Ramkhamhaeng the Great

There was a lady consort of King Ngam Muang called Lady Ua [of] Chiang Saen who was very beautiful. That lady harboured a grudge against King Ngam Muang for this reason: One day, at a soul-tying ceremony for Ngam Muang, Lady Ua Chiang Saen quarrelled with King Ngam Muang, who told the lady that the beef stew she had made for the ceremony was delicious but a bit too watery. The lady was upset and feared that the king was speaking from bias against her and would no longer seek out her company. King Ngam Muang went off to the city of Chiang Sum. The lady was happy, for she had a desire for King Ruang, who was wont to come past [there] and wash his hair. She waited outside the city. King Ruang knew that Lady Ua Chiang Saen had a hankering for him, so he quietly seduced her many times." (Chiang Mai Chronicle, pp.24-5)

This is believed to be a historical incident. To obtain redress from Ramkhamhaeng, King Ngam Muang appealed for justice to a third Thai king, Mengrai of Chiang Mai, perhaps the most powerful of the three. Mengrai managed this skillfully so that while Ramkhamhaneg paid a penalty to Ngam Muang, all three kings were then happy to swear an oath of friendship and alliance. This three way alliance was particularly important at that time because, to the north, the Mongols under Kublai Khan had finished conquering China and were in the process of destroying the Kingdom of Nanchao, which previously existed in the modern Chinese province of Yunnan and which had separated China from Southeast Asia.

As king of Sukothai, Ramkhamhaeng created a form of rulership that was greatly different from the very authoritarian and hierarchical approach of the Khmers. In inscriptions famously discovered by King Rama V in the nineteenth century, his regime is described in glowing terms:

"In the time of King Ram Khamhaeng this land of Sukothai is thriving. There is fish in the water and rice in the fields. The lord of the realm does not levy toll on his subjects for travelling the roads; they lead their cattle to trade or ride their horses to sell; whoever wants to trade in elephants, does so; whoever wants to trade in horses, does so; whoever wants to trade in silver or gold, does so. When any commoner or man of rank dies, his estate - his elephants, wives,

Go To Page: 1 2 3

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic