Page 243 - A History of Siam

A HISTORY OF SIAM 227

second son should succeed him. The young Prince,
however, waived all claims to the throne, and the
elder brother succeeded without He
opposition.
assumed the title of but is known
King Pu'mint'araja,
to Siamese historians as King T'ai Sra. 1 His
younger brother, Prince Bant'un Noi, was appointed
Maha Uparat.
King T'ai Sra was twenty-eight years of age when he
ascended the throne. The first ten of his were
years reign
and but in he was induced to
peaceful uneventful, 1717
intervene in the of Cambodia.
tangled politics
In 1714 a young King, Sri T'ammaraja, had succeeded
to the throne of Cambodia. His uncle, the ex-King
Keo Fa, who had abdicated some years previously, de-
clared war on the and called in a Cochin-
young King,
Chinese army to his aid. King Sri T'ammaraja was
dethroned, and fled, with his younger brother, to Ayut'ia,
to for the of T'ai Sra.
appeal help King
After a fruitless to obtain the restoration of
attempt
the fugitive King by peaceful means, two large Siamese
armies were sent to Cambodia. 1 The main under
army,
P'ya Chakri, advanced by way of Siemrap. The smaller
army was supported by a considerable fleet, both army
and fleet under the of a Chinese who
being leadership
had been made with the usual
recently P'rak'lang,
title of Kosa T'ibodi. Kosa to be both
P'ya P'ya proved
incompetent and cowardly. He advanced along the
sea coast and and burnt the town of
captured Bant^ay
M'eas. 1 His army was, however, attacked there by
" "
1 This name means King End-of-the-lake and is derived from the situation
of the palace in which he resided.
Turpin says that the army was of 50,000 men, and another 20,000 with the
fleet. Both Turpin and Hamilton (Astley's Voyages, London, 1811) make no men-
tion of any Siamese success, and evidently only refer to the progress of the army
under P'ya Kosa. Cambodian history admits that King Keo Fa agreed to render
homage to Siam.
'
On the Gulf of Siam. Better known as Hatien.