Somdetch Brhat-Anya Fa Ladhuraniya Sri Sadhana Kanayudha Maharaja Brhat Rajadharana Sri Chudhana Negara, better known as Fa Ngum (Laotian: ຝ້າງູ່ມ [fȁːŋum]; 1316 – 1393, born in Muang Sua, died in Nan), established the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang in 1354.

Phraya Fa Ngum, son of the exiled Phi Fa, grandson of Phraya Khamphong, and great-grandson of the exiled Phraya Lang, was born in 1316. He was raised by the religious scholar Maha Pasaman Chao (Phra Mahasamana). At sixteen, he married a Cambodian princess known variously as Kaeo, Yot Kaeo, or Kaeo Lot Fa.

Fa Ngoum or Fa Ngum was born in Muang Xwa, a Lao principality located on the site of present-day Luang Prabang, and founded the Lan Xang Hôm Khao (better known as Lan Xang) kingdom in Laos in 1353. Fa Ngoum (born 1316—died 1374) was a grandson of Souvanna Khamphong, titled Phagna Khampong, ruler of Muang Xwa and grandfather of Fa Ngoum, banished Fa Ngoum and his father, Chao Fa Ngiao, to the Khmer kingdom of Angkor in the 1320s due to his father's indiscretion with one of the grandfather's wives. Another source said that Fa Ngoum was sent to exile because Fa Ngoum was miraculously born with thirty-three teeth which was an omen of threatening the well-being of his grandfather's kingdom. Fa Ngoum subsequently married a Khmer princess Princess Kèo Kèngkanya. With the support of king of Angkor, Fa Ngoum returned to Muang Xwa with a 10,000 man army to gain control and consolidate his kingdom. Princess Kèo Kèngkanyalater died from plague, while he was campaigning North against the Mongols. In 1316–1374, Fa Ngoum founded the kingdom of Lan Xang Hôm Khao—"land of one million elephants and a white parasol." The elephant symbolized military power since most battles were fought using elephants, and the white parasol symbolized royalty, particularly a Buddhist monarch. Fa Ngoum further legitimized his rule by enshrining the Prabang Buddha image as the spiritual protector of the kingdom in Viang Chan Viang Kham (present-day Vientiane). He made Xiang Dong Xiang Thong (later renamed Luang Prabang) his capital.

Fa Ngoum is credited with introducing Khmer culture and Singhalese Buddhism to the region. His religious tutor, Maha Pasaman also brought back sacred texts and the Phra Bang.

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