The Tai L? are a Tai-speaking group closely related to the Khon M?ang or Tai Yuan, the dominant ethnic group in Northern Thailand. According to their own historical tradition, the ancestors of the Tai L? migrated from what is now northwestern Vietnam into the southern part of Yunnan, where they founded their own kingdom in the twelfth century. Today, the Tai L? are the most important population group within the so-called Economic Quadrangle of the Upper Mekong, which plays an increasingly important economic and geopolitical role.
Chronicle of Sips?ng Panna offers the first English translation of four different versions of the Chronicle of Moeng L? (also known as Sips?ng Panna) based on the oldest extant manuscripts. The volume provides a comprehensive analysis of Tai L? historical sources and a valuable introduction to the history and society of the Upper Mekong region.
