Naresuan: Warrior king
A national hero in his native Thailand, Naresuan the Great defied Burma and conquered much of Southeast Asia in the 16th century
This Thai national hero defied Burma and conquered much of Southeast Asia in the 16th century
It says something that the film series The Legend of King Naresuan is one of the most expensive movie projects in Thai history. The action-packed, six-part historical epic, which celebrates the larger-than-life conquests of Somdej Phra Naresuan Maharaj — otherwise known as Naresuan the Great — cost more than £14.8 million ($20 million) to produce.
With financial backing from the Thai state, the movies chronicle how Naresuan, a 16th-century warrior king, threw off the shackles of the detested Burmese occupation and established an independent state that was a strong political and military force in Southeast Asia. Imagine George Washington if the American general had ditched his horse for a battle elephant.
To understand the importance of Naresuan in Thai history, you need to appreciate the political dynamics of 16th-century Southeast Asia. First of all, the country we now know as Thailand didn’t exist until the 20th century. Instead, the region was made up of a series of Thai kingdoms, known collectively in the West as Siam, the largest and most powerful of which was Ayutthaya.
Dubbed the ‘Venice of the East’, Ayutthaya was a walled city of intersecting canals that floated like a fortified island in between three converging rivers. Its walls and rivers defended it against attack while its culture flourished, producing remarkable Buddhist-themed architecture, as well as art and music that were influenced by both East and West. Fertile rice fields surrounded the city and Ayutthaya grew rich exporting rice to European traders and China, the reigning superpower of East Asia.
However, the kingdom was literally surrounded by enemies: Burma lay to the northwest,
Cambodia and the Khmer to the southeast, and disparate tribal states had made their homes to the east and north. But Burma was by far the most potent threat. The ruling Toungoo dynasty had spent the last two generations conquering smaller states to amass an empire.
Regime change
In 1548, the Ayutthaya kingdom had managed to repel a formidable attack but the Burmese king Bayinnaung returned in 1564 with an even larger force, which included hundreds of Portuguese mercenaries.
Ayutthaya fell under Burmese control. The city was pillaged and thousands of were deported to Burma as slaves — but the regime change worked in favour of Naresuan’s family. King Bayinnaung got rid of Ayutthaya’s ruler, Maha Chakkraphat, and put Naresuan’s father, Maha Thammarachathirat, a high-ranking nobleman, on the throne instead. However as a pledge of his allegiance, the new king was forced to send his two sons — Naresuan, then aged nine, and his younger brother, Ekathotsarot — to be raised in the Burmese capital of Pegu.
A hostage in the Burmese court for seven years, Naresuan may have spent his time studying of Buddhist philosophy. However, he also became an avid pupil of Burmese and Portuguese military tactics as well as hand-to-hand combat.
In 1571, when Naresuan turned 16, King Bayinnaung allowed the prince to return home in exchange for his sister’s hand in marriage. Young Naresuan was put in charge of the northern city of Phitsanulok as the Uparat, or presumptive heir, to the throne of Ayutthaya.
As you can imagine, Naresuan was in an unusual political position. Raised in Burma as a prisoner-prince, he both resented and respected the Thai people’s feudal overlords. Some even claim that Naresuan loved Bayinnaung like a father. If Thailand’s champion had early dreams of rebellion he hid them well, biding his time and pledging his continued loyalty to Burma.
Ironically, it was during a show of this loyalty that Naresuan would get himself into trouble.
After the death of Bayinnaung, Nanda Bayin became king of Burma in 1581, and Naresuan was sent by his father to pay homage and express the Thai kingdom’s unwavering allegiance.
To test this fealty, Nanda Bayin recruited Naresuan and his army to help quash a rebellion in the Shan states to the north. When Nanda Bayin and his troops failed to take a key city, Naresuan swept in to conquer it. Instead of encouraging the king that Naresaun could be a trusted ally, the act embarrassed and enraged him.
Naresuan returned to his home in Phitsanulok but he was quickly summoned by Nanda Bayin a second time to help put down another uprising. Naresuan dutifully assembled his troops — but not without his suspicions. Word had reached him that the Burmese had begun constructing a road to the Thai capital of Ayutthaya, a sign that the foreign king was looking for ways to further tighten his grip on the kingdom.
As Naresuan marched towards Pegu, he was intercepted by two Mon warriors. The Mon people had developed close links with the Ayutthaya kingdom, as after their capital had been conquered by the Burmese army, many Mon people had sought refuge there. The two warriors warned Naresuan of Nanda Bayin’s secret plan to ambush and kill him.
Naresuan had played the loyal puppet for long enough and now that he knew of the Burmese plot to assassinate him, there was no need for him to retain (or feign) such fealty. The time had come for Naresuan to become the leader that his people so desperately needed.
Hail to the new king
To win Ayutthaya’s independence back, Naresuan publicly, and formally, renounced his allegiance to Burma in 1584, declaring an end to the Burmese tributary. When Naresuan returned to Ayutthaya, his royal father entrusted him with the city’s protection and with building an army ready to answer the full strength and anger of the Burmese. Naresuan took advantage of the widespread disaffection with Burmese bullying in the region by recruiting troops from the Shan and Mon states to reinforce the Thai ranks.
King Nanda Bayin wasted no time answering Naresuan’s rebellion. He sent his army against Ayutthaya very rapidly, but Naresuan repelled the first attack easily, along with the second and third Burmese attempts in the years that followed. Even the Khmer tried their luck, hoping to capitalise on Thai entanglements with Burma. Incredibly, Naresuan not only held off this offensive, but pursued his attackers all the way back to the walls of Lovek, the Khmer capital. He only turned back because his supplies had run out.