Changes

*''Dates: [[1350]]-[[1767]]''

*''Dates: [[1350]]-[[1767]]''

Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom known by the name of its capital city. In the 16th to early 17th centuries, Ayutthaya was one of the most powerful and prominent polities in Southeast Asia, and the most prominent Southeast Asian trading partner with Japan and the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]]. It was also home to a short-lived but influential ''[[Nihonmachi]]'' (Japantown) which housed around 800 Japanese, from the 1590s until its destruction in [[1630]].<ref>Geoffrey Gunn, ''History Without Borders: The Making of an Asian World Region, 1000-1800'', Hong Kong University Press (2011), 222.</ref> At its peak, the city of Ayutthaya boasted a population over 100,000.

Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom known by the name of its capital city. In the 16th to early 17th centuries, Ayutthaya was one of the most powerful and prominent polities in Southeast Asia, and the most prominent Southeast Asian trading partner with Japan and the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]]. It was also home to the largest ''[[Nihonmachi]]'' (Japantown) of the era; the community housed as many as 1500 Japanese at its peak in the 1620s,<ref>Geoffrey Gunn, ''History Without Borders: The Making of an Asian World Region, 1000-1800'', Hong Kong University Press (2011), 222.</ref> the city of Ayutthaya as a whole boasted a population over 100,000. A small number of Siamese ships - officially under the name of either the king or one of the royal princes - traveled to [[Nagasaki]] over the course of the 16th-17th centuries, until [[1688]]. Despite [[kaikin|maritime restrictions]] against trade with most outside powers, Nagasaki accepted these Siamese ships under the category of "Dutch ships," given their Western-style construction.

Ayutthaya faced off against [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] Chinese armies in the 1580s-1590s,

Ayutthaya entered into trade relations with Ryûkyû in the mid-to-late 15th century, and only began trading with Japan a century later, in the 1570s. The Japanese community in Ayutthaya got its start at that time as well, as Japanese ronin, merchants, smugglers, adventurers, and the like began to settle there. Some came to be employed by the royal court, as bodyguards, or in other capacities, and by the 1620s, Japan was Ayutthaya's most major trade partner. More than twenty Japanese merchant houses, along with some number of independent individual sailors, were active in trading between Ayutthaya and Nagasaki each year, and the kingdom enjoyed formal relations with the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] as well, beginning in [[1606]], and received arms and other supplies from the shogunate to aid in Ayutthaya's defense against periodic [[Burma|Burmese]] attacks.<ref>Khien Theeravit. “Japanese-Siamese Relations, 1606-1629” in Chaiwat Khamchoo and E. Bruce Reynolds (eds.) ''Thai-Japanese Relations in Historical Perspective''. Bangkok: Innomedia Co. Ltd. Press (1988), 22, 26-27.</ref> The kingdom fought off attacks by [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] Chinese armies, as well, in the 1580s-1590s.

The ''Nihonmachi'' revived following its destruction in 1630, though it would never again attain its former levels of activity. The imposition of policies of [[kaikin|maritime restrictions]] by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] in the late 1630s meant that Japanese could no longer return to Japan (and very few left Japan, either, after this time), severing the ''Nihonmachi'' from any infusion of new blood, and severely hampering its economic power. Still, figures such as [[Kimura Hanjemon]], who became head of the community in [[1642]], remained prominent in local trade activities, including supplying the [[Dutch East India Company]] factory in Ayutthaya with deer skins. Another man by the same name, possibly the elder Hanjemon's son, traveled widely across Southeast Asia in the 1680s.<ref>Nagazumi Yoko. "Ayutthaya and Japan: Embassies and Trade in the Seventeenth Century." in Kennon Breazeale (ed.). ''From Japan to Arabia: Ayutthaya's Maritime Relations with Asia''. Bangkok: The Foundation for the Promotion of Social Sciences and Humanities Textbook Project, 1999. pp100-101.</ref>

In [[1610]], King [[Ekothotsarat]] was succeeded by [[Songtham]]; that same year, the kingdom suppressed a Laotian invasion and an uprising by Japanese merchants, and established a royal guard consisting of Japanese.

The Dutch East India Company closed its base in Ayutthaya in [[1663]].

