Abstract:
It is possible to believe that the three river basins of the Chow Phya, Ping and Kok had been populated for centuries before major state were formed in these regions. Aroundthe 12th Century, at the latest, a relationship of the three communities was evidently in existence. The relationship was featured in an expansion of culture from the Chow Phya basin to the upper Ping, and commercial exchanges of the two regions. At the same time, relationship between the communities in the Ping and Kok basins in accounted for in some documents. The 13th 14th Centuries witnessed the formation of major states in the two river basins: Lama which had its center in the Ping and the Kok, Sukhothai in the upper Chow Phya, and Ayudhya in the Lower Cow Phya. This study attempts to understand the relationship between the Lanna kingdom and Ayudhya kingdom from 1296 to 1767 A.D. by putting it in the contexts of politics religion, economics of the two kingdom. The study is also interested in the various patterns of relationship and the means by which the two kingdoms used in formulating those patterns. It is found that the relationship of the two states was shaped by the interplay of their political structures, economic needs as well as religious thoughts. Sinhalese Buddhism which gave moral justification to the monarchial institution and the polity of the state, the deepening domination of Ayudhya over Sukhothai, the Burmese expansion of power over these river basins, the significance of forest products in Ayudhyas foreign trade, collectively formed major forces behind the patterns of relationship of the two states. The first stage of relationship was characterized by aggrandizement of the two kingdoms at the expense of the Sukhothai kingdom the propensity towards aggrandizement was motivated by the concept of Cakravartin and, on the part of Ayudhya, an assurance of continuous supply of forest products Ayudhya was generally more aggressive than Lanna in extending its control over Sukhothai and neutraliezing Lannas protective power in Sukhothai. After the fall of the house of Mangrai, two additional factors further complicated the relation of the two states: the expansion of the Toungoo Dynasty and the intensity of foreign trade in Ayudhya; both factors emerged with deep impacts on the politics and economics of the two states. Lanna became a vassal state of the Toungoo Dynasty while Ayudhya was able to develop a better organized administrative apparatus internally. Armed conflicts between Ayudhya and Ava during this period involved Lanna as a part of the Burmese empire. Foreign trade in Ayudhya enormously enriched its king and enabled them to defend their commercial interest more actively. The early 17th Century saw Ayudhyas attempt to gain control over Lanna, while its ports in the western flank were secured. The economic relationship in the latter half of the 17th Century and the 18th Century, however, dwindled, and naturally the attempt at political control over Lanna subsided. Moreover, Burmese power in Lanna drastically diminished and Burma thus no longer posed any threat against Ayudhya. It was not until late in the 18th Century that the newly founded dynasty of Konbauny imposed its tighter control over Lanna again. The new situation led to a renewed contact of Lannas local leaders with the power center in the Chow Phya basin in order to balance off the Burma power in their home.