Ekathotsarot was king of the Siamese kingdom of Ayutthaya from 1605 to 1610.
He exchanged letters with Tokugawa Ieyasu, beginning with a letter from Ieyasu in 1606 which asked for the establishment of formal relations, and for trade in Siamese eaglewood and firearms, and offered a number of fine Japanese swords and sets of armor "as a token of [his] sincere regard." This letter was carried from Japan to Siam by Iberians. As far as is known, there was no reply from Ekathotsarot's court. Ieyasu sent a second letter in 1607, drafted by Honda Masazumi and again expressing an interest in trade in firearms and gunpowder. Though the reply is not extant, later communications suggest that Ekathotsarot's court at least agreed to send such materials; whether the guns and gunpowder were ever actually sent also remains unclear.[1]
| Preceded by: Naresuan |
King of Ayutthaya 1605-1610 |
Succeeded by: Songtham |
References
- ↑ Cesare Polenghi, Samurai of Ayutthaya: Yamada Nagamasa, Japanese warrior and merchant in early seventeenth-century Siam. Bangkok: White Lotus Press (2009), 15-16.