Kings and Queens

1555 – 1605 the Great A national hero in his native , Naresuan the Great single-handedly conquered Southeast Asia in the 16th Century

t says something that the 2007 film The Legend formidable Burmese attack, but the Burmese King Of King Naresuan is the most expensive film in returned with an even larger force the . The action-packed, five- — including hundreds of Portuguese mercenaries — Ipart historical epic, which celebrates the larger- and Ayutthaya surrendered. than-life conquests of Somdet Phra Naresuan The Thai kingdom was now under Burmese Maharat — otherwise known as Naresuan the control. King Bayinnaung allowed Naresuan’s Great — cost £13.2 million ($21.7 million) to produce. father to remain on the throne as a puppet vassal With financial backing from the Thai royal family, to Burma. As a pledge of his allegiance, the Thai the film chronicled how Naresuan, a 16th Century leader was forced to send his two sons — Naresuan, warrior king, threw off the shackles of Burmese rule age nine, and his younger brother, — and established the Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya to be raised in the Burmese capital of Pegu. as political and military force in Southeast For seven years, Naresuan and his brother Asia. Imagine George Washington if the lived in the Burmese court while his American general ditched his horse Much father reigned over a neutered state. for a battle elephant. like the vast Because the Burmese restricted To understand the importance the Thai kingdom to a small of Naresuan to Thai history, majority of ancient military force, Ayutthaya fell you first need to understand and modern Thai victim to a string of crippling the political dynamics of 16th people, Naresuan attacks from the Khmer in Century Southeast Asia. First was a practising . Meanwhile, Naresuan of all, the country we know became a student of Buddhist as Thailand didn’t exist until philosophy and ethics, as well the 20th Century. For hundreds Buddhist as an avid pupil of Burmese and of years, the region was ruled by a Portuguese military tactics and hand- series of Thai kingdoms known in the to-hand combat. One of his childhood West as Siam. In 1555, Naresuan was born to King sparring partners was Minchit Sra, grandson to the Maha Thammarachathirat, ruler of Ayutthaya, the Burmese king, who would grow up to face Naresuan dominant Thai kingdom of the age. in the most famous duel in Thai history. Naresuan’s father ruled a kingdom literally When Naresuan turned 16, King Bayinnaung of surrounded by enemies: Burma to the north-east, Burma allowed the Thai prince to return home in Cambodia and the Khmer to the south-east, and exchange for his sister’s hand in marriage. Young disparate tribal states (Shan, Mon and others) to Naresuan was put in charge of the northern Thai the west and north. Burma was by far the most city of as the Uparat, or presumptive potent threat. In 1548, Naresuan’s father repelled a heir to the Thai throne. As you can imagine, 132 Naresuan the Great

NARESUAN Siam, 1555 – 1605

This action-hero king rose from the position Brief of a hostage at a rival Bio court to reclaiming the throne that was rightfully his, in the process becoming a national hero. Siam, now Thailand, is still gripped by his powerful legacy. He returned home-rule to the nation as well as being the warrior-king that storytellers dream of.

“When Naresuan turned 16, King Bayinnaung of Burma allowed the Thai prince to return home in exchange for his sister’s hand in marriage” 133 Kings and Queens

