A New Capital for a New Dynasty: Bangkok from Rama I to Rama III (1782–1851)

Abstract

In 1767 after the Burmese invasion and sack of Ayutthaya, the capital of Siam, the city was abandoned, and the court withdrew south, first to Thonburi, on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, and then in 1782, with the accession of Rama I, founder of the Chakri dynasty, to Bangkok on the east bank. Here within a walled enclosure on an artificial island Rama I built his new capital, in which he tried to recreate the glories of Ayutthaya and thereby establish his legitimacy and demonstrate his temporal and spiritual authority. His successors,Rama II and Rama III, embellished and extended Rama I’s royal capital, but it was not until the late nineteenth century under Rama IV and Rama V that the modern city of Bangkok came into being.