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100 The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume III - 2011 100 The Dhamma Script Cultural Domain as a Contested Space in the Tai Lao World 1. Political and dynastic bonds . They are clearly reflected in the regionûs historical literature, such as the tamnan and phuen . The Nithan Khun Bulom , for example, is a good case in point. According to the myth of origin of the Lao found in this chronicle, the king of the celestial deities ( thaen ) sent his own son, Khun Bulom (Borom) to bring order and ensure prosperity and well-being in Mueang Sua, the predecessor of Luang Prabang. The various extant versions of the Nithan Khun Bulom may contradict each other on several details, but they all agree that the founder-king sent off his sons to found new mueang or polities in the wider Mekong region. Though the names of Khun Bulomûs sons and the mueang to where they were sent to rule differ from version to version, there is agreement about the most prominent mueang , namely Mueang Sua, Chiang Rung (Sipsong Panna), Chiang Mai (Lan Na), and Mueang Phuan. The latter mueang , situated in the Plain of Jars, was ruled by the youngest son, Khun Chet Chueang or Thao Chueang, the name of a çcultural heroé well-known among Tai peoples amost everywhere in the DSCD. According to Prakong Nimmanahaemindaûs research, Thao Chueang is a mythical hero-king known not only among the Lao of the middle Mekong basin but also among the Tai Yuan, the Tai Lue, the Tai Khuen, and even among the Khamu and other Austro-Asiatic groups of the upper Mekong region. 3 The legend of Thao Chueang gave rise to other cultural heros in the DSCD. All these figures have in common that their stories are recorded by different Tai ethnic groups linking their polities together in the frame of a larger network of mueang sharing the same customs, the same historical fate and also the same lineage of rulers. One of these figures is Chao Fa Dek Noi, the founder- ruler of Chiang Khaeng, a small Tai Lue principality the last capital of which was Mueang Sing, situated in the far northwest of the Lao PDR. Chao Fa Dek Noi had three sons who managed to establish dynastic bonds with various Tai mueang such as Chiang Tung, Mueang Laem, Mueang Sing, and Mueang Luai. 4 The legend of Chao Fa Dek Noi as well as many other chronicles and legends confirm the close relationship, based on kinship ties and dynastic bonds, between the various Tai polities in the upper Mekong valley. Among the seven polities mentioned in the legend, four › Mueang Yong, Mueang Sing, Chiang Saen, and 3 See Prakong Nimmanahaemindaûs analytical study of çThe Thao Ba Chueang Epicé (1987). 4 As for details, see Grabowsky 2003. 98-112_mac9 4/26/12, 9:10 PM 100