The Ayutthaya Kingdom or the Empire of Ayutthaya was a Thai kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. European travellers in the early 16th century called Ayutthaya one of the three great powers of Asia (alongside Vijayanagara and Ming China), although the Chinese chronicles recognise the kingdom as one of its tributary states. The Ayutthaya Kingdom is considered to be the precursor of modern Thailand, and its developments are an important part of the history of Thailand.
The name Ayutthaya originates from Ayodhya, a Sanskrit word. This connection stems from the Ramakien, Thailand's national epic. The Ayutthaya Kingdom emerged from the mandala or merger of three maritime city-states on the Lower Chao Phraya Valley in the late 13th and 14th centuries (Lopburi, Suphanburi, and Ayutthaya). The early kingdom was a maritime confederation, oriented to post-Srivijaya Maritime Southeast Asia, conducting raids and tribute from these maritime states. After two centuries of political organization from the Northern Cities and a transition to a hinterland state, Ayutthaya centralized and became one of the great powers of Asia. From 1569 to 1584, Ayutthaya was a vassal state of Toungoo Burma; but quickly regained independence. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Ayutthaya emerged as a center of international trade and its culture flourished. The reign of Narai (r. 1657–1688) was known for Persian and later, European, influence and the sending of the 1686 Siamese embassy to the French court of King Louis XIV. The Late Ayutthaya Period saw the departure of the French and English but growing prominence of the Chinese. This period has been described as a "golden age" of Siamese culture and saw the rise in Chinese trade and the introduction of capitalism into Siam, a development that would continue to expand in the centuries following the fall of Ayutthaya.
Ayutthaya's failure to create a peaceful order of succession and the introduction of capitalism undermined the traditional organization of its elite and the old bonds of labor control which formed the military and government organization of the kingdom. In the mid-18th century, the Burmese Konbaung dynasty invaded Ayutthaya in 1759–1760 and 1765–1767. In April 1767, after a 14-month siege, the city of Ayutthaya fell to besieging Burmese forces and was completely destroyed, thereby ending the 417-year-old Ayutthaya Kingdom. Siam, however, quickly recovered from the collapse and the seat of Siamese authority was moved to Thonburi-Bangkok within the next 15 years.
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In foreign accounts, Ayutthaya was called "Siam" but people of Ayutthaya called themselves Tai, and their kingdom Krung Tai (Thai: กรุงไท) meaning 'Tai country' (กรุงไท). The Fra Mauro map of the world, made in circa 1450, features Ayutthaya city under the Latin name "Scierno". This name was derived from the Persian "Shahr-I-Naw", meaning 'New City'. Early Iberian and Italian sources preserve several related variant spellings that also appear to refer to Ayutthaya, including forms such as Cernouem and Cernomé in Portuguese and Spanish compilations, and Xarnauz and Sarnau in other accounts. A handwritten nautical chart attributed to Vesconte de Maggiolo (c. 1508) labels Ayutthaya as Zerena. Some early Portuguese descriptions characterize Xarnauz as a "Christian" kingdom, a wording that may reflect European assumptions about non-Muslim states rather than local religion. It was also referred to as Iudea (and Iudiad) in a c. 1662–1663 bird's-eye view painting of Ayutthaya attributed to Johannes Vingboons, commissioned by the Dutch East India Company. Alternative spelling is Iudia in a 1683 illustration by Alain Mallet. The capital city of Ayutthaya is officially known as Krung Thep Dvaravati Si Ayutthaya (Thai: กรุงเทพทวารวดีศรีอยุธยา), as documented in historical sources.
