Nanda Bayin's Siege of Ayutthaya, 1586

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King Nanda Bayin's Siege of Ayutthaya, 1586–1587, and the Story of the “Sword in the Teeth”

In late 1586 King Nanda Bayin of Hanthawaddy personally led an army to besiege Ayutthaya, hoping to crush the city that had just declared its independence, but after a siege of several months he had to withdraw. This war is the source of the story of Naresuan scaling the stockade of an enemy camp, which each version tells differently.

Sources	What it says (summary)
Luang Prasoet Chronicle	CS 948: the King of Hanthawaddy camped at Khanon Pak Khu and the Burmese Crown Prince at Khanon Bang Tanao. The Siamese attacked at several points, fired guns from junks at the enemy camps, fought on horseback, and attacked Phraya Nakhon's camp at Pak Nam Muthulao until Hanthawaddy called off the campaign. There is no story of scaling a camp.
Somdet Phra Phonnarat version (Bradley's printed text)	Gives the year as 932. The Hanthawaddy army came by way of Nakhon Sawan, set up several camps and besieged the city for about six months. Naresuan attacked the camps, killing Lak Wai Thammu, and led his men in scaling a camp sword in hand, being speared and knocked down several times. Hanthawaddy finally withdrew because the rainy season was near. The text does not use the word khap (held in the teeth).
Burmese chronicles (Maha Yazawin / Hmannan Yazawin)	The army set out on 19 October 1586 and reached Ayutthaya around December. From February 1587 many soldiers died from shortages, and the retreat began on 20 April 1587, under attack all the way.

The biggest war since the declaration of independence

After the events at Mueang Khraeng, Hanthawaddy sent armies almost every year, but this time King Nanda Bayin came in person, together with the army of the Burmese Crown Prince and the lords of several vassal states. Ayutthaya chose to stay on the defensive on the city island, which is ringed by rivers, and sent out troops from time to time to attack the enemy camps.

During this war the Chandra Kasem Palace (Wang Na, the Front Palace), Naresuan's residence, served as a command post. Thai and Burmese evidence agree that the siege failed: Hanthawaddy lost a great many men and withdrew before the flood season.

The Luang Prasoet Chronicle: guns on junks and fighting on horseback

The Luang Prasoet Chronicle records under CS 948 that the King of Hanthawaddy set up his camp at Khanon Pak Khu (a khanon was a river toll station), while the Burmese Crown Prince camped at Khanon Bang Tanao. The Siamese attacked the enemy at several points until they had to fall back, and mounted guns on Chinese junks to fire on the Hanthawaddy camps.

The passage also describes fighting on horseback in which Naresuan personally cut down many enemy soldiers, and an attack on the camp of Phraya Nakhon at Pak Nam Muthulao, until the King of Hanthawaddy had to call off the campaign and return home. This version has no story about scaling a camp with a sword in the teeth.

The Rattanakosin-period versions: Lak Wai Thammu and the assault on the camp

The text printed by Bradley, which belongs to the same line as the Somdet Phra Phonnarat version, tells the story of this war at much greater length and dates it to the year 932 by its own reckoning. The Hanthawaddy army came south by way of Nakhon Sawan. The text mentions several Hanthawaddy camps, such as Khanon Pak Khu, Bang Pahan and Kum Dong, and says the city was besieged for about six months.

Naresuan rode out to attack the enemy camps many times. On one occasion he fought with his lance against Lak Wai Thammu, a Hanthawaddy commander who had come to capture him, and Lak Wai Thammu was killed. On another, he took up his sword and led his men in scaling an enemy camp, but the defenders thrust at him with lances and knocked him down several times. In the end the King of Hanthawaddy, seeing that the rainy season was near and the land would flood, ordered the army to withdraw.

Where the name Phra Saeng Dap Khap Khai comes from

The text printed by Bradley does not use the word khap, “to hold in the teeth”; it says only that he scaled the camp with his sword. The image of Naresuan gripping a sword in his mouth as he climbed the stockade therefore probably comes from later retellings, and from the name of one of the swords among the royal regalia.

Phra Saeng Dap Khap Khai, “the royal sword held in the teeth to scale the camp”, is an important royal sword used in Rattanakosin court ceremonies, such as the ceremony of drinking the water of allegiance (Thue Nam Phra Phiphat Sattaya). An article in Silpa Wattanatham magazine suggests that several items of royal regalia linked to Naresuan's feats were actually made in the reign of King Rama I. Readers should therefore keep the sword seen today separate from the events of the war of 1586–1587.

What the Burmese side says

The Burmese chronicles record that King Nanda Bayin set out on 19 October 1586 and that the army reached Ayutthaya around December, but it was not prepared for a long siege of a strongly fortified city. By February 1587 large numbers of soldiers were dying from shortages and hardship.

The Burmese side states that the retreat began on 20 April 1587 and that the army was attacked all the way home, so only a small part of it made it back. Although the details differ, both sides agree that this was a major failure for Hanthawaddy.

Date	1586–1587
Sources compared	3 Sources

King Nanda Bayin's Siege of Ayutthaya, 1586–1587, and the Story of the “Sword in the Teeth”

What each version says

The biggest war since the declaration of independence

The Luang Prasoet Chronicle: guns on junks and fighting on horseback

The Rattanakosin-period versions: Lak Wai Thammu and the assault on the camp

Where the name Phra Saeng Dap Khap Khai comes from

What the Burmese side says

Where historians still disagree

Frequently asked questions