AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



THE MAKASSAR SETTLEMENT





Introduction to Makassar

The Makassar people are an ethnic group residing in the southern part of the Island of Celebes (Sulawesi), which is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. The Sultanate of Makassar consisted of the two Kingdoms of Gowa and Tallo. The capital city of the Makassar people, hereby called Makassars, is the City of Makassar and faces the Makassar Strait. It is today known as Ujung Pandang. Makassar is already mentioned in the 14th century in the Nagarakretagama, a Javanese eulogy composed in 1365 CE during the reign of Hayam Wuruk, King of Majapahit, while Majapahit was under his dominance.

Around the 14th century, there were several small kingdoms on Sulawesi, of which the Kingdom of Gowa-Tallo and the Kingdom of Bugis were the most important. Portuguese merchants frequented Makassar regularly during the 16th century, having set foot on Sulawesi in 1511 CE. Among the goods that came to Makassar from neighbouring Indonesian islands were cloves, nutmeg, and mace, pepper, cinnamon, sappanwood and sandalwood, tortoiseshell, gum-lac, wax, and slaves. In contrast, from Cambodia came wax, benzoin, and ivory from Siam, lead from Japan, copper and from Manila, gold and silver dollars. Indian merchandise brought to Makassar included cotton cloth and steel, and from Macau came a wide range of Chinese goods, including sugar, green ginger, China root, tutenag, and gold. Makassar was also a substantial producer of rice and gold. [1] In March 1602 CE, the Dutch arrived in Makassar. [2] The Kings of Gowa-Tallo embraced Islam in 1605 CE (1). The Sultanate of Makassar was soon to be at loggerheads with the Dutch since Sultan Ala'uddin (reign 1593-1639 CE) was ordered to cease all trade with the Spice Islands in 1607 CE.





(Map of Celebes by Pierre d'Hondt and Jacobus van der Schley, 1757 CE - Koninklijke Bibliotheek)



The Portuguese became a favoured nation to counter the Dutch offensive trade policy. The Portuguese presence grew, even increasing after the fall of Malacca to the Dutch in 1641 CE. In 1613 CE, Makassar allowed the English East India Company to build a factory. [1] By 1620 CE, the commercial rivalry among the Dutch, Portuguese, and English in the Spice Islands had degenerated into open, if undeclared, war. Especially the Dutch East India Company (VOC), seeking dominance in the spice trade, started hostilities against the Portuguese and English. In the end, the Dutch realised that they could achieve hegemony over the spice trade only by eliminating Makassar as an independent power and a free port. The Makassars supported those who fought the Dutch monopoly system and the associated suppression of the local population. By the end of 1653 CE, the Dutch were again openly at war with Makassar over the rebellion against the Sultan of Ternate's overlordship. In 1656 CE, a peace was concluded between the Dutch and Makassar. In 1659 CE, the King of Makassar demanded that the Dutch undertake nothing against the dominions of the King of Ternate (the latter seeking protection from Makassar) and also withdraw the Dutch garrison at Manado in North Sulawesi.


The Dutch, in reply, decided to begin in 1660 CE to gather a punitive fleet at Amboina and attack Makassar. The fleet of Van Dam and Truytman, after destroying the Portuguese ships at the bar, took the Castle of Panakkukang on the 12th of June. A truce was signed in Batavia by Karaeng Ri Popoq, thereafter sealed on 2 December in Makassar by the VOC, and included the stipulation that the Portuguese be banished from Makassar within one year. [3]


In 1666 CE, the Dutch sent another punitive expedition to Makassar. Sultan Hasanuddin (reign 1653-1669 CE) was forced to sign the Bongaya Treaty on 18 November 1667 CE, by which a Dutch monopoly was imposed over all Makassar's trade, while all European traders other than the Dutch were to be expelled. Sultan Hasanuddin restarted the war, and the Dutch, with Fort Rotterdam as a stronghold, managed to destroy Gowa's strongest fortress at Somba Opu on 12 June 1669 CE, marking the end of the war between Gowa and the VOC. Arung Palakka (b.1634-d.1696 CE), Prince of the Bugis Kingdom, who assisted the Dutch in the Makassar War, became the ruler in South Sulawesi.





(Print of the attack on Makassar, 12th of June 1660, from Wouter Schouten’s travel account. In the background, the eleven most heavily armed ships are bombarding Sombaopu, while in the foreground, the smaller vessels are landing and Company pikemen are making their way towards Panakoke)



The revolt of the Makassars in Siam


The earliest written account of the revolt of the Makassars I could find is the one from Tachard in his Second voyage du Père Tachard - Livre III, published in 1689 CE. [4] He noted down the extensive written account of the French Engineer M. de la Mare (2), who was present at the scene, and added some circumstances of others who were also present.


I will, thus, use de La Mare’s account as the main setting and correct or improve his narrative with information from other sources, such as those found in the works of John Anderson, Turpin, François Valentyn, and others.


The writings of de La Mare/Tachard and later texts explain that the Makassar Prince escaped the clutches of the Dutch after the attack on Makassar in 1660 CE. Still, François Valentyn offers a different explanation in his work titled Oud En Nieuw Oost Indien - Volume III. [5]


Valentyn writes that the King of Makassar, Sultan Malikussaid (reign 1639-1653 CE), also called Sombanko (3), had a brother who was greatly beloved by him and highly respected by the Court. This brother was one of the king's chief advisers, and the king usually followed his advice on State affairs. The king devoted himself for the greatest part to the pleasures of one of his concubines, whom he eminently loved. This concubine had sensed long ago that there was no one in her way, except the king’s brother, and she knew that he had the boldness to try to dissuade the king from engaging himself too far with her. This incited her to seek revenge, and she found means to make the king suspicious by leading him to believe that his brother stood to his crown and life. The king’s brother was compelled to take a certain night the flight to Java (4) with two of his most loyal friends, and his readiest treasures.


In Java, he was received very well because of his high birth, as, among other things, he married a daughter of a Javanese prince in Surabaya (5). The Dutch at Batavia got notice of the settlement of the prince there and consented to make him understand that his stay there was not pleasant to them, wherefore, timely warned of the traps they laid on him, and meanwhile being invited by the King of Siam, to come to settle down in his Kingdom, he agreed to take the great advantages offered to him.


Having obtained a message hereof, King Narai of Ayutthaya (reign 1656-1688 CE) sent, around 1664 CE, a large ship to bring him and his entourage (already increased to 60 families) to Siam and received him with very great proof of esteem (6). He generously granted him asylum and designated a location south of Ayutthaya for him to settle the location became known as the Makassar Camp (7).





(Detail of François Valentyn's map “Groote Siamse Rievier Me-Nam Of Te Moeder Der Wateren In haren loop met de vallende Spruyten Verbeeld” published in “Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën” - Vol 3.)



The Makassar Camp


The Makassar Camp must have been situated in the present Ban Tha Khia (8) and was bounded in the north by the Takhian Canal (9), in the east by the old Lopburi River (10), and in the south-west by a marsh. This marsh, no longer existing today, could only be crossed by a 4-meter-wide path.


North of the Makassar Camp and across the Takhian Canal on the east side of the Cham Moat was the Portuguese settlement. The Malay Settlement was situated east of the Portuguese Campon, on the west side of the Cham Moat and north-northwest of the Makassar Camp. Nearly 1 Km south of the Makassar Camp was the King's shipyard, situated opposite Ko Rian in Ban Kai Tia. West of the Makassar Camp, there were only fields.


