Editing Photisarath (section)

{{single source|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name            =Photisarath I
| title           =King of Lan Xang
| image           =File:Phra_That_Phanom_02.jpg
| caption         =[[That Phanom]], then part of [[Lan Xang]], enhanced by Photisarath in 1539 during a pilgrimage
| succession      ={{hlist |[[List of kings of Laos|Monarchs of Lan Xang]]}}
| reign           =1520–1548
| coronation      =1520
| predecessor     =[[Visoun]]
| successor       =[[Setthathirath|Setthathirath I]]
| spouse          ={{unbulleted list}}
Queen Yot Kham Tip ([[Lan Na]])<br>Unnamed Queen ([[Ayutthaya Kingdom|Ayutthaya]])<br>Unnamed Queen ([[Khmer Empire|Khmer]])<br>Queen Kong Soi<br>Queen Keng ([[Muang Phuan]])<br>Queen Pak Thuoi Luong
| issue           ={{unbulleted list}}
Prince [[Setthathirath|Setthavangso]]<br>Prince Lankarnakaya<br>Prince Tharua<br>Prince Phya Asen<br>Princess Keo Koumane<br>Princess Taen Kam Lao<br>Princess Kamagayi<br>Princess Dharmagayi
| dynasty         =[[Khun Lo]]
| father          =[[Visoun]]
| mother          =
| religion        =[[Therevada Buddhism]]
| birth_name      =
| birth_date      =1501
| birth_place     =[[Muang Sua]], [[Lan Xang]]
| death_date      =1548
| death_place     =Xieng-Mai Nhotnakorn Palace, [[Vientiane]], [[Lan Xang]]
| date of burial  =
| place of burial =
| regnal name     =''Samdach Brhat-Anya Budhisara Maha Dharmikadasa Lankanakuna Maharaja Adipati Chakrapati Bhumina Narindra Raja Sri Sadhana Kanayudha''
|}}
'''Photisarath''' (also spelled '''Phothisarath''', '''Phothisarat''', or '''Potisarat''', {{langx|lo|ພະເຈົ້າໂພທິສະລາດ}}, 1501–1548), son of King [[Visoun]] of Lanxang, is considered to be the most devout of the [[Laos|Lao]] [[monarch|king]]s. He banned spirit worship and built temples upon the sites of spirit shrines. His elephant fell and crushed him while he sought to display his prowess to the diplomatic corps. His son [[Setthathirath]] returned from [[Chiang Mai]] to succeed him to the throne of [[Lan Xang]].

Phothisarath was ruler (1520–47) of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang whose territorial expansion embroiled Laos in the warfare that swept mainland [[Southeast Asia]] in the latter half of the 16th century. King [[Chairachathirat]] of the [[Ayutthaya Kingdom]] invaded Vientiane with a large army in 1540, captured [[Muang Khouk]] and crossed the [[Mekong]], but succumbed to a rout at the battle of Sala Kham, the remnants fleeing for their lives and leaving enormous casualties behind. Phothisarath himself allied himself with Burma, sent out 3 campaigns against the Ayutthaya Kingdom: the first to [[Phitsanulok]] in 1535, the second one to [[Vieng Prangarm]] in 1539, and third was sent in 1548 to [[Vieng Prab]] (now [[Sawangaburi]]) where he brought back 20,000 families to settle in the Lan Xang kingdom.

In 1548, following the ascension of King [[Maha Chakkraphat]] and queen [[Suriyothai]] to the [[Ayutthaya Kingdom]] throne, Burmese king [[Tabinshwehti]] planned an attack, starting the [[Burmese–Siamese War (1547–49)|Burmese–Siamese War]]. Tabinshwehti asked Phothisarath to attack Ayutthaya from the North which eventually resulted in the famous death of Suriyothai in defense of her husband.

Phothisarath was a pious Buddhist who worked to undermine [[animism]] and Brahmanic religious practices and promote [[Buddhism]]. In 1527, Phothisarath issued a decree proscribing the worship of [[animism]] as groundless superstition, and ordering their shrines to be destroyed and their altars thrown into the river.<ref>John Holt (2009). Page 60. Spirits of the Place: Buddhism and Lao Religious Culture. University of Hawaii Press.</ref> He resided much of the time not in the capital at [[Luang Prabang]] but in [[Vientiane]], which was located farther south and maintained better communications with the major states of the region. Phothisarath married a princess from [[Chiang Mai]] (now part of northern [[Thailand]]), and when his father-in-law [[Mueangketklao]], the ruler of [[Lan Na]] or Chiang Mai, died in 1546 without a male issue, Phothisarath's own son, [[Setthathirath]], was placed on the Chiang Mai throne. When Phothisarath died the following year, after a fatal accident while hunting wild elephants, Setthathirath succeeded him and joined together the two kingdoms—which were soon embroiled in [[Burmese–Siamese wars]] that would devastate much of the region over the next half-century.