Thống chế Điều bát Nguyễn Văn Tồn ( vi-hantu, 統制調撥 阮文存, 1763–1820) was a general and official of the
Nguyễn dynasty
The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...
of
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 ...
.
He was a
Khmer Krom
The ''Khmer Krom'' ( km, ជនជាតិខ្មែរក្រោម, , , lit. 'Lower Khmers' or 'Southern Khmers'; vi, người Khơ-me Crộm, người Khmer Nam Bộ, người Khmer Việt Nam, người Việt gốc Miên (used before 19 ...
. He was either born in
or in
,
Cần Thơ Province (in present-day
Vĩnh Long Province). His Khmer name was ''Duồn'' or ''Duông''. At first he was a slave. He followed
Nguyễn Ánh
Gia Long ( (''North''), (''South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unifie ...
to
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 ...
in 1784, in there he was promoted to ''cai đội'' and took the Vietnamese name Nguyễn Văn Tồn. He followed Nguyễn Ánh back to Southern Vietnam in 1787. He gathered an army of several thousand Khmers in
Trà Vinh and Mân Thít (present-day
Mang Thít), called the ''Xiêm binh đồn'' (暹兵屯, lit. "Siamese soldiers' camp"), to reinforce Nguyễn Ánh.
Tồn joint the battle of
Quy Nhơn
Quy Nhon ( vi, Quy Nhơn ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2019 its population was 457,400. H ...
in 1801. He was captured by
Tây Sơn rebels. He was appreciated by Tây Sơn generals and joint the rebels. He did fight bravely for them, however, not long after he escaped and joint the
Nguyễn
Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname.
By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this su ...
army again. He was promoted to ''cai cơ'' in the next year and sent to Trà Vinh and Mân Thít.
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 ...
ese invaded
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 ...
in 1811. Nguyễn Văn Tồn and
Nguyễn Văn Thoại
Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname.
By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this s ...
were sent to help him. They defeated Siamese army in
Longvek
Longvek or Lavek ( km, លង្វែក, or , ; meaning "intersection" or "crossroads") was a city in Cambodia. It was the second capital city during the Cambodia's Post-Angkor period which began after the Angkor era. The city was known to ear ...
. Nguyễn Văn Tồn was left in
Phnom Penh to "protect" the Cambodian king
Ang Chan
Ang Chan II ( km, ព្រះបាទអង្គចន្ទទី២; 1791 – 7 January 1835) was King of Cambodia from 1806 to his death in 1835. He reigned under the name of Outey Reachea III ( km, ឧទ័យរាជាទី៣).
Ang C ...
. He was promoted to ''thống chế'' (統制), and received the title ''Dung Ngọc hầu'' (lit. Marquess Dung Ngọc) from Nguyễn dynasty.
Nguyễn Văn Tồn was appointed ''Điều bát nhung vụ'' in 1819. He was sent to
Châu Đốc
Châu Đốc is a city in An Giang Province, bordering Cambodia, in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2013, the city had a population of 157,298, and cover an area of .
The city is located by the Hậu River (a branch of the Mekong Rive ...
to dig the
Vĩnh Tế Canal. He died in the next year.
Emperor Minh Mạng mourned his death; the emperor compared him with
Jin Midi
Jin Midi (134–86 BC) (, courtesy name Wengshu (翁叔), formally Marquess Jing of Du (秺敬侯), was a foreign prince and a warrior of the Western Han Dynasty. He was a Hu (胡) "barbarian" from a kingdom in central Gansu area and ser ...
, a prominent official of the Chinese
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
of
Xiongnu ethnicity.
His tomb was in present-day
Trà Ôn District,
Vĩnh Long Province. The tomb was called ''Lăng ông Tiền quân Thống chế Điều bát'' by local people.
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]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Van Ton
Generals of the Nguyễn lords
Nguyen dynasty generals
Nguyen dynasty officials
Khmer Krom people
People from Vĩnh Long province
1763 births
1820 deaths