General Desfarges

Last updated April 03, 2019

Marshal Desfarges, also spelled Des Farges (died 1690), was a French general of the 17th century who took an important role in French efforts at establishing a presence in Siam (modern Thailand).

Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and formerly known as Siam, is a country at the center of the Southeast Asian Indochinese peninsula composed of 76 provinces. At 513,120 km² (198,120 sq mi) and over 68 million people, Thailand is the world's 50th largest country by total area and the 21st-most-populous country. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, a special administrative area. Thailand is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Myanmar. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. Although nominally a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, the most recent coup in 2014 established a de facto military dictatorship.

Desfarges led two battalions (636 soldiers)^[1] on board five warships, in the second French embassy to Siam. The embassy to King Narai, under the special envoys Simon de la Loubère and Claude Céberet du Boullay, left France for Siam in March 1687.^[2] Desfarges had instructions to establish French troops in Mergui and Bangkok, if necessary by force.^[1]

King Narai the Great or Ramathibodi III was the 27th monarch of Ayutthaya Kingdom, the 4th and the last monarch of the Prasat Thong dynasty. He was the king of Ayutthaya Kingdom from 1656 to 1688 and arguably the most famous king of the Prasat Thong dynasty.

Simon de la Loubère was a French diplomat, writer, mathematician and poet.

Claude Céberet du Boullay (1647–1702) was a 17th-century French diplomat who participated in the La Loubère-Céberet embassy as "envoy extraordinary" to the kingdom of Siam in 1687. He was co-representative of the mission with the diplomat Simon de la Loubère.

The disembarkment of Desfarges troops in Bangkok and the troops of his officer du Bruant in Mergui led to strong nationalistic movements in Siam directed by Phra Petratcha and ultimately resulted in the 1688 Siamese revolution in which King Narai died, Constantine Phaulkon was executed, and Phra Petratcha became king.

Bangkok is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand, and has a population of over eight million, or 12.6 percent of the country's population. Over fourteen million people lived within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region at the 2010 census, making Bangkok the nation's primate city, significantly dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in terms of importance.

Constantine Phaulkon, also known as Κωσταντής Γεράκης or Costantin Gerachi, Constantino Falcão in Portuguese and simply as Monsieur Constance in French, was a Greek adventurer, who became prime counsellor to King Narai of Ayutthaya, assuming the Thai noble title Chao PhrayaWichayen (เจ้าพระยาวิชาเยนทร์).

Desfarges, when he learned of the crisis, started to move his troops to the capital Lopburi at the request of Phaulkon, but then retreated back to Bangkok when he learned of the king's death on July 11, 1688. Phaulkon was arrested, tortured and executed by the insurgents.^[4] In June, the French troops in Mergui had to be evacuated, and in September, Desfarges, besieged in Bangkok, negotiated for his troops to be evacuated to Pondicherry after the four month Siege of Bangkok. He had, however, to leave his two sons and the Roman Catholic Bishops of the country as hostages.^[5]

Lopburi is the capital city of Lopburi Province in Thailand. It is about 150 kilometres (93 mi) northeast of Bangkok. As of 2006 it had a population of 26,500. The town covers the whole tambon Tha Hin and parts of Thale Chup Son of Mueang Lopburi District, a total area of 6.85 km².

Puducherry, formerly known as Pondicherry, is a union territory in India. It was formed out of four exclaves of former French India, namely Pondichéry, Karikal (Karaikal), Mahé and Yanam (Yanam). It is named after the largest district, Puducherry. Historically known as Pondicherry (Pāṇṭiccēri), the territory changed its official name to Puducherry (Putuccēri) on 20 September 2006.

The Siege of Bangkok was a key event of the Siamese revolution of 1688, in which the Kingdom of Siam ousted the French from Siam. Following a coup d'état, in which the pro-Western king Narai was replaced by Phetracha, Siamese troops besieged the French fortress in Bangkok for four months. The Siamese were able to muster about 40,000 troops, equipped with cannon, against the entrenched 200 French troops, but the military confrontation proved inconclusive. Tensions between the two belligerents progressively subsided, and finally a negotiated settlement was reached allowing the French to leave the country.

In the latter part of 1689, Desfarges captured the island of Phuket in an attempt to restore French control.^[1]

Phuket is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands off its coast. It lies off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Phuket Island is connected by the Sarasin Bridge to Phang Nga Province to the north. The next nearest province is Krabi, to the east across Phang Nga Bay.

Desfarges finally returned to Pondicherry with his men in February 1690. Part of his troops remained in Pondicherry to strengthen the French presence there.

Desfarges left in March 1690, but died of illness on his way back to France on board the Oriflamme. He was widely attacked for his role in the Siamese debacle. His own version of the events was published anonymously in 1691.^[6]

The French commander Abraham Duquesne-Guiton would be involved with Siam in 1691.

Notes

1 2 3 Hall, Daniel George Edward (1955). A History of South-east Asia. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 307. ISBN 978-0-312-38641-2.
↑ Smithies (2002)
↑ Smithies 2002 Revolution, p.95-96
↑ Thailand, the New Siam, p.182, by Virginia Thompson, Virginia McLean Thompson (1941) The Macmillan company
↑ Tate, p.503
↑ Lach, p.426

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Myeik, is a city in Tanintharyi Region in Myanmar (Burma), located in the extreme south of the country on the coast of an island on the Andaman Sea. As of 2010 the estimated population was over 209,000. The area inland from the city is a major smuggling corridor into Thailand. The Singkhon Pass, also known as the Maw-daung Pass, has an international cross-border checkpoint.

