The northeast - The Rough Guide to Laos - page 218

tury, an independent Phuan principality , known as Xieng Khuang and centred on modern-
day Muang Khoun , had already begun to flourish here.
The Kingdom of Xieng Khuang
While the Kingdom of Xieng Khuang had the wealth to build exquisite pagodas, it never
amassed the might necessary to become a regional power. Sandwiched between the great em-
pires lying to its east and west, Phuan kings maintained a semblance of independence over the
years by offering tribute to Vietnam and Lane Xang and eventually Siam. Whatever price the
royal house paid, however, it was not enough to keep Xieng Khuang from being repeatedly
annexed, overrun and forcibly depopulated, beginning with the invading armies of the Vi-
etnamese on their way back from sacking Luang Prabang in the late 1470s through to the
Second Indochina War, when nearly every village in the province was obliterated.
In 1869, warrior horsemen from southern China raced across the plain, slaughtering villa-
gers or carrying them off into captivity. These Black Flag bandits pillaged the riches of the
kingdom and plundered the contents of the jars. Those who fled didn't get far: Lao and Thai
soldiers on their way to Xieng Khuang to quell the invasion rounded up the refugees and
frogmarched them through the jungle to the Chao Phraya River Valley in Siam, where they
became slaves to Thai lords. The tortuous march lasted over a month, with many dying along
the way, lost to sickness and starvation. In two generations, Siamese armies and Chinese ban-
dits reduced the population by three-quarters through death and forced migration. The Phuan
state never recovered.
French rule
Xieng Khuang enjoyed better protection from its neighbours with the arrival of the French ,
who considered the province's temperate climate - which can be downright cold by any
measure for several months of the year - suitable for European settlement and plantation ag-
riculture. The primary cash crop, however, was opium , a trade the French quickly moved to
control. Muang Khoun was chosen as the French provincial capital and the devastated former
royal seat of the defunct kingdom was transformed into an architectural gem of French In-
dochinese villas and shop houses, which might have rivalled the charm of Luang Prabang
and Savannakhet had Xieng Khuang not returned to its familiar role as battleground a few
decades later.
The Second Indochina War
One hundred years after the carnage of the Chinese bandits, American planes wreaked de-
struction that was equally indiscriminate, levelling towns and forcing villagers to take to the
forest, as the two sides in the Second Indochina War waged a bitter battle for control of
the Plain of Jars, which represented a back door to northern Vietnam. Throughout much of
the 1960s, Xieng Khuang was the site of a seesaw war, with the Royalist side led by Hmong
General Vang Pao gaining the upper hand in the rainy season and the communist side launch-
ing offensives in the dry months.