If the previous fifty years had been quiet and uneventful for Tibet, the years from 1470 to 1520 were quite the opposite. It began in 1472 when Dai Viet, Tibet's ally, declared war on their neighbour Champa. With military access through China and Dai Viet, the Tibetan army was able to capture Champa's capital Da Nang. When Malacca, also at war with Champa, took their only other province Da Lat in 1476, Tibet quickly annexed Da Nang (1). The Tibetan alliance was soon bolstered by Lan Xang, Burma and Lan Na. When Lan Xang took the alliance to war against one-province Cambodia in 1484 it took only a year for the Tibetan army to invade from Da Nang and annex Khmer (2). Then in a five year war against Arakan and Mon, begun by Lan Na in 1495, Tibet took Bangkok and Kwai from Mon and Mekong Delta from Arakan (3). In a second war, from 1504-08, again begun by Lan Na, Tibet took the coveted trading centre of Santal from Arakan (4). Mon (light brown) had been annexed by Lan Xang in 1505 but broke away again in 1511, only to be subdued and vassalized by Tibet in 1513.


The Mekong Delta