Khun Borom

Khun Borom is a legendary figure of Tai peoples in Southeast Asia, is especially considered by the Lao and others as their progenitor.

Myth

According to a widespread legend among the Lao people were barbaric and evil in the early days, which is why they destroyed a deity by a flood. Only three worthy chiefs let the deity alive, she spent a short time in the sky, so that they could be the founder and director of a new kind of people later. The deity sent the three chiefs together with a water buffalo back to the earth, which should help them in the order of the country. They arrived in the country Mueang Then ( possibly in present-day Dien Bien in northwestern Vietnam ) back to Earth. After the country was ready for rice cultivation, died of water buffalo and from his nostrils sprang a gourd. Of the gourds come from the new man: the relatively dark-skinned Aborigines come from the open with a poker calabashes, the brighter toned Lao come from the open with a sickle calabashes.

The gods taught the Tai peoples then the building of the houses and how to grow rice. The people were also taught in the proper rituals and good behave. So they multiplied rapidly. After their number had risen rapidly, they needed help with the administration and the resolution of conflicts. Therefore, the main deity sent her son, Khun Borom, down to earth, who appeared as leader of the Tai peoples. Twenty-five years he ruled the commonwealth, where he introduced the use of new tools and other arts.

After his reign, he divided the Kingdom of the Tai among his seven sons, who were awarded any part of the Kingdom as a dominion. The eldest son, Khun Lo, the Kingdom of Sawa received ( Müang Sua ), today's Luang Phrabang. The other Xieng Khouang ruled, Ayutthaya and Chiang Mai (in modern Thailand), Sipsong Panna ( in southern China ), the Shan State (in modern Burma ) and the Tai states in the northwest of present-day Vietnam.

Research results

The legend is attributed by some researchers to real events of the emigration movements of the Tai peoples of southern China. China, identified as a mythical sky, is considered to be the origin, and also the type of inheritance with their division of the kingdom is in general accordance with the customs of the old Tai principalities, the Mueangs.

Several rulers of Southeast Asia trace their origin to Khun Borom back:

• Fa Ngum, the founder of the Kingdom of Lan Chang
• Meng Rai from Chiang Mai
• U Thong, the founder of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya

The U.S., specializing in Southeast Asia historian David K. Wyatt believed the myth of Khun Borom could give insights into the early history of the Tai peoples of Southeast Asia. Versions of the legend can be found in Xieng Khouang and already 698 call Tai kingdoms that would arise until years later. This may provide a clue as to why the Tai peoples over Southeast Asia are so widespread.