Journal of the Siam Society [XIV]

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THE

JOURNAL OF THE

SIAM SOCIETY

Volume XIV

BANGKOK

1921 KRAUS REPRINT Nendeln/Liech ten stein 1969

Reprinted by permission of the Thailand Research Society, Bangkok KRAUS REPRINT A Division of KRAUS-THOMSON ORGANIZATION LIMITED Nendeln!Liechtenstein 1%9 Printed in Switzerland

THE ORIGINS OF THE SUKHODAYA DYNASTY BY

G. Chief LiLrurian

or

the

'

CCEDl£~

Vajirani1~1a

Nation'L l LiLmry.

(1)

'rhc dyna::;ty which reigned during a part of the XIIIth. and

' the fin;t half of the XlVth. centuries at Sukhodaya and at Sri Sajjani:i.laya, on the upper Menam Yom, is the first hi::;torical Siame::;e dyna::;ty. It has a double claim to this title, both becam;e it.::; cradle wus preci'J ely in the country designated by foreigners as "Siam" (Kinner: Syi11~1; Chine::;e : Sien, etc.), and becau:-;e it is this dynasty which, by freeing the Thai principalities from the Cambodian yoke and by gradually extending its conquests as far a:-; the Maby Penimmla, paved the ·way for the formation of the Kingdom of Siam properly ::;o called. It:-; role in the history of Indo-Chine~:;e arts and institution:-; i::; not lcr;s important than its political role: inheriting us it did the ~:;ucces::;ion of the Kinner Kingdom, \rhich :;auk in part beneath the blows that it admini::;ter ed, it has tran::;mitted to the Siam of Ayudhya a good number of Cambodian art-forms and institutionH which :;till subsist in the Siam of to-day. The study of the dynasty in que::;tion is thus of great intere::;t for the history of Indo-China. The source.:; for ::;uch a study are us follows : the local epigraphy, some Pali hi:-;torical text:-; of the beginning of the XVIth. century, the cycle of legend:; pre:-;elTCd iu the Siamese work entitled "Northern Annals," and finally the Chinese Dynastic Annals. Professor L. Finot has characterised in very happy tcrrn:-; the main features of the old Thai epigraphy (Bulletin de l'Ecole Franc;aise

___

.. ,_ .. __ __ _____ ---·-- - - - -- - -The tmnsla.tion of this pape1·, which hn.s lJeen read a.t rt joi11t Session of the Roya.l Asiatic Society of Gre:.t t Britain ;tnc.l hela11d, Suciet,; Asi;ttique, n.nd Americtm Oriental Society, :mel publi:-d1ed in tile J'ounml Asi:ttique (April-June 1920), is t he wodixtecn

chi lao

~'UA'Hl

-

::;even teen

chi

Num.J~

eighteen

chi chim

nineteen

chi chi

-

.....

pt

chi chhun

tJ

pG

twenty

..... 'Ul'lll

hi chhfi.

tweuty-onc

'Ul'1!:l.mJ

hi chi muei

thirty

~'ll:

pu chhit

forty

J

'U'U'll:

pan chhit

fifty

~'U'll:

chhun chhit

::;ixty

1~1'11:

lao chha

::;eventy

tt1l:'ll:

po chha

eighty

"'lll..J'll:

chim chha

ninety

chi chha

(

43

)

La wit

English one hundred one hundred and ol'le

...

~~11.1 l~: UJtl L{~~II.J

muei chho muei chho muei

RlHHlii.J

two hundred

ba' chho

Rl~l!m

three hundred

pi choo

J. ...

four hundred

~'W l~~

pan chho chhun chho

six hundred

l fa: I lilll fa:

i'l'Hlii.J ~~

...

V.lH:lii.J

'l!'W ~

v.ntfl~~.J

l~~tm,J

seven hundred

nll:l~:

u~fltn11.1

eight hundred

"ll~ l~:

nine hundred

~l~:

, lao chho I

I

i po,chho ~ham

I chi chho

one thousand A

A

VI:IJ'WVIW A

Ui'l''WVI'Wf

ten thousand

phan nu'ng k.

...

m. llmw A

hundred thouUff'WVI'WT sand one million

chho

I l~u'n

l

~u'ng

sen nu ng

I

liin nu'ng

NoTE.-The transcription of the Lawii. wordR has been done according to the system aA set forth in the questionnaire by the sub-committee op anthropological, ethnographical and linguistic research ; all vowels without the sign (-) are to be pronounced short.

