List of monarchs of Vietnam

This article lists the monarchs of Vietnam. Under the emperor [at home, king abroad] system used by later dynasties, Vietnamese monarchs would use the title of emperor domestically, and the more common term sovereign, king, or his/her Majesty elsewhere.

Overview

Some Vietnamese monarchs declared themselves rulers, kings, or emperors. Imperial titles were used for both domestic and foreign affairs, except for diplomatic missions to China where Vietnamese monarchs were regarded as kingship or prince. Many of the Later Lê monarchs were figurehead rulers, with the real powers resting on feudal lords and princes who were technically their servants. Most Vietnamese monarchs are known through their posthumous names or temple names, while the Nguyễn dynasty, the last reigning house is known through their era names.

Titles

Vua

The general Vietnamese term for "ruler" was vua. There is no Chinese character for this term and it only exists in its written form as a chữ Nôm character. The word vua originates from Proto-Vietic and means "father; chief; man". Vua contains connotations of rulership as well as familial kinship, combining the meaning of the Chinese originated word for "king" with "pater familias". Some emperors such as Lê Lợi and Lê Thánh Tông preferred being called vua while they were still living. During the Lê dynasty, the Chinese style title for "emperor" was mostly used during the ceremony in which the posthumous imperial name was bestowed upon the deceased emperor. As a vua, the Viet ruler was expected to be more hands on with their governance than their Chinese counterpart, and Viet peasants were more inclined to blame him directly for their misfortunes than in China. However the role of vua as a more intimate and native term has been questioned by Liam C. Kelley, who suggests that the difference between vương and vua may simply be the result of a modern political argument seeking to demonstrate that Vietnam was Southeast Asian rather than Chinese.
Vua was not used exclusively to the exclusion of other titles or applied only to Viet rulers. The Lao king Anouvong was referred to as both quoc vuong as well as vua. Nha vua, meaning "house head" or "monarch", was a common appellation for the Viet emperor and was also used for Anouvong. The king of Siam, Rama III, was called vua as well as Phat vuong.
The title used by Phùng Hưng, 布蓋大王, may have been an early representation of vua. The latter two characters, 大王, mean "great king" in Chinese. However the first two characters bùgài do not mean anything coherent in Chinese. They have been translated into the Vietnamese expressions bo cái or vua cái. Bo cái dai vuong means "the Great King who is Father and Mother to his people" whereas vua cái dai vuong would simply be "great king" repeated twice, first in Vietnamese and then in Chinese. It was transcribed in the 15th-century Buddhist scripture Phật thuyết đại báo phụ mẫu ân trọng kinh as sībù ; in Middle Vietnamese as ꞗua or bua; becoming vua in Early Modern Vietnamese such as recorded by Alexis-Marie de Rochon's A Voyage to Madagascar and the East Indies.

Hoàng đế

Hoàng đế, meaning "emperor", is a Sino-Vietnamese title borrowed from Chinese. Like Chinese emperors, Viet rulers used the title hoàng đế and thiên tử, meaning "son of heaven". The poem Nam quốc sơn hà by Lý Thường Kiệt contains a line calling the Viet ruler nam đế.
Minh Mạng was thrice referred to as dai hoang de. Minh Mạng referred to himself as dai nam quoc dai hoang de and insisted that he be addressed by foreign courts as Duc Hoang De rather than vuong. This was likely due to his ideological leanings and predilection for Sinic culture. He also insisted that other countries use Chinese in official communications. These demands great offended other courts, especially Rama III.
The mother of the crown prince was called hoang thai hau.

Vương

While Viet rulers were called vua or hoàng đế on most occasions, they were referred to as vương, a Sino-Vietnamese title for "king", in official communications with Chinese dynasties. Almost all Viet rulers adopted some sort of tributary relationship with the imperial dynasties of China. The relationship was symbolic and had no effect on Vietnam's management. However, the Viet ruler would style themselves as "king" when communicating with China's rulers while using hoàng đế to address their own subjects or other Southeast Asian rulers. Even during the Nguyễn dynasty when Viet rulers such as Minh Mạng referred to themselves as emperors especially towards other Southeast Asian courts, Viet embassies to China presented their ruler as the "king of the state of Vietnam". Internally, the Nguyễn saw their relationship with the Qing dynasty as that of equal countries.
In 1710, Nguyễn Phúc Chu was called Dai Viet quoc vuong. In 1834, Minh Mạng called the Cambodian king phien vuong.

Chúa

Chúa, meaning prince, governor, lord, or warlord, was a title that was applied to the Trịnh lords and Nguyễn lords.

Phật

Buddhism exerted influence on a number of Vietnamese royal titles, such as when the late 12th-century devout Buddhist king Lý Cao Tông demanded his courtiers to refer him as phật. His great-grandfather and predecessor Lý Nhân Tông, a great patronizer of the Buddhist sangha, in his stelae inscription erected in 1121, compared himself and his accomplishments with ancient rulers of the Indian subcontinent near the time of Gautama Buddha, particularly king Udayana and emperor Aśoka.

