Rama (Kings of Thailand) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 of 3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama_(Kings_of_Thailand)

Rama (Kings of Thailand)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The kings in the current Chakri dynasty of Thailand are often referred to as Rama followed by Roman ordinal
in English translation. The name Rama was adopted from the name of the Hindu god Rama, an avatar of
Vishnu.
The use of the name "Rama 'n'th" is in line with Thai practice of giving numbers to the king in the current
dynasty. However, the translation was not exact and can give rise to some confusion as to whether this was
actually the name adopted by the king on coronation.

Contents
1 History
2 Chakri Kings of Thailand
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

History
While "Rama" was used as a title for all the kings, it was not always taken on as the name. In the present
dynasty the king who called himself Rama was Phra Mongkutklao or King Vajiravudh, who was the sixth to
reign. His reigning title was Phra Mongkutklao Chaoyuhua; later in his reign, he preferred to style himself as
Phra Ram thi Hok ( lit. Rama VI). It was presumed that he was influenced by the European
practice of numbering the rulers with similar names while he studied in England.
This quite conveniently coincided with another practice of the Thai people. Traditionally, the name of the king
is sacred and would not normally be said. Instead people would refer to the king by other words these days
Nai Luang or Phra Chao Yu Hua. When King Phutthayotfa Chulalok founded the dynasty, he was commonly
referred to as Phan Din Ton ( lit. 'the First Reign'); and when his son inherited the throne, he was
referred to as Phan Din Klang ( lit. 'the Middle Reign'). This then became awkward when Prince
Jessadabodindra (King Nangklao) became the third king, as the obvious referral would then be Phan Din Plai
( lit. 'the Last Reign') which did not sound very auspicious. He decided to give the names
Phutthayotfa Chulalok and Buddha Loedla Nabhalai, after the names of two Buddha statues, to his two
predecessors. He was then posthumously given the name "Nang Klao" by his successor, King Mongkut, who
also tried to establish more systematic royal nomenclature. Later historians would refer to King Nang Klao's
reign as Ratchakan thi Sam ( 3, lit. 'the third reign'). This was probably becoming more prominent due
to Western influences on Thailand during the reigns of Mongkut and his son, Chulalongkorn. Since then, all the
reigns of kings in the dynasty are also known unofficially as Ratchakan thi nth ('the nth Reign'); hence, the
present King's reign is also known as Ratchakan thi kao ('the ninth reign') and extrapolated back to all the
earlier kings of the dynasty.
Since King Vajiravudh called himself Rama VI in English, the name was seemingly equivalent to Thai
Ratchakan thi hok. This rough translation is still in use today, although no other king in the dynasty before him

8/4/2015 9:05 PM

Rama (Kings of Thailand) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2 of 3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama_(Kings_of_Thailand)

used the name "Rama" as such.

However, there have been several kings in the Ayutthaya and Thonburi periods who officially used the reigning
name of Ramathibodi (Rama + Athi + Bodi, lit. 'the great ruler Rama'). The name Ayutthya itself was borrowed
from the name of Rama's capital in the Ramayana epic, Ayodhya. Still, most of the names of the earlier kings as
given by historians are titles rather than real names. It was not customary to refer to a king by his name during
his lifetime, and in many cases the personal names of the kings are not known. Even the titles are often
doubtful. Each king had his full style and title inscribed on a golden plate, but these were all lost when the
Ayutthaya Kingdom was destroyed in the sack of the city by the Burmese in 1767.[1]

Chakri Kings of Thailand

Rama I, the Great (17821809), Phutthayotfa Chulalok (27 years)
Rama II (18091824), Phutthaloetla Naphalai (15 years)
Rama III (18241851), Nangklao (27 years)
Rama IV (18511868), Mongkut (17 years)
Rama V, the Great, (18681910), Chulalongkorn (42 years)
Rama VI (19101925), Vajiravudh (15 years)
Rama VII (19251935), Prajadhipok (10 years)
Rama VIII (19351946), Ananda Mahidol (11 years)
Rama IX, the Great (since 9 June 1946, coronation 5 May 1950), Bhumibol Adulyadej (reign 69 years on
9 June 2015)
[2]

See also
Monarchy of Thailand
List of Thai Monarchs
Regnal name

References
1. Wood, W A R (2005-05-19) [1924]. A History of Siam. London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd.
2. "Biography of H.M.K. Bhumibol Adulyadej" (http://www.kanchanapisek.or.th/biography/hmk.en.html).
www.kanchanapisek.or.th. Retrieved 2008-05-15.

External links
Kings of the Chakri Dynasty (http://www.soravij.com/kings.html), and Overview of the Kings of
Thailand (http://www.soravij.com/kingspast.html)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rama_(Kings_of_Thailand)&oldid=667819016"
Categories: Thai monarchy Chakri Dynasty

8/4/2015 9:05 PM

Rama (Kings of Thailand) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

3 of 3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama_(Kings_of_Thailand)

This page was last modified on 20 June 2015, at 21:19.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered
trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

8/4/2015 9:05 PM