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TRANSLATOR'S NOTE. As will perhaps be known to the readers of this Journal I have already written two papers on the preceding subject viz., in vo1., XII part 3 and vol. XIII part 3, treating the Lawa or Chaubun in S. W. and N. W. Khorat. Though the Lawa living in Phetchabun and those living in the Khorat or Nakhon Rajasima province evidently belong to the same ethnical stock and speak the same language, there are with regard to the last point certain differences, partly dialectical, partly by reason of some Taicisms which haYe penetrated into the speech of both groups. By comparing the list of words given by Phra Phetchabunburi ( containing about 400 besides the numerals ) and that given by me in my first paper on the Chaubun (about 250), it will be seen-so far as compari:son can be made-that the Yast majority of the words-including nearly all " capital " words-are identical; exceptions are "father" and "mother," for which the Khorat Lawa use "pa" and "ong," while the Phetchabun Law a use ·'rna" and "mem" or "me". It seems that the last named are more influenced by the Thai than those in Khorat both with regard to speech and manner of dress; though they live in a more primitive manner than the first, who have, at least in the Southem part of Khorat, learnt to use domestic animals. According to Phra Phetchabun the Lawa in his district cut their hair in the old fashioned style called "phom dok khrathum ", i. c. the hair is close cropped with exception of the top of the head, where it is left standing up stiffly as a brush; not so in Khorat, where the men cut their hair in the now prevailing style, while the women wear it long. Then the women in Phetchabun dress in "phanung ", but their sisters in Khorat wear a sort of skirt or " sin " called "n'nikh." Some few words about the distribution and homes cJf the Law a in this and the neighbouring countries, as also some of the few historical facts we possess about them, may be of interest here. First it must be understood that the Law a. of to day are only the poor and scattr~red remains of a once powerful nation occupying in all probability the whole of the Menam valley and Northern Siam as

(

46

)

well as the upper reaches of the Salween and Mekhong rivers, to the West bordering with the kindred and primitive Mon, Palaung and Wa in Burma and the Shan states; to the East, touching the territories of the also kindred Khmer (Khamen doem) and Kui (called Suei by the Siamese), of which the last named still occupy big tracts of the Ubon and parts of Roi Et and Udon provinces as also the northern parts of Cambodia. The Lawa in North Siam, i.e., the Bayab province, have been described by many travellers and Mr. W. A. Graham gives a very clear and accurate picture of them in his brilliant book " Siam" ; still, so far, no exhaustive description including the exact whereabouts and numbers of all the groups of this people has been made. The late Phraya Prachakich Korachaks in his "Phongsawadan Yonok" gives a lot of interesting and valuable information concerning the Lawa or Lwa and according to the Yonok chronicle a Khmer vassal-king of Lavo or Lophburi conquered a part of the Lawa country, i.e., the present province'3 of Mahiirat and Phayab, setting his daughter Nang Chamadevi to rule over it,* though later on the Lawa regained in part their independence and set up a dynasty in Chieng Sen (A.D. 1057). One of the rulers of this dynasty was a famous Khun Chuang, a mighty warrior who extended his sway to Luang Prabang and the border of Annam, and his praise is still sung by local bards in the middle M.ekhong valley. But not many generations after the Lawa were entirely subjugated by the vigorous Thai streaming down from Yunnan's plainR and hills, and the Thai victory was sealed by King Mengrai, who founded Chieng Mai and was a contemporary of Phra Ruang or Rarnakhamheng, the famous ruler of Sukhothai whose inscription dates from A. D. 1292. In an inscription made by the pious King Sri Dharmasokaraja of Sukkothai-Sacchanalai, A. D. 1510, we see the Lawa denounced as impious "coweaters", the civilised Thai-Khmer subjects of the king being admonished not to sell their cattle to these barbarians. It appears that the N. W. part of the present Nakhon Sawan province was at that time still peopled by

* The date given, A.D. 528, seems-to put it mildly-exaggeratedly old; if 200 or 300 years were added, it would probably come nearer to the truth.

