Rama (Kings of Thailand)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The kings in the current Chakri dynasty of Thailand are often referred to as Rama followed by Roman ordinalin English translation. The name Rama was adopted from the name of the Hindu god Rama, an avatar ofVishnu.

The use of the name "Rama 'n'th" is in line with Thai practice of giving numbers to the king in the currentdynasty. However, the translation was not exact and can give rise to some confusion as to whether this wasactually the name adopted by the king on coronation.

Contents

1 History2 Chakri Kings of Thailand3 See also4 References5 External links

History

While "Rama" was used as a title for all the kings, it was not always taken on as the name. In the presentdynasty the king who called himself Rama was Phra Mongkutklao or King Vajiravudh, who was the sixth toreign. His reigning title was Phra Mongkutklao Chaoyuhua; later in his reign, he preferred to style himself asPhra Ram thi Hok (พระรามที�หก lit. Rama VI). It was presumed that he was influenced by the Europeanpractice of numbering the rulers with similar names while he studied in England.

This quite conveniently coincided with another practice of the Thai people. Traditionally, the name of the kingis sacred and would not normally be said. Instead people would refer to the king by other words — these daysNai Luang or Phra Chao Yu Hua. When King Phutthayotfa Chulalok founded the dynasty, he was commonlyreferred to as Phan Din Ton (แผน่ดนิตน้ lit. 'the First Reign'); and when his son inherited the throne, he wasreferred to as Phan Din Klang (แผน่ดนิกลาง lit. 'the Middle Reign'). This then became awkward when PrinceJessadabodindra (King Nangklao) became the third king, as the obvious referral would then be Phan Din Plai(แผน่ดนิปลาย lit. 'the Last Reign') — which did not sound very auspicious. He decided to give the namesPhutthayotfa Chulalok and Buddha Loedla Nabhalai, after the names of two Buddha statues, to his twopredecessors. He was then posthumously given the name "Nang Klao" by his successor, King Mongkut, whoalso tried to establish more systematic royal nomenclature. Later historians would refer to King Nang Klao'sreign as Ratchakan thi Sam (รัชกาลที� 3, lit. 'the third reign'). This was probably becoming more prominent dueto Western influences on Thailand during the reigns of Mongkut and his son, Chulalongkorn. Since then, all thereigns of kings in the dynasty are also known unofficially as Ratchakan thi nth ('the nth Reign'); hence, thepresent King's reign is also known as Ratchakan thi kao ('the ninth reign') and extrapolated back to all theearlier kings of the dynasty.

Since King Vajiravudh called himself Rama VI in English, the name was seemingly equivalent to ThaiRatchakan thi hok. This rough translation is still in use today, although no other king in the dynasty before him

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used the name "Rama" as such.

However, there have been several kings in the Ayutthaya and Thonburi periods who officially used the reigningname of Ramathibodi (Rama + Athi + Bodi, lit. 'the great ruler Rama'). The name Ayutthya itself was borrowedfrom the name of Rama's capital in the Ramayana epic, Ayodhya. Still, most of the names of the earlier kings asgiven by historians are titles rather than real names. It was not customary to refer to a king by his name duringhis lifetime, and in many cases the personal names of the kings are not known. Even the titles are oftendoubtful. Each king had his full style and title inscribed on a golden plate, but these were all lost when the

Ayutthaya Kingdom was destroyed in the sack of the city by the Burmese in 1767.[1]

Chakri Kings of Thailand

Rama I, the Great (1782–1809), Phutthayotfa Chulalok (27 years)Rama II (1809–1824), Phutthaloetla Naphalai (15 years)Rama III (1824–1851), Nangklao (27 years)Rama IV (1851–1868), Mongkut (17 years)Rama V, the Great, (1868–1910), Chulalongkorn (42 years)Rama VI (1910–1925), Vajiravudh (15 years)Rama VII (1925–1935), Prajadhipok (10 years)Rama VIII (1935–1946), Ananda Mahidol (11 years)Rama IX, the Great (since 9 June 1946, coronation 5 May 1950), Bhumibol Adulyadej (reign 69 years on9 June 2015)

[2]

See also

Monarchy of ThailandList of Thai MonarchsRegnal name

References

Wood, W A R (2005-05-19) [1924]. A History of Siam. London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd.1. "Biography of H.M.K. Bhumibol Adulyadej" (http://www.kanchanapisek.or.th/biography/hmk.en.html).www.kanchanapisek.or.th. Retrieved 2008-05-15.

2.

External links

Kings of the Chakri Dynasty (http://www.soravij.com/kings.html), and Overview of the Kings ofThailand (http://www.soravij.com/kingspast.html)

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Categories: Thai monarchy Chakri Dynasty

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