The area south of Ayutthaya was especially dedicated to the Makassars because of the proximity of the Malay and Cham settlements, which shared the same Sunni Islamic religion and already had some mosques.





(The Makassar Camp on Leupe 267 (De geweezen Campo off den vermoorde macassare) - Kaart van de Rivier van Siam, van de Zee tot aan de Stad Siam ofte Judea - unknown Dutch map maker)



The initial conspiracy

De La Mare recalls a prior conspiracy against the King of Siam, five years earlier, in which the Prince of Makassar was involved. The plot to kill King Narai and put his younger half-brother, Chao Fa Noi, on the throne was timely discovered. King Narai forgave not only his younger half-brother but also the Prince of Makassar and all his accomplices (11).

The second conspiracy

The initial conspiracy left the fire smouldering under the Muslim population, and it flared up again in 1686 CE.

De La Mare wrote “that this excess of generosity should have produced an eternal regret in the soul of this ungrateful man but far from repenting his crime, he conspired again four months ago, at the solicitation of the Princes of Champa, who had also taken refuge in this Court, like himself and who had resolved to crown the youngest of the brothers of his Majesty, and to propose to him afterwards the turban or death.”

Turpin wrote that the Makassar Prince corrupted the Princes of Champa by means of specious promises. These Princes of Champa (12) were three brothers, the sons of the late King of Champa, who escaped here at the accession of their eldest brother to the throne, fearing ill-treatment as possible rivals. One of these brothers was an officer in King Narai's household in Lopburi and was not a member of the faction. The two others lived as private persons. The youngest Cham prince conspired with an influential Malay with Champa connections to secure a path to the throne.

This Malay, together with a Muslim priest, conducted the whole affair. It was said that the plotters had resolved that, even if the youngest prince embraced Islamic law, they would only leave him temporarily on the throne and afterwards oblige him to dethrone so that they could crown one of them by plurality of votes. All Christians and idolaters in the Kingdom would have to convert to Islam or die.

The Cham prince announced in the Malay, Cham, and Makassar camps that he had seen an omen, and he had seen this sign several times (13). Every time it occurred, extraordinary things happened to his followers. He warned his people to pray to the Prophet for a good omen and to be on their guard. With the help of the Muslim priest, he took them all separately, one after the other, and gradually revealed the undertaking to them. After three months, all his followers had agreed to the plot, except for 300 Malays.





(Detail of Simon de La Loubère "Plan de la Ville de Siam" - 1691 CE)



It was resolved that they would bring the three hundred Malays to the assembly point without revealing their intention, and it was believed that they would not hesitate to follow their compatriots swiftly when they saw who was already involved in the plan. The plan included to free all the prisoners and galley-slaves in the city to augment their forces, to set fire to the houses of the Siamese and while they were busy trying to save their property and in the chaos, the plotters would proceed to the treasury and the palace, plunder them in the hope of encouraging the bravery of their fellow-conspirators by the prospect of a rich booty and take possession of the throne the palace and throne captured, the buttress and mainstay of the King's power, was considered to be destroyed. [6] The start of the rebellion was set on the 15th of August at eleven o'clock in the evening.

The two princes of Champa, seeing the uprising approaching, wrote a secret letter to their brother in Lopburi, notifying him of their design and warning him to save himself as soon as possible. The letter was to be delivered on the day of rebellion at eight o'clock in the evening, to make it possible for their brother to escape in time. The Malay bearer of the letter delivered it to the prince in time, then retired and fled. The sudden flight made the Cham prince suspicious, and he carried the letter unopened to Phaulcon (14). As soon as the content was known, Phaulcon informed King Narai of what was going on in the capital. The king immediately gave orders to break the factious designs. He organised a detachment of three thousand men from his guard, to go and rescue the palace in Ayutthaya sent the Chevalier Claude de Forbin (1656-1733 CE) to Bangkok, lest the conspirators should seize it ordered the remainder of his guards, numbering five thousand men to be repartitioned in his palace and in the neighbourhood, he had other troops placed on the avenues at the gates and on the ramparts of the city. Phaulcon caused the Portuguese soldiers in Bangkok, who had been condemned to the galleys by a council of war, to be freed and to form companies, putting at their head those officers who had previously been dismissed from their command. [7]

The conspirators gathered on a tongue of land separating the two rivers opposite the Makassar Camp (15). The three hundred Malays, being in arms by order of the plotters, not knowing in what game they were playing, and seeing so many people gathered, suspected treason. The prince, in a hurry and at their request, divulged his plans to them. The Malays, in a common voice, condemned the action that betrayed the Siamese king and refused to participate this led other Malays, feeling remorse, to back off, which, in turn, finally led to the flight of all Malays.





(The Makassar Settlement in the 17th century on Google maps)



The Muslim priest, realising that the conspiracy would very soon be discovered, hurried to inform the city's governor in an attempt to obtain a pardon. As soon as the governor received the information, he got the priest arrested and ordered the defences of the palace. Soldiers were moved from one place to another to make the conspirators believe there were sufficient troops in the palace.


Spies informed the three ringleaders of the situation at the palace, who, notwithstanding the desertion of a part of their people, were ready to march for the execution of their plan. Hearing of the mobilisation at the palace, they cancelled their plans and returned to their camp. The next morning, the conspirators learned that three thousand men of the King's guard had arrived at the palace and that all the inhabitants of the city were under arms and encamped on the ramparts.


The king dispatched Phaulcon to Ayutthaya to investigate the conspiracy after noticing that the conspirators had returned to their camp. The influential Malay, who stood in for the execution of the plan alongside the Muslim priest, surrendered and revealed everything to Phaulcon in the hope of being forgiven by the king. Phaulcon informed the plotters that they should report on their activities and accomplices within four days, after which the king would pardon them. About two hundred conspirators, mostly Malay, surrendered themselves to the King’s mercy and were sent up to Lopburi, where some of them were, notwithstanding, executed (16).


The Makassars, though, would not submit themselves. The king summoned the Makassar Prince on several occasions to appear and explain his conduct. Still, he consistently refused, excusing himself for not having entered into the conspiracy. He confirmed that it was true that they had pressed him very much on this point, but that he had always held firm against the powerful solicitations which had been made of him, that if he had committed any fault, it had been not to detect the authors of so pernicious a design, but that his character as a prince and that of a friend were sufficient to exonerate him from having failed to do so, the office of a spy, and not having betrayed friends who had entrusted him with a secret of this importance.


Two galleys had come from Celebes in 1685 CE to bring some presents and slaves (17). from the king of Makassar, Sultan Abdul Jalil (reign 1677-1709 CE) to the Makassar Prince. One of the galleys was still present, trading its merchandise, and was on the point of leaving when the conspiracy broke out (18).





(A contemporary drawing of Constantine Phaulcon, 17th century - Wikipedia)



The Makassar captain and crew, numbering 53 souls, pretending to be completely ignorant of the plot but deeply engaged in the conspiracy, requested to leave Siam in their galley for safety after witnessing the failure of the undertaking. Phaulcon, glad that he could reduce the number of plotters to be dealt with, provided them with a license to depart Siam, but at the same time sent a secret order to the Governor of Bangkok to withhold the ship (19).


