Burmese against Vientiane and gained Siamese permission to attack the city.[1](https://slovar-vocab.com/english/britannica-vocab/nanthasen-chao-7115633.html) Le Boulanger and Hall state that the attack was made on Nanthasen's own initiative because of \"dynastic troubles\" in Luang Prabang, while the Thai sources state that the attack was made for the stated purpose and was authorized.[5](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-history/article/abs/siam-and-laos-17671827/5E7FC0DE01826F3BFCEA08E737EC7039)\n\n## Political influence\n\nNanthasen's reign consolidated Vientiane's recovery under Siamese suzerainty and set the succession for the following decades. Anuwong succeeded in 1804 when Inthawong died.[3](https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/JSS_097_0d_VanRoy_UnderDuressLaoWarCaptives.pdf) A Vientiane record of 1811 confirms that Chao Anou had succeeded his brother Chao Inthavong in 1804, completing the succession chain that ran from Nanthasen through Inthawong to Anuwong.[6](http://michaelvickery.org/vickery2003two-rev.pdf)\n\n## End of the reign and succession\n\nSeveral years after the war against Luang Prabang, Nanthasen was recalled to Bangkok.[1](https://slovar-vocab.com/english/britannica-vocab/nanthasen-chao-7115633.html) • [5](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-history/article/abs/siam-and-laos-17671827/5E7FC0DE01826F3BFCEA08E737EC7039) Le Boulanger states that Chao Nanthasen was recalled because of the attack on Luang Prabang, and that at that time Anuruttha was restored to his throne in Luang Prabang.[5](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-history/article/abs/siam-and-laos-17671827/5E7FC0DE01826F3BFCEA08E737EC7039)\n\n## Historians' assessment\n\nOne study of Lao war captives characterizes Nanthasen's rule as vigorous, crediting him with Vientiane's resurgence and its campaigns against the Phuan state in 1786 and 1794.[3](https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/JSS_097_0d_VanRoy_UnderDuressLaoWarCaptives.pdf) The period he governed is documented largely through the Bangkok chronicle tradition: the First Reign Chronicle records his appointment, and the Royal Chronicles of the Third Reign by [Chao Phraya Thiphakorawong](https://www.edgepedia.org/chao-phraya-thiphakorawong) long stood as the main account of the Thai-Lao relations that ended in the war of 1827, a watershed in those relations.[5](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-history/article/abs/siam-and-laos-17671827/5E7FC0DE01826F3BFCEA08E737EC7039) • [7](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-studies/article/abs/lao-historiography-and-historians-case-study-of-the-war-between-bangkok-and-the-lao-in-1827/73CDD7148C6A37C4C3380DCA21637FEF) Later scholarship, such as the reexamination of Lao-Thai relations by the Lao historians Mayoury Ngaosyvathn and Pheuiphanh Ngaosyvathn, has brought new source material to the period beginning with the 1778 [Siamese conquest of Vientiane](https://www.edgepedia.org/siamese-conquest-of-vientiane), the context of Nanthasen's installation.[8](https://books.google.com/books/about/Paths_to_Conflagration.html?id=9GRD_GV0kuMC)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Nanthasen, Chao (Britannica)](https://slovar-vocab.com/english/britannica-vocab/nanthasen-chao-7115633.html)\n2. [Kingdom of Vientiane | historical state, Laos (Britannica)](https://www.britannica.com/place/kingdom-of-Vientiane)\n3. [Under Duress: Lao War Captives at Bangkok in the Nineteenth Century (Journal of the Siam Society)](https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/JSS_097_0d_VanRoy_UnderDuressLaoWarCaptives.pdf)\n4. [Laos - Lan Xang (Library of Congress Country Study)](https://countrystudies.us/laos/6.htm)\n5. [Siam and Laos, 1767–1827 (Journal of Southeast Asian History)](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-history/article/abs/siam-and-laos-17671827/5E7FC0DE01826F3BFCEA08E737EC7039)\n6. [Two Historical Records of the Kingdom of Vientiane (Michael Vickery)](http://michaelvickery.org/vickery2003two-rev.pdf)\n7. [Lao Historiography and Historians: Case Study of the War Between Bangkok and the Lao in 1827 (Journal of Southeast Asian Studies)](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-studies/article/abs/lao-historiography-and-historians-case-study-of-the-war-between-bangkok-and-the-lao-in-1827/73CDD7148C6A37C4C3380DCA21637FEF)\n8. [Paths to Conflagration: Fifty Years of Diplomacy and Warfare in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, 1778-1828](https://books.google.com/books/about/Paths_to_Conflagration.html?id=9GRD_GV0kuMC)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › Southeast Asia › Lan Xang and the Lao kingdoms (1353 to 1893)*\n\n*Initially written Sep 24, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/nanthasen", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/nanthasen.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Nanthasen\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/nanthasen. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Nanthasen](https://www.edgepedia.org/nanthasen)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/nanthasen](https://www.edgepedia.org/nanthasen). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Nanthasen\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/nanthasen. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Nanthasen, eldest son of King Siribunyasan, was king of Vientiane from 1781 to about 1795 as a Siamese vassal, warring with Luang Prabang before being recalled to Bangkok." }