Cham titles

Cham rulers of the former kingdom of Champa in present-day Central and Southern Vietnam used many titles, mostly derived from Hindu Sanskrit titles. There were prefix titles, among them, Jaya and Śrī, which Śrī was used more commonly before each ruler's name, and sometimes Śrī and Jaya were combined into Śrī Jaya. Royal titles were used to indicate the power and prestige of rulers: raja-di-raja, maharajadhiraja, arddharaja. After the fall of Vijaya Champa and the Simhavarmanid dynasty in 1471, all Sanskrit titles disappeared from Cham records, due to southern Panduranga rulers styled themselves as Po, and Islam gradually replaced Hinduism in post-1471 Champa.

Ancient period

Hồng Bàng period

According to tradition there were eighteen of the Hùng kings of the Hồng Bàng period, known then as Văn Lang at that time, from around 2879 BC to around 258 BC. Following is the list of 18 lines of Hùng kings as recorded in the book Việt Nam sử lược by Trần Trọng Kim.

Thục dynasty (257–207 BC)

Triệu dynasty (204–111 BC)

There is still a debate about the status of the Triệu dynasty : traditional Vietnamese historians considered the Triệu dynasty as a local Vietnamese dynasty while modern Vietnamese historians typically consider the Triệu dynasty as a Chinese dynasty.

1st, 2nd, 3rd Chinese domination period (111 BC - 939 AD)

Trưng Sisters (40–43)

Mai rebellions (713–723)

Phùng rebellions (766–791)

Early Lý dynasty (544–602)

Đào Lang Vương is not officially considered as emperor of Early Lý dynasty as he was a self-claimed emperor.

Autonomous period (866–938) & Independent period (938–1407)

[Tĩnh Hải quân] (866–938)

At this time, the Khúc leaders still held the title of Jiedushi, hence they are not official kings of Vietnam.

Ngô dynasty (939–965)

Interregnum (965-968)

Warring states period

The throne of Ngô dynasty was upsurged by Dương Tam Kha, the brother-in-law of Ngô Quyền and this led to anger among those who were loyal to Ngô dynasty. The local warlords decided to make the rebellions to claim the throne.

State of Đại Cồ Việt (968–1054) & State of Đại Việt (1054–1400, 1427–1804)

Đinh dynasty (968–980)

Early Lê dynasty (980–1009)

Later Lý dynasty (1009–1225)

Trần dynasty (1225–1400)

State of Đại Ngu (1400–1407)

Hồ dynasty (1400–1407)

Fourth Chinese domination period (1407–1428)

Later Trần dynasty (1407–1414)

Second independent period (1428–1802)

Later Lê dynasty – Early period (1428–1527)

Northern and Southern dynasty (1533–1592)

Northern dynasty – Mạc dynasty (1527–1592)

Southern dynasty – Revival Lê dynasty – Warlord period (1533–1789)

Tonkin – Trịnh lords (1545–1787)

Trịnh Kiểm never declared himself as Lord during his rule, his titles were posthumously given by his descendants. Hence he is not considered as an official Trịnh Lord.

Cochinchina – Nguyễn lords (1558–1777)

Nguyễn Phúc Dương was established by Tây Sơn leaders as a puppet Nguyễn Lord for their political purpose during Tây Sơn uprising. Hence he is sometimes not considered as an official Nguyễn lord.

Tây Sơn dynasty (1778–1802)

Nguyễn Nhạc dropped his emperor title in 1788 after his younger brother – Nguyễn Huệ – declared himself as Emperor.

Empire of Dai Nam">Nguyễn dynasty">Dai Nam (1802–1883), Annam and Tonkin Protectorates (1883–1945), and Empire of Vietnam (1945)

Nguyễn dynasty (1802–1945)

Non-Vietnamese nations

Champa (192–1832)