History
Origins
The lower Chao Phraya Basin around the turn of the second millennium was split between Lavo Kingdom, which dominated the eastern half of the Lower Chao Phraya, and Suphannabhum, which dominated the west. The western lower Chao Phraya Basin was also influenced by Angkorian culture but not direct Angkorian political and military influence. Ayutthaya, argued by Charnvit Kasetsiri, was the merger of four different port polities along the Lower Chao Phraya Basin: Lopburi (Lavo), Suphanburi, Ayutthaya, and Phetchaburi. Suphanburi had first sent a tribute mission to Song dynasty in 1180 and Phetchaburi to the Yuan dynasty in 1294 and tribute missions to Vijaynagar empire between 1400 and 1500. The earliest written records of Ayutthaya in the Chinese chronicles is that a Chinese official fled to Xian in 1282/83. Xian first sent an embassy to the Yuan dynasty in 1292, after which the Yuan requested another embassy. While older and traditional scholars argue that the ethnically Thai Sukhothai or Suphanburi was the Xiān mentioned in Chinese sources, more recent scholarship, like Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit, argue that Xian referred to Ayutthaya as that was the same name later used for Ayutthaya by the Chinese court. Michael Vickery argued that it is likely the Chinese used Xian to refer to the lower Chao Phraya Basin from its inception.
One of the earliest foreign sources to mention Xiān are the Đại Việt texts compiled during the reign of Lý Anh Tông, says merchants from Xiān Kingdom (暹羅) and others arrived at Hǎidōng (chữ Hán: 海東) and requested permission to trade and set up a trading post at Yún tún (chữ Hán: 雲屯) in 1149.:line 61 Other requests for trade were sent in 1241:line 29 and 1360.:line 109 Xian also sent tributes to Đại Việt in 1182:line 25 and 1334. In 1313–1315, Xiān attempted to annex Champa but failed due to the reinforcements from Đại Việt.:line 148 There was also a record of Siamese led by Passara, son of the king of Siam, settled in Java and established the city of Passaraan in 800.
Archaeological findings have found evidence of buildings on the island of Ayutthaya prior to the 12th century. Pottery shards have been discovered to have been dated as early as the 1270s. Some temples to the east of Ayutthaya, off the island, have been known to exist before the traditional founding of the kingdom in 1351. Recent archaeological works reveal pre-existing barays superimposed on by subsequent structures. The Tamnan mulasasana Buddhist chronicle notes that in the 1320s, two Buddhist monks visited Ayutthaya in search of scriptures and that a previous monk had been honored by the "King of Ayodhia" on his return from Lanka. Since the late 13th century, expeditions were sent to the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra in the goal of extracting resources to gain a share of the maritime trade. Other contemporary scholars argued that Ayutthaya had been an important commercial center since the 11th century or at least several centuries prior to 1351.
Twenty-first century archaeological surveys found that the name of the pre-Ayutthaya cities on the Khao Kop Inscription dated to the 14th–15th centuries is Ayothaya Si Ram Thep Nakhon (Thai: อโยธยาศรีรามเทพนคร), as stated in the Thai Chronicle, Phraratchaphongsawadan Nuea (Royal Chronicle of The North compiled in 1807 collected from old books from period of King Narai and stories told by northerners). At least three royal decrees in Thai were enacted during that period, and the name of the king who ruled Ayodhaya in the oldest of the three royal decrees, The Miscellaneous Laws (Thai: Phra Aiyakan Betset) (1225), is found as King Uthong II, who reigned from 1205 to 1253 (not to be confused with King Uthong reigning from 1351 to 69). It was also found that Thai was used as the official language at that time, which reflected the social changes of the people in the Chao Phraya River Basin.
The existence of Ayothaya Si Ram Thep Nakhon is also mentioned in the Burmese chronicle, Hmannan Yazawin, which mentions the Gywan warriors, who are descendants of the Thai Yuan, marched to Thaton kingdom in 1056 as inscribed on the Burmese inscriptions at Arakan Pagoda, Mandalay. The Hmannan Yazawin said the south-eastward country of the Gywans, also called Ayoja. George Cœdès pointed out that Ayoja or Arawsa meant Ayudhya or Siam.
The Malay annals (Sulalatus Salatin) and History of the Malay Kingdom of Patani (Sejarah Kerajaan Melayu Patani) say that prior to 1160, the Siam-Thai of Ayutthaya (Tai-Shan's or Siam-Asli, literally "aboriginal Siamese") were migrating southward and penetrating far into the Malay Peninsula. The History of the Malay Kingdom of Patani highlights the fact that Patani rulers treated the Siam-Thai of Ayutthaya (but not Sukhothai Kingdom) as equals rather than vassals when discussing the southward expansion of Siam. In the 12th century, the Malays were successful in establishing states such as Kedah, Melaka, and Temasek. However, Patani and other surrounding territories remained under the control of the aboriginal Siamese.
