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Last update: Mar 7, 2024
Introduction.Chiang Mai is situated in the broad valley of the Ping river; a large plain surrounded by low mountains and extensive forests. Over a century ago, around 1900, the fortified town of Chiang Mai was encircled by paddy fields, while small palisaded villages dotted the plains of the kingdom. Larger towns such as Chiang Rai, Nan, and Chiang Saen were fortified with moats and high stone walls for protection. On the fertile plain, farmers cultivated rice, tobacco, sugarcane, and tea while raising cattle, mules, and ponies. The monsoon forests were interspersed with bamboo groves and teak trees, and large numbers of deer, gibbons, tigers, elephants, and rhinoceroses roamed the area. Nowadays the Asian rhino is almost extinct in Thailand; and a large part of the forests have gone. The large, old teak trees have disappeared from the forests, and the only teak trees visible are newly planted ones arranged in uniform rows in teak plantations.
The remote hill villages surrounding Chiang Mai were home to a variety of hill-tribes, such as Akha, White Karen, Red Karen, Lahu, Lawa, Paloung, Padaung. Many of these tribes originally hailed from southern China (Yunnan) and Burma, while some, like the Akha, originated in the Tibetan Highlands. These tribal communities would travel to Chiang Mai's morning market to sell their produce, including vegetables and fruit. Chiang Mai was the capital of the Kingdom of Lanna, which featured numerous temples throughout its towns. Thousands of villages had their own temple, and each temple boasted a pagoda. The large town of Chiang Mai had the most temples, monasteries and pagodas; mostly built by the Burmese during their occupation of Northern Thailand. In historic times there used to be 75 wats or temples in Chiang Mai, most of these wats are still there, making it an ideal destination for historical tourism.
Exploring Chiang Mai 140 years ago.A very faire and great Towne, with faire houses of stone.One of the earliest visitors of Chiang Mai was Ralph Fitch, an English gentleman merchant who visited Chiang Mai in 1587. Ralph Fitch's visit was mentioned by Sir Henry Yule in his book "A Narrative of the mission sent by the Governor General of India to the Court of Ava in 1855". At that time, Ava was the capital of Burma, and Sir Henry Yule was a secretary to Arthur Phayre's mission to Burma. Henri Yule only traveled inside Burma, but also described the geography and towns of northern Thailand. On page 212 of his narrative, he describes the eastern Shan state (now part of Thailand) and the town of Zimme:
This Iamahey, or Jamahey, is undoubtedly the Shan town of Zimme, which has been very rarely reached by any European traveller in modem times. Fitch describes it as "a very faire and great Towne, with faire houses of stone;" which is remarkable, if true.
The various explorers who visited Chiang Mai throughout history recorded different spellings of the town's name in their journals and letters to their families. For instance, in 1587, Ralph Fitch spelled the town as Iamahey, while in 1615, The East India Company favored Jangoma, and the early Portuguese used Chiangmai. The British called it Zimme before 1900 and gradually switched to Chiang Mai. The French referred to it as Xieng Mai, and the Dutch preferred Ischeen May and Tsieengh Maeij.
Yule describes different early explorers of the independent eastern Shan State, which is now in northern Thailand; and on page 210 he mentions Jangomai and on page 214 Zengomay. Yule then describes the discovery of the kingdom of Zimme; and mentions no less than 5 other names for Zimme: Iamahey, Jamahey, Jangomai, Zengomay and Kiang Mai.
Yule goes on to describe captain William MacLeod's early mapping efforts of Northern Thailand in some detail. For example on page 264:
In 1837 Captain Macleod penetrated through Zimme to the remote Shan state of Kiang Hung. (Kengtung)
And on page 308:
MacLeod's maps were not very accurate, because at that time mapping was done with a sextant and distance estimation. However, a few decades later, James McCarthy produced much more accurate maps of the region using triangulation.
According to Hans Penth ("On the history of Chiang Rai"); it seems that the walls and gates of Chiang Rai were torn down around 1920 on the advice of Dr. Briggs, an American missionary physician, who argued that the area along the wall and the moat was muddy and filthy and therefore a source of all kinds of illnesses, and that the wall obstructed the flow of fresh air. That was the end of the historic fortifications of Chiang Rai.
Archibald Ross Colquhoun was an influential colonial politician, a travel author, and an explorer who in the 1880s participated in several expeditions to Burma.
In 1885, he published "Burma and the Burmans: The Best Unopened Market in the World," a now-forgotten book that was among the top-selling books in Britain that year.
The British government which had been in conflict with the Burmese king Thibaw for years started the Third Burma War, and seized Mandalay in November 1885. They arrested king Thibaw and sent him to India. Henceforth Burma would be a province of British India.
The year 1885 became a pivotal year for Burma and certainly for king Thibaw. A major reason for the Brits to annex Upper Burma was the abundance of teak forests, since teakwood was essential for British ship building, warships in particular.
