Borommarachathirat IV (; also spelt Borom Rachathirat IV), also known as Borommaracha No Phutthangkun (; also spelt Borom Racha No Buddhakura), born Athittayawong (), was the short-reigning king of

Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locall ...

from 1529 to 1533.

Life and reign

Borommarachathirat was born Prince Athittayawong to

Ramathibodi II Chettathirat (, ) or (upon accession to the Ayutthayan throne) Ramathibodi II (; 1472/73 – July/10 October 1529) was the King of Sukhothai from 1485 and King of Ayutthaya from 1491 to 1529. His reign was marked by the first Western Contact wit ...

in 1488. He was named ''

uparaja Uparaja is a noble title reserved for the viceroy in India and the Buddhist dynasties in Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, as well as some of their minor tributary kingdoms. It is ultimately from Sanskrit उपराज ''upa- rāja'' equivalent ...

'' (

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

and

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

) at

Phitsanulok Phitsanulok (, ) is a city municipality in northern Thailand and the capital of Phitsanulok province. It had a city population of 60,827 and an urban population of approximately 200,000 in 2024, making it Thailand's 19th-most populous city p ...

in 1515. Following his father's death, Athittayawong succeeded the throne as Borommarachathirat IV. He appointed his brother, Prince Chairachathirat, as ''uparaja''. Borommarachathirat died abruptly in 1533 due to a

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

; however, counter to the tradition established by the

Front Palace Krom Phra Ratchawang Bowon Sathan Mongkhon , colloquially known as the Front Palace (, ), was the title of the ''uparaja'' of Siam, variously translated as "viceroy", "vice king" or "Lord/Prince of the Front Palace", as the titleholder resided ...

system, the throne passed not to the ''uparaja'' but to Borommarachathirat's five-year-old son, who would rule as

Ratsadathirat Ratsadathirat (, ) was the twelfth king of Ayutthaya, an ancient kingdom in Thailand. He was a son of Borommarachathirat IV and succeeded his father to the throne of Ayutthaya at the age of five in 895 LE (2076 BE, 1533/34 CE). The following ...

.Rajanubhab, D., 2001, Our Wars With the Burmese, Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd., Chakrabongse, C., 1960, Lords of Life, London: Alvin Redman Limited

Ancestry

References

16th-century Thai people 16th-century monarchs in Asia Kings of Ayutthaya Princes of Ayutthaya Suphannaphum dynasty 1533 deaths Deaths from smallpox Infectious disease deaths in Thailand {{Thailand-royal-stub