Mueang ( th, เมือง ''mɯ̄ang'', ), Muang ( lo, ເມືອງ ''mɯ́ang'', ; Tai Nuea: ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ''muang''), Mong ( shn, ''mə́ŋ'', ), Meng () or Mường (Vietnamese), were pre-modern semi-independent

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

s or

principalities A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall und ...

in mainland Southeast Asia, adjacent regions of

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

and

Southern China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not ...

, including what is now

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, Laos,

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

, parts of northern

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

, southern

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

, western Guangxi and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. Mueang was originally a term in the

Tai languages The Tai or Zhuang–Tai languages ( th, ภาษาไท or , transliteration: or ) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including Standard Thai or S ...

for a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

having a defensive wall and a ruler with at least the Thai noble rank of '' khun'' (), together with its dependent villages. The mandala model of political organisation organised states in collective hierarchy such that smaller mueang were subordinate to more powerful neighboring ones, which in turn were subordinate to a central king or other leader. The more powerful mueang (generally designated as '' chiang'', '' wiang'', '' nakhon'' or '' krung'' – with

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in 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 estimated populatio ...

as ''Krung'' Thep Maha ''Nakhon'') occasionally tried to liberate themselves from their

suzerain Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is ca ...

and could enjoy periods of relative independence. Mueang large and small often shifted

allegiance An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens to their state or sovereign. Etymology From Middle English ''ligeaunce'' (see medieval Latin ''ligeantia'', "a liegance"). The ''al ...

, and frequently paid

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conq ...

to more than one powerful neighbor – the most powerful of the period being

Ming China The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

. Following

Kublai Khan Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of the ...

's defeat of the Dali Kingdom of the

Bai people The Bai, or Pai ( Bai: Baipho, (白和); ; endonym pronounced ), are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province, Bijie area of Guizhou Province, and Sangzhi area of Hunan Province. They consti ...

in 1253 and its establishment as a tutelary state, new mueang were founded widely throughout the

Shan States The Shan States (1885–1948) were a collection of minor Shan kingdoms called '' muang'' whose rulers bore the title '' saopha'' in British Burma. They were analogous to the princely states of British India. The term "Shan States" was fi ...

and adjoining regions – though the common description of this as a "mass migration" is disputed. Following historical Chinese practice, tribal leaders principally in Yunnan were recognized by the Yuan as imperial officials, in an arrangement generally known as the

Tusi ''Tusi'', often translated as "headmen" or "chieftains", were hereditary tribal leaders recognized as imperial officials by the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties of China, and the Later Lê and Nguyễn dynasties of Vietnam. They ruled certain ...

("Native Chieftain") system.

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

and

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

-era dynasties gradually replaced native chieftains with non-native Chinese government officials. In the 19th century, Thailand's

Chakri dynasty The Chakri dynasty ( th, ราชวงศ์ จักรี, , , ) is the current reigning dynasty of the Kingdom of Thailand, the head of the house is the king, who is head of state. The family has ruled Thailand since the founding of the ...

and Burma's colonial and subsequent military rulers did much the same with their lesser mueang, but, while the

petty kingdom A petty kingdom is a kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the numerous kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England unified into ...

s are gone, the place names remain.

Place names

Place names in

Southwestern Tai languages The Southwestern Tai, Southwestern Thai or Thai languages are a branch of the Tai languages of Southeast Asia. Its dialects include Siamese (Central Thai), Lanna, Lao, Shan and others. Classification The internal classification of the South ...

Cambodia

In Khmer, "moeang" (មឿង) is a word borrowed from the Thai language meaning "small city" or "small town."Headley, Robert K
"SEAlang Library Khmer"
''SEAlang Library'', 05/14/2018 Usually used as a place name for villages.
Angkor Moeang
* Moeang Char * Moeang Prachen

China

The place-name of Mueang is written in Chinese script as zh, c=勐, labels=no or zh, c=孟, labels=no, which written in

Tai Nuea language Tai Nuea or Tai Nüa (Tai Nüa: ; also called Tai Le, Dehong Dai or Chinese Shan; own name: ''Tai2 Lə6'', which means "Upper Tai" or "Northern Tai" or , ; Chinese: ''Dǎinàyǔ'', 傣那语 or ''Déhóng Dǎiyǔ'', 德宏傣语; th, ภาษ� ...

as ᥛᥫᥒᥰ and in Tai Lue language as ᦵᦙᦲᧂ.

