Today we are traveling to the Far East. Some 6,300 miles from the UK is the Kingdom of

Paternary in southern Thailand. Located on the middle of the long east coast of the Malay Peninsula,

early modern Paternary was in the Malay Sultanate which means it was ruled by a Sultan devoted

to Islam. The capital city of the Malay Sultanate was Malaka, around 500 miles south of Patani.

Patani was a port city and thanks to a trade boom in Southeast Asia in the early modern period,

the city was growing. In 1511 the Portuguese had captured Malaka, so Patani grew in importance

and became a centre of trade and spices and luxury goods for Muslims. Over the course of

the 16th century, Patani developed connections with China, Japan, Java and Europe and its

population grew to 40 or 50,000, broadly equivalent to England's second largest city at the time,

Norwich. It was during this period of growth of change that our story has set. In 1572, following

the death of the Sultan Manzor Saya and more than a decade of ensuing chaos, a new dynasty took

the throne in 1584, a dynasty of women. These queens of Patani would rule for over 100 years.

So, how did female rule become institutionalized in Patani? Was female royal power successful?

Did the queens face significant challenges because of their gender? And why did the dynasty decline?

Here to guide us in today's exploration is Professor Stefan Amaral. Seven Amaral is professor

of global history at Lyoness University and the director of its centre for concurrences in colonial

and post-colonial studies. Professor Amaral is also the president of the Swedish Historical Association.

His research interests include colonialism and decolonisation, political culture and democracy

in South East Asia, piracy and maritime security in global historical perspective and female

political leadership in world history. In particular today, we will be discussing his work, the blessings

and perils of female rule, new perspectives on the reigning queens of Patani, 1584 to 1718.

Professor Amaral, thank you so much for joining me to talk about the reigning queens of Patani.

...