1. Family connections The leading noble families of the late Ayutthaya period— The Persian Bunnags, The Brahman The Chinese, i.e., Krairuks,

2. The Chakri By 1775, the Chakri (Thong Duang) and brother(Bunma) were related to all three. The Chakri’s chief wife was closely related to the Bunnags; Through his elder sister’s husband he was related to the Brahman line; through one of his concubines, he was connected to the Chinese line.

3. Wars and conquest 1775 conquest of Lan Na 1778 conquest of Vientiane –Took the Emerald Buddha and Phrabang back to Thonburi. Suzerainty over Champassak and Vientiene and cowed Luang Prabang unequal alliance with Siam.

4. Crisis and revolt in Thonburi 1779 Taksin devoted to religious excesses. Provoking schism in Buddhism, required the monks to recognize him as a sotapanna, “or stream-winner” The loss of merit and right, by merit, to rule. “paranoid” behavior because he was an outsider; his roots were shallow.

5. Taksin had alienated the old power structure of the capital, the monks, old families, officials, and the merchants. Power remained in the hands of local ruling families, the noble families, forming many cliques and factions and control of manpower.

6. By the end of 1781 some consensus within the elite that Taksin had to be replaced—for the good of all, for the fate of Buddhism, for the future of Siam. Sent Chakri and Surasi to pacify Cambodia. A revolt in the capital and call for the Chakri to be king. Marched back on April 6, 1782.

7. Royal execution According to the Palatine Law Taksin is said to have met his end tied up in a velvet sack and struck on the back of the neck with a sandalwood club, later to be secretly buried in the outskirts of Thonburi. Folk tradition was that he was taken away to Nakhon si Thammarat.

8. The Bangkok Kingdom ‘new Siamese vision’ 1:The “new self” perception. –humanism in Buddhism, “rationalism”,. Paticcasamuppada, the doctrine of dependent co- arising 2: The “New Order” –a new moral order=The new Ecclesiastical laws (Kotmai phra song) 1782-1801. –Rewrite “Traiphum”-1783: Tipitaka in 1788.

9. Rethinking; interpretation of the canon & text. –reminds monks of the rules –reverse the order of man and the world in Traiphum –Old Traiphum--less virtue up to the highest –New Traiphum--man first, then lower orders--higher orders. Man in the middle of the order. –‘world of men and kings’. Theme=king is the leader –The Three Seals Laws. 1805 –relate all law to a single absolute standard of justice

10. 3: The “New World” Recognized the world and its calamities Translation of foreign literature and texts ‘Ramayana’.(1796-7). ‘Rachathirat’ ‘Dalang’ and ‘Inao’ from Java; from Persia ‘Unarut’, from ‘Mahabharata’ ‘Mahavamsa’ and ‘Jinakalamali’ from Pali ‘The Romance of the Three Kingdoms’-Chinese Mainly from Mon, Chinese and Persian literatures Universalization of values.

11. The Rewriting of History. Explaining the cause of the fall of Ayudhya. Baan Plu Luang(1688-1767).> The royal chronicle of Ayudhya New hybrid of Bangkok style of art and architecture. Early Bangkok pro Chinese, by the middle period pro Western style. “change in focus that brought rational man clearly to the center of the stage of history”.

12. The New Empire Large number of power centers existed: First circle of semi-independent rulers=Kedah, Trengganu, Kelantan, Cambodia, and Luang Prabang. A second tier of principalities, provided manpower, tribute, married in and interfered; Chiangmai, Vientiane, Champassak, and Patani.

13. The next layer consisted of large regional centers around Siam’s periphery, ruled by chaophraya, as quasi-independent provinces. Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Battambong-Siem Reap, and Nakhon Ratchasima. A fourth tier was in Khorat Plateau.