Laos

Laos is colloquially known as '' Muang Lao'', but for

Lao people The Lao people are a Tai ethnic group native to Southeast Asia, who speak the eponymous language of the Kra–Dai languages. They are the majority ethnic group of Laos, making up 53.2% of the total population. The majority of Lao people adher ...

, the word conveys more than mere administrative district. The usage is of special historic interest for the Lao; in particular for their traditional socio-political and administrative organisation, and the formation of their early (power) states, described by later scholars as Mandala (Southeast Asian political model).

Provinces of Laos Laos, officially the ''Lao People's Democratic Republic'', is divided into 17 provinces ( Lao ແຂວງ, , , or ) and one prefecture, the Vientiane capital city municipality (ນະຄອນຫຼວງ, nakhon louang, or ''Na Kone Luang Vi ...

are now subdivided into what are commonly translated as

districts of Laos Laos is divided into 17 provinces ( Lao: ແຂວງ, ''khoueng'') and 1 prefecture (''kampheng nakhon''), or capital city municipality (ນະຄອນຫລວງ, '' nakhon luang''). Furthermore, 1 so-called special administrative zone (ເຂ ...

, with some retaining Muang as part of the name: * Muang Sing * Muang Xay *Former Muang ** Muang Phuan (modern Phonsavan, capital city of

Xiangkhouang Province Xiangkhouang ( Lao: ຊຽງຂວາງ, meaning 'Horizontal City') is a province of Laos on the Xiangkhoang Plateau, in the nation's northeast. The province has the distinction of being the most heavily bombed place on Earth. The province ...

) ** Muang Sua

Myanmar

* Mong Mao * Mong Hsat *

Mong Hpayak Monghpyak"Möng Hpāyāk (Approved)" , United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (also Mong Hpyak, Mongphyat, Maingbyat, Meng-pen-ma; Mong is equivalent to Mueang) is a town in Kengtung District (formerly part of Mong Hpayak Distric ...

* Mong Ton *

Mong Nai Möng Nai or Mongnai is a town in Mong Nai Township in the Shan State of Burma. ''Mong'' is equivalent to Mueang. History Prior to World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world ...

* Mong Ping *

Mohnyin Mohnyin ( my, မိုးညှင်း, ; Shan:မိူင်းယၢင်း) is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is the administrative center for both Mohnyin Township and Mohnyin District and it has a population of 33,290. History ...

(former Mongyang State) *

Mogaung Mogaung ( my, မိုးကောင်း ; ( Shan: မိူင်းၵွင်း) is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is situated on the Mandalay- Myitkyina railway line. History Mogaung or Möngkawng was the name and capital (ro ...

(former Mongkawng) * Momauk *

Mogok Mogok (, ; Shan language, Shan: , ) is a town in the Thabeikkyin District of Mandalay Region of Myanmar, located north of Mandalay and north-east of Shwebo, Sagaing, Shwebo. History Mogok is believed to have been founded in 1217 by three los ...

* Momeik

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

* Ahom kingdom – The Mueang (currently the states of

and

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It share ...

North-East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

), established by a Tai Prince

Sukaphaa Sukaphaa (), also Siu-Ka-Pha, the first Ahom king in medieval Assam, was the founder of the Ahom kingdom and the architect of Assam. A prince of the Su/Tsu (Tiger) clan of the Mao-Shan sub-tribe originally from present-day Mong Mao, Yunnan Pro ...

in 1228 with 9000 Tai People migrated from Mong Mao called as Ahom by local people, transformed itself into a huge kingdom by the 17th century that withstood the might of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the ...

Thailand

Thailand is colloquially known as ''Mueang Thai''. After the '' Thesaphiban'' reforms of Prince

Damrong Rajanubhab Prince Tisavarakumarn, the Prince Damrong Rajanubhab ( Thai: ; Full transcription is "Somdet Phrachao Borommawongthoe Phra-ongchao Ditsawarakuman Kromphraya Damrongrachanuphap" (สมเด็จพระเจ้าบรมวงศ์เธ� ...

