Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 September 2009
In 1824 the governor of the important southern Siamese city of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, and of the large region which fell under Nakhon's jurisdiction, was chao phraya Nakhon (Noi). He ruled the city from 1811–39 and was a man of extraordinary character, a vigorous and determined ruler who was reputed to be the son of a former king of Siam, Taksin. This attribution of royal birth was current in his own lifetime, and was recorded by Henry Burney in 1826, and by Lieutenant James Low a little later (Munro-Hay, in press). At that time the British, at war with Burma, Siam's western neighbour, were concerned by developments relating to the Rangoon expedition, and it was determined to send an envoy from the Government of India on a mission to the Siamese governor to discuss outstanding problems and possible co-operation.
1 Low, J., “Extracts from the journal of a Political Mission to the Rája of Ligor in Siam”, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, VII (1838), p. 583.Google Scholar
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., pp. 604–7.
4 Head, Raymond, Catalogue of Paintings Drawings, Engravings and Busts in the Collection of the Royal Asiatic Society (London, 1991), p. 97.Google Scholar
5 Jacq-Hergoulac'h, M., L'Europe et le Siam du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle, Apports culturels (Paris, 1993).Google Scholar
5a Munro-Hay, S. C., Nakhon Sri Thammarat. The Archaeology, History and Legends of a Southern Thai Town (in press).Google Scholar
6 Wenk, K., Thailändische Miniatunnalerein (Wiesbaden, 1965);Google Scholar Thongchai Winichakul, Siam Mapped. A History of the Geo-Body of a Nation (Honolulu, 1964);Google Scholar Ginsburg, H., Thai Manuscript Painting (London, 1989).Google Scholar
7 Neale, F. A., Narrative of a Residence in the Capital of the Kingdom of Siam (London, 1852).Google Scholar
8 Wyatt, D. K., The Crystals Sands, the chronicles of Nagara sri Dhamnaraja, Data Paper no. 98, Southeast Asia Program, Department of Asian Studies, Cornell University (New York, 1975).Google Scholar
9 Burney, H., The Burney Papers, reprinted from the originals in the India Office, Bangkok 1910–14, I–V (Farnborough, 1971).Google Scholar
10 Smyth, Warington H., Five Years in Siam from 1891–96 (London, 1898) 124ff.Google Scholar