Ramesuan

Ramesuan ( Thai : สมเด็จ พระ รา เม ศ วร ; * 1339 ; † 1395 ), son of King Ramathibodi I , ruled as the second and fifth king of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in Thailand .

Life

When Ramathibodi I ascended the throne of Ayutthaya, he sent his son Prince Ramesuan to the court of Lop Buri to rule the principality there. After his father's death in 1369, Ramesuan traveled to Ayutthaya to take his rightful heir to the throne. He was 30 years old at the time. However, after only a year he was ousted by his uncle Borommaracha I , the older brother of one of his father's wives, who had ruled Suphanburi up until then . According to the official chronicles , Ramesuan is said to have voluntarily relinquished the throne on the advice of his ministers, while Jeremias Van Vliet writes in his Short History of the Kings of Thailand that he was driven out by force, “so that for a long time no one could say where he was Had found refuge ”. According to Van Vliet, Ramesuan is said to have ruled for three years.

Ramesuan retired as governor to Lop Buri, where he gathered strength over the next 18 years. After the death of Borommaracha I, his 17-year-old son Thong Chan was crowned king. It only took Ramesuan seven days to reach Ayutthaya in 1388 with his followers. He stormed the throne room and after a heated argument he killed the young king. This time Ramesuan was able to rule the country for the next six years. (Some chronicles put the second reign of Ramesuan from 1382 to 1387, so he only ruled for five years.) He died at the age of 57. He was succeeded in 1395 by his son Rama, who took the coronation name Ramrachathirat .

It appears that Ramesuan made a peaceful accord with the Kingdom of Sukhothai in his second reign after his predecessor Borommaracha I waged war against them throughout his reign. However, some sources speak of campaigns against the Kingdom of Lan Na (in northern Thailand ) and others against Angkor . The chronicles of Ayutthaya indicate that Ramesuan first conquered Chiang Mai , then the capital of Lan Na, and in 1390 settled many prisoners of war at Phattalung , Songkhla and Nakhon Si Thammarat . When the King of Angkor sacked Chonburi a short time later , King Ramesuan marched to Cambodia, where he put both the king and his Uparat ("Second King") to flight. He left 5000 men under the leadership of Phraya Chainarong as occupation troops in Angkor. It is striking that these incidents are not recorded in either the chronicles of Lan Na or those of Cambodia.

literature

• David K. Wyatt , Chris Baker , Dhiravat na Pombejra, Alfon van der Kraan: Van Vliet's Siam . Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 2005, ISBN 974-9575-81-4
• David K. Wyatt: Thailand A Short History . Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 1984, ISBN 974-7047-44-6
• Richard D. Cushman (David K. Wyatt Ed.): The Royal Chronicles Of Ayutthaya . The Siam Society, Bangkok 2000, ISBN 974-8298-48-5