Page 117 - A History of Siam

A H1STORT OF SIAM 113

forces on this occasion horses
jfe 30x^,000 men, 3,000
and 700 elephants. 1 *
The Burmese army advanced by way of Martaban,
Kanburi and Little serious was met
Sup'an. opposition
with, and by Junq Tabeng Shwe T'i was encamped in
the neighbourhood of Ayut'ia.
The siege lasted, according to Pinto, who professes
to have been in at the for almost four
Ayut'ia time,
months. The was fierce. Several
fighting extremely
times the Burmese came near to an into
forcing entry
the but were
city, always repulsed.
Not and his sons took in
only King Chakrap'at part
the but likewise his and
fighting, wife, Queen Suriyot'ai,
one of his These two valiant
daughters. women, wearing
men's armour and mounted on
elephants, fought
side side with the men. In to
bravely by attempting
rescue the King from a dangerous position, Queen
and her were both
Suriyot'ai daughter pierced through
by Burmese spears, and fell dead from the backs of their
elephants.
The Burmese army was badly equipped, and the
soldiers suffered and distress. Added
great privations
to this, news reached the Burmese monarch that Maha
T'ammaraja was about to descend from P'itsanulok at
the head of a large army. Moreover, he received tidings
of disturbances in Burma. He therefore determined
to retire. In a rearguard action he was fortunate
enough to capture Maha T'ammaraja, the King's
son-in-law, as well as Prince Ramesuen, the King's
eldest son,
1 These figures seem high, but Pinto more than doubte^fe^ J3J wjlaf us
that the Burmese army consisted of 800,000 men, 40,000 ho '
There were 1,000 cannon, drawn by 1,000 yoke of
The King of Burma, after taking Suk'ot'ai, proce
Tilau, descnbed as being on the coast, between Pukn ^nd Aedah. Qft^is left
wondenng whether Pinto was the most untruthful wf^iterixythe wor^sflr xnerely
the most credulous.