The year 1593, the place Nong Sarai in what is today modern Thailand. The event,

the last known elephant duel in history. Two noblemen armed to the teeth, riding pachyderms and doing their

utmost to kill the elephant rider across from them. By the late 16th century in Southeast Asia,

the elephant duel was a centuries-old tradition. A battle of champions,

which, if legend is to be believed, could stand in for full-scale pitched battles between

armies and could save thousands of lives. A commander on elephant back would represent his

entire force, with the agreement being that the

army of the losing rider would honorably accept the loss and retreat. But the duel of 1593,

the supposed last duel, was a little messy. The context for this last duel was the battle of Nong

Sorai, a showdown between two of the most formidable armies in 16th century Southeast Asia.

The larger force had come from Burma and was led by crown prince

Min Kizwa of the country's Tuangu dynasty. The opposing army was led by Noressawan, a man

formerly known as the Black Prince, but now sporting the title, King of Ayutthaya.

Ayutthaya was a prosperous Thai-speaking city, which at one time had been the capital of a

sizable Southeast Asian Empire. But as the Burmese kingdom started aggressively expanding

its empire in the 1500s, Ayutthya soon found itself paying tribute to its more

powerful neighbor. The Thai kingdom made several attempts to reassert its independence. But in 1569,

an overwhelming Burmese forest seized the capital of Ayutthaya, placing a hand-picked puppet king on

the throne and formally reducing the kingdom to a vassal state. As part of the surrender of Ayutthaya,

the king's two sons were sent to the Burmese capital to act as royal hostages, to hopefully

ensure the loyalty of the new Thai king.

These two Thai princes were Naresewan and his brother, Ikathotsoor, nicknamed the black

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