Naresuan was in an unusual political position. intercepted by two Mon princes, childhood friends Raised in Burma as a prisoner-prince, he both from his days in the Burmese court. They warned resented and respected the Thai people’s feudal him of Nanda Bayin’s secret plan to ambush and overlords. If he had early dreams of rebellion he kill Naresuan. hid them well, biding his time and pledging his Naresuan had played the loyal puppet for long continued loyalty to the Burmese throne. enough; the time had come to become the leader Ironically, it was during a show of this loyalty that his people needed. Naresuan publicly that Naresuan aroused the deadly renounced his allegiance to Burma in jealousy of Burma’s new king, Nanda 1584, and with his army at his back Bayin, who succeeded his father In 1990, — plus the respective armies of the in 1581. Naresuan was sent by two Mon princes — he marched his father to pay homage to a college in on the Burmese stronghold of Nanda Bayin and express the Phitsanulok was Pegu, determined to win his Thai kingdom’s unwavering renamed Naresuan people’s independence. The Elephant allegiance to Burma. To test University to celebrate The Thai offensive was this allegiance, Nanda Bayin repelled by Minchit Sra, Duel of recruited Naresuan and his Thai his ascension to Naresuan’s childhood sparring army to help quash a rebellion in the throne partner and son of King Nanda Nong Sarai the to the north. When Bayin. As Naresuan and his army An hour-and-a-half’s drive outside of Nanda Bayin and his Burmese troops fled over the Sitang River, Naresuan Bangkok is the province of Suphan Buri, failed to take a key city, Naresuan swept in turned his battle elephant to face the home to one of the most popular tourist attractions in Thailand, a towering statue to conquer it. Instead of encouraging Nanda Bayin, attacking army. Legend has it that Naresuan asked of a battle elephant bearing King Naresuan. the act embarrassed and enraged him. The ensuing for a Portuguese musket, a weapon useful for The monument is believed to have been decades of war between Burma and the Thai raining a volley of musket balls on an enemy, not built over the exact site of the battlefield kingdom were as much personal as political — the sharpshooting an individual target. Nevertheless, of Nong Sarai, where Naresuan fought the anger of a native Burmese king against an adoptive Naresuan raised the musket, took aim at the most famous duel in Thai history. and rebellious prince. Burmese general leading the charge, and shot a The year was 1593 and the Burmese Naresuan returned to his home base of single ball across the Sitang River, striking the army, under the direction of King Nanda Bayin’s son, crown prince Minchit Sra, Phitsanulok, but he was quickly summoned by general dead. The fabled ‘Royal Shot Across the was marching toward the Thai capital Nanda Bayin to help to help put down yet another Sitang River’ gave the Thai army a chance to retreat of Ayutthaya. Naresuan and his troops rebellion. Dutifully, Naresuan assembled his troops, back to the capital city of Ayutthaya and prepare marched west from Ayutthaya and met but not without his suspicions. Word had reached for all-out war. Minchit Sra’s forces outside the small village him that the Burmese were constructing a road In the late 16th Century, Ayutthaya was one of of Nong Sarai. As the armies of thousands to the Thai capital city of Ayutthaya, a sign that the biggest and most culturally and technologically clashed, Naresuan’s battle elephant panicked and ran into the middle of the the foreign king was looking to further tighten his advanced cities in the world. It was the Venice fray. Naresuan spotted Minchit Sra on his grip on the Thai kingdom. As Naresuan marched of the East, a walled city of intersecting canals own elephant and famously challenged toward the Burmese capital of Pegu, he was that floated as a fortified ‘island’ in between three the crown prince to a duel. “Let us fight converging rivers. Its walls and rivers defended the elephant battle for the honour of our Ayutthaya against attack while its interior culture kingdoms!” Legend has it that the two Defining moment flourished, producing remarkable Buddhist-themed armies paused their fighting and circled around the two elephants and their royal Exile in Burma architecture borrowed from the ancient temples riders. The duel lasted only a few minutes, 1564-1571 of Angkor in Cambodia, as well as art and music but is recorded in dozens of paintings and After the Burmese conquered the Thai kingdom, they influenced by both East and West. Fertile rice even re-enacted in Thai action movies. As placed Naresuan’s father as a vassal over Ayutthaya and fields surrounded the city and Ayutthaya grew rich the two elephants converged, Minchit Sra took Naresuan and his brother as hostages. Many legends surround the seven years Naresuan lived among the exporting rice to European traders and to China, slashed at Naresuan with his long-handled Burmese royal court in Pegu. There’s much talk of martial the reigning superpower of the region. war scythe, but only nicked the king’s hat. arts training and a budding rivalry between Naresuan and When Naresuan arrived in Ayutthaya, his father When Minchit Sra extended his scythe, he the king’s grandson Minchit Sra, but that might be nothing the king entrusted him with the city’s protection left his body exposed, giving Naresuan just more than a convenient backstory for their fateful duel and with building an army ready to answer the enough room to deliver the fatal blow. Their decades later. Some accounts say that young Naresuan grew prince killed, the Burmese army scattered. to love King Bayinnaung like a second father, adding to the full strength and anger of the Burmese. Naresuan sting of the betrayal by Bayinnaung’s successor Nanda Bayin. capitalised on widespread disaffection with Timeline

1555

O Noble Birth O Declaration of Independence O Naresuan the King Naresuan was born When the Burmese plot to Although Naresuan’s father Prince Naret. Royalty assassinate Naresuan was was king of Ayutthaya, he came through his mother, exposed, the Thai prince had no was viewed by many as a the queen, although his further reason to feign loyalty traitor, nothing more than father was a high-ranking to Nanda Bayin. He performed a puppet for the Burmese. nobleman of Sukhothai a ceremony formally declaring Naresuan, on the other hand, heritage. Expectations an end to the Burmese tributary assumed the throne as a were high for their first- and, informally, declaring war proven military leader and born son. on Burma. political revolutionary. 1555 1584 1590 134 Naresuan the Great

