Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya (Thai: อาณาจักรอยุธยา, RTGS: Anachak Ayutthaya) was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1351 to 1767 until it was invaded by the Burmese. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese (Annam), Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the city walls. In the sixteenth century, it was described by foreign traders as one of the biggest and wealthiest cities in the East. The court of King Narai (1656-1688) had strong links with that of King Louis XIV of France, whose ambassadors compared the city in size and wealth to Paris. Before Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese invasion in 1767, its vassals included the Northern Shan states of present-day Myanmar, Lanna (Chiang Mai, Thailand), Yunnan & Shan Sri (China), Lan Xang (Laos), Champa (Vietnam), and some city-states in the Malay Peninsula.

According to foreign accounts, Ayutthaya Kingdom was officially known as Siam but many sources also said Ayutthaya people called themselves as Tai of Krung Tai, or the Kingdom of the Tais.