Mangrai (; ; c. 1238–1311) was the 25th king of Ngoenyang (r. 1261–1292) and the first king of Lan Na (r. 1292–1311). He established a new city, Chiang Mai, as the capital of the Lan Na Kingdom (1296–1558).
Early years
thumb|A portrait of Ua Ming Chom Mueang in
Mangrai the Great was born on 10 October 1238, in Ngoenyang, on the Mekong River, a son of the local ruler, Lao Meng, and Thep Kham Khai, a daughter of Hung Kaen Chai, a Tai Lue ruler of Chiang Hung, which is now called Jinghong, in Sipsongpanna (Xishuangbanna), China.
Ascension to the throne
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 and Chiang Khong, along with conquering Chiang Kham and Thoeng, which belonged to the Phayao kingdom, and initiating alliances with other states.
In 1262, he founded the city of Chiang Rai as his new capital in the Kok River basin. He also seems to have been operating around this time in the area of Fang in the Upper Kok Valley. The site was plagued with floods, and a new site was chosen several kilometres to the northwest at the foot of Doi Suthep, on the site of an older fortified town of the Lua people. Construction of Chiang Mai (lit. "New City") began in 1296. and it has been the capital of the northern provinces more or less ever since. or 1317 in Chiang Mai. According to tradition, he was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm when he was in the city's market.
Mangrai's death was followed by period of confusion, with six kings ruling in the next eleven years. This could have been disastrous if the northern powers had not had their own troubles. Sukhothai to the south had also been weakened.
Not until the ascension of Mangrai's grandson, Kham Fu, in 1328 did the kingdom achieve the stability it had had during the lifetime of its founder.