Siam Under Mongkut and Chulalongkorn, 1851–1910

Abstract

Mongkut, who was the rightful heir to the throne when Rama II died in 1824, was a Buddhist monk when his elder brother, Pra Nang Klao, seized the throne and became Rama III. He was then twenty years old and quite inexperienced in matters of state. Though he had entered a monastery only for the short period that was customary for all young men, he now remained in the order and eventually became Sangkaret Bawaraniwate. In his early years as a monk he became famous for his knowledge of the Pali scriptures, and later for the reformed sect, the D’ammayutika, which he founded. Soon he began to widen the scope of his studies, learning Latin, mathematics and astronomy from the scholarly French missionary Bishop Pallegoix, and English from the American missionaries Caswell, Bradley and House. He became an enthusiast for the study of English, which became his second language; as a king he signed all state papers in roman characters, and his fluent, ungrammatical style makes his letters delicious reading. ‘My gracious friend,’ he wrote to Sir John Bowring, the British envoy, who came to negotiate a treaty in 1855, ‘It give me today most rejoyful pleasure to learn your Excellency’s arrival here… Please allow our respects according to Siamese manners. Your Excellency’s residence here was already prepared. We are longly already for acceptance of your Excellency.’¹