The Kingdom of Champassak was founded in 1713 in what is now southern Laos, and its royal lineage, the House of Champassak, continues to the present. In this first historical study of Champassak, Ian Baird explores the ways it has asserted its sovereignty across time and through monumental historical shifts, including the delineation of national boundaries for Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In re-creating this story, Baird draws not only on a dazzling variety of primary sources in English, French, Lao, and Thai but also on many years spent in conversation with members of the Na Champassak family, who are now spread across a wide geographical area, from Laos and Thailand to France and the United States. Each chapter treats one historical period, identifying the Champassak approach to sovereignty during that time. Through this deep history, Baird shows how sovereign power, even within one case, takes a wide range of forms, always contingent, contested, and uneven across space and time.
Ian G. Baird is a professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His books include Rise of the Brao: Ethnic Minorities in Northeastern Cambodia during Vietnamese Occupation.
List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Glossary Champassak Royal Titles Titles of People Introduction: Politics and Geography 1 The Origins of the House of Champassak: Founding Royal Sovereignty 2 The Last King of Champassak: The Ebb and Flow of Sovereign Power 3 Chao Khamsouk: Champassak Sovereignty between the French and Siamese 4 The Lost Champassak Royals in Cambodia: Working for Sovereignty 5 The House of Champassak in French Laos: Sovereignty under Colonialism 6 Champassak Royals in Thailand: Royal Sovereignty under Royal Sovereignty 7 The House of Champassak in Laos during the Second Indochina War: Postcolonial Royal Sovereign Power 8 The Na Champassak family and the Third Indochina War: Aleatory Sovereignty 9 The Na Champassak Pretenders and the Unknown Champassak Royals: Nominal Sovereignty Conclusion Appendix: Chao Nhouy's Children Study in Saigon, Chao Heuane Nhing Sangvanekham Notes Works Cited Index
"An excellent study of the history and politics of southern Laos that, for the first time, places the little-known polity of Champassak in the context of Lao and Thai history, establishing its significance for the emergence of a modern Lao nation-state." - Volker Grabowsky, University of Hamburg
