Fa Ngum

Fa Ngum (1316–1393) founded the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. Born in Muang Sua, he was the son of Prince Phi Fa, whom his grandfather Khamphong had exiled to Angkor in the 1320s. He grew up at the Khmer court and married a Khmer princess.

Backed by Jayavarman IX, he returned with an army, subdued Lao principalities from Champasak to the upper Mekong, and in 1353 was crowned at Luang Prabang. He named his realm Lan Xang Hom Khao, land of a million elephants and a white parasol, and brought Theravada Buddhism and the Phra Bang from Angkor.

At his Khmer queen's request he made Buddhism the state religion in 1359. In 1372 his nobles deposed him in favour of his son Samsenethai, and Fa Ngum died in exile.