Naresuan (1555/1556 – 25 April 1605), commonly known as Naresuan the Great, or Sanphet II was King of Ayutthaya from the Sukhothai dynasty from 1590 and overlord of Lan Na from 1602 until his death in 1605. Naresuan is one of Thailand's most revered monarchs as he is known for his campaigns to free Ayutthaya from the vassalage of the First Toungoo Empire. During his reign, numerous wars were fought against Taungoo Burma. Naresuan also welcomed the Dutch.
Early life Prince Naret () was born in Phitsanulok in 1555–56.Naresuan was likely born sometime between 18 July 1555 and 27 April 1556. (Damrong 2001: 116): He became king on the 13th waning of the eighth Siamese month of 952 CS at age 34 (in 35th year), meaning he was born between 14th waning of Ashadha 917 CS (18 July 1555) and 13th waning of Ashadha 918 CS (5 July 1556). (Damrong 2001: 177) says that he died in his 50th year on Monday, 8th waxing of the sixth Siamese month (Vaisakha) of 967 CS (25 April 1605), meaning he was born sometime between 9th waxing of Vaisakha 917 CS (29 April 1555) and 8th waxing of Vaisakha 918 CS (17 April 1556). Furthermore, (Damrong 2001: 67) also says that Naresuan was already 8 (in his 9th year) when he was taken to Pegu after Bayinnaung took Phitsanulok—per (Damrong 2001: 36) on Sunday, 5th waning of the second Siamese month in the year of the pig: i.e. Sunday, 5th waning of Pausha 925 CS (Sunday, 2 January 1564). Although (Damrong 2001) does not exactly state when the prince was sent to Pegu, he may have been sent there shortly after 2 January 1564 or shortly after Bayinnaung took Ayutthaya on 18 February 1564 per (Hmannan Vol. 2 2003: 355). If so, he may have been born sometime between July 1555 and Jan/February 1556. He was the son of King Mahathammarachathirat of Phitsanulok and his queen consort, Wisutkasat. His mother was a daughter of Maha Chakkraphat and queen consort Suriyothai. His father was a Sukhothai noble who had defeated Worawongsathirat in 1548 and put Maha Chakkraphat on the throne. Prince Naret, also known as the "Black Prince" (), had a younger brother Ekathotsarot, known as the "White Prince", and an elder sister, Suphankanlaya.Rajanubhab, D., 2001, Our Wars With the Burmese, Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd.,
During the siege of Ayutthaya during the Burmese–Siamese War (1563–64), King Bayinnaung of the Toungoo dynasty of Bago, Burma (formerly known in Burmese as Hanthawaddy () and in Thai as Hongsawadi ()) led a massive army, invading the country and laying siege to Phitsanulok. Maha Thammarachathirat came to believe that the city would not be able to withstand a long siege due to a scarcity of food and a smallpox outbreak, so he surrendered the city. King Bayinnaung took Phitsanulok and Ayutthaya, and made Thailand a Burmese tributary state.Harvey 1925: 167–168 He required Maha Thammarachathirat to send his son—the Black Prince—to Bago as a royal hostage to ensure the king's fidelity.
At Bago The War of the first fall was ended by Bayinnaung, who installed Maha Thammaracha as a vassal king of Ayutthaya.Harvey 1925: 169–170 After six years in Pegu, 1570, Prince Naret and his brother the White Prince returned to Ayutthaya. While in Burma, "he followed the best of Burmese military training," studying alongside the "elite of Burmese youth, sons of princes and nobles." "Besides being gifted in military prowess, Naresuan who was highly intelligent, gained a great deal of general knowledge of the times."Chakrabongse, C., 1960, Lords of Life, London: Alvin Redman Limited
Viceroy
Following the 1569 conquest by King Bayinnaung, Ayutthaya was reduced to a vassal of the First Toungoo Empire. Under the reign of Maha Thammaracha, the kingdom endured the pillaging of its capital, mass deportations, and frequent raids from Cambodia.
In 1570, at the age of 15, Naret was appointed by his father as the Phra Maha Uparaja ("viceroy" or "crown prince") of Ayutthaya, and sent to rule Phitsanulok, taking the name Naresuan.According to Damrong (2001, p. 75), Naresuan was 8 years old when he was taken to Pegu in 1564 and returned to become viceroy six years later at the age of 15. or Narayana
During his time as viceroy, Naresuan participated in a military expedition alongside his father and the King of Bago to conquer Vientiane, the capital of the restored Lan Xang. However, the campaign was cut short for him when he contracted smallpox, forcing his return to the capital. During his visits to Ayutthaya to see his parents, he resided at the Chankasem Palace, which he had commissioned as a royal residence.
Cambodian attacks on Ayutthaya In 1570, after seeing the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese, Baraminreachea, the Khmer King, took the opportunity to retake the lands lost to the Siamese. He amassed an army of 20,000 men and captured Nakhon Nayok. He continued to march to Ayutthaya and set up camp at Ban Krathum sub-district. After setting up camp, he also planned to attack the city. The Cambodian navy of 50 ships soon arrived at Bangkok and besieged it.อานนท์ จิตรประภาส, หน้า 52–55 King Maha Thammarachathirat issued a command to defend Ayutthaya. The Cambodian besieged Ayutthaya for 3 days, but the city stood strong. The Cambodian army was forced to retreat back to Cambodia and took a large number of prisoners with them.ชาดา นนทวัฒน์, หน้า 64–66
In 1574, when the Ayutthayan Army under the command of King Maha Thammarachathirat and King Naresuan was assisting Bayinnaung in his campaign to attack Lanxang, Baraminreachea took the opportunity to attack Ayutthaya again. Luckily, King Naresuan contracted smallpox and was forced to return to Ayutthaya to recover. When he got back to Ayutthaya, the Cambodian Navy was present and besieging Nai Kai fortress. The fortress fell to the Cambodian forces. King Naresuan lured the Cambodian navy up the river where they met the Siamese artillery. After heavy bombardment, the Cambodian navy was forced to retreat.