A study published in 1821 concluded that a ship built from Indian teak in Bombay, could outlast a ship built from English oak by over 40 years. Burma was certainly not only "The best unopened market in the world" but Britain could also use the raw materials, the teak, the oil and rubies for which it was famous. And the British certainly hunted the teak trees with determination.
Around the same time the exploration of the Kingdom of Chiang Mai started; which had rich teak forests in the provinces of Chiang Mai, Lampang, and Phrae. The first explorers came to this area in search of trade routes and hardwood. To be more precise: possible train routes and teak.
Archibald Ross Colquhoun was one of the early western visitors to Chiang Mai in 1885, about 140 years ago. A quote from his book "Amongst the Shans"1 (page 204); where he refers to the teak forests of Siam, which is now Thailand:
Our teak-forests, and those of Upper Burmah, are rapidly being exhausted, and many of our foresters are now working those of Siam. If the country is opened out by railways, the large forests existing between the seventeenth and twenty-second parallels of latitude will become easily available and be a valuable source of supply.
.... Although I use the word "Shan" to denote a race of people stretching from the valley of Assam, on the west, far into the interior of China, to the extreme south of Siam, it must be understood that the name is not used by themselves, but is merely that given to them by the Burmese. They generally call themselves Tai."
In 1885 the northern part of Thailand was part of the Siamese Shan States. The northern part of Thailand had been ruled by the Burmese for several centuries. At that time, Chiang Mai was commonly referred to by its Burmese name, Zimmé. Zimme was capital of the Kingdom of Lanna.
Another paragraph from Archibald's book "Amongst the Shans":
The town of Zimmé, Kiang Mai, Tsching Mai, is situated on the right bank of the Meping river, at a height of about eight hundred feet above sea level. It is the largest place in the Meping plain. There are fields between the river, which lies on its eastern side, and the town; which is said to have been built in 1294 A.D.
There is what is called an inner and outer town, each surrounded by fortifications. The inner town, where the chief resides, is a rectangle, six thousand feet (1800m) from north to south and four thousand eight hundred feet (1500m) from east to west. Each wall has a gateway in the centre, except on the southern side, where there are two, placed five hundred yards from the corners. The gates are defended with a small bastion at the sides.
The walls are enclosed by a moat, some fifty feet in width. The depth of the moat, originally some fifteen feet, is hardly anywhere now more than six or seven feet.
The walls are fast falling into ruin from continued neglect, and great portions are to be seen lying toppled over and half buried, while only here and there has any attempt been made to patch up the fast crumbling structure.
Although at one time, no doubt, a formidable place to the undisciplined forces of the Burmese and Siamese, it would present no resistance to European artillery of the present day.
The town has some nine hundred houses inside the inner fort, but there are many more than that number in the portion of the town enclosed by the outer fortifications and in what may be termed the suburbs, which are built along the banks of the Meping River.
Archibald was wrong about Chiang Mai having a rectangular shape; the old town is a square of roughly 1600 by 1600 metres. The Meping River is now called the Mae Ping River, and the old Burmese name Zimmé has been changed to Chiang Mai. On maps printed before 1900 it is called Zimmé. The town Chiang Mai has had more than 100 names in the past; see below for more examples.
More on Archibald Colquhoun and the surveying of Thailands railways here: surveying.
Chiang Mai has had over a hundred different names throughout its history. The French referred to it as Xieng Mai, while the Burmese used various spellings such as Zimme, Zimay, Zimmay, or Zam-may. Over time, the name evolved from Zimme to Chiangmai or Chiang Mai. Although Zimme and Chiang Mai appear to be very different names, it may have gone through a phonetic transformation, such as Zimme - Zimmay - Zam-may - Jang-mai - Chang Mai - Chiang Mai. The following paragraph provides examples of the different ways in which Chiang Mai has been spelled.
A list of the historical names of Chiang Mai (alphabetical):
And what is the name of Zimme nowadays? The most common name is Chiang Mai, but Chiangmai or Chiengmai is perfectly acceptable.
Below is a diagram of the complicated history of the mountain kingdom of Lanna. It all started with king Mengrai, the founder of the Lanna Kingdom, and ended with king Inthawichayanon. Surprisingly, for a few centuries Lanna, the northern part of Thailand was a part of Burma.
King Mengrai inherited the throne of the small kingdom of Chiang Saen and, in 1262 decided to establish the city of Chiang Rai, which became the new capital. Chiang Rai means "King Rai's City". Six years later he captured Chiang Khong, and in 1272 he moved the capital to Fang. Mengrai is also spelled as Mang Rai.
In 1281 he conquered the Haripunchai kingdom which was governed from Lamphun, a town due south of the current Chiang Mai. In 1294 king Mengrai decided to relocate his capital further north; and in 1296 the construction of the walled town of Chiang Mai began. Mengrai now ruled a large part of northern Thailand, and is the founder of the Lanna Kingdom.
