Thailand: Provincial map of Thailand showing the approximate frontiers of the former Lan Na Kingdom (1292-1774) and the Kingdom of Chiang Mai (1781-1939)
The Lan Na Kingdom effectively came into existence as an independent entity under King Mangrai the Great (r. 1259-1317), but the capital was not established at Chiang Mai ('New City') by Mangrai until 1892-96.
The Mangrai Dynasty ruled over an independent Lan Na Kingdom until 1558, when Chiang Mai was captured by Burma's King Bayinnaung (r. 1551-181). Chiang Mai remained a Burmese tributary state until the Lan Na Revolt (1771-1774).
In 1881 the former Lan Na Kingdom regained its independence in an alliance with Siam. Chao Kawila (r. 1781-1813) was the first of nine Chiang Mai Lords who ruled over the Kingdom of Chiang Mai until its last vestiges were subsumed with the Thai polity in 1939.
At its peak under King Tilokarat (1441-1487) Lan Na territories extended west across the Salween River and north to Kengtung in Shan State, northeast to Sipsongpanna (Xishuangbanna) in China's Yunnan Province, and east towards Luang Prabang in the Lao Kingdom of Lanchang.
Today the former Lan Na Kingdom is fully a part of the Kingdom of Thailand, though it retains its own distinctive language, customs, culture and cuisine. Since the end of the military government of Kriangsak Chomanan in 1980, Lan Na cultural pride and ethnic distinctiveness have made an ongoing recovery with the general support of the national government in Bangkok.
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