King Ramkhamhaeng Essays - Indianized Kingdoms,

King Ramkhamhaeng King Ramkhamhaeng Throughout history, there have been many great rulers of many great ancient civilizations. Some of them might be Julius Caesar, Ramses II, Hammurabi, or Octavian Caesar. The list of them could go on forever. One of the most influential of his civilization, known for his wisdom, was King Ramkhamhaeng or Rama the Valiant, of the Thai people. He claimed to be the ?sovereign lord of all the Thai.? Researchers guess that he lived from 1239 AD to after 1317 AD. During his lifetime, King Ramkhamhaeng invented the modern Thai script, expanded his kingdom far and wide, and made the Sukhothai Kingdom one of the greatest in Thai history. When the ancient Thai people moved into mainland Southeast Asia, they came across a people speaking the Mon-Khmer languages who had inhabited the region for a long period before then. During the first millennium, strong Indian and China influences brought Hindu and Buddhist beliefs to the area. Some of the groups that adopted these beliefs were the Mon of Myanmar who were the first people of Southeast Asia to adopt Buddhism. Between the sixth and ninth centuries, the Mon established several small Buddhist civilizations within modern-day Myanmar and Central Thailand. From their two ?capitals,? Nakhon Pathom and Lop Buri, they extended their power east across the Khorat Plateau and north as fat as Chiang Mai. They extended their civilization northeast to present day Laos. This period was known as the Dvaravati period of Thailand. It was a period that was noted for its artwork; particularly its Buddhist sculptures made of terra cotta or stucco. When the Thai people moved south into the mainland of Southeast Asia, they also came across the Khmer from Cambodia. Between the 9th and 13th centuries, Khmer rulers expanded their civilizations from their capital of Angkor, establishing an empire that at its height, extended over approximately half of modern Thailand. This kingdom was under the ruler Jayavarman VII. He ruled from 1181 to 1220. While Mon kingdoms were predominantly of Buddhist influence, Khmer civilization--which found its expression in the great temple at Angkor--was heavily influenced by the Hindu people of India. Tai contacts with the Khmer led to many Hindu elements entering Tai culture, particularly in royal ceremonies or classical dance and literature. Many of these aspects are still found in modern Thai culture today. By the beginning of the 13th century, the Thai were starting to put pressure on both the Mon and Khmer empires. The Thai lived and worked throughout the Chao Phraya basin, and a Thai ruler was established as far south as the great city of Nakhon Si Thammarat, on the Malay Peninsula. Through Nakhon Si Thammarat, a new form of Buddhism--Theravada--had emerged in mainland Southeast Asia from Sri Lanka. Monks brought Theravada Buddhism not only to areas under Mon or Khmer rule but also to the new Thai cities that were beginning to emerge. Sukhothai and Lan Na (Lanna), the first major Tai kingdoms in Thai history, were Theravada Buddhist. King Ramkhamhaeng made Sukhothai one of the greatest kingdoms in Thai history. King Ramkhamhaeng started his rule during the 13th century AD. During his rule, King Ramkhamhaeng invented a Thai script, or form of writing, very similar to the form that is used today. It was known as the Sukhothai script. He drew together Mon, Khmer, and early Thai to form it. It was first recorded in 1292 in an inscription that portrays the king as a wise and benevolent ruler. The inscription said, ?-This Muang Sukhothai is good. Th the water there are fish, in the field there is rice. The ruler does not levy a tax on the people who travel along the road together, leading their oxen on the way to trade and riding their horses on the way to sell. Whoever wants to trade in elephants, so trades. Whoever wants to trade in horses, so trades. Whoever wants to trade in silver and gold, so trades-.? The Sukhothai Script was derived from a form of the ancient Brahmi script from Southern India called Grantha. Th e Sukhothai script was used until 1357. In that year, King Li Thai, grandson of Ramkhamhaeng, invented a new, yet similar, form of writing. For the most part,