 Khon
Kaen province is a relatively new province having only been
formally established in 1783 by King Rama 1. Accordingly it
has little to offer in the way of immediate historical interest
to the casual visitor. Nevertheless it does have significant
importance and is of great interest to historians and archeologists.
The earliest
remains found in Khon Kaen are thought to be over one million
years old and were discovered in 1983, when a dinosaur’s remains
were unearthed in Phu Wiang district. Other archeological
studies of the area suggests that communities who depended
on rice farming, animal raising and pottery for their livelihood,
lived and traveled in this province 2,500 to 5,000 years ago.
The discovery of bronze tools in Khon Kaen support the theory
that communities were well established here before contact
with outside civilizations - such as China and India.
Early agricultural settlements,
thought to date back to the beginning of the Buddhist Era,
have also been discovered in the village of Ban None Chai
and in the moat of Ban Sithan village, in the central Muang
district of Khon Kaen. These communities came under many influences
throughout the following centuries. Indian Buddhist and Brahmanist
civilizations, as well as the Chen-La State and Lan Xang Kingdoms
particularly influenced their social beliefs.
From the 5th
century Buddhism and Dhavaravadi culture spread through Isaan
and were particularly pervasive among the Chi river communities
and can be substantiated by the boundary markers, Buddha images
and sanctuaries found there.
The cultural
and religious influence of the Khmer dating from the 10th
to 13th century is evident in the stone castle and temple
ruins found in the province. Other evidence of the Khmer influence
can be seen in the province’s ancient Khmer-style pagoda built
around 1257. Such findings, however, cannot establish whether
the area really came under political control of the Khmer
or not.
Lan Xang culture
prevailed from the 14th century onwards as described by religious
art from that time. During the 18th and 19th century the Lao
Wieng people migrated into Isaan and helped form new towns
such as Maha Sarakham, Kalasin and Chaiyaphum as well as Khon
Kaen. For many years these new towns remained independent.
However, the Siamese kingdom at Ayutthya and the Lao from
Vientiane had an interest in the Khorat Plateau and both tried
to control the previously autonomous towns.
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