, city-states under

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

were organized into

monthon ''Monthon'' ( th, มณฑล) were administrative subdivisions of Thailand at the beginning of the 20th century. The Thai word ''monthon'' is a translation of the word '' mandala'' (', literally "circle"), in its sense of a type of political fo ...

(, Thai translation of

mandala A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...

), which was changed to ''

changwat The provinces of Thailand are part of the government of Thailand that is divided into 76 provinces ( th, จังหวัด, , ) proper and one special administrative area ( th, เขตปกครองส่วนท้องถิ่น ...

'' () in 1916. ''Mueang'' still can be found as the term for the capital districts of the provinces (''

amphoe mueang An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', th, อำเภอ, )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the provinces, and are analogous to countie ...

''), as well as for a municipal status equivalent to town (''

thesaban mueang Thesaban ( th, เทศบาล, , ) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesaban'' system. The mu ...

''). In standard Thai, the term for the country of Thailand is ประเทศไทย, rtgs: Prathet Thai.

Mueang toponyms

''Mueang'' still forms part of the placenames of a few places, notably Don Mueang District, home to

Don Mueang International Airport Don Mueang International Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานดอนเมือง, , , or colloquially as , ) is one of two international airports serving the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, the other one being Suvarnabhumi Airp ...

; and in the Royal Thai General System of Transcription ''Mueang Phatthaya'' () for the

self-governing __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority (sociology), authority. It may refer to personal co ...

municipality of

Pattaya Pattaya ( th, พัทยา, , ) is a city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, within, but not part of, Bang Lamung district in the province of Chonburi. Pattaya City ( th, เมือ ...

Nakhon mueang

''Nakhon'' () as meaning "city" has been modified to ''

thesaban nakhon Thesaban ( th, เทศบาล, , ) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesaban'' system. The mu ...

'' (), usually translated as "

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

". It still forms part of the name of some places. *

Krung Thep Maha Nakhon Bangkok, officially known in 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 estimated population ...

* Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya * Nakhon Lampang * Nakhon Nayok *

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima ( th, นครราชสีมา, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan, Thailand, known as the "big four of Isan". The city is commonly known as Korat (, ), a shortened form of its name. It is the governmental seat o ...

Nakhon Si Thammarat Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality ( th, เทศบาลนครนครศรีธรรมราช, ; from Pali ''Nagara Sri Dhammaraja'') is a municipality (''thesaban nakhon'') in Southern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat prov ...

* Nakhon Thai * Renu Nakhon

Buri mueang

Sung Noen District Sung Noen ( th, สูงเนิน, ) is a district (''amphoe'') in western part of Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeastern Thailand. History The literal translation of ''Sung Noen'' is 'high hills', as the area has two high (sung) hills (no ...

is noted for having been the site of two ancient cities: Mueang Sema and Khorakhapura.

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist '' Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Bud ...

''púra'' became

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

''puri'', hence Thai , (buri) all connoting the same as Thai ''mueang'': city with defensive wall. "Khorakhapura" was nicknamed "Nakhon Raj," which as a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsBuriram * Chonburi * Sing Buri * Suphan Buri * Thonburi

Vietnam

* Muong Cha * Muong La * Mường Lay * Muong Lat *

Muong Khuong Muong may refer to: *Muong people, third largest of Vietnam's 53 minority groups ** Muong language, spoken by the Mường people of Vietnam *No Muong, king of the southern Laotian Kingdom of Champasak in 1811 * Mueang Mueang ( th, เมือง ...

* Muong Nhe * Muong Te *

Muong Thanh Muong may refer to: *Muong people, third largest of Vietnam's 53 minority groups ** Muong language, spoken by the Mường people of Vietnam *No Muong, king of the southern Laotian Kingdom of Champasak in 1811 * Mueang Mueang ( th, เมือง ...

Etymology

:'' NB: Luo et al. employ / ü/ which may erroneously scan as /ii/.''

Müang Fai irrigation system

''Müang Fai'' is a term reconstructed from

Proto-Tai Proto-Tai is the reconstructed proto-language (common ancestor) of all the Tai languages, including modern Lao, Shan, Tai Lü, Tai Dam, Ahom, Northern Thai, Standard Thai, Bouyei, and Zhuang. The Proto-Tai language is not directly attest ...

