The Emergence of the Thai Kingdom

Both Hinduism and Buddhism played roles in the development of the culture of modern Thailand, and the Hindu-Buddhist notion of the devaraja, divine kingship, strongly influenced the development of the Thai monarchy. Many Thais trace the modern Thai state to Sukhothai, the first Thai Kingdom, which was founded in 1238 CE. The Sukhothai kings established Theravada Buddhism as the official court religion and invited Theravada monks from present-day Sri Lanka to establish monasteries in Thailand. This tradition was maintained through the next 150 years, when King U Thong (1350-69) moved the Sukhothai capital to Ayutthaya in 1350. At that time, King U Thong declared Theravada Buddhism the official religion of Ayutthaya and created a legal code based on Dharmashastra, an ancient Sanskrit legal tradition, which was used as the Thai legal code through the 1800s. King U Thong expanded both his physical kingdom and the concept of Buddhist kingship. He presented himself as a Chakra King, a wheel-turning king, who could turn the wheel of the universe through his divine moral qualities. The king became the patron of Buddhism, although he also enjoyed near-sacred status as a Brahmin due to the culture’s lingering Hinduism; the strength of the sangha, the Buddhist monastic community, reflected the legitimacy of the king. King U Thong and the successive Ayutthaya kings spread their kingdom south, using military might to incorporate the Malay Peninsula into the kingdom. The Muslim-dominated Malay Peninsula became an area of religious conflict for the Buddhist mainland. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Thailand was engaged in frequent warfare with neighboring Burma. Ayutthaya was destroyed by the Burmese in 1767. A new Thai kingdom, Siam, was established the following year.