Muang Sua

Muang Sua, later known as Luang Prabang, occupies a peninsula where the Nam Khan joins the Mekong. Mountain ranges encircle the town, and its Buddhist temples stand among the old settlements along the rivers. A tradition says that the Buddha rested here and foretold a prosperous city. The name Luang Prabang comes from the Phra Bang, a revered image of the Buddha associated with the sovereignty of the Lao kings.

Known also as Xieng Thong, the town became the capital of Lan Xang, the kingdom of a million elephants, after Fa Ngum took it in 1353. The prince had returned from exile at Angkor and brought together principalities along the Mekong. The Phra Bang was associated with the spread of Theravada Buddhism and the legitimacy of the new dynasty. Monasteries and royal foundations made the city a flourishing regional religious as well as a political centre, even after the royal capital moved to Vientiane in the sixteenth century.

In 1479 Vietnamese armies invaded Lan Xang and occupied the city during their campaign against the kingdom. Later, a dispute over succession divided Lan Xang, and in 1707 Luang Prabang became the capital of a separate kingdom. Its rulers continued to govern from the meeting of the rivers, amid the competing ambitions of larger neighbours.