History of Laos Timeline

The Tai kingdom of Lanna was founded in 1259 in the north of what later is Thailand.

Image source: Lan Na

The Sukhothai Kingdom, founded in 1279, expanded northward and captured the city of Muang Sua, renaming it Xieng Dong Xieng Thong or 'City of Flame Trees beside the River Dong.'

Image source: Sukhothai Kingdom

Following the death of the Sukhothai king Ram Khamhaeng, and internal disputes within Lanna, Vieng Chan Vieng Kham (Vientiane) and Xieng Dong Xieng Thong (Luang Prabang) were independent city-states until the founding of the kingdom of Lan Xang in 1354.

Image source: Lan Xang

In later centuries the Lao themselves would preserve the legend in written form, becoming a depiction of life in Southeast Asia prior to Theravada Buddhism and Tai cultural influence.

Image source: Lan Xang

The kingdom of Lan Xang was founded in 1354, unifying Vientiane and Luang Prabang into a single Lao kingdom that would exist for centuries. In truncated form it traces back to this thirteenth-century-era legacy, existing as a unified kingdom from 1357 to 1707.

Lan Xang recovered and reached the apex of its political and economic power during the seventeenth century under King Sourigna Vongsa, who became the longest reigning of Lan Xang's monarchs (1637–1694) after defeating four rival claimants to the throne.

Image source: Sourigna Vongsa

Upon the death of Sourigna Vongsa a succession dispute and exploitation by Ayutthaya and Dai Viet led to the kingdom of Lan Xang being ultimately divided in 1707 into the three rival kingdoms of Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Champasak, which lasted from 1707 to 1779.

The Lao kingdoms fell to Siamese suzerainty from 1779 to 1893. The sack of Vientiane in 1779 brought the region firmly under Bangkok's control.

Image source: History of Laos

Siribunnyasan, the last independent king of Vientiane, died by 1780, and his sons Nanthasen, Inthavong, and Anouvong had been taken to Bangkok as prisoners during the sack of Vientiane in 1779.

Image source: Vientiane

The sons of Siribunnyasan became successive kings of Vientiane under Siamese suzerainty, beginning with Nanthasen in 1781.

Image source: Kingdom of Vientiane

In 1791, Anuruttha was confirmed by Rama I as king of Luang Prabang.

Image source: History of Laos

By 1792 Nanthasen had convinced Rama I that Anuruttha was secretly dealing with the Burmese, and Siam allowed Nanthasen to lead an army and besiege and capture Luang Prabang.

Anuruttha was sent to Bangkok as a prisoner, and through diplomatic exchanges facilitated by China, he was released in 1795.

Inthavong (1795–1804) became the next king of Vientiane, dispatching armies to aid Siam against Burmese invasions in 1797 and 1802, and to capture the Sipsong Chau Tai with his brother Anouvong as general.

By 1828, Anouvong had been captured, tortured and sent to Bangkok with his family to die in a cage after his rebellion against Siamese rule failed.

Image source: Anouvong

The population transfers and slave raids ameliorated toward the end of the nineteenth century when European observers and anti-slavery groups made their presence increasingly difficult for the Bangkok elite. In 1880, slave raiding and trading became illegal, while debt slavery persisted until 1905 by decree of King Chulalongkorn.

Image source: Slavery in Thailand

The borders of Laos were established by the French colonial government in the 19th and 20th centuries, defining the modern territorial shape of the country.

Image source: French protectorate of Laos

After falling to Siamese suzerainty from 1779, Laos was reunified under the French Protectorate of Laos in 1893.

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, allowing upward mobility of Lao to fill positions occupied by Vietnamese.

By 1943, the Vietnamese population stood at nearly 40,000, forming the majority in some cities of Laos and having the right to elect their own leaders. As late as 1945, the French drew up a plan to move Vietnamese populations to three areas.

In February 1945, a detachment from the Japanese Imperial Army moved into Xieng Khouang during World War II.

Under Japanese pressure, King Sisavangvong declared independence in April 1945.

Image source: Sisavang Vong

The Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945 emboldened pro-French factions and Prince Phetsarath was dismissed by King Sisavangvong.

Image source: Surrender of Japan

On 12 October 1945 the Lao Issara government was declared under the civil administration of Prince Phetsarath.

Image source: Lao Issara

In the next six months the French rallied against the Lao Issara and were able to reassert control over Indochina in April 1946.

With the Lao Issara in exile, in August 1946 France instituted a constitutional monarchy in Laos headed by King Sisavangvong, and Thailand agreed to return territories seized during the Franco-Thai War. The exiled Lao Issara maintained opposition until 1949, when the group split and the communist Pathet Lao was formed.

The Franco-Lao General Convention of 1949 provided most members of the Lao Issara with a negotiated amnesty and sought appeasement by establishing the Kingdom of Laos as a quasi-independent constitutional monarchy within the French Union.

Image source: Lao Issara

In 1950, additional powers were granted to the Royal Lao Government including training and assistance for a national army.

Image source: Royal Lao Government in Exile

On 22 October 1953, the Franco–Lao Treaty of Amity and Association transferred remaining French powers to the independent Royal Lao Government.

By 1954 the defeat at Dien Bien Phu brought eight years of fighting with the Vietminh, during the First Indochinese War, to an end and France abandoned all claims to the colonies of Indochina.

Image source: Battle of Dien Bien Phu

Growing North Vietnamese military presence in the country increasingly drew Laos into the Second Indochina War (1954–1975).

Image source: Laotian Civil War

A second Geneva conference, held in 1961–62, provided for the independence and neutrality of Laos, but the war resumed afterward.

Laos depended on Soviet aid channeled through Vietnam up until the Soviet collapse in 1991.

After the fall of South Vietnam to communist forces in April 1975, the Pathet Lao with the backing of North Vietnam were able to take total power.

On 2 December 1975, the king was forced to abdicate his throne and the Lao People's Democratic Republic was established.

The Plain of Jars was nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, recognizing its megalithic significance.

Since 1998, the Plain of Jars site has been cleared of unexploded ordnance left over from wartime bombing, enabling safe access and study of the ancient site.