Historical Figure
Ram Khamhaeng
Also Known As Ramkhamhaeng (one-word spelling used in primary English-language scholarship) · Phra Ram Khamhaeng ("Rama the Bold", battle honorific) · Ram (speculative) The Royal Institute of Thailand speculates his birth name may have been Ram, derived from the Hindu god-king Rama; not confirmed by primary inscriptional evidence.
Monarchs and Rulers
Ram Khamhaeng (c. 1237/1247-1298) was a king of the Sukhothai Kingdom in what is now Thailand, ruling during the kingdom's most prosperous period from 1279 to 1298. He is traditionally credited with creating the earliest Thai script and with establishing Theravada Buddhism as the kingdom's state religion, and he expanded Sukhothai's political and commercial influence across much of mainland Southeast Asia, including sending embassies to Yuan dynasty China and importing Chinese ceramic techniques that established Sukhothai's Sangkhalok wares as a major export industry. Much of what is known about his reign comes from the Ram Khamhaeng Inscription, a stone stele bearing an account of his rule that is preserved in the Bangkok National Museum and was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2003.
Facts
Disputed
Death YearChinese History of Yuan records 1298; historian George Coedes considers shortly before 1318 more probable; exact year unresolved. RoleKing of Sukhothai (Phra Ruang dynasty), r. 1279-1298 1 Role
Role (category) Connections
In Era
Source Wikipedia: Ram Khamhaeng
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Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Ram Khamhaeng
WikipediaLead section, sentence 1
Ramkhamhaeng (Thai: รามคำแหง, pronounced [rāːm kʰām hɛ̌ːŋ] ), commonly known as Pho Khun Ramkhamhaeng the Great (Thai: พ่อขุนรามคำแหงมหาราช, pronounced [pʰɔ̂ː kʰǔn raːm kʰam hɛ̌ːŋ má hǎː râːt] ), was the third king of the Phra Ruang dynasty, ruling the Sukhothai Kingdom, a historical polity in what is now Thailand, from 1279 to 1298, during its most prosperous era.
Birth and name section, paragraph 1
he was reportedly granted the title "Phra Ram Khamhaeng" ("Rama the Bold")
Birth and name section, paragraph 3
The Royal Institute of Thailand has speculated that Ramkhamhaeng's birth name was "Ram", from Rama, the hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana, since his name following coronation was recorded as "Pho Khun Ramarat" (Thai: พ่อขุนรามราช).
Death section, paragraph 1
According to the Chinese History of Yuan, King Ramkhamhaeng died in 1298 and was succeeded by his son, Loe Thai, though George Cœdès says it is "more probable" it was "shortly before 1318".
Ram Khamhaeng: Gender
He is traditionally credited with creating the earliest Thai script and with establishing Theravada Buddhism as the kingdom's state religion, and he expanded Sukhothai's political and commercial influence across much of mainland Southeast Asia, including sending embassies to Yuan dynasty China and importing Chinese ceramic techniques that established Sukhothai's Sangkhalok wares as a major export industry.
In Era: The Post-Classical and Medieval Period, lead paragraph, lifespan
Infobox: born c. 1237 or 1247; died 1298 (aged 51-61)
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