สำนักราชบัณฑิตยสภา

102 The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume III - 2011 102 The Dhamma Script Cultural Domain as a Contested Space in the Tai Lao World both groups are identified as siblings born from the same mythical gourd. From the gourds on the vine, human beings emerged, relatively dark-skinned aboriginal peoples, the çKhaé, emerging from gourds cut open with a hot poker, and the lighter skinned Tai-Lao emerging from cuts made with a chisel. Almost all Tai myths of origin reflect the political and military conflicts as well as the social and ethnic interaction between invaders and the indigenous population. The latter are called by various names. Besides the generic term çKhaé and the more neutral term kha mon , çhill peopleé, Tai chronicles use the derogatory ethnonyms çThamilaé and çMilakkhué. The Tamnan lue sipsong pang , which deals with the earliest history of Sipsong Panna, reports that the first seven Tai Lue villages in Mueang Alawi, an old name for Chiang Rung, had to defend themselves against the overwhelming power of the Thamila, who are recognised as the original population of Mueang Alawi. The chronicle describes an ancient polity in which the Tai and Thamila coexisted peacefully under the leadership of their respective nobility. 7 Nonetheless, harmony was frequently interrupted by violent disputes over the control of agricultural resources. The Thamila finally succumbed to the militarily superior Tai and became their vassals. The result was an economic division of labour with the Tai cultivating wet rice in the plains and the Thamila practicing slash and burn agriculture on the slopes of forested mountains. The chronicles of Chiang Tung, Mueang Yong, Mueang Laem, 8 Mueang La, and many other Tai polities represent the historical relations between Tai and Kha in a quite similar manner. One Thamila leader who receives special mention in the Tamnan lue sipsong pang is Chao Chueang Han. He was feared and respected by the Tai because of his bravery. This legendary hero, endowed with supernatural powers, figures prominently in Tai Lue folk-tales. In at least one of the versions of the Mueang Lue Chronicle, Chao Chueang Han and the founder of the kingdom of Mueang Lue, Phaya Chueang, merge into one and the same person, thereby reflecting the close inter-ethnic relationship between çTaié and çKhaé. 7 For more details, see Liew Herres/Grabowsky/Renoo 2012: 15›16. 8 Mueang Laem Chronicle, ff 13›17. The Mueang Laem Chronicle abounds with references to clashes between forces loyal to the chao haw kham and Lahu rebels. Tao Fai Son (Suan), the seventeenth ruler of Mueang Laem, was murdered (in 1683) in his own palace by a Musoe commando who wanted to rescue a çMusoeé (Lahu) girl that the Tai ruler had abducted and made his mistress (ff 40/2›41/9). 98-112_mac9 4/26/12, 9:10 PM 102