Phra Mekut (Mah Ku or Mekhuti, ruled 1552-1564), from Muang Nai (Mon?) on the west bank of the Salween, was the last independent ruler of Lanna descended from Mengrai. Mekhut levied heavy taxes and conscription. Sensing weak public support, other princes of Maung Nai decided to invade. Mekhut was briefly aided by King Burengnong (Bayinnaung of Hantawaddy and Pegu), but in 1558, after a siege of 3 days, Burengnong took Chiang Mai. Soon after Burengnong (a.k.a. Poeng Phawa Min Taya to Burmese) had all of Lanna under his control, and handed rule back to Mekut.
Setthatirat returned, defeating ChiangMai and almost taking ChiangSaen in 1558. Governors of Lampang, Prae and Nan joined his, but Burengnong forced him back to Laos, where the Burmese ran out of provisions. Mekut revolted against his obligations, and the Burmese returned, invading Luang Prabang to capture Mekut, who'd taken refuge there. Mekut was taken to Pegu, but perhaps first Burengnong took Princess Jiraprapa, now in her 40s (at least), to wife. She ruled again from 1564 until her death in 1578. Mekut died in exile at Pegu or Ava, and became known as one of Burma's famous "37 Nat" spirits, Yun Bayin. Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai became a vassal states required to pay annual tribute of gold and silver trees, and manpower as necessary in times of war. Keng Tung has remained with Burma since that time (1559) except for two brief instances, in 1802 and during Japanese occupation in the Second World War.
Burmese Nat angel
Perhaps Burengnong replaced Phra Mekut with Phra Nang Visuti (Wisutthatewi, aka Maha Tewi), a different, younger daughter of Phaya Ket, whom he married, and who was the last descendent of Mengrai to rule. Mon rebels, aided by Shan and Siamese prisoners settled in the area, burned Pegu, and Burengnong hurried back. Lanna continued to be troubled by attacks from Shans, and in 1578 Visuti died. Her successor was a son of Burengnong by someone else, Mangnorathacho (Min Noratha or Nawratazaw, prince of Therawaddy). Noratha's son, Nandabayin ruled 1581 - 1607. In 200 years there were 12 Burmese rulers, most of whose names have been lost. King Burengnong sacked Ayudhaya in 1569, taking or destroying almost everything of value there. He didn't absorb it into his empire, and died in 1581. He'd never managed to subdue Vian Chang (LanXang, Luang Prabang), only wearing himself out chasing Setthatirat, who never stood to fight, but disrupted supply-lines. The Emerald Buddha remained with Setthatirat, and in Laos a long time: 232 years. Setthatirat died in 1571, and in 1574-5 Burengnong returned with the hostage heir apparent, and placed him on the throne, which he quickly lost. Anarchy reigned, but after Burengnong's death his heir had to deal with Siamese and Arakanese invasions.
Burengnong's successor Nantabureng, or NandaBayin, was weak. Phra Naret, the 'Black Prince' who became King Naresuan, had been a hostage to Burma, but at 16 one of his sisters married Burengnong and he was allowed to return home. He successfully battled invading Khmer, becoming strong and wise enough to take on NandaBayin. Soon Burmese rulers were appointing locals as governors under Burmese authority. One was Chao Luang Tin Mahawong from Chiang Mai, who started a royal line in Nan, ruling 1727 - 53. Another was Thipchang, founder of the royal lines of Lamphun and Lampang. Princes of Lanna's city-states, Phaya or Jao Fa, were subservient to Burmese military commanders (sitke) &/or civilian governors (myowun). Some of these Burmese officials were accepted, even liked, others not. There were many rebellions; warfare within Lanna eventually resulted in drastically decreased production and scarce commodities. Many who could left for elsewhere.
An Englishman, Ralph Fitch, the first recorded Westerner to reach Chiang Mai, journeyed there from Pegu, Burma, in 1587. He wrote: "Hither to Jamahay (Chiang Mai) come many merchants out of China and bring great store of muske, silver and many other things of China worke."
Portuguese gunnery instructors arrived earlier, assisting in the wars of the north as early as 1511. In the wars of the Bayinnaung against Maha Chakrapat of Ayudhaya, the Portuguese supplied arms and soldiers to both sides. King Chairacha (Phrajai) of Ayudhaya probably had some of these instructors along on above-mentioned expeditions against Chiang Mai. The first of his expeditions didn't lead to fighting, as MahaTewi (Jiraprapa) convinced Chairacha all was well and stable, with nothing to be gained by violence, thus persuading him to return home (doubtless with tribute). When Setthatirat abandoned his Lanna throne, Chairacha came back. Princess Jiraprapa, 'though no longer head of state for Lanna, led successful resistance. Despite Portuguese mercenary help and continued violent jockeying for power within Lanna, the Siamese were completely routed.