Dynasty	King	Real name	Reign
I Dynasty	Sri Mara	Ch'ű-lien	192–?
I Dynasty	?
I Dynasty	?
I Dynasty		Fan Hsiung	fl. 270
I Dynasty		Fan Yi	c. 284–336
II Dynasty		Fan Wen	336–349
II Dynasty		Fan Fo	349–?
II Dynasty	Bhadravarman I	Fan Hu Ta	380–413
II Dynasty	Gangaraja	Fan Ti Chen
II Dynasty	Manorathavarman
II Dynasty		Fan Diwen	died c. 420
III Dynasty	Fan Yang Mai I	Fan Yangmai	c. 420–421
III Dynasty	Fan Yang Mai II	Fan Duo	c. 431 – c. 455
III Dynasty		Fan Shencheng	c. 455 – c. 484
III Dynasty		Fan Danggenchun	c. 484 – c. 492
III Dynasty		Fan Zhunong	c. 492 – c. 498
III Dynasty		Fan Wenkuan or Fan Wenzan	c. 502 – c. 510
III Dynasty	Devavarman	Fan Tiankai	c. 510 – c. 526
III Dynasty	Vijayavarman		c. 526/9
IV Dynasty	Rudravarman I		c. 529 ?
IV Dynasty	Sambhuvarman	Fan Fanzhi	572 – 629
IV Dynasty	Kandarpadharma	Fan Touli	629 –
IV Dynasty	Prabhasadharma	Fan Zhenlong	– 645
IV Dynasty	Bhadresvaravarman		645–?
IV Dynasty	Daughter of Kandarpadharma		?–653
IV Dynasty	Vikrantavarman I	Zhuge Di	653–c. 686
IV Dynasty	Naravahanavarman		c. 686 – c. ?
IV Dynasty	Vikrantavarman II		c. 687 – c. 731
Rudravarman II		c. 731/58	-
V Dynasty	Prithindravarman		? 758–?
V Dynasty	Satyavarman		c. 770/87
V Dynasty	Indravarman I		c. 787/803
V Dynasty	Harivarman I		c. 803/17 > ?
V Dynasty	Vikrantavarman III		? -c. 854
VI Dynasty	Indravarman II		c. 854/98
VI Dynasty	Jaya Sinhavarman I		c. 898/903
VI Dynasty	Jaya Saktivarman
VI Dynasty	Bhadravarman II		fl. 910
VI Dynasty	Indravarman III		c. 918–959
VI Dynasty	Jaya Indravarman I		959– < 965
VI Dynasty	Paramesvaravarman I	Bo-mei-mei-shui Yang Bu-yin-cha	< 965–982
VI Dynasty	Indravarman IV		982–986's
VI Dynasty	Liu Ji-zong	Lưu Kế Tông	c. 986–989
VII Dynasty	Harivarman II	Yang Tuo Pai	c. 989–997
VII Dynasty	Yang Bo Zhan, of Fan	Yang Bozhan	?
VII Dynasty	Yang Pu Ku Vijaya	Yan Pu Ku Vijaya Sri	c. 998–1007
VII Dynasty	Harivarman III	Yang Pu Ju-bi-cha-she-li	fl. 1010
VII Dynasty	Paramesvaravarman II	Yang Pu Ju-bi-cha-she-li	fl. 1018
VII Dynasty	Vikrantavarman IV	Yang Bu Ju-shi-li	?–?1030
VII Dynasty	Jaya Simhavarman II		?1030–?1044
VIII Dynasty	Jaya Paramesvaravarman I	Ku Sri Paramesvarmadeva Yang Pu	1044–1060
VIII Dynasty	Bhadravarman III		?–1061
VIII Dynasty	Rudravarman III		1061–1074
IX Dynasty	Harivarman IV		1074–1080
IX Dynasty	Jaya Indravarman II		1080–1081, 1086–1114
IX Dynasty	Paramabhodhisatva	–	1081–1086
IX Dynasty	Harivarman V	Yang Bu Ma-die	1114–1139
X Dynasty	Jaya Indravarman III		1139/45
XI Dynasty	Rudravarman IV		1145–1147
XI Dynasty	Jaya Harivarman I		1147–1167
XI Dynasty	Jaya Harivarman II		1167
XI Dynasty	Jaya Indravarman IV		1167–1190, died 1192
XII Dynasty	Suryajayavarmadeva		1190–1191
XII Dynasty	Suryavarmadeva		1190–1203
XII Dynasty	Jaya Indravarman V		1191
XII Dynasty	Champa under Cambodian rules		1203–1220
XII Dynasty	Jaya Paramesvaravarman II		1220–c.1252
XII Dynasty	Jaya Indravarman VI		c.1252–1257
XII Dynasty	Indravarman V		1257–1288
XII Dynasty	Jaya Sinhavarman III		1288–1307
XII Dynasty	Jaya Sinhavarman IV		1307–1312
XII Dynasty	Chế Nang		1312–1318
XIII Dynasty	Chế A Nan		1318–1342
XIII Dynasty	Trà Hoa Bồ Đề		1342–1360
XIII Dynasty	Chế Bồng Nga		1360–1390
XIV Dynasty	Jaya Simhavarman VI		1390–1400
XIV Dynasty	Indravarman VI		1400–1441
XIV Dynasty	Virabhadravarman		1441–?
XIV Dynasty	Maija Vijaya		1441–1446
XIV Dynasty	Moho Kouei-Lai		1446–1449
Moho Kouei-Yeou		1449–1458	-
XV Dynasty	Moho P'an-Lo-Yue		1458–1460
XV Dynasty	Tra-Toan		1460–1471
Dynasty of the South	Po Ro Me		1627–1651
Dynasty of the South	Po Niga		1652–1660
Dynasty of the South	Po Saut		1660–1692
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	Po Saktirai da putih		1695–1728
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	Po Ganvuh da putih		1728–1730
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	Po Thuttirai		1731–1732
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	vacant		1732–1735
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	Po Rattirai		1735–1763
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	Po Tathun da moh-rai		1763–1765
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	Po Tithuntirai da paguh		1765–1780
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	Po Tithuntirai da parang		1780–1781
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	vacant		1781–1783
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	Chei Krei Brei		1783–1786
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	Po Tithun da parang		1786–1793
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	Po Lathun da paguh		1793–1799
Dynasty of Po Saktiraidaputih, vassal Cham rulers under the Nguyễn lords	Po Chong Chan		1799–1822