The Ayutthaya Kingdom (/ɑːˈjuːtəjə/; Thai: อยุธยา, RTGS: Ayutthaya, IAST: Ayudhyā or Ayodhyā, pronounced[ʔā.jút.tʰā.jāː]ⓘ) or the Empire of Ayutthaya[19] was a Mon and later Siamese kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351[15][20][21] to 1767, centered around the city of Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. European travellers in the early 16th century called Ayutthaya one of the three great powers of Asia (alongside Vijayanagara and China).[15] The Ayutthaya Kingdom is considered to be the precursor of modern Thailand, and its developments are an important part of the history of Thailand.[15]
The Ayutthaya Kingdom emerged from the mandala/merger of three maritime city-states on the Lower Chao Phraya Valley in the late 13th and 14th centuries (Lopburi, Suphanburi, and Ayutthaya).[22] The early kingdom was a maritime confederation, oriented to post-Srivijaya Maritime Southeast Asia, conducting raids and tribute from these maritime states. After two centuries of political organization from the Northern Cities and a transition to a hinterland state, Ayutthaya centralized and became one of the great powers of Asia. From 1569 to 1584, Ayutthaya was a vassal state of Toungoo Burma, but quickly regained independence. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Ayutthaya emerged as an entrepôt of international trade and its cultures flourished. The reign of Narai (r. 1657–1688) was known for Persian and later, European, influence and the sending of the 1686 Siamese embassy to the French court of King Louis XIV. The Late Ayutthaya Period saw the departure of the French and English but growing prominence of the Chinese. The period was described as a "golden age" of Siamese culture and saw the rise in Chinese trade and the introduction of capitalism into Siam,[23] a development that would continue to expand in the centuries following the fall of Ayutthaya.[24][25]
Ayutthaya's failure to create a peaceful order of succession and the introduction of capitalism undermined the traditional organization of its elite and the old bonds of labor control which formed the military and government organization of the kingdom. In the mid-18th century, the Burmese Konbaung dynasty invaded Ayutthaya in 1759–1760 and 1765–1767. In April 1767, after a 14-month siege, the city of Ayutthaya fell to besieging Burmese forces and was completely destroyed, thereby ending the 417-year-old Ayutthaya Kingdom. Siam, however, quickly recovered from the collapse and the seat of Siamese authority was moved to Thonburi-Bangkok within the next 15 years.[24][26]
In foreign accounts, Ayutthaya was called "Siam",[27] but people of Ayutthaya called themselves Tai, and their kingdom Krung Tai (Thai: กรุงไท) meaning 'Tai country' (กรุงไท).[28] It was also referred to as Iudea in a painting requested by the Dutch East India Company.[29] The capital city of Ayutthaya is officially known as Krung Thep Dvaravati Si Ayutthaya (Thai: กรุงเทพทวารวดีศรีอยุธยา), as documented in historical sources.[30][31][32][33]
^ abcCite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcLieberman, Victor (2003). Strange Parallels: Volume 1, Integration on the Mainland: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830 (Studies in Comparative World History) (Kindle ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0521800860.
^Lieberman, Victor (2003). Strange Parallels: Volume 1, Integration on the Mainland: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830 (Studies in Comparative World History) (Kindle ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0521800860.
^Baker, Chris; Phongpaichit, Pasuk (2017). A History of Ayutthaya: Siam in the Early Modern World (Kindle ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. i, 170–171. ISBN978-1-316-64113-2. "From 1600, peace paved the way for Ayutthaya to prosper as Asia's leading entrepot under an expansive mercantile absolutism."
^Lieberman, Victor (2003). Strange Parallels: Volume 1, Integration on the Mainland: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830 (Studies in Comparative World History) (Kindle ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 295. ISBN978-0521800860. "Siam's population must have increased from c. 2,500,000 in 1600 to 4,000,000 in 1800."
^Lieberman, Victor (2003). Strange Parallels: Volume 1, Integration on the Mainland: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830 (Studies in Comparative World History) (Kindle ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 290. ISBN978-0521800860. "From the early 1700s well into the 19th century Chinese not only dominated Siam's external trade..."
^Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Roberts, Edmund (1837). "XVIII City of Bang-kok". Embassy to the Eastern courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat in the U. S. sloop-of-war Peacock during the years 1832–3–4. Harper & Brothers. p. image 288. OCLC12212199. The spot on which the present capital stands, and the country in its vicinity, on both banks of the river for a considerable distance, were formerly, before the removal of the court to its present situation called Bang-kok; but since that time, and for nearly sixty years past, it has been named Sia yuthia, (pronounced See-ah you-tè-ah, and by the natives, Krung, that is, the capital;) it is called by both names here, but never Bang-kok; and they always correct foreigners when the latter make this mistake. The villages which occupy the right hand of the river, opposite to the capital, pass under the general name of Bang-kok.
^Blagden, C.O. (1941). "A XVIIth Century Malay Cannon in London". Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 19 (1): 122–124. JSTOR41559979. Retrieved 13 April 2023. TA-HTAUNG TA_YA HNIT-HSE SHIT-KHU DWARAWATI THEIN YA – 1128 year (= 1766 A.D) obtained at the conquest of Dwarawati (= Siam). One may note that in that year the Burmese invaded Siam and captured Ayutthaya, the capital, in 1767.
^JARUDHIRANART, Jaroonsak (2017). THE INTERPRETATION OF SI SATCHANALAI (Thesis). Silpakorn University. p. 31. Retrieved 13 April 2023. Ayutthaya, they still named the kingdom after its former kingdom as "Krung Thep Dvaravati Sri Ayutthaya".