CHAPTER V.
The Kingdom of Ayuthia.

The glory of the old kingdom of Sukhodaya was
soon eclipsed by the new kingdom of Ayuthia, which
had been established in A. D. 1350. The influence
and power of Sukhodaya continued some time after
A. D. 1361, when Ayuthia became the centre of Siam,
both from the cultural as well as from the political
point of view. A new royal dynasty was established
in Ayuthia. It continued to exert its supremacy over
Siam until the political centre was transferred to the
city of Bangkok.

We are fortunate in getting a Pali record of the
kingdom of Ayuthia (AyodhyU}. It is the oldest re-
cension, according to M. George Coedes, of the Annals
of Ayuthia.1 It was written in 1680 at the request cf
Phra: Narai. In 1907 the Ms. of the Annals was
found out and published by the Siamese Prince
Damrong from Bangkok, in the same year. The Ms.
has now been preserved in the VajiraSa^a Library.
This Pali history of Ayuthia has been translated into
English by Dr. Frankfurter in the pages of the Journal of
the Siam Society under the title—Events in Ayuddhya
from Chola-Sakaraj 686-966? This Pali history has
been described as a Sangkheb = Sankhepa = Sahkshepa

1. B. E. F. E-0,1914.
2. J. S. a, VI, 3,1909.