Pre-Ayutthaya cities
Archaeology surveys performed near Wat Khun Mueang Chai have found traces of pre–1100s buildings. Old temples in the area to the east may have been forest monasteries, similar to the pattern of other early towns. Digs have yielded pottery shards dating back to the 1270s. According to the Northern Chronicle, the earliest settlement was found in 944 on the south bank of Lopburi River near the present-day Wat Thammikarat by a royal lineage from Bang Pan (present-day in Phran Kratai, Kamphaeng Phet), Phra Maha Phuttha Sakhon (พระมหาพุทธสาคร), who ruled the city until he died in 964. However, his successor was despoiled by Narai (not to be confused with King Narai reigning from 1656 to 88), the son of King Chandrachota from Lavo Kingdom, who was of the Suphannabhum lineage. Narai renamed the city Ayodhya (อโยธยา) and eventually set it Lavo's new capital. The former capital was then renamed Lopburi. The majority of Ayodhya's inhabitants are supposed to have migrated from Dvaravati's Ayojjhapura following its fall in 946, as well as residents from Lavo's Lavapura who fled after the city was destroyed by Angkor in 1001. The rising of Ayodhya happened after the fall of Kamalanka or Mevilimbangam, centered at Nakhon Pathom, which was sacked by the Chola and Pagan in 1030 and 1058, respectively. Ayodhya then overshadowed Lopburi and other cities in the lower Chaophraya Plain by exploiting opportunities created by the decline of the Srivijaya trading network in the 13th century.
After the end of Narai's reign in 1087, Ayodhya fell under the power struggles between nine amatyas for two years, and was won by Phra Chao Luang (พระเจ้าหลวง), who relocated the city, in 1097, southward to the east bank of the Chao Phraya River near the mouth of the Mae Bia River (แม่น้ำแม่เบี้ย), south of the present Wat Phanan Choeng. However, since he had no male heir, he had his only daughter marry Sai Nam Phueng (สายน้ำผึ้ง), son of Kraison Rat (ไกรศรราช) who was of Mon's Chaliang and Tai's Chiang Saen lineages and served as the Lavapura king at that time. Their descendants, later known as the Uthong (Lavo) dynasty, continued to rule Ayodhya until the traditional establishment of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1351.
During the pre-Aytthaya period, Ayodhya was mentioned as Xiān (暹; or Siam) in several Chinese and Đại Việt texts from 1149:line 61 to the official establishment of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1351. There are many records of Xiān invasion of Champa,:line 148 Dān mǎ xī (單馬錫, identified as far as Tumasik, or Singapore), Xī lǐ (昔里), Ma-li-yü-êrh (Melayu), and Samudera Pasai Sultanate on Sumatra, as well as a well-known bas relief panel of Angkor Wat showing mercenaries of the Khmer army, who, among others, are identified as syam-kuk, perhaps "of the land of Siam." One cannot be certain what ethnolinguistic group these mercenaries belonged to, but many scholars have thought them to be Siam people. In 1431, a Ryukyu ship reported that “the King of Xian had punished the previous chief of Palembang and had put a new chief in power.
According to The Customs of Cambodia written by Zhou Daguan as an official delegation sent by the Yuan Dynasty to Angkor from 1296–1297, the Siamese people exerted significant influence over Lavo's Lavapura and appeared in huge numbers in the Angkorian capital of Yasodharapura. It was recorded by Zhou Daguan that Cambodia also imported cloth and silkworms from Xian, and suffered from repeated attacks by its people. Thus, the Siamese invasion of Angkor might have begun in the 1290s.
