Page 54 - A History of Siam

A HISTORT OF SIAM
52
King of Suk'ot'ai with the title of King Sri Int'arat'itya,
a title conferred upon his K'un P'aMttang,
originally ally,
by the King of Cambodia.
Thus was founded the Tai Kingdom of Suk'ot'ai,
destined to become a mighty state, though its power was of
but short duration.
The capture of Suk'ot'ai was an event which so fas-
cinated the imagination of the Tai people that they have
invested the first Tai King of Suk'ot'ai with the mysterious
attributes of a certain legendary hero, P'ra Ruang. The
name P'ra in fact, conferred without discrimina-
Ruang is,
tion upon all the Kings of Suk'ot'ai.
The of Sri first of
reign King Int'arat'itya, King
Suk'ot'ai and, one first King of Siam, was
might say,
in his dominions at the of the
spent extending expense
of Cambodia and also of his Western
King neighbours.
In as we know from a carved
particular, inscription,
he entered upon a war with the Prince of Chot (Mesort)
who had tried to the town of Tak. In this
capture war,
Prince Ramk'amheng, the third son of King Int'arat'itya,
himself in
greatly distinguished by engaging single
combat with the Prince of Chot ; both the combatants
were mounted on and the Prince
elephants, young
defeated his and forced
Ramk'amheng utterly opponent
him to flee, with all his army.
During this King's reign, Siam received a tremendous
wave of Tai immigrants, who fled from Yunnan after
Kublai Khan's of the Nanchao in
conquest Kingdom
Doubtless is due to this fact that Int'-
1254. it King
was able to deal so with the Cam-
arat'itya successfully
bodians ; he had a constant supply of Tai recruits from the
north. Few now realise that the existence of Siam as a
sovereign State is partly due to the conquests of Kublai
Khan in southern China.