The galley, having weighed anchor on 23 August, a first interception took place as it was coming out of Ayutthaya, when two Siamese war boats, under the command of English captain Coates (20), fired bullets and buckshot in its direction, on the pretext that he had not quickly brought down his sails to allow them on board to check his license [8]. The order was given, however, to cease fire, lest the Dutch Company house (21), just opposite, be damaged, which would have led to an open conflict with the Dutch. The Makassar galley continued to descend the river, very slowly.


The Makassar Galley


The Governor of Bangkok, Claude de Forbin, received from Phaulcon the order to hoist the chain between the two forts in Bangkok and to hinder the Makassar galley from reaching the open sea. The license was revoked as it was believed that the crew was involved in the conspiracy. De Forbin received orders to go aboard the galley, take inventory of the cargo, and seize and detain the captain and crew. The galley arrived at the chain on the 27th of August.


The captain of the galley was asked to come to the old fort (22). to give an account of the number of people and goods on his vessel. The captain initially contested, fearing for his safety. Still, after discussion, it was agreed upon that he could come ashore with seven crew, all armed with their kris (de Forbin misjudged here the efficacy of the dagger) (23)


The captain was conducted under a great square pavilion (built on one of the bastions) where de Forbin received him. The latter explained to the captain that he had orders to hinder any Siamese from leaving the kingdom and that it was necessary for his crew to disembark for inspection.


The captain coldly replied that he had fifty men and that he could be trusted to his word that they were all Makassar. In the necessity of obeying, he detached two of his men to go and fetch the rest of the crew.


As the word of the disembarkation took a while to arrive, de Forbin left the pavilion and took this moment to advance a group of twenty pikemen and musketeers to the entrance of the pavilion and ordered the curtain to be drawn. De Forbin ordered the Siamese mandarin, who served as an interpreter, to inform the Makassars that they had been arrested.





(Portrait of Claude Comte de Forbin, grand admiral of Siam - Wikidata)



The Makassars recognised too late the peril in which they had engaged. The captain thrust his dagger into the interpreter's stomach and, in one blow, cut off three ribs. The remaining five Makassars threw their caps on the ground, drew their daggers and killed instantly six other mandarins. De Forbin gave the order to fire, and of the six Makassars, four were killed in the pavilion and two others, of which the captain escaped, though wounded, by leaping down from the bastion into the moat.


The French captain de Beauregard, seeing that the Makassar Captain, though pierced by several bullets, was still alive, forbade his sergeant to kill him and approached him to take his dagger. He took, unfortunately, the scabbard instead of the handle, on which this almost dead man grabbed the dagger and split de Beauregard's belly (24).


The Chevalier de Forbin realised that he had to take stronger measures and brought the garrison in to invest the Makassars. The Makassars, who had disembarked and were marching towards the fort, were ordered to stop by the English Captain Hues at the head of forty Portuguese. They were asking for their Captain, whereupon de Forbin engaged them in a conversation to gain time for his troops to get into a position to kill them.


Captain Hues, tired of all these delays, suddenly engaged. The 47 Makassars, who were squatting on the ground, realising the situation, rose all at once, twisted the pieces of cloth with which they covered their shoulders with the turn of their arms to serve as shields in an attempt to sell their lives very dearly. They fell on the Portuguese with such fury that they broke their ranks and cut them to pieces in the blink of an eye. Captain Hues was killed in the struggle, while the English Captain Minchin, at the head of another mixed Siamese-Portuguese company, very narrowly escaped with life. Then they pushed towards the troops of de Forbin.


The garrison of above a thousand soldiers armed with lances and muskets, but totally ill-prepared, was so terrified and so confused by this first charge of the Makassars that each one thought of escaping. The Makassars killed all the soldiers they encountered, left and right, in a terrible massacre.


Six of them, pursuing those who fled, got over to the other side of the river and killed women, children and all that came in their way, without distinction of age or sex.





(Folding plan of the Siege of Bangkok (1688) by Jean Vollant des Verquains (1658-1729) in "Histoire de la revolution de Siam. Arrivée en l'année 1688. The old fort - Pom Wichai Prasit, formerly known as the Wichayen Fort, on the right bank of the Chao Phraya River - is indicated with the letter D)



De Forbin, not able to rally his Siamese soldiers, got upon a bastion from where he ordered musket fire upon the Makassars, the latter being master of the battlefield. Finding nobody anymore to kill, they retired to the river, went aboard their galley, set fire to it and returned ashore, armed with lances (25). They burnt all the barracks of the soldiers and marched along the riverside, killing everybody they found on their passage without distinction. De Forbin went in pursuit on a galley with 20 musketeers, overtook the Makassars about a league from the fort, and forced them to go farther away from the riverside, whereupon he decided to return to the fort.


The six Makassars who had passed to the other side, entrenched in a monastery, killed all the monks. De Forbin, with eighty soldiers with lances, arrived at the place but found the convent set on fire by the Siamese soldiers. The Makassars hid in the thick grass, but de Forbin and his troops were able to kill five. A sixth Makassar, still behind, a young boy who left his dagger in the body of a monk and was thus disarmed, was stabbed by the exasperated Siamese in a thousand places.


Arriving back at the fort, de Forbin reorganised. He found that he had lost 366 men, while the Makassars lost 17 (six killed in the pavilion, six near the monastery and five on the battlefield). Two weeks later, 3 more were caught about 2 leagues from Bangkok. Of the 3 caught, 2 were converted to Christianity, baptised by the missionary priest Etienne Manuel (1662-1693) and died of their wounds shortly after. The third one was beheaded. Another week later, 17 others were killed as they were starved. All the rest perished in the woods or died from their wounds. All the Makassar's heads were staked upon poles at Bangkok.





(Detail of the Dutch map “Kaart van de Rivier van Siam, van de Zee tot aan de Stad Siam ofte Judea”, Leupe 267 (National Archives), unknown Dutch map maker, indicating the Wichai Prasit Fort, "'t Oude Kasteel Bankok" and the new French-built Fort at Bangkok)



The attack on the Makassar Camp


The Makassar Prince, though, even knowing what happened to the crew of the galley, had no intention to submit himself and ask the king for clemency. King Narai did not seem to have initially wished for an armed confrontation with the Makassar Prince, doubtless suspecting that Siamese opponents within the court had manipulated the Muslims, and hoping, by his clemency, to get some denunciations in return. The king sent the Okphra Chula (26) to negotiate.


The Okphra Chula invited him to a private talk in the city, but the Prince declined, stating that he did not dare enter the city amid all the troubles. They agreed to meet at a house near the Makassar Camp. The Prince admitted his wrong, but when asked to go to the king to ask for forgiveness, he declined and withdrew.


The king sent the Okphra Chula for the second time, but the Prince let it be known that he was ill and could not go to Lopburi. The Okphra Chula sent him doctors, who told him that he was not ill and that he had not even the slightest inconvenience. The Okphra Chula reported back to the king, who resolved to detach five thousand four hundred men from his guard to impress fear by sheer numbers to make the Prince obey.


