Early history Tai peoples have settled in the northwestern parts of what now is Vietnam since the early first millennium CE or, at the latest, the fifth to eighth century. They mainly settled along the
Black River (Sông Đà). One Black Tai chiefdom—located at the place today known as
Điện Biên Phủ—was named
Muang Thaeng, just like the legendary kingdom of
Khun Borom, protagonist of a Tai creation myth and believed to be the progenitor of the Lao, Thai, Shan and other Tai peoples, who later spread to the territories of modern Laos, Thailand, Burma, northeast India and the south of China's
Yunnan province. Like in other Tai societies, the core social units of the Tai Dam, Tai Dón and Tai Daeng were the village
(ban) and the chiefdom (
mueang, Vietnamese
mường), each consisting of several villages and ruled by a feudal lord
(chao). Their base of life was
wet rice cultivation, which is why the Tai settled in valleys alongside the course of rivers. A number (first 12 - then 16) of these
mueang, situated in the modern-day provinces of
Điện Biên,
Lai Châu,
Sơn La as well as western parts of
Lào Cai and
Yên Bái grouped together and formed a long-term alliance, called Sip Song Chau Tai. Usually one of the lords was considered senior to the others, but each of them maintained the power over his chiefdom. The alliance has been formalized since at least the 17th century, The number of
mueangs belonging to the confederation altered during the course of time, but the number "twelve" was kept in the name for symbolic reasons. In premodern Southeast Asia's complex political geography, Sip Song Chau Tai lay at the intersection of several larger
mandalas (circles of influence): At different times, it had to pay tribute to China, Vietnam,
Lan Xang/
Luang Phrabang (in today's Laos) and/or
Siam (Thailand). Nevertheless, the Tai chiefdoms always maintained their autonomy in internal affairs.
French Indochina Even though the upland Tai had stronger ethnic and cultural ties to Laos, Sip Song Chau Tai was incorporated into the French protectorate of
Tonkin—and therefore
French Indochina—after 1888. This was arranged by the French explorer and colonial representative
Auguste Pavie who signed a treaty with
Đèo Văn Trị, the White Tai lord of Muang Lay (
Lai Châu) on 7 April 1889. Thereby the Sip Song Chau Tai accepted the French overlordship, while the colonial power promised to respect the positions of the Tai lords and their autonomy in internal affairs. Following Đèo Văn Trị's death, leadership of the White Tai passed to his third son
Đèo Văn Long, passing over the second son. After the
Japanese coup of 1945, Đèo Văn Long fled Lai Chau with retreating French units. On his return, with the assistance of a Eurasian agricultural official named Louis Bordier, Đèo Văn Long was reestablished, and the French agreed to honor the terms of Pavie's 1889 agreement with Long's father. Bordier married Long's daughter and as his son-in-law proceeded to direct military operations of the White Tai against the Black Tai at Son La who supported the Viet Minh. Several Tai companies fought alongside the French in the
First Indochina War, against both the communist
Viet Minh and the nationalist
Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (VNQDD), probably motivated by their distrust vis-à-vis the lowland Vietnamese and their wish to retain the autonomy they enjoyed under the French.
Tai Federation In 1948, the French colonial administration declared the
Tai Federation (, native name:
Phen Din Tai, ; by that time consisting of 19 Tai states in then three Vietnamese provinces of Lai Châu, Sơn La and Phong Thổ) to be an independent component of the
French Union. It had its own flag, constitution and parliament. The Tai Federation was however not only populated by Tai peoples, but also other "
hill tribes"
(montagnards), including
Hmong,
Yao,
Yi (Lolo) and
Khmu. They were labeled as "sub-minorities" and treated inferior to the Tais. In 1950, the Tai Federation was made a crown domain of the French-installed Vietnamese emperor
Bảo Đại, but not an integrated part of the State of Vietnam. Bảo Đại refrained from delegating a governor to Lai Châu, but rather left the power in the hands of Đèo Văn Long and the Tai lords. The emperor visited his domain only once, in 1952. Following the death of Đèo Văn Long's oldest son, his third son Deo Van Un took command of 4,000
White Tai partisans, but was killed at the
Battle of Dien Bien Phu of March to May 1954. When the Viet Minh attacked the Lai Châu town in December 1953, Đèo Văn Long was evacuated by the French army to Hanoi, then departed to Laos and finally went into exile in France. The
Geneva Agreements of July 1954 awarded the whole of
North Vietnam to the communist-led Democratic Republic (DRV) and dissolved the autonomous Tai Federation, marking the end of the centuries-old rule of the feudal lords. Following Đèo Văn Long's death in 1975, his title and position among the exile community of the "Pays Taï" passed to his daughter
Deo Nang Toï, who has lived in Paris until her death in 2008. == Political organization ==