Mangrai

The Mangrai dynasty was the royal house of Lan Na, the northern Thai kingdom centered on Chiang Mai. Its founder Mangrai was king of Ngoenyang. He founded Chiang Rai in 1262, conquered Hariphunchai in 1281 and made Chiang Mai his capital in 1296.

After his death in 1311 succession disputes brought six kings in eleven years. In 1337 Phayu held the throne, re-fortifying Chiang Mai and building Wat Phra Singh. Under Kue Na later in the fourteenth century Theravada Buddhism flourished and the Doi Suthep stupa was founded.

Mid-sixteenth-century succession struggles weakened Lan Na: Ayutthaya forced tributary status in 1546, and Bayinnaung's Burmese armies conquered Chiang Mai in 1558. The house ruled as Burmese vassals, with intervals of independence, until Kawila of Lampang drove out the Burmese with Siamese help in 1775 and Lan Na passed under Siamese suzerainty.