Bodindecha

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Monument to Chaophraya Bodindecha in Yasothon

Chaophraya Bodindecha or Bodinthondecha ( Thai เจ้าพระยา บดินทรเดชา , real name Sing or Singh, as a family Singhaseni, สิงห์ สิงห เสนี * 1777 in Bangkok ; †  24. June 1849 in Siam) was an influential politician and general of the early Rattanakosin era. During the reign of King Rama III. (ruled 1824 to 1851) he was Minister of the Interior ( สมุห์ บัญชี ) and Army General ( แม่ทัพ ใหญ่ ). Around 1838 he was the chief minister under King Rama III.

Early time

Sing was born in Bangkok during the Thonburi period in 1777 to Chaophraya Abhayraja (Pin) and his wife Fag. After 1782 Abhayaraja sent his son into the service of the heir to the throne, Prince Itsarasundhorn, who ruled as King Rama II from 1809 to 1824 . During this time Sing was a civil servant and made the acquaintance of Prince Chetsadabodin, who later became Rama III. (ruled 1824 to 1851). When the prince ascended the throne in 1824, he made Sing the Phraya Ratchasuphawadi.

Fight in Laos

The first test came in 1826, when King Anouvong of Vientiane a revolt against the suzerain ventured into Bangkok and the northeast of the country, Isan , invaded. The king sent his uncle and heir to the throne Sakdiphonlasep along with Phraya Ratchasuphawadi (Sing) to Isan to suppress the uprising. After the success of the fighting, he had Vientiane razed to the ground. More than 100,000 Lao were resettled from their homeland, leaving central Laos practically depopulated. Anuvong was taken to Bangkok to be tortured to death in public, but was able to commit suicide. Sing, on the other hand, was in royal favor, received the title Chaophraya Ratchasuphawadi and was appointed Minister of the Interior. Later he received the special title Bodindecha, which is composed of syllables of the king's name.

Bodindecha was notorious for its great brutality. According to the Thai historian Natthawut Sutthisongkhram, "there was no one within the reach of his hand" whose back he had never scratched with the whip he always carried with him. He consistently executed deserters. He is even said to have marched behind his troops in battle with a long lance, which he used to poke them in the back to drive them forward.

Bodindecha also had an economic interest of his own in the wars he waged. He was closely associated with the governor family of Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) and earned a living from the trade in products from the Lao and Khmer states, which the Bangkok elite enriched themselves with in the first half of the 19th century.

Fight in Cambodia

Traditionally, the interior minister also had military tasks to perform in the Siamese government system. Bodindecha was given full responsibility during the Siamese-Vietnamese War , which broke out in 1841 and lasted four years. Both countries had long fought over Cambodia , and when the king sent a Siamese army under Bodindecha in 1841 to put the Siamese prince Ang Duong on the throne of Cambodia, Annam (Vietnam) called for it. Bodindecha was able to take control of Udong and Phnom Penh . After much fighting, Ang Duong received the throne of Cambodia in 1845 after negotiations between both parties. Bodindecha stayed in Cambodia until 1848 to secure peace with his troops. After returning to Bangkok, he died of cholera on June 24, 1849 .

effect

Numerous institutions in Thailand bear the name Bodindecha, such as B.

  • the Bodindecha Museum (Thai: พิพิธภัณฑ์ เจ้าพระยา บดินทรเดชา (สิงห์ สิงห เสนี) )
  • the Bodindecha School in Bangkok
  • the Nawaminthrachinuthit Bodindecha School in Bangkok
  • the Bodindecha camp in Yasothon (Ban Doet, Tambon Doet, Amphoe Mueang Yasothon); Home of the Royal Thai Army since December 23, 1985

Monuments were also erected to him personally or to his victories.

In the Khmer and Lao territories, the mere mention of the name Bodindechas caused fear and horror for decades after his death. Stories of his cruelty were passed down to later generations in Lao Mo-Lam songs.

literature

  • Justin Corfield (Ed.): Rama III and the Siamese Expedition to Kedah in 1839. The dispatches of Luang Udomsombat. Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Clayton, Victoria, Australia 1993, ISBN 0-7326-0521-0 . (Monash Papers on Southeast Studies, No. 30)
  • Mayoury Ngaosyvathn, Pheuiphanh Ngaosyvathn: Paths to Conflagration. Fifty Years of Diplomacy and Warfare in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, 1778–1828. Cornell Southeast Asia Program, Ithaca NY 1998.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Volker Grabowsky : Lao and Khmer Perceptions of National Survival. The Legacy of the Early Nineteenth Century. In: Nationalism and Cultural Revival in Southeast Asia. Perspectives from the Center and the Region. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 1997, p. 148.
  2. ↑ a b Mayoury and Pheuiphanh Ngaosyvathn: Paths to Conflagration. 1998, p. 20.
  3. ^ Corfield: Rama III and the Siamese Expedition to Kedah in 1839. 1993, pp. 41, 79
  4. ↑ Mayoury and Pheuiphanh Ngaosyvathn: Paths to Conflagration. 1998, p. 20.
  5. ↑ Mayoury and Pheuiphanh Ngaosyvathn: Paths to Conflagration. 1998, p. 54.
  6. ↑ Mayoury and Pheuiphanh Ngaosyvathn: Paths to Conflagration. 1998, p. 60.
personal data
SURNAME Bodindecha
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chaophraya Bodindecha; เจ้าพระยา บดินทรเดชา (Thai); Sing; Singh
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Thai politician and general of the early Rattanakosin era
DATE OF BIRTH 1777
PLACE OF BIRTH Bangkok
DATE OF DEATH June 24, 1849
Place of death Siam