Theodorus van den Heuvel Inspects the Phramen of Queen Aphainuchit in 1738
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Abstract
In 1738, the director of the Dutch trade office at Ayutthaya was invited to inspect the crematory building being prepared for one of King Borommakot’s chief queens, probably an unique opportunity for a foreigner in this era; and on the following day, he witnessed the funeral procession. He left a detailed description of what he saw, including many details not found in any other account. This article includes an English translation of these episodes, along with reflections on the insight they give into Siamese attitudes and Siamese-Dutch relations at that time.
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Theodorus Jacobus van den Heuvel was the eldest son of one of the chief magistrates of the town of Maastricht. At the age of 18 or 19, he joined the Amsterdam Chamber of the United East India Company, where he was assigned the rank of junior assistant. On April 10, 1716, he sailed for the East on the ship Doornik, arriving in Batavia (Jakarta) on 23 October of that year. He served the Company in Batavia and Melaka before being appointed on 1 August 1735 as the head of the Ayutthaya office.
Van den Heuvel, or one of his assistants, wrote a detailed account in the trade office’s Daily Register. It inspired a lavishly illustrated book edited by R. Raben and Dhiravat na Pombejra, In the King’s Trail: An 18th Century Dutch Journey to the Buddha’s Footprint (Bangkok: The Royal Netherlands Embassy, 1997).
Van den Heuvel wrote that he was obliged to undertake the journey “on special order of the Siamese king” (“door speciaal bevel den Koning van Siam heeft moeten volgen”).
During the reign of King Songtham (1611–1628), a natural depression in a rock, resembling a giant footprint, was discovered at a site circa 20 kilometres from Lopburi town. The king ordered the construction there of various buildings, as well as establishing a wide road to the Pasak river. See Richard D. Cushman (trans.), The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya (Bangkok: The Siam Society, 2000), pp. 209-210.
The term farang is used by the Thais to refer to Europeans in general. Officially, the Dutch were known under the rubric, Wilanda (วิลันดา), derived from the word Hollanda.
In the King’s Trail, p. 24.
Krommaluang Aphainuchit was the eldest of King Borommakot’s two queens. She was the mother of the prince of the Front Palace and the poet, Chaofa Thammathibet.
Bhawan Ruangsilp, Dutch East India Company Merchants at the Court of Ayutthaya (Leiden: Brill, 2007), pp.189–190.
พระคลัง Phrakhlang, the minister in charge of trade and relations with foreigners.
Luang Thepphakdi (หลวงเทพภักดี) was a harbourmaster in the Phrakhlang Department. He is mentioned in Rueang Kotmai Tra Sam Duang, [hereafter KTSD, (Bangkok: Krom Sinlapakon, BE 2521 [1978]), p. 117, where his sakdina is listed as 600, and his duty is specified as being in charge of the Dutch section (ได้ว่าวิลันดา).
เสมียน,“scribe”.
Samian Bunmak is also mentioned in the King’s Trail (p. 11), there spelled “simieen bommak”, and on p. 36 of that book, he is identified as secretary to the Phrakhlang.
Luang Raksasombat was a middle-ranking official in the Phrakhlang Ministry. The KTSD (p. 116) lists him not as luang, but with the lower rank of khun and a sakdinā of 800.
Luang Siyot หลวงศรียศ. A person with this name is mentioned as one of the five generals sent to combat the invasion ordered by the Burmese king Alaunphaya in 1759. See The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya, p. 476.
Luang Choduek is mentioned in the KTSD (with his full title Choduek Ratchasetthi โชดึกราชเศรษฐี) as the head of Luang Thepphakdi’s Department and a sakdina of 1400. Dhiravat calls him “the Chinese Harbour-master”. Dhiravat na Pombejra, Court, Company, and Campong, Essays on the VOC Presence in Ayutthaya (Ayutthaya: Ayutthaya Historical Study Center, 1992), p. 46.
ละคร, theatrical performance.
This was the “men” (Pali: meru), the huge central tower symbolising the immense mountain at the centre of our universe.
The “ape” was in reality the effigy of a yaksa, a mythical fearsome warrior, the bird-woman a kinnari. They guarded respectively the west and the east side of the phramen.
