Chaophraya Si Suriyawong

Si Suriyawong (photograph, around 1880)

Somdet Chaophraya Borommaha Si Suriyawong ( Thai สมเด็จเจ้าพระยา บรม มหา ศรี สุริย วงศ์ ), actually Chuang Bunnag (ช่วง บุนนาค ; * December 23, 1808 , † January 19, 1883 in Ratchaburi ) was a high-ranking Thai aristocrat and minister. From 1855 to 1869 he was Kalahom (Minister of the Southern Provinces and the Military) and from 1868 to 1873 Regent for the minor King Rama V (Chulalongkorn). At the time he was considered the most influential figure at the Siamese court.

Origin and family

Chuang came from the influential aristocratic Bunnag family . His grandfather, whose personal name was Bunnag, was a distant descendant of the Persian merchant Sheikh Ahmad Qomi, who settled in Ayutthaya around 1600 and quickly gained great influence at the court. Bunnag was a childhood friend and confidante of Rama I , the founder of the Chakri dynasty, and served under him as the Kalahom. Chuang's father, Dit, was Bunnag's eldest son. He became a senior official, later Minister of the Phrakhlang (Ministry of Finance and Overseas Trade) and was a close confidante of Prince Chetsadabodin, who later became King Rama III. This made him in addition to the Kalahom in 1830, which gave him a power that hardly any other minister in Siamese history had.

Chuang, in turn, was Dit's eldest son. His mother C (h) an was the daughter of Chaophraya Phonlathep (Thong-in), who came from the equally influential " Brahmin family " of Ayutthayas. Like his father and especially like Prince Mongkut , who is about the same age , who, in order to avoid succession disputes, in favor of his actually lower-ranking half-brother Rama III. renounced the throne and became a monk, he was open to Western knowledge and technology. He learned English, studied nautical science and shipbuilding and developed a new, frame-rigged , type of ship for the Ministry of Commerce headed by his father , which from the end of the reign of Ramas III. was used instead of the original Siamese sailors in overseas trade.

As Rama III. fell seriously ill, he sought advice from members of the Bunnag family regarding the succession to the throne. In particular, he discussed the various options with Chuang, who at that time already bore the title Phraya Si Suriyawong. He informed him that he trusted Mongkut as the only prince with the wisdom necessary to rule, even though he was aware that conservative circles rejected him because of his unorthodox ideas, some of which were influenced by foreign countries. In Rama III. convened Great Council of Princes and Ministers, the Bunnag, above all Si Suriyawong's powerful father, took a decisive position for Mongkut and his brother Prince Chudamani (later Pinklao ) and made sure that the two after the death of Ramas III. first and second king ( Uparat ) respectively. Like the Bunnag, the two were attributed by Western observers to the reform-oriented, “progressive party” of Siam.

Kalahom

The new King Rama IV (Mongkut) was dependent on the Bunnag who had brought him to the throne and owed them deep gratitude. He bestowed the title Somdet Chaophraya on Chuang's father and uncle , which corresponds to an almost royal rank and which had only been given once in Siamese history. After his father's death in 1855, Si Suriyawong succeeded him at the head of the Kalahom Ministry. His younger brother Kham ( Chaophraya Thipphakorawong) took over the position of Phrakhlang (Treasury and Foreign Minister). Like his father, Si Suriyawong had more power than any other minister. According to European travelers and envoys like the British John Bowring , the Kalahom is said to have had more power than King Mongkut, who was more interested in courtly ceremonies.

Contracts of foreign powers with Siam (e.g. the Bowring Treaty of 1855) were always negotiated with Si Suriyawong. Many Western accounts of the history of Siam during the early Bangkok period are based on Bowring's record of his very frank talks with the chief minister. The Kalahom particularly impressed Bowring with his knowledge of Western economic theory and governance, his awareness of the weaknesses of the Siamese economy and administration and his plans to reform them.

regent

When Mongkut died suddenly of malaria in 1868 without having named a successor, it was again up to Si Suriyawong to decide in the looming dispute over the succession to the throne, which was still not regulated by law or even customary. This time Si Suriyawong presided over the Grand Council as the highest-ranking minister. Although he also had a good relationship with Prince Wichaichan, the son of the late Viceroy Pinklao, he spoke out in favor of Mongkut's only fifteen-year-old son, Chulalongkorn . The fact that as regent he was able to influence an underage king particularly well and thus retain actual power may have played a role. In addition, Chulalongkorn was in poor health because he had become infected with malaria like his father, so it was to be assumed that he might not live long. As suggested by Si Suriyawong, the council made Chulalongkorn king (Rama V), Wichaichan uparat, and himself regent.