Now stories of Chiang Mai by Europeans then began to be told. Fitch described Chiang Mai as "a very fair and great town, with fair houses of stone, well peopled, and the streets are very large, the men very well set and strong, with a cloth about them, bare-headed and bare-footed, for in all these countries they wear no shoes. The women be much fairer than those of Pegu."
Lanna came under Ayudhaya's dominion for the first time, briefly, in 1598. The East India Company sent a "Farang" trader, Thomas Samuel, to Chiang Mai in 1613. He was accompanied by Thomas Driver, and brought cloth goods. Driver returned to Ayudhaya with gold, and Samuel's boss wrote that it was "entirely your fault you have tarried there so long." He was taken prisoner when the Burmese recaptured Chiang Mai, after 17 years, in 1615. Samuel died in Pegu. The East India Company, come to Ayudhaya in 1612 with a letter from King James I to King Intharaja, sent its first trade mission to Burma in 1617, to reclaim goods in Samuel's possession at the time of his death. Further trade between Westerners and Lanna was postponed almost 250 years, until about 1860.
About 1660 Chinese troops invaded northern Burma in search of the emperor Yung-lei (or Yunhli), last of the Ming dynasty. The governor of Chiang Mai, aware of the Burmese army's defeat and afraid of a Chinese invasion, asked for Ayudhaya's protection. King Narai sent an army, but as it approached, Chiang Mai pulled away its men. Narai's force took Lampang but not Chiang Mai. Soon after, Narai sent a much larger army, led by the best of his generals. This force was successful, seizing much valuable booty including the famed Buddha Sihinga image of Wat Phra Sing. In 1664, a local revolt drove the Siamese back out.
When the Chinese had taken Yung-lei off, the Burmese started a harder line of impositions on Lanna. Burmese princes were regularly sent to Chiang Mai as viceroys for the region, and for half a century, Lanna peoples suffered heavy taxation and conscription into the Burmese army, with corv?e duties far away.
King Naresuan rebuilt Ayudhaya after 1580 AD. With British and Dutch traders coming, it became the busiest port of Southeast Asia. Decline set in after the reigns of King Narai and King Borommakote; Ayudhaya was lost to the Burmese again in 1767. Perhaps at this point, the Sihinga image was returned to Chiang Mai; it is regularly carried in the Songkran Festival processions there.
Ayudhaya established diplomatic relations with China in the very first years of the 15th century AD, presumably paying tribute (perhaps only gifts to do trade, a kind of duty), and sent a mission in 1575 to request a new seal of office to replace that destroyed by the Burmese. The first Ch'ing Dynasty-Tai contact was in 1652. Regulations for Siamese tribute were issued in 1665, and tribute continued until 1852.
In 1628 Burma relocated the center for administration of Lanna to Chiang Saen. Chiang Saen suffered repeated invasions, and in 1717 the Mae Khong River flooded the town to a depth of five feet. Still, as Chiang Saen was favored by the Burmese, it came under direct administration from Ava, the Burmese capital. It was strongly held, and the last area retaken from Burma, in 1804 (and then only with assistance from independent Nan Kingdom). By 1705, Chiang Mai and southern Lanna were ruled as a military-controlled vassal state. The over two centuries of rebellion, shifting alliances and recurrent warfare resultant from Burmese failure to control, consumed all Lanna, limiting material access, destroying cities and towns and displacing much of the population.
Burmese bird of knowledge - chicken or peacock
A series of three weak monarchs in Ava proved unable to deal with Mon insurgencies, while Siamese adventures against Cambodia met with disaster. A rebel leader, Thep Sing, liberated a large part of Lanna in 1727. Succeeded by Ongkham, Chai and Khi Hut, independence was maintained until 1763, largely due to Burmese political turmoil until the rise of King Alaungpaya and final destruction of the Mon Kingdom in 1757. The Burmese returned in 1764, and King Hsinbyushin relocated almost all Chiang Mai residents to Muang Angwa. He then took VienChang (Vientiane) and in 1767 completely destroyed Ayudhaya, ending its empire. The Chinese, agitated by aggression so near Yunnan, moved in, taking KengTung, Bhamo and Hsenwi, and threatening Ava. They were soon rebuffed by freed-up Burmese military, beginning retreat in 1768 and acquiescing to the Peace of Kaungton in 1770. The Siamese General Phya Tak (son of a Chinese immigrant), had checked a Burmese advance on Ayudhaya at Petchaburi in 1763 and was enthroned in Thonburi as King Taksin, late in 1767. He established a strong garrison there, on the lower ChaoPhraya River, and Bangkok (renamed Krungthep, City of Angels), right across the river, began its rise to prominence. Success brought new followers rallying round him, and Taksin marched north, south and east over the next few years, in a long, uninterrupted series of campaigns. He succeeded in re-uniting Siam towards the end of 1776.