Samuel White writes in his letter that around 20 September (27):


“the said Prince attended by the whole crew of desperate votaries, all armed with Kris and Lances, went to the Palace Gate: whence he sent word to his Majesty, that in the sense of his late error, and reliance on his royal word, he was come to ask his Majesties Pardon, and promise a peaceable demeanour for the future and to that end desired admittance to throw himself at his Majesties feet, to which he was answered that the posture he then was in, did not correspond to his pretences, but if he would at first surrender his arms, and command his attendants to do the like, his Majesty would readily grant him liberty to come into his presence, and confirm the pardon he had already on that condition offered them whereupon the Prince peremptorily replied, he would never be guilty of so base a submission as required the parting with their arms adding that he was not insensible of an approaching great Storm: But, says he, tell the King, I am like a great Tree, well Rooted, and shall be able to endure any ordinary Shock hut if the storm, comes so violently on that I cannot longer stand it, he may be assured my fall will not be without the ruin of much underwood and since I cannot be suffered to speak to the King with my arms, if he has any further business with me, he knows where to find me at my own house.”





(A reproduction of a Japanese Rangaku-era manuscript or early print (c. 1680–1720), produced in Nagasaki and developed by scholars associated with Dutch learning, likely based on a VOC map. The Makassar Village is indicated.)



The attack was scheduled for the morning of 24 September 1686 CE. The evening before, Phaulcon went to inspect all the troops that were embarked in Siamese barges and small galleys, besides a horseshoe, and looked at the Makassar Camp (28), and ordered each of them a post. He was joined by Henry Udall (29), Captain of the HMS Herbert, several other Englishmen in the service of the King of Siam, a missionary, and another person. After the inspection, all boarded two warships of the king half a league below the Makassar Camp (30). Phaulcon and Udall continued to visit all the posts until an hour after midnight and boarded the ships at 0400 Hr.

The Makassars, seeing these preparations, realised that an assault was being planned. They knew they were going to die and took leave of each other, while many killed their women and children to avoid being made prisoners and reduced to slavery. Joannes Keijts, the Dutch factor, wrote that the night was filled with pitiful cries (31). The rest of the night, the Makassars prepared trenches in which to shelter. The Dutch did not partake in the assault because of their trade relationship with the King of Makassar, as they claimed, but more likely because of their dislike of Phaulcon.

The attack was scheduled to start at 0430 Hr and was announced by a signal from the other side of the water. The plan was that Okluang Maha Montri, Captain-General of the King's Guards, with 1500 men in his detachment, had to block off the Makassars at the rear of their camp from the banks of the large river until a stream about five fathoms (9 meters) wide, which was immediately at the end of the camp. Upwards, there was a swamp behind the camp, which took water from the great river (32) up to two toises (4 meters) of the stream, so that the Makassars could fight them only by this space of four meters, which made a kind of roadway but he had orders to make a barricade of stakes in this place.

Okphra Chula had to post himself on the other side of the stream, and border it with a thousand men, and in the two rivers, there were twenty-two small galleys, and sixty Siamese barges full of people to skirmish them, and a thousand men on the tongue of land vis-à-vis their camp. The signal being given at half-past four in the morning, as had been ordered, Okluang Maha Montri left abruptly with fourteen of his slaves, without giving orders to his troops to follow, nor taking the post which had been ordered him. He walked without knowing whether he was being followed, went straight to the roadway, and pushed as far as the Makassars' houses, where he stopped, softly calling Okphra Chula. One of the Makassars, who obscurity prevented from seeing him, answered him in Siamese: “What do you want?” This Mandarin, believing it was indeed Okphra Chula, advanced towards him, asking, “Where are you?” “Here,” said the Makassar, and at the same time, he got out of the ambush, followed by twenty-five or thirty others. They killed the Mandarin and seven of his slaves the others escaped under the cover of darkness. After they had made this expedition, a part of the Makassars passed on the other side of the stream before Okphra Chula had secured it.




(Makassar ships. Pritchett, Robert Taylor (1899). Pen and pencil sketches of shipping and craft all round the world. London: Edward Arnold)



At 0530 Hr, the English captain Coates, commanding a Siamese warship, attacked them on the side of the main river at the extremity of the point of their camp (33). He had several fire pots thrown to burn their houses, made a continuous fire of musketry, and compelled them to retire to the upper part of their camp. Coates set foot on land, followed by ten or twelve Englishmen, and a French officer, and advanced towards the camp. Coates and the French officer, who saw several Makassars suddenly approaching and realised their people had abandoned them, pulled back and threw themselves into the river. Coates received a blow on his head and, with the weight of his own armour and arms, lost his life in the water (34). The French officer saved himself by swimming. An Englishman of the HMS Herbert, a certain Mr Alvey, was stabbed to death (35). After this onset, all the Makassars abandoned their already half-burnt camp and, under a heavy fire of the guns of the galleys, reached the upper part of the canal, intending to pass to the Portuguese camp, to exert their rage over the Christians.


It was at this moment that Véret (36), the head of the trade office of the French East India Company in Ayutthaya,, arrived with a boat and a barge, wherein all the Frenchmen of that city, numbering about twenty, were embarked. Phaulkon, suspecting the undertaking which these Makassars were going to make upon the Christians, and being in a barge lighter than the others, advanced with great diligence towards the enemy, followed by the boat of Véret and twelve or fifteen other Siamese barges, to prevent them from undertaking anything, and to pass the river half a league above the camp. Having seen the enemies, he commanded the Siamese to go ashore to attack them.


There was in this place a large space, and beside this space, there were bamboos, which are a kind of large hollow reeds, twenty-five or thirty feet high and thick as a leg, and houses made of these bamboos in the country's fashion, intertwined with each other. At two hundred and fifty steps from the riverbank, there was also a very thick hedge of the same Bamboos, which had an opening in two places, to go to the plain where the enemies were. When the Siamese had crossed this hedge and were in the plain, they began to fire upon the enemy. Two Makassars died, after having killed a Siamese, while the others retired behind the bamboo. In this retreat, as a woman embraced her husband, she was killed by a blow of the kris. In withdrawing thus, they split themselves on the right and on the left, and then came to envelop the Siamese, and to animate themselves more, they took their opium, which is a sort of brown gum, which renders them immediately enraged, and deprives them of all other thoughts, and every other wish only to kill and be killed, and this is what they call amoque (37) in their language. (38) As soon as they had taken their drink, they threw themselves head down on the Siamese.





(Keris or kris, an Indonesian fighting knife. Collectie Wereldmuseum (v/h Tropenmuseum), part of the National Museum of World Cultures)



As it was of most importance to fight them as soon as possible, to break their attempt, Captain Henry Udall, accompanying Phaulcon only as a spectator, could not hold his patience and, resolute, leapt ashore, followed by several other English in his company. Phaulcon also set foot on land and went straight to them, followed by eight Frenchmen, two Siamese mandarins, and a Japanese soldier. Véret’s boat had not yet arrived because it could not follow the barges.

Phaulkon was preparing to fight them, though they were more than sixty, when they suddenly saw thirty or forty others cutting in on both sides to take the Siamese from behind. Several Makassars, disguised as Siamese paddling in a small barge along the shallow water, got near them and killed Udall with their lances. The movement of the Makassars obliged them to make a hasty retreat and to throw themselves into the water to return to the barges, which were already sailing into the open water.

