The Story of Safavid Persia and the Siamese Court in Ayutthaya | Thailand's Iranian Community

Hello and welcome. In this video, we will be exploring the lost (but not forgotten) history of Thailand's first Iranian/Indo-Persian community and the historical relationship between the Safavids in Persia (present-day Iran) and Ayutthaya (present-day Thailand). For a brief time, this two kingdoms developed a strong diplomatic and commercial relationship that ultimately unraveled do to geopolitical problems in the late early-modern period. However, the Indo-Persian community continued to play an important role in the making of modern-day Thailand into the twentieth century. Please join me on this exciting adventure and I hope you enjoy the video!

For more information on the Indo-Persian cultural influence in Thailand see:

Julispong Chularatana, "Indo-Persian Influence on Late Ayutthaya Art, Architecture, and Design," Journal of Siam Society 105 (2017).

Udom Arunrattana, "Court Music in Persia and Thailand during the Early Ayutthaya Period," Integral Study of the Silk Roads: Roads of Dialogue 18, 174 (1991).

For broader information about Indo-Persian influences in Southeast Asia see:

Brian E. Colles, "Persian Merchants and Missionaries in Medieval Malaya," Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 42, 2 (1969).

For more information on Indo-Persian community in Thailand see:

M. Ismail Marcinkowski, "The Iranian-Siamese Connection: An Iranian Community in the Thai Kingdom of Ayutthaya," Iranian Studies 35, 1-3 (2002)

Christoph Marcinkowski, "Persians and Shi'ites in Thailand: From Ayutthaya Period to the Present," Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre, Working Paper Series 15 (2004)

Julispong Chularatana, "Muslim Communities during the Ayutthaya Period," Journal of Humanities 10, 1 (2007)

[kararalmusawi]

Great channel it's doing interesting videos about history in Asia

[andezong]

Great video as always! Hoping for that Naresuan video 🙏

[marcocaputo]

You should make one about Konstantin phaulkon, the farang who almost became king of ayutthaya. Highly interesting

[terrytzaneros]

This connection explains the perso-like aesthetic found within the Siamese style. Till this video I conjectured it was coincidence.

[chrismichael]

Malaccan Sultanate (1400-1511) was NOT the vassal state of Ayutthaya. The sultanate was a sovereign political entity that ruled the surrounding regions of Straits of Malacca. Ayutthaya did infact tried to subdue the Sultanate, twice, until Ayutthaya was politically pressurized by Ming Emperor in China to stop subduing Malacca.

[hlnntrmi]

As a Thai person, I was wondering how I have a trace amount of Iranian DNA. 😂

[johnsil.]

You used burmese court style picture to represent Ayutthaya which is very iinapropriated.