意大利画家或耶稣会士门徒 · Public domain
18th century · 1734–1782
King Taksin (Taksin the Great)
สมเด็จพระเจ้าตากสินมหาราช · Thailand
The only king of the Thonburi Kingdom
His father was a Teochew man from Chenghai in Guangdong. After Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese in 1767, he raised an army, drove out the Burmese and reunified Siam, making himself king with his capital at Thonburi on the west bank of the Chao Phraya. In 1782 he was overthrown in a coup and executed; his general Thong Duang took the throne as Rama I.
Where the story happened
Places connected with this person
History · Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn)
King Taksin arrived at dawn
In 1767 Ayutthaya fell to the Burmese army, and the royal capital of more than four centuries was reduced to ruins. The general Taksin, whose father was Teochew Chinese, broke out, rebuilt the army, drove out the Burmese and then founded a new capital at Thonburi on the west bank of the Chao Phraya. Legend says he came down the river and reached this temple at dawn, so he renamed it the 'Temple of Dawn' and vowed to restore it. In the Thonburi period the Emerald Buddha was enshrined here. In 1782 Taksin was overthrown in a coup and executed; Rama I moved the capital to the east bank, and in 1785 the Emerald Buddha was moved into the Grand Palace.