Of the twelve persons in the entourage of Phaulcon who had stepped on land, there were five of them killed, namely, Udall, stabbed with five strokes, and dead on the spot (39) de Rouen, a French merchant, wounded at the side and in the face, and died in the water by re-embarking Milon, a French clerk, wounded at the kidneys, also died in the water two other Frenchmen, one trumpet of the King of Siam, and the other a farrier, stabbed by ten or twelve strokes each, and died on the spot. Véret, who finally arrived, was nearly killed by a Makassar, if not de Beaumont, Captain of the Saint-Louis, had shot him with his musket. [9] Also Phaulcon had a narrow escape and would have been killed if not a strong black kaffir flung him into the river and swam with him to the barge, being glad for some time to hang on the off-side of his barge’s stern for shelter. [10]

This failure did not withhold Phaulcon he set foot again for the second time, followed by several Frenchmen, from the barge as well as the boat from Véret, who had just arrived, and several Englishmen who had flocked there. There were several Makassars killed in this second descent, but nevertheless, they still resisted with stubbornness.

Around 1000 Hr, Phaulcon, seeing that there were no means of defeating these people except by force majeure, detached four hundred men, commanded by Okpra Yommarat (40), to go higher up that place to fight them, if they wanted to pass, and at the same time descended near the stream, took three thousand men with him, entered the inundated plain in this spot, and marched towards the enemy, being in the water till the waist: all the Frenchmen and the English accompanied him.


When they were in the plain, they perceived from afar the enemy, who, in despair, fought the four hundred men who had been sent upwards, who vigorously sustained this fury. They compelled them to retire under the shelter of the houses and bamboos, which border this little river. Immediately, Phaulkon made a detachment of eight hundred men of musketry to go and skirmish through the houses and bamboos, always pushing up the river. These musketeers fired continuously and never let go, whatever effort these furious men made against them. Thus, the Siamese, who had done such a bad job in the beginning, did wonders afterwards.


Sometime after, Phaulcon made the two thousand two hundred men, who were with him on the plain, advance in growing order to join the four hundred men higher up. They advanced to the hedges of bamboo, carrying before them small, very light hurdles, which they supported with stakes as they marched towards the enemy, which is good to stop the rush of these furious when they run amok. Phaulcon had also advanced all the rest of the armed Siamese barges to keep always up with the enemy, to prevent them from swimming across the little river: so that, seeing themselves attacked on all sides, they began to take fright, and to separate, to try to save themselves as best as they could. The majority retired in disorder in the houses, two in one, three in the other: some hid in the bamboos, and twenty-two withdrew to a mosque.


They set fire to the houses where it was believed there were some of them hiding: most of them waited for the house to be half burnt to go out, and then threw themselves into the densest pack of troops, the lance or sabre in hand, and still fighting until they fell dead. There was not one of them who had withdrawn to the houses and the bamboos, who did not die in this manner.


The prince himself, who had hidden behind a house and who was wounded by a musket shot in his left shoulder, seeing that he was discovered, took the spear in his hand and ran straight to Phaulkon, who also presented him his spear. The Prince, seeing this, stopped, pretending to want to launch him his own, and at the same time threw it on an English captain, who was a little on the left. A French bodyguard, who was close to Phaulcon, shot him with a musket and killed him (41). Finally, all the Makassars were killed or taken. The twenty-two, who withdrew into the mosque, surrendered without fighting. There were thirty-three others taken, all of whom were pierced with shots.





(Image of a man and a woman from South Sulawesi. The man blows a dart and carries weapons, while the woman feeds two infants. Source: La Galerie Agréable du Monde. Tome premier des Indes Orientales, published by P. van der Aa, Leyden, c. 1725)



One of the sons of the Prince, about twelve years of age, came to surrender himself. He was shown the body of his father, whom he recognised, and said that he was the cause of the loss of his nation, but that he was very sorry to see him in this state, blaming those who had killed him. Only the corpses of forty-two were found the others perished in the river. Most of them had corselets of iron plates applied to each other by the extremities, and in echelon, which gave them a great facility of movement. None of them had any firearms, as they do not know how to handle them well.

The battle lasted from 0430 Hr in the morning till 1600 Hr in the evening. Seventeen on the Siamese side lost their lives, of which seven were Europeans. All the Mandarins did their duty perfectly, going everywhere with a sword in the hand into the most perilous places, and executing with a marvellous punctuality all the orders of Phaulcon. At last, all being finished, Phaulcon ordered that all the heads of those who had died should be cut off and exposed in their camp.

He then went to report to the king what had happened. King Narai showed him to be entirely satisfied with his conduct, nevertheless making a gentle reprimand to him for having exposed himself so much to the danger, and ordering him to thank the French and the English, who had participated with him.




(Man and woman of Makassar by Jakob van der Schley. Source: "Histoire Générale des Voyages, ou nouvelle collection de toutes les relations de voyages par mer et par terre", nouvelle édition. The Hague, Pierre de Hondt)



The Aftermath


The two sons of the Makassar Prince were taken to Lopburi and sent in November 1686 with the French ship “Coche” under the command of M. de Hautmesnil via Pondicherry to France. They arrived in Brest on 5 August 1687 CE, disembarked in Port Louis on 31 August and arrived in Paris on 10 September. They received an education at the “Collège de Louis le Grand” by the Jesuits and were baptised on 7 March 1687 CE at the “Eglise de leur Maison Professe”. They received French-Makassar names, being Louis-Pierre Daén Rourou de Macassar and Louis-Dauphin Daén Toulolo de Macassar. Christian Pelras wrote that “they were raised in the best college of their time in Paris together with the flower of the French society, that they received all their lifelong an allowance directly taken from the French King's civil list, and that they were later admitted in the most prestigious French Naval Academy with the best titled French nobility, thus showing their full acceptance as aristocrats among others aristocrats, without apparently suffering the slightest trace of any racial prejudice.”

Amongst the prisoners were found four soldiers who had deserted, and these men were selected to serve as an example of severity. At first, they were tortured. Splinters were thrust under their nails, after which their fingers were crushed. They were then burned on the arm, and their heads were compressed between two boards. They suffered all these torments without a murmur. After having been tortured in every possible way, they were tied up to a post with their hands and feet bound to be devoured by a hungry tiger that merely sniffed at them. The executioners goaded on the tiger until it, at last, devoured its prey. One of the prisoners watched it eat his own foot without making any effort to withdraw it. Another hearing the crunching of his own bones, uttered no sound. A third, while the animal stood licking the blood which was running down his face, did not even care to glance round. Phaulcon had the bodies of all the rebels found armed, decapitated and exposed the heads in the then deserted encampment. [11]

There were still executions of people involved in the rebellion thereafter. Keijts wrote that on 21 October 1686 CE, certain religious leaders were buried to their necks and then put to death after having undergone many taunts and insults from ruthless spectators, even some French and English. [12]

As for the Makassar women and children, who were not killed by their husbands before the attack or had died in the burning of their houses, they were sold as slaves.

Le Blanc wrote that King Narai “took advantage of the occasion of throwing to the tigers a Malay who late January 1688 CE declared to the king that the French and Phaulkon were plotting against him, to burn alive those who remained of the Makassars from the last conspiracy the execution took place in the very camp of the Malays to inspire terror in those who still might have similar intentions.” [13]



The grounds of the conspiracy


King Narai was the son of the usurper King Prasat Thong, who had made away with all the royal family of the Sukhothai dynasty. King Narai, in turn, disposed of his younger half-brother, King Chai, and afterwards his uncle, King Si Sutham Racha, to ascend the throne in 1656 CE. Due to all these purges for power, King Narai was at the mercy of the intrigues of many potential enemies.


