Prince Ramesuan ( th, ราเมศวร; my, ဗြရာမသွန်; d. November 1564) was a

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

ese prince and military commander during the Ayutthaya period in the 16th century. He was a son of Prince Thianracha (later King

Maha Chakkraphat Maha Chakkraphat ( th, มหาจักรพรรดิ, ; lit.: 'The Great Emperor'; 1509 – 1569) was king of the Ayutthaya kingdom from 1548 to 1564 and 1568 to 1569. Originally called Prince Thianracha, or Prince Tien, he was put on the ...

) and Suriyothai, thus he was a member of the Suphannaphum Dynasty. He was the first of five children: his younger brother Mahin (later King

Mahinthrathirat Mahinthrathirat ( th, มหินทราธิราช, , ; 1539–1569) was king of Ayutthaya 1564 to 1568 and again in 1569. He ruled his first reign as a vassal of Toungoo Burma before restoring his father in 1568 as the sovereign king. H ...

) and three sisters Sawatdirat (who married Maha Thammaracha of

Phitsanulok Phitsanulok ( th, พิษณุโลก, ) is an important, historic city in lower northern Thailand and is the capital of Phitsanulok Province. Phitsanulok is home to Naresuan University and Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University, as well a ...

), Boromdilok and Thepkassatri. After the Second Siege of Ayutthaya War of 1563, he and his father were sent to

Pegu Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon langua ...

(Bago) in March 1564. He later became a commander in the

Royal Burmese Army The Royal Armed Forces ( my, တပ်မတော်,See (Maha Yazawin 2006: 26), (Yazawin Thit Vol. 1 2012: 236), (Hmannan Vol. 2 2012: 2) for example. ) were the armed forces of the Burmese monarchy from the 9th to 19th centuries. It refers ...

, and died in November 1564 of illness during a military campaign to Lan Na.

First war

In 1548 his father ascended the throne as

King of Ayutthaya The monarchy of Thailand (whose monarch is referred to as the king of Thailand; th, พระมหากษัตริย์ไทย, or historically, king of Siam; th, พระมหากษัตริย์สยาม) refers to the c ...

, he immediately became heir and

Uparaja Uparaja or Ouparath, also Ouparaja ( my, ဥပရာဇာ ; km, ឧបរាជ, ; th, อุปราช, ; lo, ອຸປຮາດ, ''Oupahat''), was a royal title reserved for the viceroy in the Buddhist dynasties in Burma, Cambodia, and ...

of Siam. During the First Siege of Ayutthaya war with

Toungoo Dynasty , conventional_long_name = Toungoo dynasty , common_name = Taungoo dynasty , era = , status = Empire , event_start = Independence from Ava , year_start ...

, Prince Ramesuan together with the King, the Queen, Prince Mahin and Princess Boromdhilok left the walls of the city on their

war elephants A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elepha ...

to engage the Burmese forces led by King

Tabinshwehti Tabinshwehti ( my, တပင်‌ရွှေထီး, ; 16 April 1516 – 30 April 1550) was king of Burma (Myanmar) from 1530 to 1550, and the founder of the First Toungoo Empire. His military campaigns (1534–1549) created the largest kin ...

in battle. In the combat with the Thado Dhamma Yaza, the Viceroy of

Prome Pyay (, ; mnw, ပြန် , ; also known as Prome and Pyè) is principal town of Pyay Township in the Bago Region in Myanmar. Pyay is located on the bank of the Irrawaddy River, north-west of Yangon. It is an important trade center for the Aye ...

both his mother and his sister lost their lives. It was recorded in Siamese history that it was Prince Ramesuan who returned his mother's lifeless body to the capital. After a failed siege of the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

, Tabinshwehti and his forces decided to retreat northward near

Mae Sot Mae Sot ( th, แม่สอด, ; my, မဲဆောက်, ; shn, , ) is a city in western Thailand that shares a border with Myanmar to the west. It is notable as a trade hub and for its substantial population of Burmese migrants and refug ...

