Annam 938-1558 Annam 1802-1885






Annam 1558-1802



Annam is a Chinese term, referring to the "pacified south". Most Non-Vietnamese sources use the term to describe the Vietnamese state before its partitioning in the early 16th century, and the southern part afterward. Vietnamese sources refer the term DAI VIET instead; encyclopedic Vietnamese sources use the term Dai Viet to describe both Tonkin and Annam 1558-1786, and some of them fail to mention the existence of a separate political entity in the south alltogether.
Since the early 16th century, Annam or Dai Viet had been engulfed in a protracted civil war; by 1558 two dynasties (latrer temporarily three) emerged; the southern state, here referred to as Annam, was ruled from capital HUE by the NGUYEN DYNASTY. Formally tributary to Tonkin, the Nguyen in 1620 ceased to pay tribute, which lead to a war lasting over 5 decades; truce was signed in 1673. In 1697-1720 Annam conquered the state establishd by refugees from Champa after the disaster of 1471; in 1747 Annam conquered the Mekong Delta.
In 1771 the TAY SON REBELLION broke out; in 1777 most of the ruling Nguyen family were killed, the last surviving prince Nguyen Anh expelled from Saigon in 1783. In 1786 the Tay Son conquered Tonkin, reunifying Vietnam. A Qing Chinese invasion to restore Tonkin failed. In 1800-1802, Nguyen Anh, taking on the name Gia Long, with French aid, reconquered first Annam, then Tonkin. He renamed the country Vietnam.

Click here for a more detailed timeline of the history of Annam






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Annam, History of , from Infoplease Articles Cochin China, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) , Annam, History of Vietnam, from Wikipedia
Pre-Colonial Vietnam, by E. Bolt, A. Garrett
Saigon, from Vietscape
Ho Chi Minh City History Museum
Ho Chi Minh City History, from Lonely Planet
Vietnamese History, from LuanPhan, has list of Kings of the various dynasties; does not have Nguyen Dynasty 1558-1802
Two Vietnams, from Guide to Thailand
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE Stanley Karnow, Vietnam - A History


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on January 12th 2002, last revised on December 20th 2004

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