There was growing discontent over the decline in the importance of the nobility, the concentration of wealth in Phra Klang (Office for foreign affairs and trade), and the king’s relations with foreigners, especially the French. The Buddhist clergy felt treated unfairly and feared losing their privileged status, as the Brahmans gained more importance, while King Narai was not that pious in building temples and casting Buddha images, reducing his number of appearances in ‘Kathin’ processions and starting to examine the monkhood as too many commoners were escaping ‘corvée’ by taking the robes. The Sangha also feared the French plans to convert King Narai to Christianity. [14] Also, the Muslims believed that the Siamese king was going to convert to Catholicism and that their situation in the kingdom was going to be compromised.


Valentyn highlighted that the Muslim clergy, being mortal enemies of the idolatry of the Siamese, lay at the root of the Makassar Prince’s behaviour, as they had been strongly persecuted in the exercise of their religion by the Buddhist Sangha. [5]


According to the contents of a letter of Ayutthaya published by the Mercure, the Makassar Prince, fearing King Narai’s conversion would have “also given notice to the King of Persia, who sent an Ambassador to His Siamese Majesty, to exhort him to embrace the Koran”. It was because of the apparent failure of this mission that he decided to join the new conspiracy being prepared in the first months of 1686 CE [15].


The growing role of Phaulkon and his overwhelming share of foreign commerce was a thorn in the eye of many, especially the Muslims. The latter lost their former dominant commercial role and political influence under the Persian Phra Klang Aqa Muhammed Astarabadi, who was accused of corruption in 1677 CE and was followed by the rise of Phaulkon, especially after the death of Kosa Lek in 1683 CE. The lucrative commerce with Persia was by-passed by Phaulkon, and all the benefit accrued exclusively to the king.





(Map depicting Makassar c. 1638, from the Secret Atlas of the East India Company (c. 1670). MAP Ra 265 Vol. 5, Plates 115, 116)



Among the principal malcontents was Okpra Phetracha, who was raised with King Narai because they shared the same wet nurse, the mother of Kosa Lek and Khosa Pan. He was the Head of the Department of Elephants and was hostile to the French. He intended to succeed King Narai after his death. He was determined to eliminate King Narai’s possible successors, including Narai’s half-brothers, Prince Noi and Prince Aphaithot, and Narai’s adopted son, Mom Pi, as the king had no male heir.


In 1682 CE, a Malay conspiracy against King Narai occurred, in which the Prince of Makassar was involved. Following de Bèze, the eldest half-brother, being deformed, moreover very choleric and much given to wine, was accused of supporting the Malaysian conspiracy. King Narai forgave not only his half-brother but also the Prince of Makassar. Prince Aphaithot was thereafter kept in strict confinement within the Palace. [16] Notwithstanding the lack of proof, we cannot rule out Petracha's shadow over this plot.


In 1683 CE, Prince Noi was the victim of a murky intrigue, the strings of which were pulled by Okpra Phetracha. A sister of Okpra Phetracha, being a royal consort of King Narai, seduced the prince, and the affair was exposed. She was tortured and condemned to death, while he was beaten on King Narai’s orders by Phetracha and the royal favourite Mom Pi. Prince Noi was handicapped as a result of the severe flogging, which was tantamount to political assassination. He recovered partially, but his legs were very weak, and his tongue paralysed, though some said this mutism was feigned [16].


Between them they carried it out with such a ruthless rain of blows that the unfortunate prince was left for dead at the stake. He came to, however, but his whole body was strangely bloated, joined with great weakness in the legs and a form of paralysis in the tongue which hindered him from speaking. Some however have maintained that his dumbness was a mask he wore lest the king’s suspicion he aroused. [16]


The identity of those who wished to use the Muslims to overthrow King Narai and Phaulkon remained concealed. King Narai presumed that the instigators came from his own court, but could not – even with trying to get the Makassar Prince back on his hand – find out who was involved. De Bèze saw the Makassar revolt as part of Phetracha’s strategy of turning the king against his two half-brothers. He mentioned also that Phetracha “caused the princes to be accused of having entered into this conspiracy, which was intended, as far as he said, only to get rid of his majesty to raise in his place one of the princes and the princess”, and that the two princes were again condemned to lashes. Also, Le Blanc mentions that both the half-brothers were implicated in the “unfortunate plot of the Makassars”.





(Map of the Makassar coast by Johannes Vingboons. Period 1665-1668 CE. The map is taken from the Blaeu-Van der Hem Atlas. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)



Footnotes:


(1) Karaeng Matoaya (reign 1593-1623 CE), Sultan of Tallo and Prime Minister of Gowa, publicly embraced Islam on 22 September 1605 CE, while Karaeng Ala’uddin (reign 1593-1639 CE), Sultan of Gowa, did so shortly afterwards, (Villiers)

(2) The French engineer de la Mare was part of the first French Embassy to Siam under de Chaumont and de Choisy in 1685 CE. He remained at King Narai's request to build fortifications. De La Mare was initially assigned to teach piloting to the embassy's marine guards, and apparently was not a trained engineer in France. He was a gifted self-made man and soon fell under the influence of Constantine Phaulcon. De La Mare designed fortifications for Ayutthaya, Lopburi (including Thale Chup Son), Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Songkhla, Phatthalung, Mergui, and In Buri, and implemented temporary improvements to Bangkok's fortifications. By the time the second French Embassy arrived in 1687 CE, carrying four “Ingenieurs du Roi” to the French general Desfarges, the works at the fort in Bangkok were already underway. De La Mare soon found himself at odds with Jean Vollant des Verquains, one of the four engineers working in Siam during 1687-1688 CE. De La Mare was likely the source behind Bellin’s map "Plan de la Ville de Siam Capitale du Royaume de ce nom Leve par un Ingenieur Francois en 1687,"

(3) “Sombangku” was the term of address reserved for all sovereigns of Gowa/Makassar, but when Europeans referred to “Sombanco” at that time, it was usually to specifically refer to Sultan Hasanuddin. (Pelras)

(4) Most of Java, excluding Bantam and the Dutch VOC port of Batavia, was under the control of the Sultan of Mataram, Amangkurat I, from 1646 to 1677 CE. In Surabaya, dissatisfaction with the sultan grew and gradually led to open revolt, which was one of the reasons the Makassar prince and his entourage were well received.

(5) Gervaise mentioned his spouse's name as 'Angke Sapia' the Mercure Gallant of March 1688 CE reports Anec Sapiha (Gervaise, p. 242).

(6) The Mercure Galant (1687) offers another account, stating that a young Makassar prince was granted clemency after his father conspired against the King of Jambi (Sultanate of Jambi - Northern Sumatra) and was subsequently executed. The King of Jambi, who was apparently a vassal of Siam, authorised the prince to travel to Siam with around 250 other Makassars and provided a large ship for the journey.

(7) King Narai was quite generous in offering refuge. In 1658 CE, he had already provided a safe haven to 700 Muslims fleeing from Minangkabau in West Sumatra who were wandering in Cambodia. (Cushman, Richard D. & Wyatt, David K. (2006). The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya. The Siam Society. p. 248)

(8) Ban Tha Khia can be found on the map of R.P. Lombard titled “Cours du Fleuve Menam (1878-9).” Ban Tha Khia was located north of Ban Kai Tia (area of Wat Kai Tia in the present Ban Run Sub-district of Ayutthaya).

