"Ayuthaya - The Ancient Capitol of... " a Ayuthaya Travel Page by nicolaitan

The city of Ayuthaya was established in 1351 and became the Thai capitol in 1378 following a series of wars. By the mid-1400s, this city was the most important imperial power in Southeast Asia and the governing royal line remained intact for over 400 years.The kings were friendly to foreiign traders, including not only the Chinese, Indians, and Persians, but also Europeans including the French, Portuguese, Spanish Dutch, and British. These traders set up trading villages adjacent the capitol.The court of King Naria had close ties to France, whose ambassadors likened it to Paris in the mid-17th Century.At one point, there were over 400 active wats in this large city. In 1767, the city fell to an invading Burmese army after a 2 year war. In the intervening 417 years it had been ruled by 33 kings from a succession of dynasties. The Burmese destroyed the city- - manuscripts, temples, everything. The pillage is still visible in the multiple decapitated Buddha statues. The Burmese were driven out after only a few years, but King Rama I kept the capitol in Bangkok and the ancient city fell ito disrepair. Today, the ruins are a major tourist attraction easily accessed from the capitol. It is astounding that there is so much overgrowth and disintegration in this major site is such a short period of time.

The founding king U-thong, an adventurer who married local royalty, named the city after Ayodhya, the home of the hero Rama in the Hindu epic Ramayana. Yet he was also the prime mover in establishing Buddhism as the state religion, bringing in monks from Ceylon to spread the faith as a basis for a more unified country.