The famous King Mengrai came to an unfortunate end in the center of the old town of Chiang Mai. Today, there is a small shrine dedicated to King Mengrai at the crossing of Rachadamnoen and Prapokklao road, opposite the Lanna Architecture Center; this is where he was struck by lightning and perished in 1317.
After king Inthawichayanon there were two more rulers of Lanna, Prince Intawaroros Suriyawong and Prince Kaew Nawarat. Around 1900, Lanna was formally annexed into the Kingdom of Siam, as Thailand was called then.
To get an idea of what Chiang Mai was like 130 years ago, we can have a look at an important historic map, made in 1893 for King Inthawichayanon. This is one of the best and most detailed historic maps of Chiang Mai there is; the dimensions of land plots and wats are carefully drawn, though not completely accurate.
The map below is hand-drawn, and the descriptions are written in both the Thai and English language. Unfortunately, these can be difficult to read, and there seems to be some water damage.
Archibald Colquhoun (rail survey) estimated that in 1879 there were 500 monks living in 75 wats in Chiang Mai, an average of about 7 monks per wat (Amongst the Shans, p.138). The map shows 50 temples in the old square town in 1893.
Archibald's number of 75 wats in Chiang Mai could be a good estimate; as he included the 22 temples in the "suburbs" and around Thapae road. Of the 50 temples in the walled town, 10 have disappeared, and have been replaced by Buddhist schools or modern buildings.
There is a mystifying area in the center of town, the large empty area of Wiang Kaew (see map, green). It is strange, because only important or rich people could afford such a large plot in the middle of town. In the 20th century there was a prison on this ground, which later became the Chiang Mai Correctional Institution for women.
There was a legend that it had been built on the land that had formally housed the “Wiang Kaew”, the residence of King Mengrai who built the city in 1296. Wiang Kaew was the royal court area since the establishment of Chiang Mai. This royal area had been abandoned when King Inthawichayanon moved his residence a bit eastward, to the site which is now the Yupparaj Wittayalai School (green). In 1902 the Central Prison was built on this spot.
When the prison was closed in 2013, the old prison walls got covered in a lot of graffiti, and in 2016 the city began to demolish buildings and structures. The Faculty of Fine Arts started excavations in 2020 to dig for archaeological traces of the King Mengrai palace. And lo and behold, about 1 meter underground the foundation of the palace walls were discovered. The width of this defensive wall is approximately 1,8 to 2 meters.
The discovery of this wall indicates that Wiang Kaew palace was actually here, just as is indicated on the ancient map of 1893. After Mengrai, many Lanna kings had their residence here, and the foundations of two royal buildings have been found.
In addition to the wide brick walls, much evidence has been unearthed, especially pottery from various sources. There was celadon-type porcelain, Sukhothai pottery, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japanese ceramics. Surprisingly, no Burmese wares were found.
The Chiang Mai authorities have allocated a budget to develop Khuang Luang Wiang Kaew, or the former Women's prison into a public park. Due to the significant archaeological findings which are part of the history of Chiang Mai, historians and archaeologists want to preserve it; the consensus seems to be that it should become a public area for everyone. The wide palace wall foundations will be preserved.
The residence of King Inthawichayanon has vanished, and is now the sporting green of Yupparaj Wittayalai School. There is a large new square, just 200m south of the old one, where the Three Kings Monument is. The three king statue in front of the Chiang Mai City Art & Cultural Center are of King Mengrai, King Ramkhamhaeng and King Ngam Muang.
The building of the Chiang Mai City Art & Cultural Center was constructed in 1924, and served as the administrative centre. From here, Chiang Mai was ruled in the 20th century, until the administration was moved out of the old town.
Of the old royal residences there is nothing left, apart from the foundations and some archaeological remains. King Inthawichayanon has unfortunately faded from history, unlike his daughter Princess Dara Rasmi. Information about Princess Dara Rasmi is widely available on the internet; and her old mansion in Mae Rim is now the Dara Pirom Palace Museum.
The administration in Bangkok annexed Lanna (the Chiang Mai kingdom) in 1893, and King Inthawichayanon was not of much interest to the Thai rulers. However, the excavation of Wiang Kaew has helped to put him back on the map.
"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."
All photos copyright ©2022 R.Schierbeek. (except the historic black and white ones).
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Chao Inthawichayanon was the last of the seven rulers of the Chao Chet Ton Dynasty of the Lanna kingdom. "Chao Chet Ton" means the "Seven Princes Dynasty", which was started by in 1796 by the famous Kavila (Kawila); the king who reconquered Chaing Mai and Lanna from the Burmese occupiers.
King Inthawichayanon, or with his Thai title Phra Chao Inthawichayanon, was born as Prince Inthanon. "Chao" is a title for high ranking royalty in Lanna state; it originates from the Chinese language, and means "the great one". The highest mountain in Thailand, Doi Inthanon, was named after Inthanon.
