Hither Come the Merchants: Textile Trade at the 19th Century Courts of Lan Na (north Thailand), Chiang Tung (eastern Shan States), Lan Xang (western Laos) and Sipsong Pan Na (Xinshuang Banna, south-west China).

Authors

Susan Conway, New School University

Date of this Version

2002

Citation

Published in Silk Roads, Other Roads: Textile Society of America 8th Biennial Symposium, Sept. 26–28, 2002, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts.

Comments

Copyright 2002 by the author(s). Used by permission of TSA.

Abstract

"Hither come the merchants' is the beginning of a quote from the 16^th century British explorer Ralph Fitch who listed goods from China traded in Chiang Mai, Lan Na. It is not clear whether he actually travelled to the ancient city, or collected his information from another source. It was not until the 19^th century that Europeans and Americans became familiar with the inland states of Southeast Asia. What they found was a unique culture that had developed from the 12th century. In the 1890s the inland states came under the control of Siam, China, Britain or France. At the end of the colonial period, they The inland Southeast Asian principalities of Lan Na (north Thailand), Chiang Tung (eastern Shan State) Lan Xang (western Laos) and Sipsong Pan Na (Xishuang Banna, Yunnan province, south-west China) formed an area with a common culture, including a written language, architecture, arts, crafts and social organization. The states, governed by princes and local chiefs were allied through political and marital alliances and trade. This fascinating and complex world has never attracted the level of attention focused on coastal Southeast Asia where throughout history foreigners came by sea to trade and make conquests. Until recently Southeast Asian textile research has concentrated on coastal trade.

Goods, including silk yarn, textiles, clothing and trimmings were transported overland on mountain passes and through river valleys. Itinerant traders controlled teams of ponies and oxen, elephants were used on some routes; human porters carried packs across the lowlands and along river valleys and on some routes goods were also transported by river." The trade routes passed through all the major cities of the inland states, going overland to and from the city of Dali, Yunnan, south through Lan Na and on eastward to Luang Prabang, Laos, or south-west to the port of Moulmein in Burma. There was a route to and from the Shan States, through Lan Na and on to Moulmein or to Luang Prabang. The route south to Bangkok involved an overland journey as far as the town of Uttaradit on the Nan River where goods were transferred to riverboats for the journey south.