(9) Tachard writes “le Cachon.” On Jacques Nicolas Bellin’s map “Plan de la Ville de Siam Capitale du Royaume de ce nom Leve par un Ingenieur Francois en 1687,” the Takhian Canal is called “Rivière du Grand Cochan.” In my opinion, “Cochan” is the French pronunciation of the Thai words “Khu Cham” or “Moat of the Chams.”

(10) The current stretch from Ayutthaya to Bang Sai was historically part of the old Lopburi River, which encircled the city of Ayutthaya and merged with the Chao Phraya River at Bang Sai. This stretch was also referred to as the Bangkok River. Additionally, the Chao Phraya River was diverted in the mid-19th Century towards Ayutthaya.

(11) Following Claude de Bèze, it was the eldest half-brother, Prince Aphaithot, who was involved.



(12) I presume these Princes of Champa were likely the brothers of Po Saut, King of Paduranga (called Ba Tranh by the Nguyen - reign 1660-1692, who apparently allied with Siam in 1682). Paduranga (Phan Rang) was the last stronghold of the Chams.(13) Likely the omen referred to is the total lunar eclipse on the morning of 11 December 1685 CE, observed by King Narai at the Kraison Siharat residential hall in Thale Chup Son, Lopburi.

(14) In the account of Muhammad Rabi Ibn Muhammad Ibrahim, it is mentioned that three Makassars disapproving of the plot betrayed the rebellion. (O’Kane, 2008)

(15) This location appears on Valentyn’s map “Groote Siamse Rievier Me-Nam Of Te Moeder Der Wateren In haren loop met de vallende Spruyten Verbeeld” under No 46 - de Makassaarse Campon.

(16) In the letter from Edward Udall, brother of Captain Henry Udall, it is written: “The Muccossoes of which there is a great many of them about Siam a month before we came rebelled but had the worst of it and hundreds their heads set upon poles...”. (Udall in Anderson, 1890)

(17) These slaves were captured during the expedition led by Arung Palakka, who was accompanied by the ruler of Gowa, against the Toraja region in 1683 CE—(The Makassar Annals). Nicolas Gervaise stated that two Toraja slaves were acquired by M. de Chaumont and the Abbé de Choisy and subsequently taken to Paris.

(18) Turpin wrote, “Hearing of their resistance, the King of Macassar sent slaves and money to the rebellious princes to ensure them a means of subsistence,” thus suggesting the galley was part of the preparations for the coup in providing manpower and funds. Moreover, Englishmen arriving from Mergui affirmed having seen forty sails of Malay vessels sailing to windward at the Bar of Siam. Therefore, it was believed they had been cruising along the coast, awaiting the outcome of the plot. (White in Anderson, 1890)

(19) White suggests in his letter that the Makassar Captain had to liaise on the outcome of the revolt with a fleet of Malay vessels cruising in the Gulf near the coast. The appointed time being expired, the fleet returned home. (White in Anderson, 1890)

(20) John Coates was an English pirate captain working for the King of Siam. Tachard writes his name as Cotse.

(21) In 1670 CE, King Narai granted the head of the Dutch Settlement a small plot of land at Wat Prot Sat to serve as a garden and a place for holidays or excursions. On this plot stood a brick house. This location can be seen on Valentyn’s map “Groote Siamse Rievier Me-Nam Of Te Moeder Der Wateren In haren loop met de vallende Spruyten Verbeeld” under No 33 – 'S Comp's Thuyn.

(22) The Wichai Prasit Fort, formerly known as the Wichayen Fort, is located on the western bank of the Chao Phraya River near the confluence with Khlong Bangkok Yai. It was constructed during the Ayutthaya period to prevent ships from sailing upriver to the then Siamese capital of Ayutthaya. Today, it forms part of the Thai Navy's headquarters. On the eastern bank stood a small fort, and between these forts was a chain across the river to stop incoming and outgoing vessels. The small fort on the eastern bank was replaced by a new structure designed by de La Mare. This new fortress was still in its early stages, with two bastions, two curtains, and a cavalier yet to be built, when the French left in 1688 CE.

(23) The kris … is a small dagger of a foot to a foot and a half long, the blade of which is flat, and made more often in waves by the sides. It may have two fingers wide below the guard: from it diminishes little by little and terminates in a rather sharp point. There are some of these, whose blade is poisoned. This is done in two ways, or by mixing the poison in the tempering in which the iron is placed, so that the substance may be penetrated, and of these there are, so to speak, blade costs up to a thousand Ecus. It is true that they do considerable time in making these strong works. They observe certain superstitious moments in tempering: they strike a certain number of blows at certain days of the month to forge them: they interrupt their work for weeks together, and they spend a few times thus several times during a whole year making this chief of work of their diabolical art. The makers of Talismans keep less ceremony in the factory of their figures. This poison is so subtle, that it suffices for the Kris to make a slight scratch, and draw a drop of blood, to be in a short time carried to the heart. The only remedy, and what everybody says, is to eat as quickly as possible his own excrement, besides, a brave Malay and his Kris are inseparable. To render it is an unworthy affront among them: to draw it and not to kill anyone is a mark of cowardice.” (Tachard, 1689)

(24) We could ironically say that de Beauregard fell victim to the special spell which the Makassars put on their daggers. As recalled by Muhammad Rabi Ibn Muhammad Ibrahim: “Another effect of their spells is that while the dagger is in the possession of the owner, no thief or enemy is able to overcome him and if a stranger steals the dagger he only brings harm to himself.” (O’Kane, 2008) de Beauregard survived because of de Forbin, who 'restored his entrails to their place and sewed the wound up'. He was to succeed de Forbin as governor of Bangkok, and later Burnaby as governor of Mergui. (Smithies, 1996)

(25) Samuel White writes that it was de Forbin who ordered the setting of fire to the galley. (Anderson, 1890)

(26) The Chula Racha Montri, or Shaykh'ul Islam, was simultaneously the leader of the (Shiite) Muslim community, the adviser to the King on Islamic matters, and responsible for settling disputes among foreigners other than Chinese. [Chula = Shura (Islamic Council), Racha = Royal, M Adviser thus, Royal Adviser on the Islamic Council]. From the 17th century onwards, the Chula Rachamontri oversaw the Department of Western Maritime Affairs, known in Siam as the Krom Tha Khwa (Ministry of the Harbour of the Right). He appears in the Civil Hierarchy Law with a “Phra” rank and sakdina of 1400. The last Chula Rachamontri of the Ayutthayan era is buried at the Chao Kun Khu Cham graveyard along Khlong Khu Cham in Samphao Lom Sub-district of Ayutthaya. The office of the Chula Rachamontri remains in existence today.



(27) Edward Udall, in his letter to his brother, dates this event as 23 September. [Udall in Anderson, 1890)

(28) The horseshoe overlooking the Makassar Camp was probably Ko Rian (Rian Island).

