By the beginning of the 14th Century (as you may recall) the land area we refer to as Vietnam was basically split into a Northern Kingdom (Đại Việt) and the Southern Kingdom (the Champa Kingdom). The two had been somewhat linked in A.D. 1306 by the marriage of a princess of the Northern Kingdom to a prince of Southern Kingdom:
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Things changed after that milestone.
Between A.D. 1367 and 1390, the Champa Kingdom invaded the Đại Việt and recovered much of their territory, only to be stopped by the death of Champa King in A.D. 1390 in the first battle in Vietnam using gunpowder. Although the Champa Kingdom continued to expand, mostly West into the Khmer Kingdom, in A.D. 14791 the Cham-Đại Việt war resulted in the effective destruction of the Champa kingdom, their territory reduced to the far Southern provinces.
(Champa State post A.D. 1471 - Source)
(Historically, the last Champa king was overthrown in A.D. 1832 and the remaining provinces included in the Vietnamese State.)
This southward expansion by the Đại Việt, which extended from the 11th to 18th centuries A.D., was known as Nam tiến, or "Southward expansion". It strikes me as interesting - in retrospect - for other historical reasons.
The Northern Kingdom of Đại Việt continued under a series of dynasties: the Lê Dynasty (1441-1527 A.D.), the Mac Dynasty (1527-1533 A.D.) and the Revival Lê Dynasty (1533-1789 A.D.). At some point during this period the Emperors of Vietnam lost true ruling power, which was held by the Trịnh Lords in the North and the Nguyễn Lords in the South. This period was marred by civil war between dynastic elements of the Emperors and the conflict of the effective ruling clans. The areas that the two clans ruled came to be known by different names: To the North, The Kingdom of Tonkin or Kingdom of An Nam (Đàng Ngoài); in the South The Kingdom of Cochinchina or Kingdom of Quảng Nam (Đàng Trong).
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(Vietnam at the end of the 18th Century - Source)
The Tây Sơn Rebellion (1777-1778 resulted in the overthrow of the Revival Lê Dynsasty and the short term creation of the Tây Sơn Dynasty. As part of the civil war, the Nguyễn clan ruling members were assassinated - all except one son, Nguyễn Ánh, who escaped to the kingdom of Siam (Modern Thailand) but returned and in 1802 established the Nguyễn Dynasty, which would rule Vietnam until A.D. 1945.
French missionaries were active in the territory of Vietnam but not necessarily viewed favorably by the Confucian government of Nguyễn Dynasty. In A.D. 1843, French missionaries were detained by the government, and the French navy intervened to free them. The French government continued slowly move in, until by A.D. 1885 the whole of the country was within the French Protectorate in three parts: Cochinchina, Annam and Tokin - part of the territory of French Indochina.
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Seems like a complicated history. I would think that the long narrow shape of the country would present logistical problems in territorial control.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, it is a very complicated history. Much more complicated than I certainly knew going in.
DeleteThe long narrow shape combined with its geography (a great deal of mountains and hills) did make it difficult to control - thus, I suspect, the existence of two different kingdoms or states into the late 18th century.
Quite the interesting post TB, fills in gaps in my knowledge base about this part of the world that has so much American blood cast into it. All around the world nobility formed when communities grew into countries and borders formed. Royalty to rule over the rest eh, TB?
ReplyDeleteNylon12 - It is pretty interesting (and something I knew nothing about prior to going).
Delete" All around the world nobility formed when communities grew into countries and borders formed. Royalty to rule over the rest eh, TB?" We forget that republican democracies are the exception, not the norm, of history. We also forget they tend to have relatively short lifespans, historically speaking.