( 47

)

La.wa, who according to Colonel Gerini* had a capital called Mu'ang Soi somewhere above Raheng, of which conspicuous ruins are still left. In the " Hmannan Yazawin Dawgyi" or Royal Burmese chronicle (translated for this Journal by Plua Phraison Salarak) it is told that in A. D. 1548, when King Mintara Shweti invaded Siam Lawa people apparently hailing from the Kanburi region brought him news about the movements of the Siamese army, and later on in the same chronicle how in A. D. 1579, the prince Nawrataza before leaving Hongsawadi to take up the reins of government in Ohieng Mai, at that time a tributary state under Burmese rule, was ad vised by his king "not to be too free in speech in presence of the Zimrue nobles ( Zimme = Ohieng Mai ) thinking they were only Lawa by race and thereby hurting their feelings"; which goes to show that firstly the Lawa were rather despised and secondly that the Chieng Mai Lao or Lao Yuan were probably strongly mixed with the said Lawa; at least the Burmese thought. them to be so. As will be seen from the preceding the Lawii. of the 11th and 12th centuries were-at least in Northern Siam-not an entirely barbarous people; t.hey showed a warlike spirit and possessed also some social organisation. If we are to believe Law a traditions as also the events related in the Mu'ang Yong chronicle, their ancestors had founded a powerful empire several centuries B. C. ( ? ), which extended from the MekhongSalwin plateau Eastwards to Tonkin with a capital near Mu'ang Lem. This empire was overthrown by the Southwards marching Thai at a still uncertain but no doubt very remote date. It is well known that on some of the so-called Karen drums there are representations of junks. As the Karen never reached the sea-coast, and as these drums have been found elsewhere in territories formerly occupied by Lawa, whose sway, as we just have heard, once extended to the sea-coast, it is more than reasonable to believe that the drums are of Lawa or at least of Indonesian origin, the Karen later on learning the art from the Indonesians. (I here quote the opinion of M. H. Parmentier t ). • See his book " Researches on Ptolemy's Geography of Eastern Asia" pp. 55, 58, 59, 117, 118, 119, 143 and 161. t See Bulletin de I'Ecole Fran~aise d'Extreme-Orient, XVIII, i.

( 48 ) It is also interesting to note that the Kha Chianai, a savage and warlike tribe living on the western slopes of the great Anna.mese cordillera so far South as latitude 13° 60' have preserved the Phraya Chuang legend, according to which this hero, who is also theirs, shall return with the advent of Phra Sri Ariya Mettraya, the fifth Buddha, to re-establish the former ChUang empire in all its might and glory. Colonel Gerini was of the opinion that both the Lawa and other people living in S. W. China were civilised and organised by Indian princes and adven~urers who emigrated from the Ganges valley several centuries before the Christian Era, a tempting hypothesis but still so far only a hypothesis. But I have wandered far away from our poor Lawa in Khorat and Phetchabun ; my excuse, for having done so, is only that I thereby hope to have awaked the interest of my readers ar.d incidentally that of possible future collaborators in the 1:esearch work 8osuccessfully started by the Sub-Committee on ~nthropology, ethnography and languages so that we may receive new information from them in a near future concerning among other topics also that of the Lawa. A list of words showing some of the dialectic differences between the language of the Khorat and Phetchabun Lawa is attached at the end of thiR paper.

Bangkok, 25th June 1921.

ERIK SEIDENFADEN.

( 49 ) Engli~:;h

Khorat Lawa

heaven sun north and south

rangai ta-ngai use Thai words

mountain stream river fire extinguish fire forest fruit grass sugar paddy rice field

kuol

OX

dog crc,codile egg hen to fly snake fly human being man woman son daughter father mother skin beard

krong dak kamad ploet kamad pan om sek su karnpat dak dan srow sre song suol kay an wet sang tu chul pal khlik dui rnan1 pitrui prau kuan trui kuan prau pa ong san am sok me

Phetchabun Lawii dongkai mat tanghai use proper Lawii wordl:l ku chu wan ' \ meniim (Thai) pamat paphOt pamat krceb luk chhu chho'-a bao cho akuan thung chhe chhao khu \

I

ehorakhe (Thai) phuang chhieng po' sorn lui

.