Phetracha was a king of the Ayutthaya kingdom in Thailand, usurping the throne from his predecessor King Narai and founding the Ban Phlu Luang dynasty, the final one of the Ayutthaya kingdom. Originally a member of king Narai's extended family, he was a trusted councilor of Narai, and leader of the Royal Elephant Corps. However, in 1688 he led the Siamese revolution of 1688, had Narai's heirs executed, and by marrying Narai's only daughter took the throne of Ayutthaya kingdom upon Narai's death. He reversed the pro-Western policies of Narai, ejecting foreigners from the kingdom, and launched the Siege of Bangkok, to exile all French troops from Siam. As a result, Siam stayed isolated from Western contact until the 19th century.

Guy Tachard (1651–1712), also known as Père Tachard, was a French Jesuit missionary and mathematician of the 17th century, who was sent on two occasions to the Kingdom of Siam by Louis XIV. He was born in Marthon, near Angoulême.

Ok-khun Chamnan Chaichong was a Siamese diplomat who visited France and Rome on an embassy in 1688. He was preceded by the embassy of Kosa Pan in 1686.

Pan was a Siamese diplomat and minister who led the second Siamese embassy to France sent by King Narai in 1686. He was preceded to France by the first Siamese embassy to France, which had been composed of two Siamese ambassadors and Father Bénigne Vachet, who had left Siam for France on January 5, 1684. He was a nephew of King Ekathotsarot and a great grandfather of King Rama I, the founder of the Chakri Dynasty. His older brother, Lek (เหล็ก), also held the post of foreign minister before him.

France–Thailand relations cover a period from the 16th century until modern times. Relations started in earnest during the reign of Louis XIV of France with numerous reciprocal embassies and a major attempt by France to Christianize the kingdom of Thailand and establish a French protectorate, which failed when the country revolted against foreign intrusions in 1688. France would only return more than a century and a half later as a modernised colonial power, engaging in a struggle for territory and influence against Thailand in mainland Southeast Asia that would last until the 20th century.

The Siamese revolution of 1688 was a major popular upheaval in the Siamese Ayutthaya Kingdom which led to the overthrow of the pro-French Siamese king Narai. The Mandarin Phetracha, previously one of Narai's trusted military advisors, took advantage of the elderly Narai's illness, and killed Narai's Christian heir, along with a number of missionaries and Narai's influential foreign minister the Greek adventurer Constantine Phaulkon. Phetracha then married Narai's daughter, took the throne, and pursued a policy of ousting French influence and military forces from Siam. One of the most prominent battles was 1688's Siege of Bangkok, when tens of thousands of Siamese forces spent four months besieging a French fortress within the city. As a consequence of the revolution, Siam severed significant ties with the West, with the exception of the Dutch East India Company, until the 19th century.

René Charbonneau was 17th century French medical missionary friar and a member of the Siam mission of the Société des Missions Etrangères. He was the first medical missionary to Siam. He arrived in the country in 1677.

Maria Guyomar de Pina or Thao Thong Kip Ma, also known as Maria Guiomar de Pina, Dona Maria del Pifia or as Marie Guimar and Madame Constance in French, was a Siamese woman of mixed Japanese-Portuguese-Bengali ancestry who lived in Ayutthaya in the 17th century. She became the wife of Greek adventurer Constantine Phaulkon.

The Chevalier de Beauregard (c.1665–c.1692) was a 17th-century French officer who was active in Siam. He became Governor of Bangkok and Mergui, but was eventually captured by the Siamese during the 1688 Siamese revolution.

Pierre d'Espagnac, sometimes Pierre d'Espagnal (1650–1689) was a French Jesuit missionary in Siam during the 17th century.

Louis Laneau was a French bishop of the 17th century who was active in the kingdom of Siam. He was a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He was initially nominated as the replacement of Mgr Ignace Cotolendi in charge of Nankin.

The Siamese embassy to France in 1686 was the second such mission from the Kingdom of Siam. The embassy was sent by King Narai and led by ambassador Kosa Pan. This embassy was preceded by the First Siamese Embassy to France, composed of two Siamese ambassadors and Father Bénigne Vachet, who had left Siam for France on January 5, 1684.

Bilateral relations between Thailand and the United Kingdom date to the 17th century. Thailand has an embassy in London and the UK has an embassy in Bangkok.

The Anglo-Siamese War was a brief state of war that existed between the East India Company and Kingdom of Siam in 1687–88. Siam officially declared war against the Company in August 1687. No peace treaty was ever signed to end the war, but the Siamese revolution of 1688 rendered the issue moot.

References

Lach, Donald F. (1998) Asia in the Making of Europe University of Chicago Press ISBN 0-226-46765-1
Smithies, Michael (2002), Mission Made Impossible: The Second French Embassy to Siam, 1687 Silkworm Books, Thailand ISBN 974-7551-61-6
Smithies, Michael (2002), Three Military Accounts of the 1688 "Revolution" in Siam, Itineria Asiatica, Orchid Press, Bangkok, ISBN 974-524-005-2
Smithies, Michael (1999), A Siamese embassy lost in Africa 1686, Silkworm Books, Bangkok, ISBN 974-7100-95-9
Tate, D. J. M. (1979) The Making of Modern South-East Asia, Oxford University Press

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[Hall-1] 1 2 3 Hall, Daniel George Edward (1955). A History of South-east Asia. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 307. ISBN 978-0-312-38641-2.

[2] Smithies (2002)

[3] Smithies 2002 Revolution, p.95-96

[4] Thailand, the New Siam, p.182, by Virginia Thompson, Virginia McLean Thompson (1941) The Macmillan company

[5] Tate, p.503

[6] Lach, p.426

General Desfarges

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