, the common ancestor of all

. In the Guangxi-

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

of Southern China region, the term described what was then a unique type of irrigation engineering for wet-rice cultivation. ''Müang'' meaning 'irrigation channel, ditch, canal' and ''Fai'', 'dike, weir, dam.' together referred to gravitational irrigation systems for directing water from streams and rivers. The Proto-Tai language is not directly attested by any surviving texts, but has been reconstructed using the

comparative method In linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with common descent from a shared ancestor and then extrapolating backwards ...

. This term has Proto-Tai-tone A1. All A1 words are rising tone in modern Thai and Lao, following rules determined for tone origin. Accordingly, the term is: :in modern th, เหมืองฝาย :in modern lo, ເຫມື່ອງຝາຍ.http://sealang.net/lao/dictionary.htm ເຫມືອງຝາຽ ( NB: SEAlang library's Lao entry omits tonal marking – a typographical error.) Different linguistic tones give different meanings; scholarship has not established a link between this term and any of the terms which differ in tone.

Origin of mueang

Mueang conveys many meanings, all having to do with administrative, social, political and religious orientation on wet-rice cultivation. The origin of the word ''mueang'' yet remains obscure. In October 2007, The

National Library of Laos The National Library of Laos (Lao language: ຫໍສະໝຸດແຫ່ງຊາດ) is in Vientiane, Laos. It was established in 1956. Starting in October 2007, the library has collaborated with the University of Passau and the Berlin State Lib ...

, in collaboration with the

Berlin State Library The Berlin State Library (german: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It is one of the la ...

and the

University of Passau The University of Passau (''Universität Passau'' in German) is a public research university located in Passau, Lower Bavaria, Germany. Founded in 1973, it is the youngest university in Bavaria and consequently has the most modern campus in th ...

, started a project to produce the Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts. Papers presented at the Literary Heritage of Laos Conference, held in

Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...

in 2005, have also been made available. Many of the mss. illuminate the administrative, social, political, and religious demands put on communities in the same watershed area that insured a high degree of cooperation to create and maintain irrigation systems (''müang-faai'') – which probably was the primary reason for founding ''mueang''.

Kham Mueang

''Kham Mueang'' ( th, คำเมือง) is the modern spoken form of the old

Northern Thai language Kam Mueang ( nod, , กำเมือง) or Northern Thai language ( th, ภาษาไทยถิ่นเหนือ) is the language of the Northern Thai people of Lanna, Thailand. It is a Southwestern Tai language that is closely rela ...

that was the language of the kingdom of

Lan Na The Lan Na Kingdom ( nod, , , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; th, อาณาจักรล้านนา, , ), also known as Lannathai, and most commonly called Lanna or Lanna Kingdom, was an Indianized state centered in present-day ...

(Million Fields). Central Thai may call

northern Thai people The Northern Thai people or Tai Yuan ( th, ไทยวน, ), self-designation ''khon mu(e)ang'' ( nod, , คนเมือง meaning "people of the (cultivated) land" or "people of our community") are a Tai ethnic group, native to eight ...

and their language

Thai Yuan The Northern Thai people or Tai Yuan ( th, ไทยวน, ), self-designation ''khon mu(e)ang'' ( nod, , คนเมือง meaning "people of the (cultivated) land" or "people of our community") are a Tai ethnic group, native to eight ...

. They call their language ''Kham Mueang'' in which ''Kham'' means language or word; ''mueang''; town, hence the meaning of "town language," specifically in contrast to those of the many hill tribe peoples in the surrounding mountainous areas.

References

{{reflist Former countries in Southeast Asia Former countries in Thai history Former countries in Chinese history Subdivisions of Laos Subdivisions of Myanmar Subdivisions of Thailand Thai words and phrases Types of administrative division

Place names

Cambodia

China

Laos

Myanmar

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

Thailand

Mueang toponyms

Nakhon mueang

Buri mueang

Vietnam

Etymology

Müang Fai irrigation system

Origin of mueang

Kham Mueang

See also

References