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Ong Keo

Laotian military leader (died 1910)

Summary

Laotian military leader (died 1910)

Field	Value
name	Ong Keo
image
birth_date
death_date	November 1910
death_place	Salavan City, Kingdom of Champasak
other_names	Phu Mi Boun
monuments	Ong Keo Stupa
known_for	Holy Man's Rebellion
occupation	Sorcerer

Ong Keo (องค์แก้ว) was a leader of the Holy Man's Rebellion, a rebellion of Austroasiatic-speaking minorities (formerly called Mon-Khmer) in Thailand against French and Lao forces, where it was a widespread but short-lived cause.{{cite journal |access-date= April 2, 2013

Early life

Ong Keo was an Alak, born in Ban Paktai, Muang Thateng, in what then was part of the kingdom of Champasak, but now is in Xekong or Sekong Province.

His father was a village chief. Ong Keo moved rapidly up the leadership ladder because of his charisma and intelligence, and his fluency in Lao and Pali. He performed religious ceremonies on Mount Tayun, which was close to his home village. He advocated that foreigners be thrown out. His following grew quickly and soon they began calling him Pha Ong Keo (พระองค์แก้ว − Wiktionary: prá ong gâew) − "Venerable Precious-Jewel," and a Phu Mi Boun (, lit. "person have Buddhist merit"), usually translated in the messianic sense as The Holy Man.

Rebellion

He launched his rebellion in Thateng in response to the destruction of the temple of Ban Nong Mek. This rebellion lasted six years before a truce could be made. Ong Keo surrendered to the French in October 1907 after military defeats, epidemics and famine disheartened his troops. Despite his surrender, he never submitted to the conditions the French laid on him. He continued to use the title of "Great King" that he had given himself, performed Buddhist/Alak religious rites and encouraged his disciples, particularly Ong Kommandam, to carry on his struggle. In 1910, the French Commissioner of Saravane, Jean-Jacques Dauplay, ordered that he be killed for his "arrogant" attitude. Some sources say that Dauplay himself killed Ong Keo after summoning him to a meeting, with a gun he had hid in his hat.

References

[http://www.saravanh-tourism-laos.org/saravan/tourist_attaction/history/Ong_Keo_Stone_Stupa.html Ong Keo Stupa]{{Dead link. (August 2025)
Polsena, Vatthana; 2006; Post-war Laos: The Politics of Culture, History, And Identity; Cornell University Press; {{ISBN. 0801445035; pp 121-138
Gunn, Geoffrey C.; 1990; Rebellion In Laos: Peasant And Politics In A Colonial Backwater; Westview Press USA; {{ISBN. 0813380278
Moppert, François; ''Mouvement de résistance au pouvoir colonial français de la minorité proto-indochinoise du plateau des Bolovens au Sud-Laos : 1901-1936''; Doctorate Thesis, Université de Paris VII, 1978

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

year-of-birth-missing laotian-military-leaders 1910-deaths assassinated-military-personnel deaths-by-firearm-in-laos

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