# Tboung Khmum Kingdom

Tboung Khmum Kingdom (Khmer: ត្បូងឃ្មុំ) was a former political entity of the Kuy people$^{:21}$ that existed around the 14th to 16th centuries in the central Mekong Valley, covering some parts of present-day northeast Cambodia, southern Laos, and northeastern Thailand. Its capital was annexed by Cambodia in the 16th century,$^{:37}$ while the remaining communities in the north evolved into the multi-ethnolinguistic polities that later became part of Laos and Thailand.$^{:37–38}$$^{:1–4,11–12}$
Records of the Tboung Khmum Kingdom are limited. The only surviving evidence is the Longvek Chronicle, written by the Khmer king Ang Eng,$^{:27–28}$ and it is sporadically mentioned in the Siamese royal text in the Ayutthaya and early Rattanakosin periods.$^{:37–38}$

## Location

Tboung Khmum Kingdom was located in the north of the present-day Kampong Thom province of Cambodia and was said to cover Stung Treng and eastern Preah Vihear provinces of present-day Cambodia, Salavan and the other 3 southernmost provinces of modern Laos, and some parts of Si Sa Ket and Ubon Ratchathani provinces of Thailand. It bordered Phimai of the Ayutthaya Kingdom at the Khayung Creek (ห้วยขะยูง) to the west and reached the Annamite Range to the east. To the north met a group of Khottrabun [th] polities and adjoined Cambodia to the south and southwest.$^{:1–4,11–12}$

## History
### Independent kingdom

The Tboung Khmum Kingdom of the Kuy people was first mentioned in the Khmer Longvek Chronicle, which was given to the Siamese king Rama I by his adopted Khmer son Ang Eng in 1786. The chronicle was translated to Thai and was kept in the Royal Library [th] near the Amarindra Winitchai Throne Hall [th].$^{:21}$ But now the original Khmer language version has been lost.$^{:101}$ The latter part of the chronicle mentions the struggle for the throne by the Khmer royal family after the death of King Noreay Ramathuppdey [fr] in 1468. One of Noreay Ramathuppdey's lineage, Thommo Reachea I [fr], requests help from the King of Tboung Khmum against Soriyoteï II [fr].$^{:27–28}$
   ..ฝ่ายพระธรรมราชา ขณะเมื่อหนีไปอยู่ทำเลอมนั้น ได้เปนมิตรสันถวะกันกับเจ้ากวย ครั้นได้พระนครหลวงแล้ว จึงให้มีหนังสือกำหนดไปขอกองทัพเจ้ากวยณเมืองตบงขมุมให้ยกมาช่วยรบพระศรีโสไทย ณ เมืองลแวก ครั้นได้กำหนด กองทัพเจ้าพญาธรรมราชากับกองทัพกวยก็ยกไปรบพระศรีโสไทย พระศรีโสไทยทานมิได้ก็ทิ้งครัวเสียหนีไป...
   ..As for Thommo Reachea I, while he was fleeing to live in the north, he was on good terms with the Chao Kuy. When he had captured the capital, he then sent a letter requesting the army of Chao Kuy from the city of Tboung Khmum to fight Soriyoteï II at the city of Longvek. When the time came, the army of Thommo Reachea and the Kuy army went to fight Soriyoteï. Soriyoteï lost, abandoned his family, and fled...
According to the text given in the chronicle, Chao Kuy (เจ้ากวย) is potentially referred to the king of the Kuy people who enthroned in the city of Tboung Khmum located in the south of the present-day Champasak and this also indicates that the kingdom of the Kuy people was the independent polity at least in the 15th century.$^{:35–38}$ During this period, Kuy kingdom also engaged in trade relationship with Siam as its embassy were sent to the Ayutthaya court.$^{:37}$ As per the Royal Criminal Law, the Kuy people had a very high social status in the early Ayutthaya period, comparable to the people of French, English, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Shan, Javanese, Malay, Arab, and Vietnamese descent. Moreover, some of the Kuy people became government officers in the Ayutthaya court, especially in the elephant-related segments since they are known as skilled mahouts, or elephant trainers, and many Kuy villages are employed in finding, taming, and selling elephants.

