Đèo Văn Trị ( vi-hantu, 刁文持, 1849 – 1908 in Lai Châu) also known as his Lao name Cam Oum (or Khamhum, lo, ຄຳອຸ້ມ), was the White Tai leader at Muang Lay in the Sip Song Chau Tai or Federation of the Twelve Tai states, of the

Tai Dam people The Tai Dam (Tai Dam: , lo, ໄຕດຳ, th, ไทดำ) are an ethnic minority predominantly from China, northwest Vietnam, Laos, Thailand. They are part of the Tai peoples and ethnically similar to the Thai from Thailand, the Lao from Lao ...

. Đèo Văn Trị was a son of Đèo Văn Sinh (Kham Sing). In his early life Đèo Văn Trị had studied as a monk at

Wat Xieng Thong Wat Xieng Thong ( lo, ວັດຊຽງທອງ; "Temple of the Golden City") is a Buddhist temple (vat or wat) on the northern tip of the peninsula of Luang Phrabang, Laos.Lall, Vikram. ''The Golden Lands: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, ...

temple in

Luang Phrabang Luang Phabang, ( Lao: ຫລວງພະບາງ/ ຫຼວງພະບາງ) or ''Louangphabang'' (pronounced ), commonly transliterated into Western languages from the pre-1975 Lao spelling ຫຼວງພຣະບາງ (ຣ = silent r) ...

. He held the de facto power from 1886, although his father was still alive. At that time, French extended their control in Tonkin. Trị stood by the Vietnamese Nguyễn dynasty. He responded with

Tôn Thất Thuyết Tôn Thất Thuyết ( 尊室説; 12 May 1839 in Huế – 1913 in Longzhou) was the leading mandarin of Emperor Tự Đức of Vietnam's Nguyễn dynasty. Thuyết later led the Cần Vương movement which aimed to restore Vietnamese i ...

's Cần Vương movement together with Nguyễn Văn Giáp and Ngô Quang Bích. Thuyết had sought for political refuge in Muang Lay, however, Thuyết did not trusted him. Later, Thuyết fled to China. Trị also made common cause with Chinese

Black Flag Army The Black Flag Army (; , chữ Nôm: 軍旗𬹙) was a splinter remnant of a bandit group recruited largely from soldiers of ethnic Zhuang background, who crossed the border in 1865 from Guangxi, China into northern Vietnam, then during the N ...

. Đèo Văn Trị sought help from Siamese, but Siamese occupied

Muang Thaeng Muang Thaeng or Mường Thèn is a legendary Tai peoples, Tai locality believed to be associated with modern-day Mường Thanh Valley in Điện Biên province of Vietnam. In legend, it is the initial settlement of Tai people migrating southw ...

and attempted to place Sip Song Chau Tai under Siamese control. During the

Haw wars The Haw Wars ( th, สงครามปราบฮ่อ) were fought against Chinese quasi-military refugee gangs invading parts of Tonkin and the Siam from 1865–1890. Forces invading Lao domains were ill-disciplined and freely demolished B ...

, three of his younger brothers were captured and held prisoner by a Siamese military expedition, which made him enraged. In 1887, Đèo Văn Trị's Dai soldiers together with Chinese Black Flag Army soldiers, sacked

. Auguste Pavie prevented the capture of the ailing local ruler Oun Kham and had him taken to safety but Đèo Văn Trị captured the local uparat prince Souvanna Phomma and executed him on June 8, 1887. Đèo Văn Trị used the temple as his headquarters, along with Wat Suwannaphumaham, sparing them any damage. Pavie allied with Đèo Văn Trị and France recognised him as leader of Sip Song Chau Tai in 1890.Where China Meets Southeast Asia: Social & Cultural Change in the ... - Page 107 Grant Evans, Christopher Hutton, Khun Eng Kuah - 2000 "A major figure with whom the early French administration allied was the White Tai leader Deo Van Tri, who died in 1909. ... of Auguste Pavie, who in return made him the official and fully fledged leader of the Sip Song Chau Tai in 1890." Siamese released his brothers back to Sip Song Chau Tai. He was succeeded by his son Đèo Văn Long.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deo, Van Tri 1849 births 1908 deaths People of French Indochina History of Laos