,. manut na' trui \ na phrao kuen phlia kuen lut rna I rnem or me do s6k khwn

(

EugliHh breast su.lt sandal earring Milk hoUHI:l CILI\00

arrow ax~

day uight lllOl'Hing yeHtorday to-morrow to go to couw to run to HCO to die yellow green red I you wo my mother high in front of behind over under this

50

)

Khorat Lawii. diri pa.-uol wak thu'ug trang mai (Thai) Hangki rna (Thai) ta-ngii Huang ta-ngai badam lanur asii.-ng11.i muol ad or i1 long tariup kamai kajek prajun laichok palheng voi phe boei ong d1Lk voi sa.long nang ja.m6 sang krau ka.ndul kantrom kong-o

Phetchabun La.wii. elm' fin (ill?) chhabit chreng I tii.ng hil (Thai) net phre' dong thab thuk luk so':p ('rhai) ' chhOng hai khu'n (L'hai) ngun mu'a hai ngun o ai or bO chO wing ('l'hai) ·maichhi cho't pahung chO 18 chhu chheng oi tong eng oi \ me" khO oi

Ia I

ni1 ('l'hai) lang (id) bon (id) \

lo chhing-o, 6

( 51 English

)

Khorat Lawa

Phetchabun L11.wfi.

seven

trau

lao

twenty

b11r sui

bi chhfi

thirty

bi sui

pi chfi.

one hundred

mni chok

muei chho

'

E.

s.

(

53

)

Report to the President of the Siam Society FROM

The Chairman of the Sub-Committee on anthropological, ethnographical and linguistic research, presented at the annual general meeting of the Society on the 28th January, 1921. To w. A. GRAHAM, ESQ., M.R.A.S., F.R.G.S., President of the Siam Society. SIR, In the month of July last year I had on behalf of the SubCommittee on anthropological, ethnographical and linguistic research the honour to report to you on the work done by the 1>aid SubCommittee of which I was elected chairman in April 1920. Since then, the Sub-Committee has continued its meetings, discussing the various questions which arose; however, as a whole, the period between this and my former report has been one of waiting, i.e. awaiting contributions from the numerous European and Siamese gentlemen to whom questionnaires in English and Siamese, in all 250, were forwarded. I here wish to thank Dr. Ira Ayer, who acted throughout, and still acts as Honorary Secretary of the Sub-Committee, and Mr. J. G. Raggi for their valued assistance and untiring work. Out· appeal for co-operation in the research work undertaken by this Sub-Committee has met with some response, as will be seen from the following summary :1. Received from Luang Sromvitchapoon, Commissioner of Education in Monthon Puket, i\ long and interesting paper about the Selung or Sea gypsies living in the Puket Archipelago. 2. From Phra Supakitchlekhakarn, Governor of Nakon Svarga, a short paper concerning the population in this changvad, the existence of Lao Song or Thai Doi there being of special interest. 3. Phra Udorntani Sri Khomsakornketr, Governor of Changvad Surastra, has returned the questionnaire forwarded to him with translations of all the Siamese words contained in the vocabulary into the peculiar "clipped" tongue called "Phasa chao chai tale," which is spoken along the Eastern Siamese Malayan coast.

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4. From Phra Petchabunburi, Governor of Changvad Petchabun, a long and minute paper replying to most of the questions contained in the questionnaire as well .a s a translation of all the Siamese words into the Lawa tongue, thus adding considerably to the information already given by me about the Law a people living in the Northwest and Southwest of Monthon Nakorn Rajasima, which 'vas published in t he Journal of the Siam Society during the years of 1919-20. 5. Mr. Halliday, the well known expert on the Mons and author of " The Talaings," has replied to our letter (accompanying the questionnaire) and offered to write a Mon Dictionary. An ofl'er, wh ich I am sure, that the Society will be eager to accept. 6. M. Parmentier, acting Director of the "Ecole Fransaise d' Extreme Orient" in Hanoi, replied to our letter expressing this school's warmest sympathy with our work, giving us several useful hints concerning the metl\od of work and incidentally regretting that we, so far, have not included archaeology in our research work. 7. His Serene Highness Prince Bovaradej, His Majesty's Viceroy of the Monthons of Bhak Payap, haA, through his DeputyLord Lieutenant, Phya Petchpis11i, in Chieng Mai, most graciously announced his willingness to assist us by all means in our research work, asking for several more copies of the questionnaire, which have been duly forwarded. 8. And finally, t he Sub-Committee has received anonymously two very interesting papers in French concerning the Thai and the Tho (in Tonkin) for which the Committee is very thankful, though it regrets by reason df the circumstances, that it will not be able to thank the author persbnally. Suitable replies and letters of thanks have been forwarded to all the gentlemen mentioned; in some cases t.hey have been asked kindly to give further information concerning certain details wanted by the Obmm ittee. As the stock of English and Siamese questionnaires was exhausted the Committee had ordered 100 fresh copies more of each kind; these are now available and a proper register of the addresses will be kept in future.