“ Naresuan had played the puppet for long Life in the time enough; the time had come to become of Naresuan East Meets West the leader that his people needed” Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama, one of the most successful explorers of the Age Burmese bullying in the region, recruiting troops Burmese army to crush the rebellious Ayutthaya of Discovery, became the first European to from the Shan and Mon states to reinforce the Thai state. Thai spies sent word that Nanda Bayin’s army sail a sea route to India in 1498, landing in ranks. King Nanda Bayin of Burma wasted no time was one the move yet again, lead by Naresuan’s Calicut. Successions of Portuguese armadas established a lucrative spice route and a colony answering Naresuan’s rebellion. He sent his army old foe Minchit Sra. Rather than hunker down in India. Naresuan wisely nurtured healthy against Ayutthaya less than a year after Naresuan’s behind the city walls, Naresuan marched his trade relations with Portugal as well as the failed invasion of Pegu. Naresuan repelled the first army westward to intercept Minchit Sra as his Spanish Philippines to the benefit of his own attack easily, as with a second and third Burmese forces descended from Three Pass. The nation and its peoples. attempt in the years that followed. Even the two armies met near the small village of Nong Khmer tried their luck, hoping to capitalise on Thai Sarai and engaged in a bloody and drawn out Crown of Thai Civilisation entanglements with Burma. Incredibly, Naresuan battle that initially favoured the Burmese. The tide The city of Ayutthaya flourished from the not only held off the Cambodian offensive, but turned when Naresuan, mounted on his battle 14th-18th Century and at its height was one of pursued his attackers all the way back to the walls elephant, personally challenged Minchit Sra to a the world’s largest and most technologically advanced cities with a population far greater of Lovek, the Khmer capital. duel for the honour of their kingdoms. The two then any other metropolis of its age. The island In 1590, King Maha Thammarachathirat died, men faced off atop their elephants, armed with city was protected by three rivers and saved making Naresuan the sovereign ruler of razor-sharp war scythes and surrounded by from floods with a remarkably innovative Ayutthaya. Naresuan devoted some of their battle-weary armies. Dodging an hydraulic system. his energy to centralising political errant joust by Minchit Sra, Naresuan power and reforming the traditional quickly dispatched his childhood Ayutthaya Architecture patronage system enjoyed by Naresuan was rival with a mortal slash. In the When the Burmese sacked and burned Ayutthaya in 1767 during the Burmese–Siamese princes. He also sidelined as ensuing chaos, the Burmese close with his War which started in 1765, they left only the a diplomat and ambassador, brother Ekathotsarot. fled in retreat, but the Thai ruins of a few Buddhist monasteries. These signing trade agreements with army pursued them, inflicting otherworldly stone towers and intricately the Portuguese and Spanish. But Naresuan, the first- massive casualties. carved bas relief sculptures have been Naresuan’s greatest talents were born, was known as The battle proved a critical designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. as a savvy military strategist and the Black Prince turning point in the Burmese- The Ayutthaya historical park is the ruins of cunning warrior. Thai conflict. After his victory at the former capital of the Kingdom of Siam. Naresuan’s greatest moment Nong Sarai, Naresuan sent generals Gun Power came during the fifth attempt by the to take port cities in the coastal The Chinese invented gunpowder in the 9th Burmese region of Tenasserim, winning Century and crafted the first crude firearms Defining moment unrestricted military and trade access to the Indian or ‘hand cannons’ shortly after, but it was the Ocean. Emboldened, Naresuan invaded Cambodia, Portuguese musket that was widely adopted Chinese Chess toppling the Khmer king and returning to Ayutthaya by Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian 1592 with thousands of prisoners of war to repopulate armies in the 16th Century. They became a The Ming was the superpower of 16th cornerstone of the Ming army only after the Century Asia, and Naresuan courted a favourable Northern Thailand. Before his death in 1605 from Ming conquest of China, giving Ming armies a relationship with the Chinese. The island kingdom a skin infection, Naresuan led military campaigns distinct advantage over their neighbours’. of Japan, however, had its sights set on greatness. deep into a greatly weakened Burma, through the In 1592, Japanese naval forces sailed to the Korean now-ruined capital of Pegu and north to Toungoo. Ming Superpower peninsula and conquered it. But Korea was just a The Ming Dynasty, also the Empire of the stepping stone on the way to toppling the Ming Naresuan was only 49 when he died, but his Great Ming, ruled China from 1368 to 1644 Dynasty. Naresuan received word of clashes between heroics on the battlefield cemented the Thai Japanese and Chinese forces and sent an emissary to kingdom as the undisputed power in Southeast and extended its borders from Outer Mongolia to the north down to in the south. the Forbidden City in Beijing offering Thai military Asia for the next century. The legend of Naresuan support. He likely knew that the offer would be China exuded tremendous political and military the Great is more than a great action-movie plot; refused — which it was — but it was a strategic show influence in the region during Naresuan’s rule. of loyalty, one that would assure China’s protection it’s the story of a people’s first taste of freedom and At its zenith the empire’s standing army of lucrative Thai trade routes. power in the modern age. exceeded one million troops.

1605 O Birth of a Nation O Collapse of Burma Death O After his victory in the epic Naresuan’s highest goal was For a decorated duel at Nong Sarai, to march triumphantly into hero, Naresuan Naresuan ordered that a Pegu and personally drag eventually died a be built over the very spot on Nanda Bayin to his execution. commoner’s death, which the battle took place, a Ultimately, he failed to take the a victim of a deeply version of which exists today. city while the king was alive, infected carbuncle 25 January is also celebrated but witnessed the dissolution on his face, or what as Thailand’s National Armed of the Burmese empire after might have actually Forces Day. Nanda Bayin’s death. been smallpox. 25 January 1593 1599 1605 © Jay Wong; Thinkstock 135