The Laotian Phra That Phanom Chronicle refers to Ayodhya before the traditional formation of the Ayutthaya Kingdom by several names, including Pahalanakhon (พาหละนคร), Dvaravati, and Sri Ayodhiya Dvaravati Nakhon (ศรีอโยธิยาทวารวดีนคร). Meanwhile, the Lan Na's Yonok Chronicle mentions Ayodhya during this period as Guru Rath (กุรุรัฐ; lit. 'Country of Guru' गुरुcode: san promoted to code: sa ), which is almost identical to the Kolo Kingdom 哥罗国 or Kamalanka in several Chinese texts that existed from the 1st to 11th century. It was ruled by King Guru Wongsa (กุรุวงศา; lit. 'Family of Guru'), and its people were called Khlom (กล๋อม), which has been mispronounced as Khom till the present day.
Ayutthaya was traditionally founded by King Uthong on 4 March 1351. This fact, however, has been subject to long scholarly debate. According to Chris Baker-Pasuk Phongpaichit, there are at least seven legends about who Uthong was: "a Northern Thai prince, a fugitive Chinese prince from the sea, a Khmer noble from Angkor, a ruler from one of the gulf cities, or a Chola." Other than being the legendary founder of Ayutthaya, the only thing known about Uthong in the chronicles is the year of his death.
Before the official establishment of the kingdom, the lower Menam Valley entered the conflict-free era in the 12th century; artifacts and ruins dating back to the 12th–13th centuries found in the area indicate that there was a massive migration from surrounding neighbors, such as the Khmer from the east, the Mon from the west, and the Tai-Mon from the north. Several modern mandalas then emerged, such as Suphannabhum, Phip Phli, Sukhothai, as well as Ayutthaya Kingdom.
Early maritime dominance
In the 1290s through to the 1490s, Ayutthaya sent forces down to the peninsula and demanded tribute from the Malay principalities down to Temasek (Singapura (modern Singapore)) and Sumatra. The early Ayutthaya polity was a maritime-oriented confederation, more in line with the Malay polities of Maritime Southeast Asia than with states inland like Sukhothai and the Northern Cities. Muslim and European mapmakers labeled the Malay Peninsula up to the Tenasserim coast as part of Ayutthaya in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Early Ayutthaya did not keep records and their early dynastic chronology is likely fabricated by later Ayutthaya elites writing their histories: the early chronology in the palace chronicles does not correlate with the Ayutthaya temple chronicles nor the Chinese court chronicles.
The integrity of the patchwork of cities of the early Ayutthaya Kingdom was maintained largely through familial connections under the mandala system. King Uthong had his son, Prince Ramesuan, the ruler of Lopburi (Lavo), his brother, the ruler of Praek Sriracha(in modern Chainat Province) and his brother-in-law, Khun Luang Pa-ngua, the ruler of Suphanburi. The ruler of Phetchaburi was his distant relative. The king would appoint a prince or a relative to be the ruler of a city, and a city that was ruled by a prince was called Muang Look Luang (Thai: เมืองลูกหลวง). Each city ruler swore allegiance and loyalty to the King of Ayutthaya but also retained certain privileges.
Politics of Early Ayutthaya was characterized by rivalries between the two dynasties; the Uthong dynasty based on Lopburi (Lavo) and the Suphannabhum dynasty based on Suphanburi. Traditional narratives argued that Ayutthaya conquered Sukhothai, Angkor, etc., but more modern narratives argue that territorial conquest was a European thing and not a Southeast Asian thing. Rather, the processes which saw Ayutthaya expand was one of political merger and consolidation between the cities at the head of the peninsula and slowly ascending up the Chao Phraya River Basin to the Northern Cities.
The culture of early Ayutthaya, described by Ma Huan, a scribe on Zheng He's voyages, in the early 15th century, described Ayutthaya as a rowdy port town, whose men practice fighting on water, and where the affairs of everyday life was arranged by the women. The cities on the peninsula regularly complained to the Chinese court about constant Siamese attacks down the peninsula around this time period.
Age of warfare
The 1430s through to 1600 marked a period of rising warfare throughout Mainland Southeast Asia. In 1500, the Portuguese noted that Ayutthaya had 100 elephants, 50 years later, Ayutthaya had 50,000 elephants. Ayutthaya began launching military land expeditions far to the west and east. In the west, Ayutthaya fought to acquire the cities of Tavoy, Mergui, Tenasserim, and Martaban in the late 15th century. Song China's increasing interests to sea commerce at the turn of the second millennium made trade between China and the Indian Ocean especially lucrative. In the 1430s, Ayutthaya attacked Angkor, but did not sack the city, although Ayutthaya did install a short-lived puppet ruler.