/

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As will be seen from the above not one of the 100-one hundred-Europeans appealed to-with the exception of Mr. Hallida.y, who has promised to do something-has so far contributed anything to this study, so important for the accurate knowledge c£ the country. This is a most regrettable sign of indifference and lack of interest on the part of peopl e, most of whom have stayed here for many years and certainly should be able by their eontributions to a::;sist us enormously in our work. On the other hand, I think it most encouraging that several Siamese gentlemen should have taken so much interest in the work that they han contributed Yaluable papers on subjects and tribes hitherto only slightly known; a n especially happy sign, which mak es us hop e for good results, is the interest shown by H. S. H. Prince Bovaradej, who gonrns a tenitory extraordinarily interesting from the ethnological point of view. 'l'hough it is perhaps Hot strictly within th e limit~> of thi::; r eport, I venture to say that if we can only succeed in awakening the interest of the Siamese " Intelligentia" in these matters, then the battle is half won and most of the objects of our Society attained. 'l'he next phase of the work of the Sub-Committee will com~ist in sifting and co-ordinating the info rmation so far gathered, and then, perhaps, in trying to find people who will tak e up the study of any special branch about which suffi cient information has been obtained and publish monographs upon them. 'l'his last object might be encouraged by the institution of prize-essais as is done by the Burmah Research Society. 'l'he contributions-6 papers-and sundry letters, the minute-book and file of the Sub-Committee are forward ed togeth er ·w ith this report. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, ERll( SEIDENFADEX,

Major, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on anthropological, etlmographical and linguistic research. Bangkok, 20th January, 1921.

THE GOLDEN PAVILION AT WAT SAl. BY

H. R. H. PRINCE DAMRONG RAJANUBHAB. Translated from the Siamese by B. 0. Cartwright. On the 23rd and 24th of July 1921, the National Library was specially opened for the Priests and Novices' visit. Phra Khru Thavara Samanavamsa of Wat Sai, amphur of Bano"khunthian, district of Thonburi, came to visit the National Library and stated that at Wat Sai there was a Pavilion the walls· of which were covered with designs in gold, just like lacquer and gilt bookcases in the National Libra,ry, and that the oldest inhabitants relate that it is a Pavilion built by King Khun Luang Sua of Ayuthya. On the 28th of July 1921, I went to look at the Pavilion at Wat Sai, and saw that it was a genuine antique and of historical importance, and ought b be reckoned as an import:tnt memorial of the par-;t. I, therefore, have published this explanatory pamphlet in order that thm;e mterested in relics of the past may read about this Pavillion. (1) Wat Sai is situated near Klong Sanamchai (commonly known as K long Dan) on the western bank near Bangkhunthian. It can be reached from Bangkok by the Tachin ra.ilway, alight at Bangkhunthian Station, and walk a short distance in a southerly direction, and the boundary of the Temple will be reached, the railway line passes behind the temple. Besides there are two ways of reaching Wat Sai by boat, one by Klong Bangkok Yai, the other by Klong Daokhanong, but care must be taken to go when there is plenty of water in the canals. This ancient pavilion is situated near the canal, by the side of the priests' cells. It is a wooden pavilion with three rooms. Its length is 8 meters 50, width 4 meters 50, the long side faces the canal. On the southern side one room is divided otf by a partition wall, having a window with carved frames forming the point of an arch. On the northern face the walls are open in order to place curtains for converting into two rooms. 'l'he posts and beams arc all rotten and have been rephtced; the walls are the only original part left. The outer face of the wttlls ttre decorated with "Kranok" designs iu gold, but the gildiug is left only on the ettYes.

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'l'he lower part exposed t o the sun and rain has lost its gilding, and has been repainted. The original rafters r emain, but only one of the carved frames remains. Inside the pavilion the walls are whitewashed with " Phum Khao Binda" designs in colour, and it IS doubtful whether they were not made at the time when the lower part was repaired. The Priests say that the original pests were painted in similar to the outside walls. The partition walls that still remain are p.1inted in go~d like the outside walls. There are two doorwu.ys in the partition wa,ll, having the d)ors painted with figures of Devas in gold, but tliey appear to be the handiwork of Bangkok cr intere:sts dud. Roy de Siam ny de receYoir ::;eH ennemis ny de leur donner