Nanthasen (also spelled Nanthasan; , died 1795), also known as Chao Nan, was the 6th king of the

Kingdom of Vientiane The Kingdom of Vientiane was formed in 1707 as a result of the split of the Lan Xang, Kingdom of Lan Xang. The kingdom was a Konbaung Dynasty, Burmese vassal from 1765 to 1779. It then became a Rattanakosin Kingdom, Siamese vassal until 1828 whe ...

. He ruled from 1781 to 1795. Nanthasen was the eldest son of his father

Ong Bun Phrachao Siribounyasan (; ; died November 1781), also known as Ong Boun (), Bunsan or Xaiya Setthathirath III, was the 3rd king of the Kingdom of Vientiane (r. 1767 to 1781). Ong Boun was the second son of Setthathirath II. He was appointed the g ...

. In 1778, King

Taksin King Taksin the Great (, , ) or the King of Thonburi (, ; ; Teochew: Dên Chao; 17 April 1734 – 7 April 1782) was the only king of the Thonburi Kingdom that ruled Thailand from 1767 to 1782. He had been an aristocrat in the Ayutthaya Kingdom ...

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

decided to invade three Lao kingdoms because they were pro-Burmese, and the

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (horse), a ...

King considered the Lao kingdoms as his base to expand further east. A Siamese army under Somdej Chao Phya Mahakasatsuek (later

Rama I Phutthayotfa Chulalok (born Thongduang; 20 March 1737 – 7 September 1809), also known by his regnal name Rama I, was the founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (now Thailand) and the first King of Siam from the reigning Chakri dynasty. He asc ...

) invaded Vientiane. Nanthasen was appointed the commander-in-chief to fight against Siam. The Kingdom of Vientiane was defeated, and Ong Bun fled into the jungle. Nanthasen was captured by the Siamese army and taken to

Thonburi __NOTOC__ Thonburi () is an area of modern Bangkok. During the era of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, Kingdom of Ayutthaya, its location on the right (west) bank at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River had made it an important garrison town, which is ref ...

together with his brothers. The

Emerald Buddha The Emerald Buddha ( , or , ) is an image of the meditating Gautama Buddha seated in a Meditation attitude, meditative posture, made of a semi-precious green stone (jasper rather than emerald or jade), clothed in gold, and about tall. The imag ...

and

Phra Bang The Phra Bang (, ; , , "Royal Buddha Image in the Dispelling Fear mudra") is a statue of Buddha in the city of Luang Prabang, Laos; it is the namesake of that city. The statue stands at , with palms facing forward, cast using ''thong'', an alloy ...

were also taken to Thonburi. Vientiane became Siam dependency.Wyatt, p. 143 In 1781, Nanthasen was allowed to return to Vientiane as king. The Phra Bang was also returned to Vientiane. However, his younger brother

Inthavong Chao Inthavong (; ; died 7 February 1805), or known as his regnal name Xaiya Setthathirath IV, was the 5th king of the Kingdom of Vientiane (r. 1795 to 1805). Inthavong was the second son of King Ong Boun. In 1778, he was taken as hostage by Siame ...

was crowned the ''

oupahat Uparaja is a noble title reserved for the viceroy in India and the Buddhist dynasties in Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, as well as some of their minor tributary kingdoms. It is ultimately from Sanskrit उपराज ''upa- rāja'' equivalent ...

'' ("vice king") by Siam, and left in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

as hostage. During Nanthasen's reign, Vientiane also invaded

Muang Phuan Muang Phuan (, ; ; Country of Phuan) or Xieng Khouang (, ; ), also known historically to the Vietnamese as Trấn Ninh (chữ Hán: 鎮寧; lit. "securement of peace"), was a historical principality on the Xiang Khouang Plateau, which constitut ...

, and captured its capital Xieng Khouang. In 1791, Nanthasen convinced Rama I that King

Anurutha Chao Anurutha (also spelled Anouruttha or Anurathurat; ; 1737 – 31 December 1819) was the king of Luang Phrabang from 1792 to 1819. Anurutha was the fourth son of king Inthasom. He was appointed the viceroy ('' oupahat'') of Luang Phrabang in 1 ...

Luang Prabang Luang Prabang (Lao language, Lao: wikt:ຫຼວງພະບາງ, ຫຼວງພະບາງ, pronounced ), historically known as Xieng Thong (ຊຽງທອງ) and alternatively spelled Luang Phabang or Louangphabang, is the capital of Lu ...

was secretly meeting with the Burmese and plotting a rebellion against Siam. He was permitted to attack

, and captured the city in 1792. After the

Battle of Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa The Battle of Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa or Qing invasion of Tây Sơn dynasty, Đại Việt (; ), also known as Victory of Kỷ Dậu (), was fought between the forces of the Vietnamese Tây Sơn dynasty and the Qing dynasty in (a place near ...

, a Vietnamese Lê prince,

Lê Duy Chỉ Le is a romanization of several rare East Asian surnames and a common Vietnamese surname. It is a fairly common surname in the United States, ranked 975th during the 1990 US Census, 1990 census and 368th during the 2000 US Census, 2000 census. In 2 ...

(黎維祗), fled to

Tuyên Quang Tuyên Quang () is a city in Vietnam, and is the capital of Tuyên Quang Province. History The French post at Tuyên Quang was defended for four months against 12,000 troops of the Yunnan Army and the Black Flag Army by two companies of the ...

and

Cao Bằng Cao Bằng () is a city in northern Vietnam. It is the capital and largest settlement of Cao Bằng Province. It is located on the bank of the Bằng Giang river, and is around away from the border with China's Guangxi region. According to the 2 ...

, to fight against

Tây Sơn dynasty The Tây Sơn dynasty (; , (chữ Hán: 朝西山; Chữ Nôm: 茹西山), officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was an imperial dynasty of Vietnam. It originated in a revolt led by three peasant brothers with the surname Nguyễn, r ...

. Chỉ devised a plan to unite Vientiane and

in a revolt of Tây Sơn dynasty. In 1791, Vientiane was invaded by Tây Sơn dynasty, Nanthasen had to flee. Finally, he reached an accommodation with Tây Sơn dynasty. In January 1795, Nanthasen accused of plotting a rebellion'' Đại Nam chính biên liệt truyện sơ tập''
vol. 32
/ref> with the Lao governor of

Nakhon Phanom Nakhon Phanom (, ; , ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in northeastern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Phanom Province. The town covers ''tambons'' Nai Mueang and Nong Saeng and parts of ''tambons'' At Samat and Nong Yat, all in Mueang Nakhon Phano ...

, allegedly having made diplomatic overtures to Tây Sơn. He was deposed and taken to Bangkok as a prisoner. He died there in June or July 1795, childless. His younger brother

succeeded.

References

* *
Siamese/Thai history and culture–Part 4
Kings of Vientiane 1795 deaths 18th-century monarchs in Asia 18th-century Laotian people {{Laos-royal-stub