HISTORY. The fabulous history of Siam goes back to the fifth century B.C. An attempt is made to show the descent of the King from .Buddha, and of the people from his immediate disciples. The traditions abound in tales of Buddhist miracles and of supernatural interventions. Authentic history begins in the middle of the fourteenth century A.D. Long be fore. there were many immigrations from the north, with shifting dynasties, frequent wars, and uncertain fortunes. It is not known when Buddhism became the religion of the people. In the middle of the fourteenth century the King, who is known as Phra Rama Thi boda, built Ayuthia on the site of an ancient town and made it the capital. Ile extended the Siamese power southward into the Malay Penin sula and eastward into Cambodia. For two hun dred years peace and prosperity prevailed. Ayu thin became a large and rich city. In the middle of the sixteenth century it was captured by an army from Pegu and thenceforth for more than two hundred years there were wars of varying fortunes with Burma. Pegu, and Cambodia. In the seventeenth eentury a considerable intercourse with Europe. China, and Japan was carried on. In 1759 the Burmese captured Ayuthia and after a long struggle conquered the whole country (1767). They introduced a king of their own, and upon the withdrawal of their army anarchy ensued. A Chinaman, the leader of a band of freebooters, seized Bangkok, and, to the joy of the people, expelled the Burmese. He proclaimed himself King, as rya Tak. He extended his power southward and eastward, hut was assas sinated in 1782 by one of his generals, Yaut Fa, who established the present dynasty, the ruling fifth in descent from him. Tn 1820 intercourse with the West was renewed. and in 1825 a treaty was made with the United States, and soon after similar treaties with other nations. Tn 1855 Great Britain made the treaty which is the basis of the present relations. It established extraterritoriality, and put trade on a secure footing. The French protectorate over Cochin-China delivered Siam from its ancient enemies to the east of the Mekong, Cambodia having been previously reduced to the position of a dependency. But France desired access to
China by means of the river system of the penin sula, and it presently found a pretext for armed aggression. It accused Siam of encroaching on the territory of Anent. A skirmish ensued and France sent its fleet to Bangkok (1893), where it dictated terms of peace. Cambodia and all the territory east of the :Mekong were to be inde pendent of Siam and under French protection; a belt extending for a distance of 25 kilometers west of the Mekong was to be neutralized and certain valuable privileges in trade were to be long to the French. Since that time the French `sphere of influence' has been extended still far ther we/it, and were it not for Great Britain, doubtless France in time would absorb the king dom. It remains a 'buffer State,' with its future dependent upon powerful and mutually jealous neighbors.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Bastian, Die Volker des iistBibliography. Bastian, Die Volker des iist- lichen Asian, vol. iii. (Leipzig, 1867) ; McDonald, Siam: Its GOTernments, Nanners, Customs, etc. ( Philadelphia, 1871) ; Vincent, Land of the While Elephant (New York, 1874) ; Reclus, Nouvelle geographic universelle, vol. viii., L'Inde et l'Indo-Chine (Paris, 1883) ; Bock, Temples and Elephants (London, 1884) ; Colquhoun, Among the Spans (ib., 1885) ; De fiosny, Ethnog raphic do Siam (Paris, 1885) ; Colt, Siam, or the Heart of Farther India (New York, 1886) ; Ch6villard, Siam et les Siamois (Paris, 1889) ; Fournereau, Les ruines Khmeres (ib.. 1890) ; id., Le Siam ancien (ib., 1895) : Anderson, Eng lish Intercourse with Siam in the Seventeenth Century (London, 1890) ; Grindrod, Siam: A Geogra ph feat Summary (Th., 1892) : Smyth, Fire Years in Siam (ib., I898) ; Young. The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe (ib., 1808) ; Hesse-Wartegg, Siam, dos Reich des IreiSSC21. Elefanten (Leipzig. 1899) ; McCarthy, Surreying and Exploring in Siam (London, 1900) : Campbell. Siam in the Twentieth Century (ib., 1902) ; Pavie, Indo-China (Paris. 1898-1902).