Elephant Kraal Ayutthaya
The Ayutthaya Elephant Kraal is an ancient facility for catching wild elephants . It belongs to the Ayutthaya Historical Park and is located northeast of the old Siamese capital Ayutthaya in central Thailand .
Systems for catching wild elephants were called “Pha-Niat” ( Thai : เพนียด , [ pʰá-nîat ], in English: “Elephant Kraal”) in Siam (today: Thailand ) . They were probably used in the Kingdom of Ayutthaya since the middle of the 14th century to entertain the Siamese kings, but also to catch urgently needed transport, labor and war elephants . Joost Schouten, who lived in Ayutthaya for some time as a merchant for the Dutch East India Company ( Dutch : Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie; abbreviated: VOC or VOC or company ( Compagnie )), estimated in 1671 that around 3,000 elephants were in the service of the king.
The kraal initially consisted of a square place, which was fenced in with hundreds of strong teak posts, and in the middle of which a shrine was built, which was dedicated to the Hindu god Ganesha . The stakes were carved at the top in the shape of closed lotus buds , they were about 40 centimeters apart - large enough for a man who had to escape from angry animals to fit through, but narrow enough to keep the wild animals in To keep inside. The square was surrounded by a wide, sturdy brick wall, where spectators could watch the goings-on below. The wall had a passage in the north so that the captured elephants could be driven one by one into the inner kraal. Opposite was an open pavilion in which the king and his guests inspected the captured elephants. Every now and then the king specifically selected an animal for his personal use.
The outer kraal was connected to the inlet. This was also fenced off to the right and left by rows of teak posts, it widened to the north in a funnel shape.
The trapping of wild elephants was monitored by officials from the Elephant Ministry (Krom Phra Khotchaban, Thai: กรม พระ ค ช บาล , a civil ministry of the Mahatthai ). It was held once a year and usually lasted four days. Sir John Bowring describes in 1855 that even near the capital Bangkok there were still numerous wild elephants. The annual upswing in Ayutthaya turned into a big public festival, so that the trains to Ayutthaya were completely overcrowded and there were as many houseboats on the Chao Phraya as at the Henley Regatta , noted the Englishman PA Thompson.
- On the first day, the wild elephants were herded into the kraal. How this happened was already described by the missionary Guy Tachard, who visited King Narai's court in 1685 : specially trained mahouts went into the forest on elephant cows. When they encountered a herd of wild elephants, the mahout caused the cows to make certain noises that attracted the wild bulls. After that, the cows only had to run back to the kraal while the herd ran after them. When they reached the outer kraal, the herd was driven into the inner kraal with loud shouts from the drivers or by stabbing with long poles.
- On the following day certain animals were sorted out by so-called snare catching (Thai: คล้อง [, [ ʧáːŋ-klɔ́ŋ ], English: roping). On a domesticated elephant front sits a mahout and behind him a so-called "elephant doctor" (Thai: หมอ ช้าง , [ mɔ-ʧáːŋ ]). They approach the selected animal and the elephant doctor tries to catch a hind leg of the selected animal in a rope loop. The captured animals are then tied to the stakes of the inner kraal before being tamed. Guy Tachard described how the captured elephants uttered terrible screams. To calm them down, they were poured with water and rubbed with herbs, oil was dripped on their ears or they were petted on the trunks of tame elephants.
- On the third day, more elephants were caught in the outer kraal using snares. The animals caught the day before were sprinkled with specially consecrated water in a ceremony by Brahmin priests while mantras were recited. Guy Tachard is certain that this treatment made the wild elephants so tame after two weeks that they can follow other domesticated elephants.
- On the last day, all unselected wild animals were fed, bathed and led back into the forest.
Sometimes the extremely rare white elephants ended up in the kraal when wild elephants were caught . They have served the Thai kings as a status symbol for centuries.
When the Burmese conquered the capital in 1752, the historic kraal was also destroyed. The kings of the Chakri dynasty soon had it put on again. King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) held here in 1906 for the last time a lift to entertain his state guests.
Today the elephant kraal is a tourist attraction in Ayutthaya Historical Park. It is located in the northeast of the park near the Maenam Lop Buri (Lop Buri River).
literature
- Rita Ringis: Elephants Of Thailand In Myth, Art And Reality . Oxford University Press, New York 1996, ISBN 967-65-3068-9
- Ping Amranand, William Warren: The Elephant in Thai Life and Legend . Monsoon Editions, Bangkok 1998, ISBN 974-86302-9-3
Individual evidence
- ^ François Caron , Joost Schouten: A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam (1671). Reprint by The Siam Society , Bangkok 1986
- ^ Sir John Bowring: The Kingdom and the People of Siam. (1857) Reprint by AMS Press, New York 1975, ISBN 0404548024
- ^ PA Thompson: Siam, An Account of the Country and the People (1910) . Reprint by White Orchid Press, Bangkok 1981, ISBN 974-8299-84-8
- ↑ Guy Tachard: A Relation of a Voyage to Siam (Voyage to Siam Performed by Six Jesuits sent by the French King to the Indies and China in the year 1685 by Guy Tachard 1688). Reprint by White Orchid Press, Bangkok 1981, ISBN 974-83043-02
- ↑ Ping Amranand, William Warren: The Elephant in Thai Life and Legend : Page 78
- ↑ Ping Amranand, William Warren: The Elephant in Thai Life and Legend : Page 79
- ↑ หนังสือ ชุด แผนที่ ความ รู้ เมือง ไทย - วัด และ วัง ใน กรุง เก่า ( Temples and Palaces in the Old Capital City ). Plan Readers Publication, Bangkok 2003, ISBN 974-91126-7-9
Web links
- Page with photos of the elephant kraal (in English)
- Page of elephantstay.com with antique photos (in English)
Coordinates: 14 ° 22 ′ 37.3 ″ N , 100 ° 34 ′ 8.2 ″ E