Rama I

  • Phutthayotfa Chulalok
  • พุทธยอดฟ้าจุฬาโลก
King Rama I
Portrait at the Grand Palace, Bangkok
King of Siam
Reign6 April 1782 – 7 September 1809
Coronation
  • 10 June 1782 (1st)
  • 17 June 1785 (2nd)
PredecessorTaksin (as King of Thonburi)
SuccessorPhutthaloetla Naphalai (Rama II)
Viceroy
Deputy viceroyAnurak Devesh
Born(1737-03-20)20 March 1737
Ayutthaya, Ayutthaya
Died7 September 1809(1809-09-07) (aged 72)
Bangkok, Siam
Burial
Wat Pho, Bangkok
Spouse
Issue21 sons and 21 daughters, including:
HouseChakri dynasty
FatherThongdi (later Somdet Phra Pathom Borom Maha Chanok)
MotherDaoreung (Yok; later Phra Akkhara Chaya)
ReligionTheravada Buddhism
Seal

Phra Bat Somdet Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok Maharat (Thai: พระบาทสมเด็จพระพุทธยอดฟ้าจุฬาโลกมหาราช, 20 March 1737 – 7 September 1809), personal name Thongduang (ทองด้วง), also known as Rama I, was the founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom and the first monarch of the reigning Chakri dynasty of Siam (now Thailand). His full title in Thai is Phra Bat Somdet Phra Paramoruracha Mahachakkriborommanat Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok (พระบาทสมเด็จพระปรโมรุราชามหาจักรีบรมนารถ พระพุทธยอดฟ้าจุฬาโลก). He ascended the throne in 1782, following the deposition of King Taksin of Thonburi. He was also celebrated as the founder of Rattanakosin (now Bangkok) as the new capital of the reunited kingdom.

Rama I, whose given name was Thongduang, was born from a Mon male line descent family, great-grandson of Kosa Pan. His father served in the royal court of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Thongduang and his younger brother Boonma served King Taksin in wars against the Burmese Konbaung dynasty and helped him in the reunification of Siam. During this time he emerged as Siam's most powerful military leader. Thongduang was the first Somdet Chao Phraya, the highest rank the nobility could attain, equaled to that of royalty. In 1782, he took control of Siam and crowned himself as the monarch. The most famous event in his reign was the Burmese–Siamese War of 1785–86, which was the last major Burmese assault on Siam.

Rama I's reign marked a revival of Siamese culture and state organization following the collapse of the Siamese kingdom in 1767, whose capital was then situated at Ayutthaya. He established a new purified Buddhist sect which allied and tied together Buddhism and the monarchy. Rama I consolidated and expanded on Taksin's military campaigns throughout Mainland Southeast Asia, whose mandala in 1809 stretched as far North and South as the Shan States and the Northern Malay Peninsula and as far East as the Annamite Range, respectively. His reign also marked the beginning of a new "Golden Age of Culture", which continued in the footsteps of the blossoming of the arts during the Late Ayutthaya Period.[1][2]

  1. ^ Wyatt, David K. (2003). Thailand: A Short History. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-08475-7.
  2. ^ Baker, Chris; Phongpaichit, Pasuk (2017). A History of Ayutthaya. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-19076-4.

© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search