### Post Tboung Khmum era

Numbers of Kuy populations :
| Country | Number |
| Thailand | 350,444$^{:34}$ – 400,000 |
| Cambodia | 70,302 – 236,333$^{:34}$ |
| Laos | 42,800 – 58,735$^{:34}$ |
Khmer's Longvek used their political power to subdue several ethnic groups and also annexed the Tboung Khmum Kingdom in the 16th century.$^{:37}$ The remaining Kuy people then moved northward to settle in the present-day Champasak and the southern Isan region east of Ayutthaya's Phimai, which were a wasteland and remains unclaimed by any state at that time.$^{:37}$ According to the Champasak Chronicle, the Kuy-Cham-Lao communities in the Champasak region and the Bolaven Plateau later evolved to the city-state of Nakhon Kalachambak Nagaburi Sri (นครกาลจำบากนาคบุรีศรี), which continued to the formation of the Champasak Kingdom in 1713.$^{:1–4,11–12}$ Meanwhile, the Kuy communities in the Mun River basin in the west were loyal to Ayutthaya, with Phimai as the head of the region,$^{:37–38}$ and it was collectively called in the Rattanakosin period as Hua Mueang Khamen Pa Dong (หัวเมืองเขมรป่าดง), which can be interpreted as meaning "cities of the Khmer forest people."$^{:259}$ The later immigration of Lao and Khmer peoples reduced the proportion of Kuy people in the area to about 10-20% of the total population.
The development of the Kuy communities after the 17th century is shown below.
| Region/Territory | Kuy's political entities | Kuy's political entities | Kuy's political entities | Kuy's political entities | Kuy's political entities |
| Region/Territory | Early era | Transitional era | Transitional era | Modern era | Modern era |
| Northeast Cambodia | Tboung Khmum Kingdom | Completely annexed to Cambodia since the 16th century.$^{:37}$ | Completely annexed to Cambodia since the 16th century.$^{:37}$ | Completely annexed to Cambodia since the 16th century.$^{:37}$ | Modern Cambodia |
| Southern Laos | Tboung Khmum Kingdom | Nakhon Kalachambak Nagaburi Sri and Mueang Ramrak Ongkarn | Champasak Kingdom (Lao domination) | Champasak Kingdom (Lao domination) | Modern Laos |
| Ubon Ratchathani | Tboung Khmum Kingdom | Occupied by Lao people | Champasak Kingdom | Lao domination | Modern Thailand |
| Surin | wasteland$^{:37}$ (The area was sparse in population after the decline of the Angkor.) | Ban Khu Patay$^{:37}$ | Mueang Prathaysaman | Mueang Surin$^{:37}$ | Modern Thailand |
| Surin | wasteland$^{:37}$ (The area was sparse in population after the decline of the Angkor.) | Ban Kud Wai$^{:38}$ | Mueang Sri Nakhon Tao | Mueang Rattanaburi$^{:38}$ | Modern Thailand |
| Surin | wasteland$^{:37}$ (The area was sparse in population after the decline of the Angkor.) | Ban Atchapueng$^{:38}$ | Mueang Sangkha$^{:38}$ | Mueang Sangkha$^{:38}$ | | Modern Thailand |
| Si Sa Ket | wasteland$^{:37}$ (The area was sparse in population after the decline of the Angkor.) | Ban Lamduan$^{:38}$ | Mueang Khukhan$^{:38}$ | Mueang Khukhan$^{:38}$ | | Modern Thailand |
| Si Sa Ket | wasteland$^{:37}$ (The area was sparse in population after the decline of the Angkor.) | Ban Jaraphuet | Mueang Sikhoraphum | Mueang Sikhoraphum | | Modern Thailand |