The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c23.s4.70

v4.c23.s4.70

The king’s prayers were for victory to his arms. Those prayers were needed, as the situation in Siam was serious. His supremacy there had begun to collapse almost before the ruins of Ayuthia ceased to smoulder. When the Burmese armies were sweeping down upon Ayuthia in 1765, there was a governor of a northern province who would not drink the water of allegiance. He was the son of a Chinese father and a Siamese mother, and his name was Paya Tak.¹ He collected a few hundred determined men like himself and withdrew to the hills. The Burmese repeatedly tried to dislodge him but he flung them back. He went east and gained Cambodia, vastly increasing his resources. The men of Siam, sick of oppression, rose and called on him to lead them, for their lawful princes were in captivity. In 1768 he destroyed several Burmese garrisons, reoccupied Ayuthia, and founded the present capital, Bangkok. He was now king, but his palace never saw him, as he lived in the field. The Burmese sent expeditions. He harried them in ambushes, cut them off, starved them out. He and his people were united in a just cause. Whether the Burmese could in any case have held Siam for long is doubtful, but whatever chances they had were ruined by the disunion which now became the curse of their armies in the field. For the spoilers fell out over their prey, and though captains like Mahathihathura, the hero of the Chinese war, and Thihapate, the conqueror of Ayuthia, continued to win occasional victories, they could achieve nothing permanent in the face of rampant insubordination. If a commander disapproved the plan of campaign, he showed his disapproval by simply withdrawing his levies and marching off elsewhere. Some of them were executed, but the harm had been done; the Burmese were driven across the frontier, and even at Chiengmai they were ill at ease, when the king died. He was succeeded by his son.