Nanda had inherited what was "probably the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia"[REF] and what the Portuguese regarded as "the most powerful monarchy in Asia except that of China" [REF].
The historian G.E. Harvey noted that Nanda was "saddled with an impossible legacy" of the holding the empire together, and his "one hope of keeping the country together was to evacuate Siam and retrench in every direction."[REF]