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The Declaration of Independence at Mueang Khraeng in 1584: What Each Chronicle Says
The declaration of independence at Mueang Khraeng in 1584 marks the moment Ayutthaya ceased to be a vassal of Hanthawaddy. The image of King Naresuan pouring water onto the ground is etched in Thai memory, but open the chronicles one by one and you will find that the details of this event differ a great deal.
What each version says
| Sources | What it says (summary) |
|---|---|
| Luang Prasoet Chronicle | A brief note under CS 946: Naresuan, at Phitsanulok, learned that Hanthawaddy and Ava were at war and set out with his army, with a bad omen of a prized royal elephant's tusk coming off. It does not mention Mueang Khraeng, Maha Thera Khan Chong or the pouring of water. |
| Somdet Phra Phonnarat version (Bradley's printed text) | Gives the year as 926. The army reached Mueang Khraeng on Thursday, the 10th day of the waxing moon of the 6th month; Maha Thera Khan Chong brought Phraya Kiat and Phraya Ram to him; he poured water from a golden ewer onto the ground, and then shot Surakamma from his elephant's neck at the Sittaung River. |
| Burmese chronicles (Maha Yazawin / Hmannan Yazawin) | King Nanda Bayin set out for Ava around 25 March 1584, and the Siamese army arrived near Hanthawaddy around 24 April. Historians using this evidence conclude that it did not go on to Ava. When the Siamese army withdrew, Hanthawaddy sent troops in pursuit and prepared a large army to subdue Ayutthaya. |
| Van Vliet's account (as analysed by Michael Vickery) | Says Naresuan marched into Burma and then withdrew with an army in pursuit, but the sequence of events is mixed up with the pursuit in a later campaign, so it is hard to use for dating. |
The event in outline
After the fall of the city in 1569, Ayutthaya was under Hanthawaddy's control for about 15 years. When Ava rebelled against King Nanda Bayin, Hanthawaddy called on troops from its vassal states to help. King Naresuan, who was then the uparat (viceroy and heir) governing Phitsanulok, therefore led his army up toward the Mon lands.
Both Thai and Burmese evidence confirm that from that year on, Ayutthaya and Hanthawaddy were at war almost every year. What differs is the detail of what happened along the way and how Naresuan announced the break in relations.
The Luang Prasoet Chronicle: a short note with no water-pouring scene
The oldest chronicle records this under CS 946 in only a few lines: Naresuan, who was in Phitsanulok, learned that Hanthawaddy and Ava were at war, and then set out with his army. The same passage records a bad omen when two prized royal elephants clashed so hard that a tusk came off; the court astrologers advised against the campaign, but he marched out anyway.
This version says nothing about Mueang Khraeng, the senior monk Maha Thera Khan Chong, or the pouring of water to declare independence. That silence does not mean these things did not happen, since the Luang Prasoet Chronicle is extremely condensed throughout, but it does tell us that the scene we know so well comes from later chronicles.
The Rattanakosin-period versions: the scene Thais know
The royal chronicles revised in the Rattanakosin period, such as the text printed by Bradley, which belongs to the same line as the Somdet Phra Phonnarat version, tell the story in far more detail. The royal army reached Mueang Khraeng on Thursday, the 10th day of the waxing moon of the 6th month. That evening Maha Thera Khan Chong brought Phraya Kiat and Phraya Ram to see Naresuan and told him of a Hanthawaddy plan to harm him.
Naresuan then took up a suwanna phingkhan, a golden water ewer, and poured water onto the ground, proclaiming that Ayutthaya had broken off its friendship with Hanthawaddy. He then withdrew his army, taking people with him. When the Hanthawaddy army caught up at the Sittaung River, he fired a gun across the river and hit Surakamma, the vanguard commander, who fell from his elephant's neck.
Note that this version gives the year as 926, about 20 years off from the Luang Prasoet Chronicle. The dates in this group of chronicles are wrong in several places, so historians rely mainly on the years given in the Luang Prasoet Chronicle.
The view from the Burmese chronicles
The Burmese chronicles tell it from the Hanthawaddy side: King Nanda Bayin marched off to subdue Ava in late March 1584, leaving the Burmese Crown Prince to hold Hanthawaddy, while the Siamese army arrived near Hanthawaddy around late April. Historians who use the Burmese evidence conclude that the Siamese army did not go on to join the fighting at Ava.
When the war with Ava ended quickly, the Siamese army withdrew. Hanthawaddy sent troops after it, and later sent a large army south to subdue Ayutthaya. Seen from the Burmese side, then, this is the story of a vassal that failed to follow orders and broke away.
How to read this story
The core of the story on which the evidence from several sides agrees is that in 1584 Naresuan's army went up into the Mon lands and then turned back, breaking away from Hanthawaddy as it did so. By date calculations from the Thai side, the break was declared around early May 1584. Details such as Maha Thera Khan Chong or the pouring of water appear in chronicles compiled a century or more later.
An article in Silpa Wattanatham magazine has asked whether the independence scene was composed during the Rattanakosin-period revisions. Asking this kind of question does not diminish the importance of the event; it helps us tell which parts are the core facts and which parts are storytelling meant to bring the event to life.
Where historians still disagree
- Was the Mueang Khraeng scene added later? The Luang Prasoet Chronicle has neither the water-pouring scene nor Maha Thera Khan Chong, both of which appear in the Rattanakosin-period versions. Some see them as later additions; others think the Luang Prasoet Chronicle is so condensed that it simply did not record them.
- The purpose of the campaign: the Luang Prasoet Chronicle says only that he marched out at a time when Hanthawaddy and Ava were at war; the later Thai chronicles stress that Hanthawaddy was plotting to harm him; and the Burmese evidence paints a picture of a Siamese army that did not come to help as ordered.
- The date: the Thai side gives the 6th month, which works out to around early May 1584, while the Burmese chronicles say the Siamese army arrived near Hanthawaddy around 24 April 1584. The two sides are therefore close, agreeing to within about a month.
See this event’s campaign route on the map
Frequently asked questions
Where did King Naresuan declare independence?
According to the royal chronicles revised in the Rattanakosin period, he made the declaration at Mueang Khraeng, in the Mon lands, in 1584.
Does every chronicle include the pouring of water to declare independence?
No. The Luang Prasoet Chronicle, the oldest version, is very brief and does not have this scene. The water-pouring scene appears in the chronicles revised in the Rattanakosin period.
How is the royal gun that shot across the Sittaung River connected with this event?
The Rattanakosin-period chronicles say that during the retreat Naresuan fired a gun across the Sittaung River and hit Surakamma, Hanthawaddy's vanguard commander. That gun was therefore given its name, Phra Saeng Puen Ton Kham Maenam Sathong, the royal gun that crossed the Sittaung River.
- Events in Ayuddhya from Chulasakaraj 686-966 (translation of the Luang Prasoet Chronicle) - O. Frankfurter, Journal of the Siam Society
- The Detailed Royal Chronicles, Bradley edition (PongSawaML digital text dataset) (in Thai)
- The declaration of independence at Mueang Khraeng: a story composed in the Rattanakosin period? - Silpa Wattanatham (in Thai)
- Naresuan - Wikipedia
- Burmese–Siamese War (1584–1593) - Wikipedia
- Review Article: Van Vliet's Short History of the Kings of Siam - Michael Vickery, Journal of the Siam Society
Last updated 10 November 2026