The Ayutthaya Kingdom was another Thai kingdom that emerged in the mid-14th century and was one of the great powers of Indochina.
It has had a greater impact on both Thailand and Southeast Asia.
Founding background
The founder of the Ayutthaya kingdom, originally the ruler of Uthong, lower Chao Phraya River.
It is said that he was originally a Thai nobleman, and because of his marriage to the daughter of U Tong Taishou, he succeeded his father-in-law as U Tong Taishou in 1344.
In 1347, the capital was moved to Ayutthaya (also known as Ayutthaya) at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River.
In 1350, the ruler of Uthon became the first king of the kingdom of Ayutthaya, named Rama Tebodhi I, and the kingdom of Ayutthaya replaced the kingdom of Sukhothai as the most powerful Thai-ruled state.
Ayutthaya City is located at the confluence of the Basak, Chao Phraya and Legong rivers; The outlet of the Chao Phraya River is close to the southern coast, which is easily accessible.
In the third century, the Mon established the Jin neighborhood in this area, and it was conquered when Funan was strong.
In the 6th century, when Funan was weakened, the Mon people established the Fallen Luo Zhaodi state, which was annexed by the Angkor Dynasty in the 11th century.
At the beginning of the twelfth century, the Luo Hu Kingdom reappeared.
It is densely populated, fertile, rich in products, and developed in agriculture, and is a major foreign trade and rice-producing area.
At the same time, it occupies a strategic position of controlling the interior and access to the sea.
The favorable geographical location provided the new kingdom with good economic, political, military and cultural conditions.
In the mid-fourteenth century, when the kingdom of Ayutthaya arose, there were no strong neighbors outside to compete with.
The Bagan Dynasty in Burma in the northwest, the Sukhothai Kingdom in the north, and the Angkor Dynasty in the Chenla Kingdom in the east have all gone into decline.
In particular, after the death of King Rammokhan of the Sukhothai Kingdom around 1317, during the reign of his son Rotai, his ruling power declined sharply due to his enthusiasm for Buddhism, and the vassal rebelled.
Uthong Taishou also took advantage of the opportunity and annexed most of the territories formerly part of Sukhothai such as Nakhon Khon Marat, Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Tanah Salin and Towei, and expanded its power to Chenla in the east.
Manpower is the fundamental source of military strength.
Whether or not manpower can be controlled is an extremely important factor in the existence and development of ancient Southeast Asian countries.
Rama Tebodhi I and his successors therefore attached great importance to the construction of monasteries, especially in the city of Ayutthaya, in order to use Buddhism as a tool of rule on the one hand, and to control manpower on the other.
Because when the monastery was built, some monks were first sent there, and those who followed them called the Gapa, or temple slaves, were moved to live and cultivate the land granted by the court.
In this way, a large amount of manpower is concentrated in permanent residence within politically controllable boundaries.
At the same time, other residents are encouraged to stay near the temple for a long time, so that the area around the temple becomes a community.
The more monasteries are built, the more manpower the kingdom controls, and the more powerful it is.
Strong period
After entering the fifteenth century, the Ayutthaya kingdom continued to develop on the above basis and became a powerful country.
This was mainly during the reigns of Polomo Laman II, King Dailelogana and Rama Tebodhi II.
During the reign of King Delailogana, since before his accession to the throne, the provinces of the kingdom of Ayutthaya were actually small independent kingdoms, whether it was the recruitment of troops, financial management and administrative measures.
To change this, he proposed reforms in Genesis to strengthen control over the provinces and strengthen centralization.
According to historical records, the content of his reforms is mainly divided into the following points:
Establishment of a reorganization of the central government on the basis of government ministries; For officials, the rank of official is implemented; The unequal amount of land was distributed according to the different ranks of nobles, officials and commoners according to their different status; The Imperial Law was promulgated, stipulating that Maha Ubara (i.e. vice-king) was limited to sons born to queens; reform of the judiciary, etc.
Nothing else, except that reform of justice will have the greatest impact on future generations.
King Delailogana stipulated that there should be an executive and a judicial department to separate justice from trial.
From the acceptance of the case, the trial to the execution of the judgment, it is all entrusted by the king.
Brahmins, on the other hand, who are familiar with jurisprudence, are limited to examining confessions and giving opinions on trials, and have lost their previous right to deal with them.
It can be said that King Delailogana's reform of the judiciary, which deprived the Brahmins of their former judicial power, was another powerful measure to strengthen the royal power.
