Page 17 - Hikayat-Patani-The-Story-Of-Patani 1

8 HIKAYAT PATANI

and 1540s 32 — with the understanding that Thai power could be relied
upon to preserve her position should it be seriously threatened. Ayudhya,
however, came under attack from Burma after mid-century, and Patani’s
obligations to her suzerain became more onerous. Naval forces were
called up from the isthmian region from 1552 onwards, and were
employed constantly in the decade that followed.33 Although King Cak-
kraphat in 1560 expressed his dissatisfaction with the response of his
provinces and vassals to military and naval conscription,34 Patani cer­
tainly contributed a force of some 200 vessels and men to the Thai
defense in the campaign of 1563—64. In the short run, Patani gained
manpower in the form of war prisoners (people from Pegu and Lan
Xang are mentioned in the HP 35), but Patani’s security was endangered,
rather than strenghtened, when the war turned definitely against
Ayudhya in 1564, in which year King Cakkraphat had to leave his
capital to concede to Burmese demands, sending his son and ministers
off to Burma as hostages and yielding up three (or four) of his prized
white elephants.
To Ayudhya’s vassals who participated in the campaign and had first­
hand knowledge of their suzerain’s inability to defend them there were
two choices open: to pledge their renewed support ■— perhaps exacting
a higher price for it, as the King of Lan Xang did by requesting the hand
of the Thai king’s daughter36 — or to rebel and cut their ties to
Ayudhya. Patani chose the latter course. Immediately following the
defeat, as the Burmese headed back to Pegu, the ruler of Patani, who
had come with his boats and men to assist the Thai, rebelled and pene­
trated to the very heart of the royal palace compound before being
driven off by a counterattack.37 This rebellion ended with the dis­
appearance and presumed death of Sultan Mudhaffar Syah of Patani,
who was succeeded by his younger brother, Manzur Syah, probably in
the same year, 1564.
During the period from 1564 until the 1590s, when Ayudhya was
struggling for its survival against both Burma and Cambodia, Patani
appears to have been relatively more independent of Thai influence than

32 Faria e Sousa, 1965, I, p. 301, II, pp. 30—31; Tiele, De Europeers, 1880, pp.
301—3.
33 BM, pp. 47,51,55; LP, pp. 457—58.
34 BM, p. 76.
35 HP, p. 18; Chapter VI, section 5.
30 BM, pp. 94—98; Ukham, 1959, pp. 35-40.
37 BM, p. 94; LP, p. 460; RAE, p. 106. The Patani version is given below, Malay
text, section 5, see also Chapter VI.