The Story of Thai King’s Elephant

The Story of Thai King’s Elephant

Since i was a child, ‘King Naresuan and the elephants battle’ was one of the most famous story that Thai people in every generation must know about. “King Naresuan is known in Thailand for his 1593 elephant duel with Crown Prince Mingyi Swa.

During the battle, in January 1593, the war elephants of Naresuan, Chaophraya Chaiyanuphap, and Ekathotsarot, Chaophraya Prap Traichak, were “in musth” and charged into the midst of the Burmese, with only a handful to Siamese being able to follow them in.

According to Damrong’s reconstruction, Naresuan, seeing Mingyi Swa on an elephant under a tree, shouted, “My brother, why do you stay on your elephant under the shade of a tree? Why not come out and engage in single combat to be an honour to us? There will be no kings in future who will engage in single combat like us. T

he personal battle between Naresuan and Mingyi Swa was a highly romanticized historical scene known as the “Elephant Battle” Thank you good information from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naresuan

Brief history of elephant duels

About the elephant duel combat of the king on elephant’s back. History recorded the employment of elephants in warfare as early as 200 or 300 years before Christ in Ptolemaic Egypt and in Carthage.

The huge African animals played a notable role in Hannibal’s invasion of Italy in 218 B.C. In Asia, elephants were first employed in India, where the elephant corps served as one of the powerful weapons of the Indian Army.

In ancient Thailand, elephants occupied a very prominent role in battles. Almost all the famous Thai kings in history were great warriors on elephant back.

King Ramkhamhaeng, King Naresuan and King Narai were the most outstanding examples. Nowadays murals depicting battles on elephant back still exist mostly in temples.

Thank you good information from https://www.thaiwaysmagazine.com/thai_article/2417_elephant/elephant.html

 

 

 

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