Palace Law Codes under Borommatrailokkanat exemplified the newfound attention to warfare, citing a number of rewards for the number of enemies beheaded. The introduction of elephants, guns, and mercenaries made wars in Southeast Asia much more chronic and much more deadly. By the late 16th century, Pegu (Bago) suffered a severe conscript revolt, Ayutthaya phrai fled into the forests or bribed the conscription officers, and the construction of sturdier and stronger city walls made warfare largely ineffective.
Transition to a hinterland state
The Ayutthaya Kingdom shifted from a maritime state to more of a hinterland state during the 15th and 16th centuries. Its absorption of the Northern Cities and the shifting of trade power to the inland trade routes with China facilitated this change of policy. The reign of King Borommatrailokkanat was the peak of this merger between the basin and the Northern Cities, being the scion of generations of intermarriage between the two.
Even though Borommatrailokkanat symbolized the merger between North and South, the Lan Na Kingdom, a state North of Ayutthaya (modern-day Northern Thailand), contested Ayutthaya's growing influence over the Northern Cities. The Ayutthaya-Lan Na War was fought over the Upper Chao Phraya valley for control of the Northern Cities. Whether he preferred the Northern Cities to Ayutthaya or the necessity to have a capital closer to the war, Borommatrailokkanat moved his capital to Phitsanulok. Lan Na suffered setbacks and Borommatrailokkanat eventually sued for peace in 1475.
Ayutthaya's sphere of influence down the peninsula was contested by the Malacca Sultanate. Ayutthaya launched several abortive conquests against Malacca which was diplomatically and economically fortified by the military support of Ming China. In the early-15th century the Ming admiral Zheng He established a base of operation in the port city, making it a strategic position the Chinese could not afford to lose to the Siamese. Under this protection, Malacca flourished, becoming one of Ayutthaya's great foes until the capture of Malacca by the Portuguese. Ayutthaya's attention to the portage routes across the upper peninsula meant that it did not send a military expedition to the lower peninsula and the Malay States throughout the 16th century.
Centralization and dominance of the Northern lords
Ayutthaya's sphere of influence was now stretched from the Northern Cities to the Malay Peninsula, with its heartland centered around the old Ayutthaya-Suphanburi-Lopburi-Phetchaburi polity. The Muang Look Luang system was inadequate to govern relatively vast territories. The government of Ayutthaya was centralized and institutionalized under King Borommatrailokkanat in his reforms promulgating in Palatine Law of 1455, which became the constitution of Ayutthaya for the rest of its existence and continued to be the constitution of Siam until 1892, albeit in altered forms. The central government was dominated by the Chatusadom system (Thai: จตุสดมภ์ lit. "Four Pillars), in which the court was led by two Prime Ministers; the Samuha Nayok the Civil Prime Minister and the Samuha Kalahom the Grand Commander of Forces overseeing Civil and Military affairs, respectively. Under the Samuha Nayok were the Four Ministries. In the regions, the king sent not "rulers" but "governors" to govern cities. The cities were under governors who were from nobility not rulers with privileges as it had previously been. The "Hierarchy of Cities" was established and cities were organized into four levels. Large, top level cities held authorities over secondary or low-level cities.
The increased wealth of Ayutthaya resulted in the beginnings of a chronic succession struggle for the Ayutthaya throne. Due to the lack of stable succession law, from each succession from the 16th century onwards, princely governors or powerful dignitaries claiming their merit gathered their forces and moved on the capital to press their claims, culminating in several bloody coups. With the dominance of the Suphanburi clan, it now had to face the militaristic nobles of the Northern Cities, who increasingly came south for wealth prospects at an increasingly wealthy and powerful Ayutthaya. The first real succession struggles in Ayutthaya occurred in the early 16th century, with the Northern lords playing a prominent role. Under the reign of Maha Chakkraphat, the Northern lords, led by the Lord of Phitsanulok, Maha Thammarachathirat, became kingmakers in Ayutthaya. The final nail for this transition was the overthrow of the Suphanburi clan from the Ayutthaya throne following the 1569 Burmese capture of Ayutthaya, placing Maha Thammarachathirat on the Ayutthaya throne.
