Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke or Phutthayotfa (
1737 –
1802), posthumously titled Rama I the Great, was
King of Siam (now called Thailand) from 1782 to 1809, and the founder of the
Chakri dynasty which rules Thailand to this day.The future king was born on March 20, 1737 in
Ayutthaya, his birth name was Thong Duang. He was born the son of Phra Aksorn Sundara Smiantra, an ethnic
Mon noble of the kingdom of Ayutthaya, who following the fall of Ayutthaya became Chao Phya Chakri at Pitsanuloke and his part-Chinese wife. After receiving his education in a Buddhist temple, his father sent him to become a squire for king Uthumphon, and it was at this moment that he met his friend Tak Sin, who would become King
Taksin, Rama's future predecessor. After the fall of Ayutthaya, he rejoined the ranks of king Taksin under the name Chao Phraya Chakri. He was given the name Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke posthumously by king
Rama III,
Nangklao. Chao Phraya Chakri and
Phraya Pichai were considered Taksin's most valuable generals.
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