The Kingdom of Patani or the Sultanate of Patani Darussalam is an Islamic kingdom that was formed in the 14th century AD. Previously this kingdom was named Langkasuka. At first, Langkasuka was a Hindu kingdom, but during the heyday of Srivijaya, this region changed its style to become a Buddhist.
The kingdom of Langkasuka was in the interior, making trade and commerce difficult. Therefore, Phya Tuk Naqpa or Sultan Ismail Syah moved the capital of the Langkasuka Kingdom to the coast in the 14th century AD. He was the King who first embraced Islam and the person who opened the country of Patani.
The Kingdom of Patani was more advanced in commerce because it had a strategic location and a very supportive nature, its port made ships that came protected from waves and wind. The Kingdom of Patani reached its peak of glory when it was led by female kings, one of whom was the Purple King (1624-1635).
Patani’s Geographical Location
Patani is located in Southern Thailand and is geographically quite strategic. Muslim pockets in Thailand are located in the provinces of Patani, Yala, Satun, Narathiwat and Songkhla. The provinces are inhabited by 70-80% Muslims on average. In addition, Muslims are also scattered in several areas such as Pattalung, Krabi, and Nakorn Srithamarrat.
Islam entered Patani estimated around the 10th-11th century AD brought by Arab traders such as from Yemen, which since the time of the Prophet Muhammad has been a trading stopover. They are given the title “Khaek” by the Indigenous Thai people which means immigrants or people who come for a ride. Meanwhile, the process of religious conversion of the Patani population took place from the 12-15th century AD.
According to Hikayat Patani, Sheikh Said (from Pasai) who converted the king of Patani to Islam was also assigned to teach Islam there. The arrival of Islam brought many changes in aspects of thought, culture, language, education, and politics. Nevertheless, other activities that smell like heresy and Gujarat are still being carried out, so the culture of syncretism is still firmly attached.
After the development of Islam in Patani, the Port of Patani was able to attract the attention of merchants from the east such as Japan, China, Siam, and the Malay Archipelago. The port of Patani was more advanced after in 1511, Malacca fell to the Portuguese. Since then traders from Europe came to Southeast Asia, especially the Malay Archipelago, including Patani. This condition also stimulated the economic growth of the Patani population.
In 1516, Patani received the first visit of a Portuguese merchant ship with the permission of the sultan, this marked the beginning of European commerce in Patani.
The Peak of the Kingdom of Patani
The Kingdom of Patani reached its peak of glory when led by Kings of Women, starting from the Green King (1584-1616 AD), Blue King (1616-1624 AD), Purple King (1624-1635 AD), and Yellow King (1635-1688 AD). ). At first, Patani was led by a male king, but there was a murder incident involving members of the heir to the Patani royal throne. At that time, the king of Patani did not leave a male offspring, so finally, a woman was chosen to be king.
The reign of the female king cannot be underestimated, especially in the economic and political fields. This was due to trade relations with the Portuguese, Siamese, and Japanese.
During the reign of the female king, Patani began to cooperate with the Netherlands, England, and Japan (during the reign of Raja Hijau diplomatic relations were inaugurated).
In 1624, the Purple King ascended the throne in place of the Green King. The Purple King was previously the Empress of Pahang but returned to Patani after her husband died.
She is considered the most reliable and ambitious female king of Patani. His reign was not long. Patani experienced a major battle with Siam during his reign from in 1632-1634.
However, the defense of the city of Patani when ruled by the Purple King was superior because a fort was built around it, thus successfully defending its sovereignty.
The greatness of the Purple King also cannot be separated from his experience of living with the sultan of Pahang. The age of the Purple King when he ruled Patani was not young. This indicates that he has matured in running the wheels of government in Patani. Under his rule, Patani made progress in various fields.
This condition lasted until the reign of Raja Kuning so that in a relatively short time it was able to become a respected trading power in the Malay Peninsula area. Apart from Johor, no other country in the Eastern part of the Malay Peninsula has the same prosperity as Patani.
The collapse of the Patani Kingdom
The kingdom of Patani entered its decline phase at the end of the 17th century. At that time, the old King Kuning chose to resign from the government and took refuge in Gimbal City, which at that time was led by Sakti I Indra or Long Betong The Yellow King breathed his last, as well as marking the end of the Sari Wangsa lineage from the founder of Patani, Phaya Tu Nakba.
After the death of Ratu Kuning, Patani’s reign was then continued by the descendants of the Kelantan Kings and marked the start of the leadership of the Kelantan Dynasty.
In the early days of the three Kings of Kelantan—Raja Bakar, Raja Mas Kelantan, and Sultan Muhammad—Patani conditions were relatively safe because the Kingdom of Siam Thai was busy with the Burmese attack in 1767-1776 AD. by traders from Asia.
After the period of war between Burma and Siam ended, the Viceroy of Siam sent envoys to Patani. However, Sultan Muhammad had decided to reject all attempts made by Siam.
This refusal provoked a direct war between the two kingdoms, but due to inadequate preparation and poor weaponry, Patani was defeated in 1789. After that, the Sultanate Law was replaced by Siamese legislation and a sultan named Tengku Lamidin was appointed to replace him. Sultan Muhammad.
Even though he has become the King of Patani, Sultan Lamidin still has a sense of nationalism toward his homeland. Therefore, he sent envoys to the King of Annam (Vietnam) to cooperate against Siam.
Unfortunately, the letter that was supposed to be sent to the King of Annam, was instead given to the King of Siam. Of course, this angered the King of Siam. Finally, in 1791, the Kingdom of Siam re-attacked the Kingdom of Patani and elected Datuk Pangkalan as leader of Patani.
However, Datuk Pangkalan is also a rebellion. However, Datuk Pangkalan’s resistance was successfully crushed and marked the end of the leadership of the Malays over Patani.
To prevent a rebellion, the Kingdom of Siam finally placed a Siamese named Nai Khuan Sai as the leader of Patani. Not only that, in subsequent developments, Patani was divided into six regions, each of which had a leader. This is one of Siam’s attempts to break the unity of Patani.
Since the fall of the Patani Kingdom, the Siamese government implemented several policies that were detrimental to Patani Muslims. These policies aim to replace the cultural and religious identity of the Patani Malays with a Siamese cultural identity based on Buddhism.
