The Chiang Mai Chronicle
The Chiang Mai Chronicle is a legendary-historical text concerning the Lanna Kingdom and its relations with neighbouring realms such as Siam, Southern China, Burma, the Mon, Lan Xang, and Vietnam. It mixes legend, folktales, chronicles, annals, and religious history in a single work. The narrative begins with early settlements and the formation of city-states, gradually developing into a kingdom ruled by the Mangrai dynasty, which claimed descent from the ancient Lawa royal line. Several versions of the chronicle exist, with similar content; some use the Chula Sakarat calendar, others the Buddhist calendar. A modern critical edition of the text has been revised and published under the title The ''Chiang Mai Chronicle: 700th Anniversary version''.
Versions
The primary sources are considered to be the Wat Phra Ngam version and the CMA.HPms. version.- Wat Phra Ngam version, dated to Chulasakarat 1216, preserved at the National Library of Thailand.
- CMA.HPms. version, inscribed in Chulasakarat 1288 and kept by Dr. Hans Penth. The manuscript consists of eight bundles of palm-leaf manuscripts, originally obtained from Chiang Saen district, Chiang Rai province. It is believed to have been copied around 1878 CE.
- Wat Attharot version, inscribed in Chulasakarat 1244.
- Wat Luang version, inscribed in Chulasakarat 1246.
- The Fifteen Dynasties Chronicle, Wat Methang Karawas version, inscribed in Chulasakarat 1251.
- Notton version, printed in Paris in 1932, translated from Tai Tham script into French for the first time by Camille Notton, former French consul in Chiang Mai.
- Wat Phichai version, inscribed in 1946.
- Wat Sri Soda version, inscribed in 1967.
- Office of the Prime Minister version, published in 1971.
- Yonok Chronicle, authored by Phraya Prachakitchakorach, was published in 1973.
- The Fifteen Dynasties Chronicle, Social Research Institute, Chiang Mai University, published in 1975.
- The 700th Anniversary version, published in 1995.
- The Chiang Mai Chronicle, first published in 1995 and revised in 1998.
- The Legend of Chiang Mai City, authored by Phra Khru Sophon Kawiwat, was published in 2007.