Contrary to what some contemporaries feared, he did not abuse the position of regent to put himself on the throne, but apparently served as a dutiful administrator for the young king, who now elevated him to the rank of Somdet Chaophraya . Si Suriyawong continued Mongkut's reform and modernization policy. Among other things, he tried to abolish slavery or at least make it completely unattractive through taxation. However, the resistance of the conservatives was too great and, as a compromise, the young king only ordered the gradual abolition of personal bondage in some areas from 1874 onwards.

When Chulalongkorn came of age in 1873, Si Suriyawong no longer had an official position (he had given up the position of Kalahom to his eldest son Won in 1869). However, he still wielded significant influence. When the king tried to unify and centralize the financial administration and judiciary, which would have strengthened his own power and weakened that of the long-established aristocratic families (such as the Bunnag), Si Suriyawong and other family patriarchs, in association with the Uparat Wichaichan , threatened the deposition of Chulalongkorns (so-called "Crisis of the Front Palace" 1874). This postponed his project for the time being.

Death and inheritance

Si Suriyawong died in 1883. With his death, the influence of the Bunnag and the influential aristocratic families in general declined. During his four decades of rule, Chulalongkorn carried out radical administrative reforms and increasingly filled government posts with his (half) brothers and later with his sons or with people who did not have their own power base. So he centralized power within himself and his family. Won Bunnag was Kalahom until 1888. Among his sons and grandchildren were a general, several high officials and a minister. A distant descendant is the historian and diplomat Tej Bunnag .

As Kalahom at the time of King Ramas IV and the stay of Anna Leonowens in Siam, Chaophraya Si Suriyawong was the historical model for the character of "Kralahome" in Margaret Landon's novel Anna and the King of Siam , the musical The King and I and based on it the multiple film adaptations of the same subject.

annotation

1. ↑ The name is also transcribed as Sri Suriyawongse, Sisuriyawong, Sri Suriyawong, Srisuriyawong or Srisuriyawongse.

Individual evidence

1. ^ David K. Wyatt : Family Politics in Nineteenth Century Thailand. In: Modern Thai Politics. Schenkman Books, Cambridge MA 1979, ISBN 0-87073-916-6 , p. 47.
2. ^ Wyatt: Thailand. A short history. 2nd edition, Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 2004, p. 162.
3. ^ Wyatt: Family Politics in Nineteenth Century Thailand. 1979, p. 56.
4. ^ Wyatt: Thailand. 2004, pp. 164-165.
5. ^ Wyatt: Family Politics in Nineteenth Century Thailand. 1979, pp. 56-57.
6. ↑ David Joel Steinberg (Ed.): In Search of Southeast Asia. A Modern History. University of Hawaii Press, 1987, p. 118.
7. ^ Paul M. Handley: The King Never Smiles. Yale University Press, 2006, p. 32.
8. ↑ Steinberg: In Search of Southeast Asia 1987, pp. 118-119.
9. ^ Wyatt: Thailand. 2004, p. 168.
10. ↑ Steinberg: In Search of Southeast Asia 1987, p. 183.
11. ↑ ^{a b c} Sud Chonchirdsin: Bunnag Family. A Persian-Siamese Influential Lineage. In: Southeast Asia. A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara CA 2004, p. 290.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Chris Baker , Pasuk Phongpaichit: A History of Thailand. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-521-76768-2 , p. 53.
13. ^ Wyatt: Thailand. 2004, p. 206.
14. ^ Susan Kepner: Anna (and Margaret) and the King of Siam. In: Crossroads. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 10, No. 2, 1996, p. 12.