Rule in Chiang Hung, a “Basin Polity” of Sipsongpanna-Tai

Abstract

There were a large number of “muang polities” of the Tai in the northern part of continental Southeast Asia. A muang polity would typically be established in an inter-mountain basin and was independently governed by its own king and his family. The polities sometimes formed leagues of muangs, such as the Lannathai league and the Sipsongpanna league etc. Ishii called these societies “quasi-hydraulic societies”, as the irrigation systems were controlled by the “state power”. This article presents an illustration from a physiographic point of view of how a muang polity governed its people in a “quasi-hydraulic society” by analyzing the case of Chiang Hung, a muang whose king was also the overall king of the Sipsongpanna league. Most of the information used in this analysis is obtained from the reports of a survey carried out in the 1950's for the purpose of land reform by the Peoples' Republic of China.The Chiang Hung basin can be divided into two areas, the alluvial fans area and the alluvial plain area. Irrigation was comparatively easy in the former but more difficult in the latter. It is said that at first each alluvial fan had its own irrigation system controlled by those who located on the apex part, where they could control the intake of the main canals from the river.Chiang Hung had two types of inhabitants: the Tai Muang, and the Kun Huan Chao. According to traditions, the Tai Muang's ancestors had been the initial Tai inhabitants of the basin. On the other hand, many villages of the Kun Huan Chao had close relations to the royalty of this muang when they were established. Some Kun Huan Chao villages were established by servants of the king or high-ranking officials, while others were established by Kun Huan Chao immigrants invited by the royal house. Both the conditions of the arabl land and the kinds of labor found seem to suggest that the Tai Muang were more independent of the monarchs than the Kun Huan Chao were.Almost all the Tai Muang in the basin lived in the alluvial fans area, where irrigation was relatively simple. Of the bigger canals, the Tai Muang in the basin used only the canals on the two biggest alluvial fans. The oldest and dominant Tai Muang villages are found in both of the apex parts of the alluvial fans, which are the most important for operating the irrigation system on alluvial fans. Also, each of the two alluvial fans had a self-governing body of the Tai Muang, the so-called long, with an irrigation leader whose power extends over the area of the long, or alluvial fan. The above facts suggest that the Tai Muang may originally have made and operated an irrigation system on each of the two biggest alluvial fans without any support of the power of the “state”, and that their self-governing bodies derived from the former alluvial fan irrigation control groupKun Huan Chao villages were located not only in the alluvial fans area but also in the alluvial plain area, which must have originally consisted of swamps. These areas had to be drained to be brought under cultivation. To drain and cultivate this area, the existence of the monarchy, or the “state power” was essential. It could settle the Kun Huan Chao there and organize its labor for the task of extending the main canals, which had already been constructed by the Tai Muang from the apexes to the lowest parts of the alluvial fans. Following this, to ensure the cultivation of this area, the state power gave titles to the irrigation leaders, especially to those of Kun Huan Chao villages located in the alluvial plain.In conclusion, it can be said that the alluvial fans area was basically the Tai Muang's autonomous area, over which the “state power” did not effectively wield power. They originally made and operated the irrigation systems by themselves. The alluvial plain area was brought under cultivation by “state power” and was ruled mo