.Rajanubhab, D., 2001, Our Wars With the Burmese, Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd., Prince Ramesuan and Maha Thammaracha was ordered to pursue the retreating forces, costing many Burmese lives. Soon the Burmese decided to stand ground and ambush the Siamese forces near

Kamphaeng Phet Kamphaeng Phet is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand, former capital of the Kamphaeng Phet Province. It covers the complete ''tambon'' Nai Mueang of the Mueang Kamphaeng Phet district. As of 2020, it has a population of 28,817. ...

, by dividing their forces on two sides of the road and outflanking Prince Ramesuan's forces. As a result, Prince Ramesuan and Maha Thammaracha was captured by the Burmese. This prompted Maha Chakkraphat to negotiate a peace with Tabinshwehti, which resulted in the turning over of two great war elephants and a cease fire. Prince Ramesuan and Thammaracha was released and the Burmese was allowed to retreat unmolested. After the war, the Prince was part of the party inside the Royal court that favoured the dismantling of the walls of the cities of Suphanburi,

Lopburi Lopburi ( th, ลพบุรี, , ) is the capital city of Lopburi Province in Thailand. It is about northeast of Bangkok. It has a population of 58,000. The town (''thesaban mueang'') covers the whole ''tambon'' Tha Hin and parts of Th ...

and

Nakhon Nayok Nakhon Nayok City is a capital of Nakhon Nayok province in the central region of Thailand. The city (''thesaban mueang'') covers ''tambon ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district ('' amphoe'' ...

, this was implemented as a way of depriving a future Burmese invasion with a fortified stronghold, only a day's march from the capital.

Second war

Maha Chakkraphat after the war of 1548, led a massive hunt for wild elephants (for use in future conflicts), which led to the discovery of seven white elephants. A symbol of prestige as well as honour, their discovery was celebrated by the kingdom, as a sign of the king's righteousness and power. In 1563,

Bayinnaung , image = File:Bayinnaung.JPG , caption = Statue of Bayinnaung in front of the National Museum of Myanmar , reign = 30 April 1550 – 10 October 1581 , coronation = 11 January 1551 at Toung ...

(who succeeded Tabinshwehti in 1551) upon hearing of this news, decided to use the elephants as a pretext for an invasion, by requesting for two of Maha Chakkraphat's white elephants. The 'war party' led by Prince Ramesuan urged the king not to fulfill the request and face certain invasion instead. Following the advice of his heir, Maha Chakkarphat refused and soon enough Bayinnaung invaded Siam. The towns of Sawankhalok, Sukhothai and Phichai fell to the invading forces. After holding out for many months the city of Phitsanulok surrendered to the Burmese forces, and Prince Ramesuan's brother-in-law, Maha Thammaracha decided to swear his allegiance to Bayinnaung. The city of Ayutthaya was able to withstand the siege by Burmese forces for many months. However, with the help of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

mercenaries, Bayinnaung was able to constantly bombard the city with cannon fire and flaming projectiles. The inhabitants of the city fearful of the noise and exhausted by the war, petitioned the king to surrender to the enemy and end their suffering. By this time Prince Ramesuan and the war party had lost all credibility within the war council, seeing no other choice the king obliged. Thus Siam became a vassal of Burma on 18 February 1564. With this submission, Bayinnaung was able to create the largest empire in the history of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Later life

As part of the peace settlement, the prince along with his father the fallen king and thousands of people were taken to Pegu in Burma on 28 March 1564, arriving there on 15 May 1564.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 275 His wife and immediate family also came. The Siamese royal family were given quarters befitting their former status in Pegu. In October 1564, the prince, who was in poor health, nonetheless agreed to march to Lan Na along with the main Burmese army to put down the ongoing rebellion by King

Mekuti Mekuti Sutthiwong ( th, เมกุฏิสุทธิวงศ์; died 1581) or Mae Ku ( th, แมกุ) was king of Lan Na from 1551 to 1564.Rajanubhab, D., 2001, Our Wars With the Burmese, Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd., His reign saw t ...

of Lan Na. The ailing prince died en route to Lan Na in November 1564.Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 303He died sometime between 23 October 1564 (start of campaign) and 25 November 1564 (Mekuti's surrender) per (Maha Yazawin Vol. 2 2006: 278).

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