Phạm Văn Tham (范文參, ?–1789) or Phạm Văn Sâm, was a general of

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 ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Phạm Văn Tham was an elder brother of

Phạm Ngạn Phạm Ngạn (范彥, ?–?) was a general of Tây Sơn dynasty, Vietnam. Phạm Ngạn was a brother of Phạm Văn Tham and Phạm Công Hưng. He also had a sister Phạm Thị Liên, whom was Nguyễn Huệ's wife. He was promoted to '' ...

and Phạm Công Hưng. He also had a sister

Phạm Thị Liên Phạm Thị Liên (范氏蓮, 1758–1791) was an empress consort of Tây Sơn dynasty, Vietnam. Born in Quy Nhơn, Bình Định Province. According to ''Đại Nam chính biên liệt truyện'', she was maternal half-sister of Bùi Đắ ...

, whom was

Nguyễn Huệ Emperor Quang Trung (; vi-hantu, 光中, 1753 – 16 September 1792) or Nguyễn Huệ ( vi-hantu, 阮惠), also known as Nguyễn Quang Bình ( vi-hantu, 阮光平), or Hồ Thơm (chữ Hán: 胡𦹳) was the second emperor of the Tây Sơn dy ...

's wife. Tham joined the Tây Sơn army in early time. He was promoted to ''Thái bảo'' ("Grand Protector"), and participated in many battles against

Nguyễn lords The Nguyễn lords (, 主阮; 1558–1777, 1780–1802), also known as the Nguyễn clan (; ), were Nguyễn dynasty's forerunner and a feudal noble clan ruling southern Đại Việt in the Revival Lê dynasty. The Nguyễn lords were membe ...

. He killed Dương Công Trừng and Nguyễn Đăng Vân in action, and defeated

Tôn Thất Huy Tôn (孫) (Anglicised as Ton) is a Vietnamese surname. It is transliterated as Sun in Chinese and Son in Korean. Notable people *Tôn Đức Thắng (1888–1980), first President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam *Tôn Hiếu Anh (), Vietnam ...

, Tôn Thất Hội. In 1787,

Nguyễn Ánh Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...

returned to Vietnam and landed in

Long Xuyên Long Xuyên (), formally named Thủ Đông Xuyên, is the capital city of An Giang province, in the Mekong Delta region of south-western Vietnam. History In 1789, a group of explorers established a small outpost in the Tam Khe canal, naming i ...

. Getting the information,

Nguyễn Lữ Nguyễn Lữ ( vi-hantu, 阮侶; died 1787), also known by the title of Đông Định vương (東定王, "king of Eastern Conquering"), was one of the Tây Sơn brothers who formed short-lived Tây Sơn dynasty of Vietnam. Biography Lữ had t ...

was afraid, and retreated to

Biên Hòa Biên Hòa (Northern accent: , Southern accent: ) is the capital city of Đồng Nai Province, Vietnam, and is part of the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area. Situated northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon), Biên Hòa is connect ...

, leaving Tham to defend

Gia Định ''Gia'' is a 1998 American biographical drama television film about the life and times of one of the first supermodels, Gia Carangi. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Gia and Faye Dunaway as Wilhelmina Cooper, with Mercedes Ruehl and Eliza ...

. Nguyễn Ánh forged a letter from

Nguyễn Nhạc Nguyễn Nhạc ( vi-hantu, 阮岳, born 1743, died 1793) was the founder of the Tây Sơn dynasty, reigning from 1778 to 1788. From 1778 to 1788, Nguyễn Nhạc proclaimed himself Emperor Thái Đức ( vi-hantu, 泰德). In 1788 after his ...

to Nguyễn Lữ, and sent it to Tham. In the letter, Nhạc described Tham as an overbearing man, and ordered Lữ to kill Tham. After receiving the letter, Tham marched to Biên Hòa, with a

white flag White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale. Contemporary use The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire and for negotiation. It is also used to symboliz ...

in front of the army, to justify his wrongful treatment. But the white flag was mistaken for his surrender to Nguyễn lord, Nguyễn Lữ abandoned his troops and fled to

Quy Nhơn Quy Nhon ( ) 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 was the capital of the former Bình Định province. As of 2022 its population was 481.110. H ...

.''

Việt Nam sử lược ( vi-hantu, 越南史略, , lit. "Outline History of Vietnam"), was the first history text published in the Vietnamese language and the Vietnamese alphabet. It was compiled by Vietnamese historian Trần Trọng Kim. It covered the period from ...

'', Quyển 2, Tự chủ thời đại, Chương 12 Tham had to fight alone. He defeated Nguyễn Ánh in Gia Định, and forced Nguyễn Ánh to retreat to

Mỹ Tho Mỹ Tho () is a city in the Tiền Giang province in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam. It has a population of approximately 169,000 in 2006 and 220,000 in 2012. It is the regional center of economics, education and technology. The majori ...

. The next year, in 1788,

Võ Tánh Võ Tánh ( 武性, ?—1801) was an 18th-century Vietnamese military commander, best known for his role as a general of Nguyễn Ánh, who unified modern-day Vietnam and ruled as Emperor Gia Long. Early life Võ Tánh was born in Phước Tinh ...

, a general of Đông Sơn army, decided to join Nguyễn lord's side. The tables were turned; Tham was defeated and fled to Ba Thắc. In 1789, he decided to break through the encirclement and flee to Quy Nhơn by ship, but was defeated and besieged by

Lê Văn Quân 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 census and 368th during the 2000 census. In 2000, it was the eighth-most-co ...

, Tôn Thất Hội, Võ Tánh and

Nguyễn Văn Trương Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''. By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...

. He had to surrender to Nguyễn lord, which marked the end of Tây Sơn rule in Gia Định. Not long after, he colluded with

, and planned to revolt against Nguyễn lord. The plot was uncovered, and he was executed.'' Đại Nam chính biên liệt truyện'', vol. 30

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pham, Van Tham 1789 deaths Tây Sơn dynasty generals