1.05 Chaophraya Thiphakorawong: A Book on Various Things (, 1867)

Introduction

Chaophraya Thiphakorawong (1813–1870) and His Time Chaophraya Thiphakorawong, the author of Nangsue sadaeng kitchanukit (A Book on Various Things),1 was born in Bangkok as Kham Bunnag on 1 October 1813. He was a member of the powerful Bunnag family, which played an impor- tant role in the administration of the kingdom of Siam. The Bunnags are of Arabo-Persian descent, whose ancestors had immigrated to Siam in the early seventeenth century. Over the years they had climbed up the social ladder, built up close ties with the royal Thai family by intermarriage and steady dip- lomatic service, adopted during the eighteenth century to perma- nently secure their position at court, and produced in this manner at least five state ministers (Chaophraya) until the end of the Ayutthaya period (1351–1767). Kham Bunnag started his career in the Harbour Department during the reign of king Rama III (Phra Nangklao, r. 1824–51). As a member of one of the most eminent noble families in the country, it came easy to him to succeed in office. By the mid-nineteenth century, the Bunnags obtained the most pres- tigious and lucrative posts in the official hierarchy and effectively controlled much of the political administration in the country. When King Rama III died in 1851 without appointing an heir to the throne, the Bunnags were among those who decided on the royal succession. Kham was actively involved in the election process and determinedly supported the case of Prince who had been one of his closest friends since many years. Once elected, Mongkut (King Rama IV) rewarded for his loyalty, and raised him to the noble rank of Chaophraya (or minister of state) in 1853, and finally conferred to him the title of Thiphakorawong in 1865, by which Kham is best known today. In 1855 he succeeded his father as a minister of the royal treasury (Phra Khlang), who in those days effectively acted as a minister of foreign affairs. Suffering from ill health later in his life Thiphakorawong retired in 1867 and spent his final years writing books and essays on Thai history, culture and religion. The NSK

1 Chaophraya Thiphakorawong, Nangsue sadaeng kitchanukit [1867] (Bangkok: Sueksaphanit, 2014/1971) (hereafter NSK).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004329003_008 64 1. Religion and the Order of Knowledge treated below is a significant result of his late vocation as an author and self- taught historian and the major source for an assessment of his comparative study of religions.2 The reign of King Rama IV was a period of reform on various levels of society, changing the ways in which the Bangkok government administered the country, how the Siamese government dealt with foreigners (in particular with those from Western countries) and how both clerics and laymen prac- ticed the Buddhist religion. From an economic point of view, the period of 1851–68 is marked by the conclusion of the between Britain and Siam in April 1855. This treaty had a significant effect on the development of the country because it opened up Siam to Western trade. The British came to Siam as an imperial power and left no doubt that they were willing to use force to protect their economic interests. The outcome of the agreement there- fore met London’s chief conditions.3 The treaty did not bring about an instant ‘Revolution’ of Siam’s economic and political system, as the British might have had hoped or expected. Yet one consequence that was immediately felt was a remarkable influx of European and other foreign residents who were attracted by new trade opportunities in Siam and who significantly grew in number after 1855.4

Christianity in Siam Christianity was not unknown in nineteenth-century Siam. First Christian settlements date back to the sixteenth century, when Portuguese merchants began to operate in Ayutthaya, the former capital of the kingdom. In the sec- ond half of the seventeenth-century king Louis XIV with the newly-founded French Foreign Mission (Société des Missions Étrangères) made a first serious attempt to spread the Catholic faith in Siam and even tried to convert the Siamese king Narai to Christianity. But these plans failed in 1688 and led to an interruption of Christian missionary activities in Siam for the next 140 years. It was during the reign of king Rama III that the Christian mission was revived in the country. The Catholic Church was re-established in 1830 and eight years later the Vatican installed Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix as Vicar

2 A detailed account of Thiphakorawong’s life is provided in Somjai Phirotthirarach, “The Historical Writings of Chao Phraya Thiphakorawong” (PhD diss., DeKalb: Northern Illinois University 1983), 30–80. 3 Barend J. Terwiel, Thailand’s Political History: From the 13th Century to Recent Times (Bangkok: River Books, 2010), 153–63. 4 Similar treaties were concluded with other nations in subsequent years, the United States, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal and Prussia among them.