Far East Kingdoms

Phitsanulok Kingdom (Ayutthaya Splinter State) (Siam / Thailand)
AD 1769 - 1770

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The first historical records to concern Thais in South-East Asia date to the eleventh century AD. These people of Early Thailand were known as 'Syāṃ', with them being described as slaves of the powerful Cham people who could count Champa as their greatest state-building achievement.

As the second Thai empire after the founding of Sukhothai, the state of Ayutthaya was founded in 1350. Located roughly fifty-five kilometres to the north of Bangkok, the kingdom's eponymous core city of Ayutthaya itself was erected on the ruins of Sano (Sornau or Shahr-i-nao), the ancient capital of the kingdom of Lavo.

When the Burmese destroyed Ayutthaya in 1767 they were unable to hold onto it, quickly being expelled. The kingdom still fractured into five strongholds, each of which was under the command of a prince or general. The most enduring of these was established by General Phaya Taksin, recent leader of Thai resistance to the Burmese. He formed Krung Thonburi in 1769, where he promoted himself to the rank of king.

The others were located around Thonburi, with Sawangburi in the farthest north, Phitsanulok to the south and west of Swangburi, Phimai to the east of Phitsanulok and Thonburi in modern central Thailand, and on the Malay peninsula in southern Thailand was Nakhon Si Thammarat, under Phrachao Kahttlyarachanikom.

The town of Phitsanulok sits along the River Nan in northern-central Thailand, also being known as Chinnarat. It has a rich history which dates to the eleventh century, with it being second in importance only to the Ayutthaya capital.

It began as a Khmer town called Song Khwae (meaning 'Two Rivers'), soon becoming part of the Sukhothai kingdom. The rise of Ayutthaya in 1351 and its rivalry with Sukhothai increased the town's importance as it was strategically located between the two states. It was generally governed by the sons of Ayutthaya's kings but, in 1463, a former governor of Phitsanulok moved his capital there when he became king.

The town's time as Ayutthaya's capital was brief, as was its time as an independent state, lasting only between 1769-1770 until Phaya Taksin was able to conquer it and form a reunited Thai kingdom. Afterwards the Burmese made another attempt to conquer the Thais, destroying Phitsanulok in the process. It was left abandoned until being reclaimed in the nineteenth century.

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(Information by John De Cleene, with additional information from the John De Cleene Archive, from Early Mainland Southeast Asia, C Higham (River Books Co, 2014), from Encyclopaedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations, Charles F W Higham (Facts on File, 2004), from Historical Atlas of the World, R R Palmer (Ed, Chicago, 1963), from A History of Thailand, Chris Baker & Pasuk Phongpaichit (2005), from The Restoration of Thailand under Rama I, 1782-1809, Klaus Wenk (1968), from Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopaedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, Keat Gin Ooi (ABC-Clio, 2004), from Southeast Asia: Past & Present, D R SarDesai (Westview Press, 1989), and from External Links: Ancient Chinese farmers sowed literal seeds of change in south-east Asia (Science News), and Ayutthaya (Encyclopaedia Britannica), and Ayutthaya Historical Research, and The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, George Coedès (Walter F Vella (Ed), Susan Brown Cowing (Trans), University of Hawaii Press, 1968, and available online via the Internet Archive), and Thon Buri and Early Bangkok periods (Encyclopaedia Britannica), and A Brief History of Phitsanulok during the Sukhothai and Ayuttayan Periods, Robert Smith (Ayutthaya.com), and Phitsanulok (Encyclopaedia Britannica).)

1768 - 1769

With the kingdom of Ayutthaya breaking up in even though the Burmese invasion has been repulsed, General Phaya Taksin, a leader of the resistance, has had to withdraw to the more strategically-placed Krung Thonburi in 1769, where he quickly defeats his rival warlords and promotes himself to the rank of king.

Ayutthaya Historical Park in Thailand once served as the thriving capital of the Ayutthaya kingdom, from 1350 until it was razed to the ground by the Burmese in 1767, leaving majestic ruins of temples, palaces, and statues

Phitsanulok is one of five separate entities to have succeeded the break-up of Ayutthaya. Its governor, Rueang. has been an important military commander in terms of providing resistance to the Burmese invasion. He proclaims himself 'king of Siam' in 1768.

1768

Former general of Ayutthaya. Self-proclaimed king. Died of disease.

1768

About six months after proclaiming himself king, Rueang dies of an unspecified disease, either a coughing fit, abscesses, scrofula, or smallpox. Chao Phra Fang of Sawangburi, takes over the little kingdom. His series of raids on the state preceding this act have weakened Phitsanulok to such an extent that its defences are now highly vulnerable.

Following the death of Rueang, the state of Phitsanulok was in a state of flux, serving as one of the key regional power centres which were resisting or negotiating with the emerging power of Taksin, who was establishing his own base in Thonburi

1769

Ruled Sawangburi. Seized the state.

c.1770

Taksin of Krung Thonburi captures Phimai in 1786 as part of his Siamese resurgence. He secures overlordship of Nakhon Si Thammarat in 1769. Governor Vithian of Songkhla flees to Patani, so Hao Yiang is able to pay Taksin for trading rights and for authority over a couple of Songkhla islands.

Chao Phra Fang is defeated in 1770 and both Phitsanulok and Sawangburi fall to him. A subsequent Burmese invasion dismantles and depopulates the city of Phitsanulok until it is reoccupied in the nineteenth century.