A Trengganu Leader of 1839 / Cyril Skinner

During the second half of the eighteenth century, Siam suffered a series of devastating Burmese raids which resulted in the overthrow of the Ayuthia Dynasty and set off a struggle for power among the kingdom's more powerful “barons”. The unity of the kingdom was eventually preserved and a new, “Bangkok”, dynasty established fairly securely upon the throne, but it was not until the end of the century that the Siamese were strong enough to turn their attention to the Malay States they claimed as their vassals.