In 1578, Phraya Chin Chantu, a Chinese noble serving under Cambodia attacked the city of Phetchaburi. The attack failed and Phraya Chin Chantu was too afraid to go back to Cambodia. He was allowed to take refuge in Ayutthaya by Maha Thammaracha. Shortly thereafter, he boarded a junk and fled. At that time, King Naresuan was 24 years old and was aware that Phraya Chin Chantu was a Cambodian agent who took refuge in Ayutthaya under false pretenses to gather information on the Siamese court. He ordered Siamese boats to chase Phraya Chin Chantu's junk. Since Chinese junks are much bigger than Siamese junks and were more suited for sailing out to sea, Phraya Chin Chantu was able to escape.วิบูลย์ วิจิตรวาทการ, หน้า 6ชาดา นนทวัฒน์, หน้า 68–69
In 1580, Baraminreachea still believed Siam was weak and ordered Thotsa Racha and Surin Racha to invade Siam with a force of 5,000, including elephants and cavalry. The plan was to raid cities around Ayutthaya such as Saraburi and capture loot and people.ชาดา นนทวัฒน์, หน้า 68–69 Naresuan led a force of 3,000 men out of Ayutthaya to engage the Khmer army. The Khmer army was destroyed and forced to retreat back to Cambodia. This battle made King Naresuan revered among the Siamese and Burmese courts. As a result of this, the Khmers did not dare to attack Thailand again.อานนท์ จิตรประภาส
Wars with the Taungoo Dynasty
In 1581, Bayinnaung died, and was succeeded by his son Nanda Bayin. Nanda's uncle Viceroy Thado Minsaw of Ava then rebelled in 1583, forcing Nanda Bayin to call upon the viceroys of Prome, Taungoo, Chiang Mai, Vientiane, and Ayutthaya for assistance in suppressing the rebellion. On 2 February 1584, Naresuan left with his troops to Bago as ordered, and arrived at the border only in April.(Damrong 2001: 85): Naresuan began his march on the 6th waning moon of the third Siamese month, year of the horse, BE 2126, and arrived at Muang Khraeng, the border in the sixth month. Editors of (Damrong 2001) translated the dates as March 1583 and June 1583 respectively. But the given dates are lunisolar calendar dates, and should follow then prevailing Chula Sakarat calendar. The Thai calendar (and the month names) did not get realigned to the Gregorian calendar until 1941. According to (Eade 1989: 133), 6th waning of the 3rd Siamese month (Magha, assuming Sukhothia style month naming adopted at Ayutthaya), 945 CS translates to , and the sixth month translates to 10 April 1584 to 9 May 1584 (N.S.) According to the Burmese Hmannan Yazawin chronicle (Hmannan Vol. 3 2003: 77–79), Naresuan's troops arrived near the environs of Pegu prior to Nanda having defeated the Ava rebellion on Tuesday, 1st waning of Kason 946 ME (Tuesday, ). According to Damrong, this raised Nanda's suspicions, who ordered his son, the Maha Uparaja Mingyi Swa, to remain in the capital and kill Naresuan. The Burmese chronicles say that Nanda made the decision to have Mingyi Swa guard Pegu prior to his march to Ava on 25 March 1584.(Hmannan Vol. 3 2003: 76): Nanda appointed Swa to guard Pegu, and marched to Ava on full moon of Late Tagu 945 ME (), and Swa asked Naresuan to continue on to Ava when Naresuan's troops arrived near Pegu.
According to Damrong, Naresuan reached Kraeng the border town, where he learned that Phraya Ram and Phraya Kiet had been sent by the Maha Uparat to attack Naresuan from the rear while Maha Uparat attacked from the front. Naresuan called a council, which included priests, Phraya Kiat, Phraya Ram, and other Mons. Naresuan then "poured water on the earth from a gold goblet to proclaim to the devatas in the presence of the persons assembled, that from that day forth Siam had severed friendship with Hongsawadi and was no longer in amity as of yore."
According to Damrong, Naresuan then levied the Mons to join his campaign and marched onto Bago, intending to free the Siamese families held captive there. However, Nanda Bayin had already defeated the viceroy of Inwa and was returning to his capital. Naresuan then retreated after freeing about 10,000 families. Mingyi Swa pursued with Surakamma in the advance element. The Burmese caught up with the Siamese at the Satong River. There Surakamma was killed by "the royal gun used by Somdet Phra Naresuan while crossing the Satong river". This sent the Maha Uparat's troops into a panicked retreat, prompting him to return to the capital.
Naresuan then held the "ceremony of swearing allegiance" with the people of Sukhothai, drinking water from the sacred pond of Puay Si. His forces then took Sawankhalok. In 1584 Naresuan brought down all of the men from the northern provinces to the Siamese capital of Ayutthaya in preparation for the attack of the Bago army.
Chusak Satienpattanodom sets those events in a longer local frame. On his account the rulers of Phichai and Sawankhalok had risen against Naresuan in 1581, using Sawankhalok as their base. He reads the removal of 1584 as leaving the northern towns empty, and makes it the direct cause of the end of the Sangkhalok ceramic industry at Si Satchanalai, together with the return of Chinese wares to the market. In 1592, after the elephant duel, Luang Cha was appointed to hold Sawankhalok, but on his reading the town recovered only in part and the old city was never reoccupied.