From the founding of the Ayutthaya kingdom, successive kings attached great importance to Buddhism.
By the time of King Delelojana, in order to consolidate his rule over Sukhothai, in addition to moving the capital to Phitsanulok, he also put the promotion of Buddhism in a higher position to ease the discontent of the Sukhothai royal family and gain the support of the Buddhist community, the Sangha.
Therefore, in the first year of his reign, he dedicated part of his palace as a site for the construction of a new monastery, which he built was the Pasi Sambi Monastery, the religious center of the Ayutthaya Kingdom.
This was the first Ayutthaya king to follow the customs of the King of Sukhothai.
In 1465, King Dailelojana also imitated King Maha Tanmaran I of Sukhotai and became a monk for eight months, setting a precedent for King Ayutthaya to become a monk after he ascended the throne, convincing the people of Sukhothai that he was a good Buddhist king and gaining the support of the Sangha.
In this way, the king could extend his rule deep into the countryside through the sangha.
Because as a rural area of a Buddhist country, temples are the center of rural society, and the core of the sangha is an organization with a strong hierarchical system in the capital, and it has a broad base in the countryside, which is the key link between the people and the government.
So, the best way for rulers to gain the support and cooperation of the majority is through the Sangha.
This was exactly what King Daelelogana did, and he played the role of Buddhism, both strengthening royal power and consolidating the unity of the kingdom.
As a result of the measures taken by the above-mentioned kings, the kingdom of Ayutthaya not only expanded its sphere of influence and became a powerful country, but also became one of the important international markets for foreign trade in Southeast Asia.
By the fifteenth century, its sphere of influence was eastern: in 1431 Bolomo Rolon II launched another attack on the Angkor dynasty.
Angkor Thom was captured for the third time after seven months of siege, and after the fall of the city, it was looted, and the property and inhabitants of the monastery were plundered to Ayutthaya.
Polom Moro II appointed his son Inthaburi as ruler of Angkor.
However, when the retreat retreated, the Chenla prince Ponghea Yater led the people to revolt, because Thaburi was killed by Prince Chenla, Chenla recovered the city of Angkor, and later moved the capital to Phnom Penh.
In 1438, when Sukhothai 's Tammaran IV died, Polomo Lamoran II appointed his eldest son, Prince Lamexuan, as Phitsanulok, and all the territory of the Sukhothai Kingdom was annexed, and the Ayutthaya Kingdom unified the entire Chao Phraya River Valley.
Then, it continued to expand north.
Therefore, from 1442, wars with the Kingdom of Chiang Mai broke out repeatedly.
Sometimes it was the Ayutthaya kingdom that intervened taking advantage of the struggle within the ruling class in Chiang Mai.
At the beginning of the fifteenth century, Malacca was established as an independent kingdom with the support of the Ming Dynasty.
However, Ayutthaya did not give up his attempt to control Malacca, and in 1445 and 1456 he made two large-scale attacks by land and water, but both failed.
Later, the Kingdom of Malacca took the initiative to send an envoy to Ayutthaya to establish friendly relations.
In this way, the sphere of influence of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, except for the Chao Phraya River Valley, extended to the western part of the Angkor Dynasty in the east, the northern Malay Peninsula in the south, and the southern part of Burma in the southwest, becoming a powerful state in the Indochina Peninsula at that time.
Foreign trade in the Ayutthaya kingdom was controlled by the royal family headed by the king, and at that time it was mainly to trade with China, Korea, and Ryukyu.
In 1511, Portuguese colonists occupied Malacca, and in 1516 they signed a treaty of commerce with Portuguese envoys, allowing the Portuguese to do business in Ayutthaya and in Tanah Salin, Tanja, Pattani, Nakhon is Greed Marat and other places.
Trade with China, in addition to official trade in the form of "tribute" and "return", there are also many people-to-people exchanges.
The prosperity of foreign trade will inevitably promote the development of domestic social economy, and the capital Ayutthaya "produces exotic goods from Western countries, and spreads everywhere." "It became an important international market at that time.
Epilogue:
To sum up, the author believes that one of the important factors in the rise and development of the Ayutthaya kingdom is because many of the successive ruling kings were capable and outstanding rulers.
They can inherit advanced culture, make remarkable achievements in cultural rule and martial arts, enhance national strength, and promote social development.
Bibliography:
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