(29) Written Yjoudal by Tachard - Henry Udall, an English captain of the ship HMS Herbert, arrived in the Bay of Siam on 23 August 1686, bearing a letter from King James II to Phaulkon, thanking him for the presents he had sent to the English Court in 1684-85, along with letters from George White to Phaulkon and to his brother Samuel. (Anderson, 1890)

(30) Likely the location of the King’s warships. This location can be found on Valentyn’s map “Groote Siamse Rievier Me-Nam Of Te Moeder Der Wateren In haren loop met de vallende Spruyten Verbeeld” under No 38 – “'S Konings werf.”

(31) François Martin, the director of the French outpost at Pondichéry, and not an eye-witness but informed by compatriots, wrote that it was said that some killed their mothers and their children while awaiting the second attack. [Ref: François Martin, Mémoires, 3 vols, 1932-34, in M. Smithies, “A Resounding Failure: Martin and the French in Siam 1672-1693,” 1998, 42-44, 48.]

(32) The present Chao Phraya River was actually the Lopburi River during the Ayutthaya era, which encircled the city of Ayutthaya. The route between Ayutthaya and the confluence at Bang Sai was sometimes called the Bangkok River, as the waterway followed the direction towards Bangkok.

(33) This location is marked on Valentyn’s map, “Groote Siamse Rievier Me-Nam Of Te Moeder Der Wateren In haren loop met de vallende Spruyten Verbeeld,” under No 39 - "The corner of the murdered Makassars.”

(34) In a letter from Fort St. George to Surat, dated 20th December, 1686, it is said that Coates “accidentally, runn into a Boggy place, where (being all in Armour), sunck down into it, and taken up dead.” (Hedges' Diary volume II page ccxc)

(35) Confirmed by Davenport's account, the letters of Edward Udall and White. (Anderson, 1890)

(36) Véret, the Director of the French East India Company (Compagnie Royale des Indes Orientales) in Ayutthaya from 1685 to 1688 CE. He was a former Parisian jeweller. Michael Smithies described him as “incompetent and probably venal.”

(37) See Yule H. & Burnell A.C. (1903), Hobson-Jobson, a glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and discursive - London, John Murray, Albemarle Street - pages 18-20.

(38) The Makassars had a fearsome reputation for ferocity in battle, especially due to the intake of opium and the “fury it inspires in an instant, which renders them very light and insensible to blows and, moreover, that marvellous skill which they have in throwing lances and spears, as well as to use the sabre and the kris.”

(39) A post-mortem examination was performed on Henry Udall's body at the Dutch Settlement by the Dutch doctor: “on the left side of the heve the bones broke with great contusion of the utmost parts the muscles of the neck wounded about the right ear, the fleshy part at the backside of the right upper arm cut off, the left Humerus bone above the abouemost Epiphisys broke by two bullets, the breast pierced in between the third and fourth rib on the right side and issuing on the left side between the 2 and 3 rib, hurted by 2 spats above the Os Sternum, the muscles of the belly about the place where the stomach lies pierced through and through and the back with 8 several wounds whereof one did penetrate above the second vertebra of the Raine.” Henry Udall was buried at the churchyard of the Dutch settlement in Ayutthaya, and his personal effects were sold locally, as witnessed by the bill of sale at the East India Company Office. (Anderson, 1890)

(40) Phraya Yommarat (Tachard writes Jumbarat) is the Chief Justice responsible for both civil and criminal affairs in the capital. He is one of the four pillars of the State known as the Chatustambha.

(41) The Mercure Galant 1687 (page 351) states it was Véret who shot the Makassar Prince.

(42) “Sombangku” was a term of address reserved for all the sovereigns of Makassar. When Europeans mentioned Sombanco at the time, they usually referred specifically to Hasanuddin. [Pelras]

(43) The gazette ‘Mercure Galant’ was published from 1672 to 1724 CE, with an interruption from 1674 to 77 CE, and continued as the 'Nouveau Mercure Galant' from 1677 to 1724 CE in France. The title was changed to Mercure de France in 1724 CE. The gazette was briefly suppressed under Napoleon from 1811 to 1815 CE and ceased publication in 1825 CE.



References:

[1] Villiers, John (1990) - One of the Especiallest Flowers in our Garden: The English Factory at Makassar, 1613-1667. In: Archipel, volume 39, 1990. pp. 159-178.
[2] Cummings, William (2007) - A Chain of Kings: The Makassarese Chronicles of Gowa and Talloq - KITLV Press - page 7.
[3] W. E. Van Dam Van Isselt - Mr. Johan Van Dam en zijne Tuchtiging van Makassar in 1660.
[4] Tachard, Guy (1689) - Second Voyage du Père Tachard et des Jésuites envoyez par le Roy au Royaume de Siam..., Paris, Horthemels - Livre III (pp.96-128).
[5] Valentijn, Francois (1726) - Oud En Nieuw Oost Indien - Vol 3.
[6] O'Kane, John (2008) - The Ship of Sulaiman - Routledge - The Macassar Revolt - page 136.
[7] Forbin, Claude (de) - The Siamese Memoirs of Count Claude de Forbin 1685-1688, introduced and edited by Michael Smithies, Chiangmai, Silkworm Books, 1996.
[8] Pelras, Christian (1998) - La conspiration des Makassar à Ayuthia en 1686: ses dessous, son échec, son leader malchanceux. Témoignages européens et asiatiques. In: Archipel, volume 56, 1998. L'horizon nousantarien. Mélanges en hommage à Denys Lombard (Volume I) pp. 163-198.
[9] Archives des Missions Etrangères, vol.879, p.520, cited by Adrien Launay, Histoire de la Mission de Siam 1662-1811 (Paris, Tequi, 1920), Documents, vol.1, pp.193-195.
[10] Anderson, John (1890) - English Intercourse with Siam in the Seventeenth Century, London, Kegan Paul White, Samuel, A letter dated 20th September 1686 (Julian), “Giving a full Account of the Late Rebellion made of the people of Macasser,” Udall, Edward, A letter dated 14 September 1686 (Julian) giving “An account of the Macassar insurrection of the 14th September, 1686” Petty, George - A letter dated 15th September 1686 (Julian) addressed to Joseph Rea, Captain of the Herbert Davenport, Francis - Historical Abstract, 14 (India Office EIC Charters and Pamphlets).
[11] Turpin, M. (1771) - History of the Kingdom of Siam - American Presby. Mission Press, Bangkok, 1908.
[12] Keijts, J. - Brief der opperkoopman J. Keijts aan den Hoog Edelen Heere Joannes Champhuys, Gouverneur-Generaal, en de E.E. Heeren Raden, wegens de Generaale Nederlandsche Compagnie in Indie van Siam, den 21 Oktober A° 1686. Koninklijk Rijksarchief (Den Haag), Archieven der VOC, Overgekommen brieven, vol. 318: 804-807.
[13] Le Blanc, Marcel - Histoire de la Révolution du Roiaume de Siam arrivée en l’année 1688, Lyon, H. Molin, 1692, 2 vols.
[14] Baker Chris & Phongpaichit Pasuk (2017) - A History of Ayutthaya: Siam in the Early Modern World - Cambridge University Press.
[15] Mercure Galant, Paris, October 1687 and Mars 1688.
[16] de Bèze, Claude - Mémoire du Père de Bèze sur la vie de Constance Phaulkon, premier ministre du roi de Siam, Phra Narai, et sa triste fin: Suivi de lettres et de documents d'archives de Constance Phaulkon. Publ. avec des notes par Jean Drans [et] Henri Bernard. - Presses salesiennes, 1947.



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