Burmese-Siamese War 1563–1564
Map of Ayutthaya
| date | 1563 to 1564 |
|---|---|
| place | Siam (Thailand) |
| Casus Belli | King Chakkraphat refuses to give King Bayinnaung two white elephants. |
| output | Burma victory |
| consequences | Siam comes under Burmese rule. |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Kingdom of Pegu under the Taungu dynasty (Burma) |
|
| Commander | |
|
King Bayinnaung |
King Chakkraphat
|
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The Burmese-Siamese War 1563–1564 (also “War for the White Elephants”, Thai สงคราม ช้างเผือก , RTGS Songkhram Chang Phueak ) was a military conflict between the Burmese Empire of the Taungu Dynasty and the Kingdom of Ayutthaya .
prehistory
The Burmese general and king Tabinshwehti (r. 1531-1550) from the Taungu dynasty united the many Burmese states to form the Second Burmese Empire, which he ruled from Pegu (Thai Hongsawadi ) from 1539 . In 1548/49 there was the first military clash with the Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya. However, Tabinshwehti was murdered by members of the Mon in 1550 . He was followed by his brother-in-law Bayinnaung , who was an even better organized and more aggressive military leader who put down the revolt of the Mon and reunited the Burmese principalities under his rule. In 1557 he also brought most of the Shan states (in the north of present-day Myanmar), in 1558 Lan Na (present-day northern Thailand ) and in 1562 the "Chinese Shan" states of Keng Tung and Chiang Hung under his control.
The Burmese "empire" of Pegu as well as the Siamese "empire" of Ayutthaya and Lan Xang in today's Laos were not unitary states, but mandalas or "networks of loyalties" that were based on personal vassal relationships between local and regional princes and their powerful overlords . Bayinnaung of Pegu, Chakkraphat of Ayutthaya and Setthathirath of Lan Xang simultaneously claimed to be the Chakravartin , that is, the universal ruler of the Buddhist world.
According to the Thai nationalist historian Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, Bayinnaung feared that the Shan ( Tai peoples ) he had subjugated wanted to ally with the ethnically and linguistically related Thai of Ayutthaya . This was the motive for his preventive strike against Ayutthaya, which he began in 1563 . As an excuse he used the refusal of the Siamese king Maha Chakkraphat to send him two of his seven white elephants as tribute. Bayinnaung then took up the fight with the powerful neighbor Ayutthaya, knowing that there were Portuguese mercenaries in his ranks.
In the chronicle of the Dutch chronicler Jeremias Van Vliet , who stayed in Ayutthaya in the 17th century and studied Siamese history there, another trigger is mentioned: The Siamese Viceroy and Lord of Phitsanulok , Prince Maha Thammaracha , son-in-law of King Chakkraphat , is said to be having beaten his wife, Princess Wisutkasat, in the fight. Fearing the revenge of her father, who is said to have sought his life, he fled to Burma and asked King Bayinnaung “to wage war against Siam”. To convince Bayinnaung of this, he provoked his envy of Chakkraphat, who owned seven white elephants.
The role Maha Thammaracha played in this war diverges in different sources. In the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya he is on the side of Siam, but seems - in the interpretation of Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit - "strangely holding back".
course
Bayinnaung's troops marched on the one hand over the mountains (near Tak ), on the other hand from Chiang Mai, which was under Burmese rule, down the Ping River to Siam. Depending on the representation, they were reinforced in Phitsanulok by the troops of the local viceroy Maha Thammaracha, who, according to Van Vliet, had changed sides and, as field marshal, commanded the entire infantry in Bayinnaung's army.
In addition to the mercenaries from Portugal, Bayinnaung also used their cannons . Arrived at the gates of the capital Ayutthaya, the Portuguese artillerymen positioned their guns on wooden towers and fired over the walls into the center of the city, where they destroyed houses and monasteries.
King Chakkraphat of Ayutthaya capitulated.
Effects
Ayutthaya became a vassal of Pegus. Chakkraphat gave Bayinnaung not only two but four of his white elephants. He also left his son Ramesuan and two other high-ranking aristocrats hostage to the Burmese. Many skilled craftsmen and artists were brought to Pegu from Ayutthaya. In contrast to later income, however, the capital was not plundered, no relics or masses of workers were abducted. Later King Chakkraphat himself had to travel to Pegu, swear allegiance to Bayinnaung as Chakravartin and was then held hostage. In Chakkraphat's place, his son Mahin then reigned in Ayutthaya. The sons of Maha Thammaracha of Phitsanulok, princes Naresuan and Ekathotsarot , were also brought to Pegu as a guarantee of their father's loyalty. There they were treated like the sons of Burmese princes and received training as pages in order to later serve as commanders in the Burmese army.
Bayinnaung allowed Chakkraphat to be ordained a monk and - after two years in Pegu - to go on pilgrimage to Siam. Once there, however, he took off the monk's robe and sat back on the throne. Thereupon Bayinnaung undertook a new campaign against Ayutthaya in 1568/69 .
literature
- Prince Damrong Rajanubhab , Chris Baker (Ed.): The Chronicle of Our Wars with the Burmese. Hostilities between Siamese and Burmese when Ayutthaya was the capital of Siam. White Lotus, Bangkok 2001.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Damrong Rajanubhab: Rueang thai rop phama khrang krung kao. 1917 (English: Our Wars with the Burmese. Thai-Burmese conflict 1539–1767. Translated and edited by Chris Baker . White Lotus, Bangkok 2001, ISBN 9747534584. , Pp. 27–42.)
- ^ David K. Wyatt: Thailand. A short history. 2nd edition, Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 2004, p. 79.
- ^ David K. Wyatt: Thailand. A short history. 2nd edition, Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 2004, pp. 83-85.
- ↑ Chris Baker, Pasuk Phongpaichit: A History of Ayutthaya. Siam in the Early Modern World. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2017, pp. 77, 95.
- ↑ a b Chris Baker, Pasuk Phongpaichit: A History of Ayutthaya. Siam in the Early Modern World. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2017, p. 77.
- ↑ Chris Baker, Pasuk Phongpaichit: A History of Ayutthaya. Siam in the Early Modern World. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2017, p. 95.
- ↑ Chris Baker, Pasuk Phongpaichit: A History of Ayutthaya. Siam in the Early Modern World. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2017, pp. 95–96.