Thống chế Điều bát Nguyễn Văn Tồn ( vi-hantu, 統制調撥阮文存, 1763–1820) was a general and official of the

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...

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 ...

. He was a Khmer Krom. He was either born in Càng Long or in Trà Ôn, Cần Thơ Province (in present-day Vĩnh Long Province). His Khmer name was ''Duồn'' or ''Duông''. At first he was a slave. He followed

Nguyễn Ánh Gia Long ( (''North''), ('' South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unif ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

in 1784, in there he was promoted to ''cai đội'' and took the Vietnamese name Nguyễn Văn Tồn. He followed Nguyễn Ánh back to Southern Vietnam in 1787. He gathered an army of several thousand Khmers in

Trà Vinh Trà Vinh City is the capital city of Trà Vinh province in southern Vietnam. Location It is located in the Mekong Delta region, which is in the Southern part of Vietnam. Under the Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Repub ...

and Mân Thít (present-day

Mang Thít Mang may refer to: Places *Mangshi, county-level city in Yunnan, China People * Anton Mang (born 1949), German motorcycle racer *Henry Mang (1897–1987), Canadian politician *Mang of Xia, ruler of the Xia Dynasty, China *Rudolf Mang (1950–20 ...

), called the ''Xiêm binh đồn'' (暹兵屯, lit. "Siamese soldiers' camp"), to reinforce Nguyễn Ánh. Tồn joint the battle of Quy Nhơn in 1801. He was captured by Tây Sơn rebels. He was appreciated by Tây Sơn generals and joint the rebels. He did fight bravely for them, however, not long after he escaped and joint the

Nguyễn Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese name, Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. wiktionary:nguyên, Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 perc ...

army again. He was promoted to ''cai cơ'' in the next year and sent to Trà Vinh and Mân Thít.

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

ese invaded

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

in 1811. Nguyễn Văn Tồn and Nguyễn Văn Thoại were sent to help him. They defeated Siamese army in Longvek. Nguyễn Văn Tồn was left in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

to "protect" the Cambodian king Ang Chan. He was promoted to ''thống chế'' (統制), and received the title ''Dung Ngọc hầu'' (lit. Marquess Dung Ngọc) from Nguyễn dynasty. Nguyễn Văn Tồn was appointed ''Điều bát nhung vụ'' in 1819. He was sent to

Châu Đốc Châu Đốc is a city in An Giang Province, bordering Cambodia, in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2013, the city had a population of 157,298, and cover an area of . The city is located by the Hậu River (a branch of the Mekong Rive ...

to dig the

Vĩnh Tế Canal The Vĩnh Tế Canal (, km, ព្រែកជីក ''or'' ) is an canal in southern Vietnam, designed to give the territory of Châu Đốc a direct access to the Hà Tiên sea gate, Gulf of Siam. Background Construction of the Vĩnh T� ...

. He died in the next year. Emperor Minh Mạng mourned his death; the emperor compared him with

Jin Midi Jin Midi (134–86 BC) (, courtesy name Wengshu (翁叔), formally Marquess Jing of Du (秺敬侯), was a foreign prince and a warrior of the Western Han Dynasty. He was a Hu (胡) "barbarian" from a kingdom in central Gansu area and ser ...

, a prominent official of the Chinese

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

ethnicity. His tomb was in present-day Trà Ôn District, Vĩnh Long Province. The tomb was called ''Lăng ông Tiền quân Thống chế Điều bát'' by local people.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Van Ton Generals of the Nguyễn lords Nguyen dynasty generals Nguyen dynasty officials Khmer Krom people People from Vĩnh Long province 1763 births 1820 deaths