At some time in this period the centre of the Thai empire changed but divergent views have been held as to the date[208] and character of this event.  It would appear that in 1350 a Siamese subsequently known as King Ramadhipati, a descendant of an ancient line of Thai princes, founded Ayuthia as a rival to Sukhothai.  The site was not new, for it had long been known as Dvaravati and seems to be mentioned under that name by I-Ching (c. 680), but a new city was apparently constructed.  The evidence of inscriptions indicates that Sukhothai was not immediately subdued by the new kingdom and did not cease to be a royal residence for some time.  But still Ayuthia gradually became predominant and in the fifteenth century merited the title of capital of Siam.

Its rise did not affect the esteem in which Buddhism was held, and it must have contained many great religious monuments.  The jungles which now cover the site of the city surround the remnants of the Wat Somarokot, in which is a gigantic bronze Buddha facing with scornful calm the ruin which threatens him.  The Wat Chern, which lies at some distance, contains another gigantic image.  A curious inscription[209] engraved on an image of Siva found at Sukhothai and dated 1510 A.D. asserts the identity of Buddhism and Brahmanism, but the popular feeling was in favour of the former.  At Ayuthia the temples appear to be exclusively Buddhist and at Lophburi ancient buildings originally constructed for the Brahmanic cult have been adapted to Buddhist uses.  It was in 1602 that the mark known as the footprint of Buddha was discovered at the place now called Phra-bat.

Ayuthia was captured by the Burmese in 1568 and the king was carried into captivity but the disaster was not permanent, for at the end of the century the power of the Siamese reached its highest point and their foreign relations were extensive.  We hear that five hundred Japanese assisted them to repulse a Burmese attack and that there was a large Japanese colony in Ayuthia.  On the other hand when Hideyoshi invaded Korea in 1592, the Siamese offered to assist the Chinese.  Europeans appeared first in 1511 when the Portuguese took Malacca.  But on the whole the dealings of Siam with Europe were peaceful and both traders and missionaries were welcomed.  The most singular episode in this international intercourse was the career of the Greek adventurer Constantine Phaulcon who in the reign of King Narai was practically Foreign Minister.  In concert with the French missionaries he arranged an exchange of embassies (1682 and 1685) between Narai and Louis XIV, the latter having been led to suppose that the king and people of Siam were ready to embrace Christianity.  But when the French envoys broached the subject of conversion, the king replied that he saw no reason to change the religion which his countrymen had professed for two thousand years, a chronological statement which it might be hard to substantiate.  Still, great facilities