Mangrai

Mangrai (; ; 1238–1311), also known as Mengrai, was the 25th king of Ngoenyang (r. 1261–1292) and the first king of Lanna (r. 1292–1311). He established a new city, Chiang Mai, as the capital of the Lanna Kingdom (1296–1558). Early years King Mangrai was born on October 23, 1238, in Ngoen Yang (present day Chiang Saen), Thailand, on the Mekong River, a son of the local ruler Lao Meng and his wife Ua Ming Chom Mueang, a princess from the Tai Lue city of Chiang Rung, which is now called Jinghong, in Sipsongpanna (Xishuangbanna), China. In 1259, Mangrai succeeded his father to become the first independent king of the unified Tai city states in northern Lanna and what is now northern Laos. Seeing the Tai states disunited and in danger, Mangrai quickly expanded his kingdom by conquering Muang Lai, Chiang Kham and Chiang Khong and initiating alliances with other states.