Patani History
Title: Pattani in Modern History
Word Count: approximately 2500
Pattani in Modern History
Pattani is the most well-known province in the southernmost Thailand in which its majority population is Malay Muslim. The history of Greater Patani (Malay spelling) dated back to the 9th century when the dominant cultures were Hinduism and Buddhism before converting to Islam around the fourteenth century and became a vassal state under Ayutthaya Kingdom. The Sunni-Malay Muslims of the South never assimilated into the Siamese/Thai world. Unlike the Shiite-Muslims who came from Arab and Persia in the seventeenth century, they engaged mainly in trade and commerce in urban settlements and were successfully assimilated into the noble class of Siamese by marriage and by serving the Siamese monarchs from the Ayutthaya in the 17th century down to the Bangkok kingdoms in the 18th century. Siamese Kings usually appointed the leader of the Muslim community in central Siam to be Chularajmontri (Sheikhul Islam) overseeing the activities of the Thai-Muslims in the kingdom.
Formerly, the Malay Muslim territories in the Northern part of the Malay Peninsula were ruled under Islamic Malay Sultanates; Narathiwat and Yala under the Sultanate of Patani and Satun under the Kedah Sultanate. Patani kingdom (c1350-1909) was the largest and most populous among the Malay principalities. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Patani was an important port-city conducting trade between European and Arab traders as well as Indian and Japanese merchants. Reputed with many Islamic scholars, Patani was also known as the “cradle of Islam in Southeast Asia.” Even though, Patani throughout its history was a vassal of the Siamese court from Ayutthaya (1350-1676) to Bangkok (1783-1909), its rajas or kings were able to maintain an autonomous role in the government and financial administration of its kingdom and people. Because of the long distance and indirect rule by Siamese
Word Count: approximately 2500
Pattani in Modern History
Pattani is the most well-known province in the southernmost Thailand in which its majority population is Malay Muslim. The history of Greater Patani (Malay spelling) dated back to the 9th century when the dominant cultures were Hinduism and Buddhism before converting to Islam around the fourteenth century and became a vassal state under Ayutthaya Kingdom. The Sunni-Malay Muslims of the South never assimilated into the Siamese/Thai world. Unlike the Shiite-Muslims who came from Arab and Persia in the seventeenth century, they engaged mainly in trade and commerce in urban settlements and were successfully assimilated into the noble class of Siamese by marriage and by serving the Siamese monarchs from the Ayutthaya in the 17th century down to the Bangkok kingdoms in the 18th century. Siamese Kings usually appointed the leader of the Muslim community in central Siam to be Chularajmontri (Sheikhul Islam) overseeing the activities of the Thai-Muslims in the kingdom.
Formerly, the Malay Muslim territories in the Northern part of the Malay Peninsula were ruled under Islamic Malay Sultanates; Narathiwat and Yala under the Sultanate of Patani and Satun under the Kedah Sultanate. Patani kingdom (c1350-1909) was the largest and most populous among the Malay principalities. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Patani was an important port-city conducting trade between European and Arab traders as well as Indian and Japanese merchants. Reputed with many Islamic scholars, Patani was also known as the “cradle of Islam in Southeast Asia.” Even though, Patani throughout its history was a vassal of the Siamese court from Ayutthaya (1350-1676) to Bangkok (1783-1909), its rajas or kings were able to maintain an autonomous role in the government and financial administration of its kingdom and people. Because of the long distance and indirect rule by Siamese
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