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Cambodian–Spanish War

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Cambodian–Iberian War
Date1593–1597
Location
Cambodia, Phnom Penh
Result

Spanish Defeat

•Cambodia remains as a Siamese vassal

• Spanish Empire fails to make Cambodia a protectorate
Belligerents
Kingdom of Cambodia
Supported by:
Ayutthaya Kingdom
Johor Sultanate
Kingdom of Champa

Spanish Empire

Commanders and leaders
Preah Ram I †
Preah Ram II †
Laksamana
Naresuan the Great
Ali Jalla Abdul Jalil Shah II
Po Klong Halau		 Luis Pérez Dasmariñas
Gregorio Vargas Machuca
Blas Ruiz de Hernán Gonzáles
Portugal Diogo Veloso
Satha I
Barom Reachea II Executed
Strength
Siamese, Cambodian, Malay, and Cham forces Cambodian, Spanish, Mexican, Portuguese, Filipino, and Japanese forces
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The Cambodian–Iberian War (Spanish: Guerra Ibero-Camboyana; Filipino: Digmaang Kambodyano-Espanyol; Khmer: សង្គ្រាមកម្ពុជា-អេស្ប៉ាញ)[1] (1593-1597) was an attempt to conquer Cambodia on behalf of King Satha I and Christianize Cambodia's population by the Spanish and Portuguese Empires.[2] Along with the Spanish, Filipinos, Mexican recruits, and Japanese mercenaries participated in the invasion of Cambodia.[3]

Background

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Each country that participated in the war possessed different motives for their invasion of Cambodia. Specifically, the Siamese (Thai) interference and the Spanish expedition was a result of a power struggle between rival factions in Cambodia's government.[4] Both Spanish and Portuguese took part in the invasion of Cambodia because King Philip II ruled both Spain and Portugal as the Iberian Union.[5]

In February 1593, Siamese ruler Naresuan attacked Cambodia.[6] Later on, in May 1593, 100,000 Siamese soldiers invaded Cambodia.[7] The increasing Siamese expansion, which later got the approval of China, drove the Cambodian king Satha I to search for allies overseas, ultimately finding it in Portuguese adventurer Diogo Veloso and his Spanish associates Blas Ruiz de Hernán Gonzáles and Gregorio Vargas Machuca.[8]

The Iberians tried to bring reinforcements from Portuguese Malacca, but were unsuccessful, and the same happened in the Spanish Philippines, where governor Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas rejected an alliance with Cambodia, preferring the option to try to arbitrate the conflict with Siam. In reality, Dasmariñas was likely more interested in a campaign in the Moluccas. As a consequence, the Siamese conquered Longvek in July 1594, and Satha was executed or fled to Laos.[8]

The three Iberians, now accompanied by Pantaleón Carnero and Antonio Machado, were captured and sent to Siam. However, Veloso and Vargas convinced Naresuan to send them as emissaries to Manila, where they escaped, while Ruiz and the rest managed to seize the junk that carried them as prisoners. They all reunited in Manila, where they organized a military expedition.[8]

Conflict

[edit]

The first Spanish expedition arrived in 1596 in three ships under the command of Juan Juárez Gallinato, having 140 Spanish soldiers and some Philippine islanders and Japanese Christian mercenaries. Gallinato's ship was driven away by a storm, but the other two, commanded by Ruiz and Veloso, reached Cambodia, where they learned the throne had been taken by the king's former vassal Preah Ram I. The presence of the Iberians became troublesome after they clashed with and defeated a force of 2000 Chinese, and in view of the king's hostility, Veloso advised the expedition to assault his palace and capture him. The assault was unsuccessful, as the king died, and the expedition was forced to rejoin Gallinato and escape. Gallinato then ordered the fleet to search for allies in Laos, but their failure forced them away, and the expedition disbanded shortly after.[8][9]

In October of the same year, Ruiz and Veloso found an heir to Satha, his second son Barom Reachea II, who was supported by Laos. With their help, the young king invaded Cambodia and was enthroned in May 1597.[10] The king granted the Iberians territorial rights over two provinces on the east and west sides of the Mekong River.[11] Veloso later secured permission and funds to build a fort, but the situation was still unstable. In 1599, he commanded four ships from Manila but two of them were wrecked in a storm.[11] The Malay Muslim admiral Laksamana, who opposed the Iberians, took advantage of the situation to provoke an attack on one of their men, Luis Ortiz. The Spaniards retaliated by attacking a Malay camp,[12] but Malays, Chams and their allies attacked and slaughtered the Spaniards and Portuguese, including Diogo Veloso.[13][14] Only a few Filipinos and one Spaniard survived the massacre.[15]

Because of the defeat, the Spanish plan for the Christianization of Cambodia failed.[16] Laksamana later had Barom Reachea II executed. Cambodia became dominated by the Siamese in July 1599.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Tony Jaques (1 January 2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. xxxvi–. ISBN 978-0-313-33537-2.
  2. ^ Daniel George Edward Hall (1981). History of South-East Asia. Macmillan Press. p. 281. ISBN 978-0-333-24163-9.
  3. ^ "The Spanish Plan to Conquer China - Conquistadors in the Philippines, Hideyoshi, the Ming Empire and more".
  4. ^ Peter Church (3 February 2012). A Short History of South-East Asia. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 24–. ISBN 978-1-118-35044-7.
  5. ^ Arthur Cotterell (4 August 2011). Western Power in Asia: Its Slow Rise and Swift Fall, 1415 - 1999. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 35–. ISBN 978-1-118-16999-5.
  6. ^ Daniel George Edward Hall (1981). History of South-East Asia. Macmillan Press. p. 299. ISBN 978-0-333-24163-9.
  7. ^ George Childs Kohn (31 October 2013). Dictionary of Wars. Routledge. pp. 445–. ISBN 978-1-135-95494-9.
  8. ^ a b c d Rodao, Florentino (1997). Españoles en Siam, 1540-1939: una aportación al estudio de la presencia hispana en Asia. Editorial CSIC. pp. 11-. ISBN 978-8-400-07634-4.
  9. ^ Daniel George Edward Hall (1981). History of South-East Asia. Macmillan Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-333-24163-9.
  10. ^ Daniel George Edward Hall (1981). History of South-East Asia. Macmillan Press. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-333-24163-9.
  11. ^ a b Smith, T. O. (2018). Cambodia and the West, 1500-2000. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-137-55531-1.
  12. ^ Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: P-Z. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 794. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5.
  13. ^ Ben Kiernan (1 October 2008). Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur. Yale University Press. pp. 139–. ISBN 978-0-300-13793-4.
  14. ^ Ainslie Thomas Embree; Robin Jeanne Lewis (1988). Encyclopedia of Asian history. Scribner. p. 185. ISBN 9780684189017.
  15. ^ Arthur Cotterell (15 July 2014). A History of South East Asia. Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd. pp. 178–. ISBN 978-981-4634-70-0.
  16. ^ Milton Osborne (4 September 2008). Phnom Penh: A Cultural History. Oxford University Press. pp. 44–. ISBN 978-0-19-971173-4.
  17. ^ Donald F. Lach; Edwin J. Van Kley (1998). A Century of Advance. University of Chicago Press. pp. 1147–. ISBN 978-0-226-46768-9.
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