The regions of present-day Laos were politically united by the Kingdom of Lan Xang (also Lane Xang) for the first time in 1353, when Fa Ngum was crowned its king and Luang Prabang became its capital.<\/p>\n
Lan Xang was, however, surrounded by mightier neighbours, such as the Khmers, Chinese, Vietnamese, Siamese<\/a> (Thai), and the Burmese. Many of them invaded the kingdom, as was also to be the fate of Laos later.\u00a0Theravada\u00a0Buddhism was established as the religion of the ruling class, at the latest, by the founding of Lan Xang.<\/p>\n In 1694, after half a century, which is regarded as the golden age of Lao culture, Lan Xang split into three smaller kingdoms, Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Champassak. These kingdoms, which were rivals, had, in turn, stormy relationships with their neighbours, particularly the Northern Thai Kingdom of Lanna and the Burmese.<\/p>\n At the end of the 18th<\/sup> century the Siamese invaded the territory. They conquered and destroyed Vientiane. Laos became a tributary of Siam, and Thai influence dominated the culture of Vientiane until the 1890s, when Laos gradually came under French control as its protectorate.<\/p>\n\n\t\t