Ramkhamhaeng

Ramkhamhaeng, even Rama Khamhaeng = " Rama of the daredevils ", full title of Pho Khun Ramkhamhaeng Maharat ( Thai: พ่อขุน รามคำแหง มหาราช; pronunciation: [ ra ː mk ʰ amhɛ ː ŋ ], * 1239, † around 1298 ) was a king of the Thai Kingdom of Sukhothai. He ruled from 1279 to 1298. During his reign, the Sukhothai reached its greatest extent, the Thai script was developed and introduced Buddhism.

Stone inscription

The most important source about Ramkhamhaeng's reign is the inscription on a stone pillar, which dates to 1292 and is said to have written the king himself. You should have been discovered in 1833 by the future King Mongkut (Rama IV ) in today's Noen Prasat in Sukhothai Historical Park and is considered the first written evidence of the Thai language and the associated writing system. However, their authenticity is disputed since the late 1980s. The discussion is going very emotional because it turns out that the stone is actually a fake, the whole history of this period would have to be rewritten. The biographical information in this article comes in part from this inscription.

Rule

Ramkhamhaeng's father Sri Indraditya (actually Pho Khun Bang Thao sound ) had in 1240 ended the reign of the Khmer about Sukhothai and was the first king of an independent Thai kingdom. His son Müang Ban, who was exposed as a successor to the constant threat of the Khmer had, in 1260 to be a decisive battle before Sukhothai. In this battle, his brother Rama had merit by saving Ban Müang by a bold counter-attack from certain doom and the Battle for the Thai decided. Since then, this " Rama of daredevils ," Ramkhamhaeng was called.

Since Ban Müang died early, Ramkhamhaeng ascended the throne in 1279. After his coronation Ramkhamhaeng sat on expansion and united several Thai tribes of the north under his leadership that took over as a force to the south of present-day territory and even sub-regions of Malaysia. In the north he extended the boundaries up to Phrae, Nan, Luang Prabang and Vientiane today in Laos, in the west to Hongsawadi ( Pegu ) in Burma from. It is unclear, however, what kind was the rule in the outer areas of the empire. It is considered unlikely that these areas were firmly integrated in the Sukhothai kingdom. Rather, it can be assumed that the inscription military action Ramkhamhaeng radius and the sphere of influence of his rule describes.

Ramkhamhaeng pursued his goals not only militarily but also used diplomatic and cultural- political means, to unite his empire and consolidate. Three pillars form its base, which continue to reverberate to this day in Thai society:

• The rather strict Theravada Buddhism,
• The kingship, that feels the prosperity of the people and committed
• Cultural autonomy, whose sources lie in the Cambodian and Chinese culture, and among other things, by its own font ( Lai Sue Thai ) is documented, which should have Ramkhamhaeng 1282 developed from the Scriptures of the Khmer, Mon and Burmese.

The first recorded text in this document is its carved in stone policy statement from the year 1292 ( Silacharuek Phokhun Ramkhamhaeng, the so-called inscription I., see web link below), which is in the National Museum in Bangkok. This font is still in use so that Thais can read ancient documents and inscriptions.

The inscription highlights the impartiality and integrity of Ramkhamhaeng's reign. Prior to his palace in Sukhothai a bell is said to have hung that every citizen could beat who had a concern to the king or demanded justice. The king was called paternal ruler ( pho khun ), who cares for his subjects as his children. Actually, however, there have been formed a social hierarchy. There was no preference for Thai in his kingdom, and the conquered peoples were able to reach important positions in administration and teaching. On the contrary, he tried to integrate useful foreign craftsmanship in the culture, so he brought, for example, Chinese ceramics specialist after Sawankhalok (Si Satchanalai ) to take kilns in operation. In this way, the famous Sangkhalok ceramics, a major export was at that time, and was developed from the Chinese celadon pottery originated.

The economy took a huge boost, no taxes and duties on trade and transport were raised, with the exception of tin mining on the island of Phuket, which remained royal monopoly. Thus, the army and the expansion of cities has been funded. City walls, irrigation systems and the beginning of a school system are among the achievements of the young state in the 13th century.

Honor

After Ramkhamhaeng include the National Park between Sukhothai and Kamphaeng Phet and the Ramkhamhaeng University, the first open admission distance learning university in the country named.