The 15th century also marked a turning point in Ayutthaya's view of itself. King Borommatrailokkanat performed some sort of coronation ceremony, the first in Ayutthaya history, in the 1460s. Prior to the 15th century, Ayutthaya's palaces and temples were inferior in grandeur to cities such as Sukhothai and Phitsanulok. By the early 16th century, Ayutthaya had now rivalled its regional competitors in its city grandeur, building magnificent wats and palaces for kings with a number of tributary states.
First Burmese wars
Starting in the middle of the 16th century, the kingdom came under repeated attacks by the Taungoo dynasty of Burma. The Burmese–Siamese War (1547–1549) resulted in a failed Burmese siege of Ayutthaya. A second siege (1563–1564) led by King Bayinnaung forced King Maha Chakkraphat to surrender in 1564. The royal family was taken to Pegu (Bago), with the king's second son Mahinthrathirat installed as the vassal king. In 1568, Mahinthrathirat revolted when his father managed to return from Pegu as a Buddhist monk. The ensuing third siege captured Ayutthaya in 1569 and Bayinnaung made Maha Thammarachathirat (also known as Sanphet I) his vassal king, instating the Sukhothai dynasty.
In May 1584, less than three years after Bayinnaung's death, Uparaja Naresuan (or Sanphet II), the son of Sanphet I, proclaimed Ayutthaya's independence. This proclamation resulted in repeated invasions of Ayutthaya by Burma which the Siamese fought off ultimately finishing in an elephant duel between King Naresuan and Burmese heir-apparent Mingyi Swa in 1593 during the fourth siege of Ayutthaya in which Naresuan famously slew Mingyi Swa, although the existence of this battle has been challenged by modern scholars such as Sulak Sivaraksa. Today, this Siamese victory is observed annually on 18 January as Royal Thai Armed Forces day. Later that same year warfare erupted again (the Burmese–Siamese War (1593–1600)) when the Siamese invaded Burma, first occupying the Tanintharyi province in southeast Burma in 1593 and later the cities of Moulmein and Martaban in 1594. In 1599, the Siamese attacked the city of Pegu but were ultimately driven out by Burmese rebels who had assassinated Burmese King Nanda Bayin and taken power.
In 1613, after King Anaukpetlun reunited Burma and took control, the Burmese invaded the Siamese-held territories in Tanintharyi province, and took Tavoy. In 1614, the Burmese invaded Lan Na which at that time was a vassal of Ayutthaya. Fighting between the Burmese and Siamese continued until 1618 when a treaty ended the conflict. At that time, Burma had gained control of Lan Na and while Ayutthaya retained control of southern Tanintharyi (south of Tavoy).
Peace and commerce
The cessation of warfare around 1600 gave way to a prolonged period of peace and commerce, beginning with the reign of Ekathotsorot. The Portuguese and Dutch conquest of Malacca encouraged Asian traders to bypass Malacca by crossing the portage route mid-peninsula, controlled by Ayutthaya. This was a period of the great Asian empires: Ottoman Empire, Safavid Empire, Mughal Empire, Ming and Qing China, and Tokugawa Japan. Ayutthaya therefore became the lucrative middleman for trade between the global empires of the Early Modern World. Kings and nobles turned to hunting, trade, and the competition for the throne with the ending of warfare.
This period of Ayutthaya is also characterized by the emergence of mercantile absolutism, where the king had a virtual monopoly on all incomes into the kingdom, allowing the king to build new temples and palaces, sponsor ceremonies, and enshroud the monarchy in ritual mysticism. The king had the power to appoint governors of cities in the inner Ayutthaya mueang (cities) as well as appoint ministers in charge of the government. This however all made the target of the throne much more lucrative and rewarding than before. To be able to successfully put your target onto the throne would immensely reward its facilitators as much as the winner of the crown. The ability to appoint a Front Palace was effective in times of war but became a double-edged sword in regards to peace. Foreigners, due to their lack of connections within the kingdom, often became prominent officials within the Ayutthaya court during this period.