A series of court intrigues, and a violent ''coup d'état'', led to the destruction of the ''Nihonmachi'', and the death of its head, [[Yamada Nagamasa]], in [[1630]]. Yamada Nagamasa had served for some time as head of the royal bodyguard, had led a force of some 700 Japanese in suppressing insurrections, Burmese incursions, and the like, and had been elevated to high court rank. He had also been named governor of several provinces, and held monopolies over the trade in deerskin and a number of other goods.<ref>Wray, William. “The 17th Century Japanese Diaspora: Questions of Boundary and Policy.” Thirteenth International Economic History Congress, Buenos Aires 2002. Preconference: Corfu, Greece, 21-22 September 2001, 10.</ref> He thus represented a significant obstacle to [[Prasat Thong]], a member of the royal family who seized the throne in [[1629]] following the death of King Songtham. In the course of his ''coup'', Prasat Thong had Yamada murdered, and the ''Nihonmachi'' burned to the ground, in order to prevent Yamada's fellow Japanese from seeking violent retribution. A number of Japanese fled to Cambodia, and some returned later, with amnesty from a later king.<ref>[[Iwao Seiichi]]. “Reopening of the diplomatic and commercial relations between Japan and Siam during the Tokugawa period.” ''Acta Asiatica'' v.4 (July 1963), 2-4.</ref>

King [[Narai]], who ruled in the latter half of the 17th century, was perhaps among the most active of Southeast Asian rulers in engaging with the West. In [[1673]], he received formal diplomatic communications from both Louis XIV of France, and Pope Clement IX, and reciprocated them.

The ''Nihonmachi'' revived following its destruction in 1630, though it would never again attain its former levels of activity. The imposition of policies of maritime restrictions by the Tokugawa shogunate in the late 1630s meant that Japanese could no longer return to Japan (and very few left Japan, either, after this time), severing the ''Nihonmachi'' from any infusion of new blood, and severely hampering its economic power. Further, the Tokugawa shogunate, seeing Prasat Thong as an illegitimate usurper, severed formal ties with the kingdom of Ayutthaya. Though several missions were later sent to Japan attempting to restore formal relations (including missions in [[1640]] and [[1644]] which were lost in storms), none were ever successful.<ref name=iwao28>Iwao, 28-29.</ref>

A small number of Siamese ships - officially under the name of either the king or one of the royal princes - traveled to [[Nagasaki]] over the course of the 17th-18th centuries. Despite maritime restrictions against trade with most outside powers, Nagasaki accepted these Siamese ships under the category of "Dutch ships," given their Western-style construction.

Still, figures such as [[Kimura Hanjemon]], who became head of the community in [[1642]], remained prominent in local trade activities, including supplying the [[Dutch East India Company]] factory in Ayutthaya with deer skins. Another man by the same name, possibly the elder Hanjemon's son, traveled widely across Southeast Asia in the 1680s.<ref>Nagazumi Yoko. "Ayutthaya and Japan: Embassies and Trade in the Seventeenth Century." in Kennon Breazeale (ed.). ''From Japan to Arabia: Ayutthaya's Maritime Relations with Asia''. Bangkok: The Foundation for the Promotion of Social Sciences and Humanities Textbook Project, 1999. pp100-101.</ref>

 

The Japanese community of Ayutthaya played some role in bringing King [[Narai]] to the throne in [[1657]], and official royal involvement in trade with Japan resumed, even though it was not formally recognized as diplomatic court-to-court relations by the Tokugawa.<ref name=iwao28/> Narai was perhaps among the most active of Southeast Asian rulers in engaging with the West. In [[1673]], he received formal diplomatic communications from both Louis XIV of France, and Pope Clement IX, and reciprocated them. Narai's relations with France led to his declaring war on the [[English East India Company]] in [[1687]]; the following year, [[French East India Company]] forces, ostensibly there to help combat the English, seized Bangkok and a number of other areas, before finally being convinced to quit their occupation and return these areas to Siamese control. Narai died that year, and was succeeded by [[Phra Phetracha]].

 

 

By the early 18th century, the Japanese community in Ayutthaya disappeared, assimilating into the broader Siamese society through intermarriage and acculturation. The kingdom fell to Burmese invasion in [[1767]].<ref>Coedes, G. (H.M. Wright, trans.) ''The Making of South East Asia''. Berkeley: University of California Press (1966), 164-165.</ref>

==Kings of Ayutthaya==

==Kings of Ayutthaya==

*[[Ekathotsarot]] (r. 1605-[[1610]])

*[[Ekathotsarot]] (r. 1605-[[1610]])

*[[Songtham]] (r. 1610-[[1628]])

*[[Songtham]] (r. 1610-[[1628]])

*[[Prasat Thong]] (r. [[1629]]-)

*[[Prasat Thong]] (r. 1629-[[1656]])

*[[Narai]] (r. [[1657]]-[[1688]])

*[[Phra Phetracha]] (r. 1688-)

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