A History of Northern Economy: Long-distance Traders in Translocal Economy

Abstract

The Lanna Kingdom had commercial relations with northern states such as Shan, Chiang Tung/ Kengtung, Sipsongpanna/Xishuangbanna, and Luang Prabang through long-distance trade routes between Sipsongpanna in China and Mawlamyine in Burma. This kind of trade had emerged before the birth of the nation-state and created a merchant culture dependent on risk taking. Factors like commodities, trading passages, and actors involved were highly unpredictable, so it was challenging for the merchants to calculate the cost/benefit equation for each trading trip. Traders, therefore, adopted a risk mitigation strategy in order to ensure the risks that may occur were avoided or minimized. For example, in attempting to secure their business, traders married women living on the trading routes in order to install them as guardians of their business. They also built up the look kham system (adopting boys) with a similar task and created networks to share information among the merchant society, thus reducing trading risks. In addition, after the arrival of the nation-state, the maritime trade routes gradually replaced former continental trade. This disruption took Lanna’s commerce into a new era, where the Chinese Yunnanese’s trading power finally declined.