Later Phitsanulok dynasty to early Prasat Thong dynasty
In 1605, Naresuan died of illness while on campaign against a Burmese spillover conflict in the Shan region, leaving a greatly expanded Siamese kingdom to be ruled by his younger brother, Ekathotsarot (Sanphet III). Ekathotsarot's reign was marked with stability for Siam and its sphere of influence, as well as increased foreign interactions, especially with the Dutch Republic, Portuguese Empire, and Tokugawa Shogunate (by way of the Red Seal Ships), among others. Indeed, representatives from many foreign lands began to fill Siam's civil and military administration – Japanese traders and mercenaries led by Yamada Nagamasa, for example, had considerable influence with the king.
Ekathotsarot's era ended with his death in 1610/11. The question of his succession was complicated by the alleged suicide of his eldest legitimate son, Suthat, while his second legitimate son, Si Saowaphak, was never legally designated as an heir by Ekathotsarot himself. Nonetheless, Si Saowaphak succeeded to the throne against his late father's wishes, and led a short and ineffective reign in which he was kidnapped and held hostage by Japanese merchants, and later murdered. After this episode, the kingdom was handed to Songtham, a lesser son born of Ekathotsarot and a first-class concubine.
Songtham temporarily restored stability to Ayutthaya and focused inward on religious construction projects, most notably a great temple at Wat Phra Phutthabat. In the sphere of foreign policy, Songtham lost suzerainty of Lan Na, Cambodia and Tavoy, expelled the Portuguese, and expanded Siam's foreign trade ties to include both the English East India Company and French East India Company, along with new merchant colonies in Siam representing communities from all across Asia. Additionally, Songtham maintained the service of Yamada Nagamasa, whose Japanese mercenaries were at this point serving as the king's own royal guard.
As Songtham's life began to fade, the issue of succession generated conflict once again when both King Songtham's brother, Prince Sisin, and his son, Prince Chetthathirat, found support for their claims among the Siamese court. Although Thai tradition typically favored brothers over sons in matters of inheritance, Songtham enlisted the help of his influential cousin, Prasat Thong to ensure his son would inherit the kingdom instead. When Songtham died in 1628, Prasat Thong used his alliance with Yamada Nagamasa's mercenaries to purge everyone who had supported Prince Sisin's claim, eventually capturing and executing Sisin as well. Soon Prasat Thong became more powerful in Siam than the newly crowned King Chetthathriat, and through further intrigue staged a coup in which Chetthathirat was deposed and executed in favor of his even younger brother Athittayawong, whom Prasat Thong intended to use as a puppet ruler.
This form of government was quickly met with resistance by elements within the Thai court who were dissatisfied with the idea of having two acting heads of state. Since Prasat Thong already ruled Siam in all but name as Kalahom, he opted to resolve the issue by orchestrating the final dethronement and execution of the child king in 1629. Thus, Prasat Thong had completely usurped the kingdom by double (perhaps triple) regicide, extinguishing the Sukhothai dynasty 60 years after its installation by the Burmese. Many of King Prasat Thong's former allies abandoned his cause following his ascension to the throne. In the course of quelling such resistance, Prasat Thong assassinated his former ally Yamada Nagamasa in 1630 (who now opposed Prasat Thong's coup), and promptly banished all the remaining Japanese from Siam. While a community of Japanese exiles were eventually welcomed back into the country, this event marks the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate's long-standing formal relationship with the Ayutthaya Kingdom.
Persian and French influences
Upon his death in 1656, King Prasat Thong was succeeded first by his eldest son, Chai, who was almost immediately deposed and executed by the late King's brother, Si Suthammaracha, who in turn was defeated in single combat by his nephew, Narai. Narai finally assumed a stable position as King of Ayutthaya with the support of a mainly foreign court faction consisting of groups that had been marginalized during the reign of his father, Prasat Thong. Among his benefactors were, notably, Persian, Dutch, and Japanese mercenaries. It should therefore come as no surprise that the era of King Narai was one of an extroverted Siam. Foreign trade brought Ayutthaya not only luxury items but also new arms and weapons. In the mid–17th century, during King Narai's reign, Ayutthaya became very prosperous.