With the fragmentation of Lanna and weakness in Ava, Lamphun resumed status as an independent state. It tried to absorb nearby Lampang, but a mahout famous for great courage, Pho Chao Thipchang, successfully led volunteers in resistance. This led to him becoming ruler of Lampang as Phraya Su Lawa Leuchai Songkram, in 1732, and began the Chao Jet Ton lineage, significant in liberating Chiang Mai from Burma. His son Chao Fa Chai Kaeo succeeded him, and began to push the Burmese from Lanna. Chai Kaeo's sons became rulers of Chiang Mai, Lampun and Lampang. TipChang's grandson Chao Kavila repelled an attack by PhraJao (King) Taksin on Chiang Mai in 1769, but later switched sides. Taksin took Pitsanulok and Fang and withdrew. The Burmese ruler (Po Mayu Nguan, Moyagamani, White Head?) levied oppressive, insupportable conscription and taxation for fights against Ayudhaya, and so thoroughly displeased local rulers Chao Kavila and Phraya Cha Ban (of Chiang Mai) that they resisted, reportedly waging a battle in Chiang Mai City's centre in 1771. Having few men or weapons, Phraya Cha Ban and Chao Kavila were defeated; the two leaders and their families were captured and detained in Krung Angwa. Thus under severe pressure, Phraya Cha Ban and Chao Kawila decided to ally themselves with Taksin (despite having repelled Taksin's first attack on Chiang Mai with great force). They knew Siam needed Chiang Mai as a buffer state, and could supply Chiang Mai with munitions and military support in time of need. By helping drive the Burmese out of Lanna, King Taksin could limit Burmese aggression against his own (new) kingdom, and so he naturally accepted the offer. The story is told in The Chiang Mai Chronicle: "As for Chiang Mai, Cao Praya Ca Ban Bunma rebelled against the Burmese Commander White Head in the midst of the cityc (with) a force of 300 to fight the Burmese without even guns or swords, using only clubs and cudgelsc" they caused the Commander to shut himself in his palace and "Ca Ban left with his group and went to and made an alliance with Cao Kawila, who was the eldest son of Prince Chai Kaeo. The seven brother princes swore an oath to be steadfast and strong to each other." These must be the "Jet Ton" (Ton is a classifier for khon, person) of the lineage which today affixes "na Chiang Mai" to their surnames.
It took three years to arrange, but in 1774 Lanna's armies joined Taksin's army marching up from Thonburi, and forced out the Burmese. Burma counterattacked, took Pitsanulok, and several times attempted to recapture Chiang Mai, but were fought off. Eventually, however, feeling weak, with few men and insufficient supplies, Phraya ChaoBan withdrew to Wang Phrao, and Kavila to Lampang. Chiang Mai was left deserted for 20 years, though in early 1775 an army led by Kavila and Chaophraya Chakri (later Rama I), seized its ruins. Burmese domination over Lanna was ending; to drive the Burmese from Laos and put it under Siamese suzerainty, a Siamese army of 20,000, under JaoPhya Chakri, attacked Vientiane, where the Emerald Buddha was, and returned with it to Thonburi in 1779. Many Lao were relocated to Saraburi (just north-east of Ayudhaya).
Taksin became erratic, unbalanced and paranoid, and at 48, in 1782, was executed (with sandalwood clubs). JaoPhya Chakri became king, and concluded peace with the Burmese in 1793, but recurrent Burmese attacks on Chiang Mai continued until about 1800. The first Chakri King made Kavila de facto sovereign of Lanna (Phraya Mangrao Wachira Phakan Kamphaeng Kaeo, ruler of Chiang Mai with responsibility for Thoen, Tak, Nan and, in all, 57 regional towns). As Lanna was now a tributary under Siamese suzerainty, Siamese forces began to help repel Burmese attacks. Kavila raided the Shan States to resettle Chiang Mai (1796), and in 1802 carried many Keng Tung families down for resettlement. In 1804-5 he drove the Burmese from Chiang Saen (with help from Nan), and subjugated Mong Yawng.