A History of Ayutthaya: Siam in the Early Modern World

Description

Early European visitors placed Ayutthaya alongside China and India as the great powers of Asia. Yet in 1767 the city was destroyed and its history has been neglected. This book is the first study of Ayutthaya from its emergence in the thirteenth century until its fall. It offers a wide-ranging view of social, political, and cultural history with focus on commerce, kingship, Buddhism, and war. By drawing on a wide range of sources including chronicles, accounts by Europeans, Chinese, Persians, and Japanese, law, literature, art, landscape, and language, the book presents early Siam as a 'commercial' society, not the peasant society usually assumed. Baker and Phongpaichit attribute the fall of the city not to internal conflict or dynastic decline but failure to manage the social and political consequences of prosperity. This book is essential reading for all those interested in the history of Southeast Asia and the early modern world.

Chris Baker is an independent scholar. Together, with Pasuk Phongpaichit, he has written eight books and over thirty articles on Thailand's history, literature, and political economy; has translated key historical sources, pioneering works by Thai historians, and literary classics, including the epic poem The Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen (2010) which won the 2013 Becker Translation Prize from the Association for Asian Studies; and has held visiting posts at universities in the USA, Japan, and Australia. Pasuk Phongpaichit is Professor of Economics at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. Together, with Chris Baker, she has written eight books and over thirty articles on Thailand's history, literature, and political economy; has translated key historical sources, pioneering works by Thai historians, and literary classics, including the epic poem The Tale of Khun Chang Khun Phaen (2010) which won the 2013 Becker Translation Prize from the Association for Asian Studies; and has held visiting posts at universities in the USA, Japan, and Australia.

'Cast out for more than two hundred years as a failure of the aristocratic conceit and overlooked by modern historians, Ayutthaya comes alive again by these two superb scholars and writers. The book is full of original scholarship on the four centuries of dynamic Ayutthaya as a trans-Asian entrepot with enormous land-based resources, an imperial power with complex but fragile political infrastructure, and an open society with rich and creative culture that made Siam distinctive as a country. With thorough research and examination, and exquisite articulation, the book will not be surpassed for years, perhaps decades to come.' Thongchai Winichakul, Emeritus Professor of Southeast Asian History, University of Wisconsin, Madison 'Scholars of Southeast Asia have waited a long time for a detailed study of the great Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya, but A History of Ayutthaya will exceed all their expectations. The authors have demonstrated a masterly knowledge of the historical sources, and have given us a readable, insightful and scholarly analysis. Setting a new benchmark for studies of premodern Thai history, this outstanding book will enrich our understanding of the dynamics of early modern states in Asia more generally and of the global interactions that characterize the period in which Ayutthaya flourished.' Barbara Watson Andaya, University of Hawaii 'This book is a well-researched and long-awaited comprehensive history of the most important ancient Siamese kingdom: Ayutthaya, the forerunner of modern Thailand. It will remain the standard history for anyone wishing to understand pre-modern Thailand and Southeast Asia.' Charnvit Kasetsiri, Thammasat University, Bangkok 'Pasuk and Baker's extraordinarily comprehensive history of Ayutthaya offers an essential re-vision of that kingdom's past. It centers Ayutthaya within a vibrant early modern Asia, revealing the dynamic interaction among domestic, regional and transnational politics, culture, trade, and religion.' Tamara Loos, Cornell University 'A remarkable work of scholarship. A History of Ayutthaya will help restore this former Thai kingdom to its rightful place as one of the pivotal countries of early modern Asia.' Patrick Jory, University of Queensland 'For those who see the history of Thailand as the history of peasants and Bangkok, this book will open their eyes to another Siam, richer and more complex than ever imagined. For those who want to understand the evolution of states and societies on mainland Southeast Asia over a longer period than the myopia induced by nationalism, this book is a must.' Robert H. Taylor, Journal of Contemporary Asia 'Baker and Phongpaichit's A History of Ayutthaya could very reasonably be added to an upper-division course on world history and most definitely to the first semester of a two-semester course on Southeast Asia. The book could even be used in any number of graduate courses focusing on early urbanization, trade, or ethnic and cultural identity ... the book could be useful as a reference for instructors who wish to bring Thai variants to their world history survey courses.' Paul A. Rodell, World History Connected 'This book makes use of an impressive Thai-language bibliography and, in particular, literary works and important legal texts, [which] the ... authors ... sometimes ... [translate into] English ...' Jean Baffie, translated from Moussons '... this is a book that can be recommended, nay urged, to read for anyone who is or should be interested in Ayutthaya and the larger region ... an excellent book.' Wolfgang Drechsler, Asian Affairs