In 1662 war between Burma and Ayutthaya erupted again when King Narai attempted to take advantage of unrest in Burma to seize control of Lan Na. Fighting along the border between the two adversaries continued for two years and at one time Narai seized Tavoy and Martaban. Ultimately, Narai and the Siamese ran out of supplies and returned home back within their border.
While commercially thriving, Narai's reign was also socially tumultuous. Much of this can be attributed to three-way conflict between the Dutch, French, and English trading companies now operating in Siam at an unprecedented intensity due to Siam's role as a center of trade, fostered by Narai. Of these competing foreign influences, Narai tended to favour relations with the French, wary of the growing Dutch and English colonial possessions in the South China Sea. Soon, Narai began to welcome communities of French Jesuits into his court, and pursue closer relations with both France and the Vatican. Indeed, the many diplomatic missions conducted by Narai to such far-flung lands are some of the most celebrated accomplishments of his reign. Narai as well leased the ports of Bangkok and Mergui to the French, and had many French generals incorporated into his army to train it in Western strategy and supervise the construction of European-style forts. During this time, Narai abandoned the traditional capital of Ayutthaya for a new Jesuit-designed palace in Lopburi.
As a growing Catholic presence cemented itself in Siam, and an unprecedented number of French forts were erected and garrisoned on land leased by Narai, a faction of native Siamese courtiers, Buddhist clergy, and other non-Catholic and/or non-French elements of Narai's court began to resent the favourable treatment French interests received under his reign. This hostile attitude was especially directed at Constantine Phaulkon, a Catholic Greek adventurer and proponent of French influence who had climbed to the rank of Narai's Prime Minister and chief advisor of foreign affairs. Much of this turmoil was primarily religious, as the French Jesuits were openly attempting to convert Narai and the royal family to Catholicism.
Narai was courted not just by Catholic conversion, but as well by proselytizing Muslim Persians, Chams and Makassars in his court, the later of which communities launched an unsuccessful revolt in 1686 to replace Narai with a Muslim puppet king. While members of the anti-foreign court faction were primarily concerned with Catholic influence, there is evidence to suggest that Narai was equally interested in Islam, and had no desire to fully convert to either religion.
Nonetheless, a dissatisfied faction now led by Narai's celebrated elephantry commander, Phetracha, had long planned a coup to remove Narai. When the king became seriously ill in May 1688, Phetracha and his accomplices had him arrested along with Phaulkon and many members of the royal family, all of whom were put to death besides Narai, who died in captivity in July of that year. With the king and his heirs out of the way, Phetracha then usurped the throne and officially crowned himself King of Ayutthaya on 1 August.
King Phetracha took Mergui back from French control almost immediately, and began the pivotal Siege of Bangkok, which culminated in an official French retreat from Siam. Phetracha's reign, however, was not stable. Many of Phetracha's provincial governors refused to recognize his rule as legitimate, and rebellions by the late Narai's supporters persisted for many years. The most important change to Siam in the aftermath of the revolution was Phetracha's refusal to continue Narai's foreign embassies. King Phetracha opted instead to reverse much of Narai's decisions and closed Thailand to almost all forms of European interaction except with the Dutch.
Late Ayutthaya period
Continued prosperity and increased Chinese connections
Despite the departure of most Europeans from Ayutthaya, their economic presence in Ayutthaya was negligible in comparison to the Ayutthaya China-Indian Ocean trade. Lieberman, later reinforced by Baker and Phongpaichit, refutes the idea that Siam's alleged isolationism from global trade following the French and English departure in 1688 led to Ayutthaya's gradual decline leading up to its destruction by the Burmese in 1767, stating: Clearly, however, the late 1600s and especially the early 1700s inaugurated a period not of sustained decline, but of Chinese-assisted economic vitality that would continue into the 19th century.
