Ramkhamhaeng

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Statue of King Ramkhamhaeng

Ramkhamhaeng , also Rama Khamhaeng = "Rama the daring", full title Pho Khun Ramkhamhaeng Maharat ( Thai : พ่อขุน รามคำแหง มหาราช ; pronunciation: [raːmkʰamhɛːŋ] ; * around 1239 ; † around 1298 ) was an important king of the Thai kingdom of Sukhothai . He ruled from 1279 to 1298. During his reign the Sukhotai reached its greatest extent, the Thai script was developed and Buddhism was introduced.

Stone inscription

The most important source about Ramkhamhaeng's reign is the inscription on a stone column, which is dated to 1292 and which the king is said to have written himself. It is said to have been discovered in 1833 by the later King Mongkut (Rama IV) on today's Noen Prasat in the Sukhothai Historical Park and is considered the first written evidence of the Thai language and the associated writing system. However, their authenticity has been contested since the late 1980s. The discussion about it was very emotional, because if it had turned out that the stone is really a forgery, the entire history of this period would have had to be rewritten. However, epigraphy specialists , historians, linguists, and archaeologists concluded that three pages of the inscription are from the end of the 13th century and the fourth page was also added shortly afterwards. The biographical information in this article comes in part from this inscription, which has been a UNESCO World Document Heritage since 2003 .

Domination

Ramkhamhaeng's father Sri Indraditya (actually Pho Khun Bang Klang Thao ) had ended the Khmer rule over Sukhothai in 1240 and was the first king of an independent Thai empire. His son Ban Müang, who was exposed to the constant threat from the Khmer as his successor, had to survive a decisive battle in front of Sukhothai around 1260. In this battle, his brother Rama made a name for himself by rescuing Ban Müang from certain ruin by a courageous counterattack and deciding the battle for the Thai . Since then this has been called "Rama the Daring", Ramkhamhaeng.

Since Ban Müang died early, Ramkhamhaeng ascended the throne in 1279. After his coronation, Ramkhamhaeng set on expansion and united several Thai tribes of the north under his leadership, which conquered the south of what is now the national territory and also parts of Malaysia. In the north he extended the borders to Phrae , Nan , today's Luang Prabang and Vientiane in Laos , in the west to Hongsawadi (Pegu) in Burma. However, it is unclear what kind of rule was in the outer areas of the empire. It is considered unlikely that these areas were firmly integrated into the Sukhothai Empire. Rather, it can be assumed that the inscription describes Ramkhamhaeng's military radius of action and the sphere of influence of his rule.

Ramkhamhaeng not only pursued his goals militarily, but also used diplomatic and cultural-political means to unite and consolidate his empire. Three pillars form its basis, which still have an impact in Thai society today:

  • the rather strict Theravada Buddhism ,
  • the kingship that is committed to the prosperity of the people and
  • the cultural independence, the sources of which lie in Cambodian and Chinese culture and which is documented, among other things, by its own script ( Lai Sue Thai ), which Ramkhamhaeng is said to have developed in 1282 from the scripts of the Khmer, Mon and Burmese.
Silajaruek Pokhun Ramkhamhaeng, Bangkok National Museum

The first surviving text in this writing is his government declaration carved in stone from 1292 ( Silacharuek Phokhun Ramkhamhaeng , the so-called inscription I. , see web link below), which is in the National Museum in Bangkok . This script is still in use today so that Thai people can read ancient documents and inscriptions.

The inscription emphasizes the impartiality and righteousness of Ramkhamhaeng's reign. A bell is said to have hung in front of his palace in Sukhothai , which any citizen who had a concern of the king or demanded justice could ring. The king was referred to as the paternal ruler ( pho khun ) who looked after his subjects as well as his children. In fact, however, there was already an established social hierarchy. There was no preference for the Thai in his empire, and the conquered peoples were also able to achieve important positions in administration and teaching. On the contrary, he tried to integrate useful foreign handicrafts into the culture, for example he brought Chinese ceramic specialists to Sawankhalok ( Si Satchanalai ) to start up kilns . This is how the famous Sangkhalok ceramic was created, which became an export hit at the time and was developed from the Chinese celadon ceramic.

The economy took off and there were no taxes or duties on trade or transport, with the exception of tin production on the island of Phuket , which remained a royal monopoly . This financed the army and the expansion of the cities. City walls , irrigation systems and the beginning of a school system are among the achievements of the young state in the 13th century .

Honor

The national park between Sukhothai and Kamphaeng Phet and Ramkhamhaeng University , the country's first open-access university, are named after Ramkhamhaeng .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The dates of birth and death are not precisely documented. George Cœdès suspects that he even lived until 1316. ( AB Griswold : Towards A History , p. 6)
  2. ↑ a b Grabowsky: Brief history of Thailand. 2010, p. 32.
  3. ^ James Robert Chamberlain: The Ram Khamhaeng Controversy. Collected papers. The Siam Society, 1991
  4. ^ Barend Jan Terwiel : The Ram Khamhaeng Inscription. The fake that did not come true. Yellow Earth 5 series, Ostasien-Verlag, Gossenberg 2010.
  5. ↑ Michael Vickery: Piltdown 3, Further Discussion of The Ram Khamhaeng Inscription , in: The Journal of the Siam Society, Volume 83 Parts 1 & 2 . The Siam Society, Bangkok 1995, ISSN  0857-7099 , online [1] (PDF, last accessed on November 1, 2012; 2.2 MB).
  6. ↑ Terwiel, Barend Jan. 2011. "Using Okham's Razor with Respect to the Ram Khamhaeng Controversy" in Grabowsky, Volker (ed.). Southeast Asian Historiography. Unraveling the Myths. Bangkok: River Books, 2011, pp. 42-51
  7. ^ Grabowsky: Brief history of Thailand. 2010, p. 32f.
  8. ^ Grabowsky: Brief history of Thailand. 2010, p. 33.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ramkhamhaeng
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ramchamhaeng, Rama Khamhaeng
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King in Thailand
DATE OF BIRTH around 1239
DATE OF DEATH around 1298