The Kingdom of Sedang (french: Royaume des Sedangs;

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

: ''Vương quốc Xơ Đăng''; sometimes referred to in English as the Kingdom of the Sedang) was an ephemeral political entity established in the latter part of the 19th century by a French adventurer, Charles-Marie David de Mayréna, in part of what is present-day

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Mayréna, a former French government official with a dubious history that allegedly involved embezzlement, was in 1888 the owner of a plantation in

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

. When the

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Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

began claiming territories near those held by the French, Mayréna convinced the nervous colonial administrator to have him lead an expedition into the interior in order to negotiate treaties with local tribes. However, upon his arrival, he instead convinced the tribesmen to form a local kingdom under his rule. To justify this, he argued that the tribes involved were not subjects or vassals of the emperor of Annam (modern Vietnam), and hence had a right to independent statehood. The Kingdom of Sedang, as he named it, incorporated the Bahnar, Rengao, and Sedang tribes. Mayréna was elected King by the chiefs of these tribes, established his capital at the village of Kon Gung (also called ''Pelei Agna'', "Great City", now in Đắk Mar commune), and assumed the

regnal name A regnal name, or regnant name or reign name, is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and, subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they ...

of ''Marie the First, King of the Sedang'', on 3 June 1888. He subsequently offered to cede his kingdom to the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 19 ...

in exchange for monopoly trade rights and hinted that the Prussians were interested if the French were not. When the French government failed to respond positively, Mayréna approached the

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. When he was rebuffed there he traveled to

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, where in 1889 a financier offered to provide him with arms and money in exchange for the kingdom's mineral rights. Mayréna's return to Sedang was thwarted by the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

, who blockaded Vietnamese ports and seized his arms as contraband at

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. During his travels to

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and Europe, Mayréna awarded dozens of noble titles, orders of chivalry, and assorted medals and paraphernalia to his supporters. He also created a series of postage stamps that are the main tangible legacy of the kingdom. Mayréna (who had earlier converted to Islam and married several local women) died under mysterious circumstances (various reports claim by poisoning, snakebite or losing a duel) on 11 November 1890 at

Tioman Tioman Island ( ms, Pulau Tioman) is a mukim and an island in Rompin District, Pahang, Malaysia. It is located off the east coast of the state, and is some long and wide. It has seven villages, the largest and most populous being Kampung Te ...

, Malaya.

External links

The Imperial Collection
- A site documenting the history and stamps issued by Sedang.

External links

See also