It must have been three times in a clockwise direction, keeping the phramen on the right in accordance with the Siamese custom of honouring a person or object called prathaksin (ประทักษิน)..
Van den Heuvel wrote “Malek”, but most likely this is a contraction of Mahatlek, มหาดเล็ก, the corps of royal pages.
In the Dutch manuscript, the word used is “alkatief”, a general term for Oriental carpets, named after Al Qatif (ٱلْقَطِيف),the town on the Persian Gulf.
Chakri was the chief of Civil Affairs in the north; the Kalāhom must have been Phraya Ratchasongkhram, supervising the southern provinces; Phraya Ratchaphakdi was responsible for Palace Affairs; and Phraya Phonlathep headed the Department of Lands.
Probably (using the Thai system of time reckoning), three hours after six o’clock, i.e. 9 a.m.
ศาลา, a pavilion.
This must have been a ratchawat (ราชวัติ), a ritual fence separating the profane world from the sacred precinct.
The Dutch text mentions “pompen”. The pompe is a now obsolete name for the yellow or white waterlily. This must be the fan, shaped like a leaf, called bangsaek (บังแทรก in Thai). It is a ceremonial sunshade, one of the king’s regalia.
อินทรีย์, insi.
A resinous core that forms in Aquilaria trees when they become infected with a type of mould.
พระโกศ, phrakot, from Sanskrit kośa meaning a container.
Moiré is cloth that, when worn, has a rippling or “watered” appearance.
Thick pieces of cloth, used as wraps during the cold season and as towels; from the Arabic, hamman (Turkish bath).
Pieces of cloth, from the Persian, zanāna.
Pieces of cotton from Bengal. See VOC-Glossarium (Den Haag: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 2000), p. 48.
ตำรวจใน, the palace guard.
เฟือง, at that time a silver bullet coin, weighing almost two grams.
In the Royal Chronicles, the ceremony is mentioned in passing, whereby it is recorded that the king had ordered the construction of a small phramen, five wa and two sok wide, corresponding to approximately eleven metres, so that the base of the tower must have covered about 121 square metres. See Cushman, The Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya, p. 433. The mention of “ten thousand clerics who were presented with new robes” in the same account must be understood as “a large number of clerics”.
See Niyada Lausunthorn and Phiraphat Samran, Citrakam Phapsat Himmaphan Phra Wihan Luang Wat Suthatthep Woraram, printed for the occasion of the royal cremation of Somdet Phraphutthakosachan (Wira Phatthacarimahathera P.Th 9), 3 September B.E. 2559 [2016].
กินนรรี, one of the creatures believed to inhabit the mythical Himavanta forest, depicted with head, torso and arms of a woman, but wings, tail and feet of a bird.
In the King’s Trail, p. 58.
Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit, A History of Ayutthaya, Siam in the Early Modern World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017), especially Chapter 6.
Barend J. Terwiel, “What Happened at Nong Sarai? Comparing Indigenous and European Sources for Late 16th Century Siam”, Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 101, 2013, pp 26–27.
Van Muyden was opperhoofd from 1646 to 1650. Jan Struys, who was visiting the Dutch trade office in 1650, was also invited, but he arrived too late to see the corpse brought to the phramen. His description of the ceremony is therefore hearsay, which helps explain his confusion and fanciful exaggerations. See “Jan Struys, The Perilous and most Unhappy Voyages of John Struys…, translated by John Morrison, London 1683”, Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 94, 200, pp. 196-198.
Dhiravat na Pombejra, Court, Company, and Campong; Essays on the VOC Presence in Ayutthaya, Bangkok (Amarin 1992), p. 47.
Hendrik E. Niemeijer, “Letter from the Chaophraya Phrakhlang on behalf of King Borommakot Maha Dharmaracha II (1733-1758) to the Supreme Government in Batavia, (received) 29 March 1740, and the answer from Batavia, 28 August 1740”. In: Harta Karun.Hidden Treasures on Indonesian and Asian-European History from the VOC Archives in Jakarta, document 27. Jakarta: Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia, 2016, downloaded from https://sejarah-nusantara.anri.go.id/hartakarun/item/27/. Van den Heuvel’s refusal may well have played a role in the subsequent controversy regarding the pricing of Dutch trade goods.
See Niemeijer, “Letter from the Chaophraya Phrakhlang.”