สำนักราชบัณฑิตยสภา

110 The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume III - 2011 110 The Dhamma Script Cultural Domain as a Contested Space in the Tai Lao World reigns of important kings rather than giving a comprehensive historical narrative. It is followed by a more detailed account of Lao history since the establishment of French colonial rule until the founding of the Lao PDR (pp. 30›42). The main purpose of Noi Insongkariyawongûs çLao-Taié history, however, was apparently to put the local histories of two mueang in north-western Laos › Luang Nam Tha (pp. 44›75) and Mueang Sing (pp. 76›109) into the historical context of the DSCD as a whole. This purpose is underscored by the final part of the manuscript (pp. 110›160) which is a collection of chronicles, or fragments of chronicles, from Lan Na, Lan Xang and Sipsong Panna. We do not know the authorûs biography, his social background or ethnic affiliation. However, judging from the style and the content of the text, we may suggest that he possesses › if he is still alive › a good knowledge of the history of the region as well as the Tai Lue language and the Dharma script. The text contains only very few orthographical mistakes. The form of the letters resembles the Lan Na or Tai Yuan variant more than the Lao or Tai Lue variants of the Dhamma script. Thus we might assume that the author is › or was › at least partially a member of the Tai Yuan ethnic group. 4. Concluding Remarks Returning to the central question of how the DSCD can form a meaningful geographical space for çLao Historyé or the çHistory of the Lao Peopleé › both with regard to the period before the emergence of the modern nation-state and thereafter › the following conclusions might be drawn: Firstly , the DSCD has never been a politically unified region. Before the emergence of the modern-nation state it consisted of a network of a few larger and numerous smaller mueang whose dominant ethnic groups were Tai-Lao. Therefore, the history of the DSCD is closely connected but not idential with çLao Historyé or the çHistory of the Laoé. Secondly , The history of the DSCD is the history of many diverse Tai-Lao polities linked with each other by language, culture, similar political and social structures, dynastic relations of their elites, as well as by trade and economic relations. These common characteristics also pertain to the ethnic minorities such as Khamu, Lua, Wa, and Suai. Thirdly , the close political bonds, including tributary relations, of the various polities in the DSCD with Burma, China, Vietnam, and since the late eighteenth century also Siam, show that the history of the DSCD is closely tied to the wider history of mainland Southeast Asia and beyond. 98-112_mac9 4/26/12, 9:10 PM 110