Chiang Mai Farangs - In Perspective

[CMHomeboy78]

Nophaburi Srinakhonping Chiangmai, to give the city it's full, formal name was founded in 1296 by King Mengrai

The historians W.A.R. Wood, Camille Notton, Hans Penth, David Wyatt, and more recently Andrew Forbes have all made valuable contributions to Chiang Mai studies that are greatly appreciated by those of us who love the city and what remains of the traditional life and culture of the Kohn Muang who inhabit it.

My topic is a summary of what I know about noteworthy farangs who have had some relation to Chiang Mai in the past.

Additional information would be welcome as well as corrections to any possible errors of my own.

Suvarna-Bhumi - in many variations of spelling - meaning Land of Gold, was known by name to the Romans and mentioned by Pliny and Ptolemy among others.

Exactly where in Southeast Asia it was and how knowlege of it reached the west are unknown. But somebody must have travelled here, or had contact with others who did.

Any relationship with Chiang Mai is impossible because of the dates; nevertheless conjectures have been made.

In the realm of documented fact we can begin with Portugese diplomatic missions and mercenary soldiers serving in the armies of early 16th Century Ayudhya and engaged in campaigns against Chiang Mai.

The earliest recorded diplomatic contact with Europeans was by Duarte Fernandez in 1511.

Sent as an envoy from Afonso d'Albuquerque, Viceroy of Portugese India [Goa]; then residing in the recently captured port of Malacca.

Fernandez was well received by King Rama T'ibodi II, and subsequent missions were sent in 1512 and 1516 which resulted in permission for the Portugese to reside and trade in Ayudhya, Mergui, Pattani and Nakhon Si Thammarat.

In 1518 King Rama T'ibodi reorganized his army which now included Portugese gunners and cannon founders. A book [now lost] on military tactics and fortification was issued for the edification of his officers.

At the time of King P'rajai's accession in 1536 the number of Portugese in Ayudhya had greatly increased.

In 1540 a Burmese invasion was repulsed with the aid of the Portugese who were rewarded with even more privileges, including the right to propagate their Santa Fe

An invasion of Chiang Mai was undertaken in 1545 and it was on that occasion - most probably - that the city was first visited by Europeans. But no hard evidence survives, other than the chronicle of Mendez Pinto, a Portugese adventurer resident in Ayudhya at the time, who claimed to have been part of the campaign against Chiang Mai.

Historians almost all discount that claim because of gross exaggerations, conflicting dates, and ignorance of important facts about the Princess Regent, Maha T'ewi of Chiang Mai.

Pinto's description of the war with Chiang Mai is thought to be made up from accounts given to him by compatriots who really did accompany the army. While he himself stayed in Ayudhya to keep the home-fires burning.

Regretably, none of them left any written accounts of what they saw in that city that had been independent and prosperous since it's founding over two hundred years before.

Ralph Fitch.

No historical records exist that mention visits to Chiang Mai until 1587 when the Englishman Ralph Fitch came overland from Pegu to "Jamahey" - variant spellings are numerous, some beginning with an "X" or "Z".

Fitch's remarkable travels as related in Purchas His Pilgrims and Hakluyt's Voyages and Discoveries are generally accepted as fact.

From England he went through Europe and the Middle East, then by ship from Basra to Goa where he was imprisoned by the Portugese as an heretic and probable spy for the government of their arch-enemy, the English Jezabel.

He was freed after about a year and continued his journey across India to Bengal, then took ship to Pegu where he attached himself to a Burmese army that besieged and entered Chiang Mai.

Fitch's life is a fascinating study and he can be regarded as the first farang on record to visit Chiang Mai.

His description of "property, riches and women, has a somewhat contemporary ring about it" according to Ian Bushell in a recent talk on local history. Maybe Chiang Mai hasn't changed that much after all.

Thomas Samuel.

Another Englishman; he was employed by the East India Company and based in Ayudhya.

He was sent to Chiang Mai in 1613 with a large consignment of cloth which he had partially sold when he was captured by another invading Burmese army.

Taken as a prisoner to Pegu, he died there shortly afterwards. Whether as a result of ill-treatment or natural causes is not known.

Samuel's fate and the problems caused by internal conflicts in the East India Company's Ayudhya establishment delayed efforts to open trade with Chiang Mai until the early 19th Century when British interest in mercantile connections revived; and with a view to gaining geopolitical advantages vis a vis the French who were spreading their influence throughout Indochina.

To the best of my knowlege there were no recorded contacts by Europeans with Chiang Mai in the 18th Century.

I hope to continue this topic with a look at the farangs who were part of the commercial, diplomatic and missionary presence that began when Chiang Mai was an independent northern capitol early in the 19th Century.

At that time it was nominally a vassal of Bangkok as a result of military treaties aimed at preventing another Burmese incursion

In fact it was ruled by it's Chaos, the aristocratic families of Chiang Mai.

The Chakri Kings were satisfied with various forms of token tribute and the occasional Chiang Mai Princess in exchange for non-interference. The Burmese threat was being neutralized because they were engaged in conflict with the British who were taking over their country piecemeal.

In the course of the 19th Century Chiang Mai's position changed dramatically with the American Protestant Missionaries and the British teak-wallahs playing key roles in the transition to complete dominance by the central government.

To be continued...

[Rasseru]

Fascinating, thank you.

Is some text missing after 'Santa Fe' in this part?: 'In 1540 a Burmese invasion was repulsed with the aid of the Portugese who were rewarded with even more privileges, including the right to propagate their Santa Fe An invasion of Chiang Mai was undertaken in 1545 and it was on that occasion - most probably - that the city was first visited by Europeans. But no hard evidence survives, other than the chronicle of Mendez Pinto, a Portugese adventurer resident in Ayudhya at the time, who claimed to have been part of the campaign against Chiang Mai.'

[CMHomeboy78]

Fascinating, thank you.

Is some text missing after 'Santa Fe' in this part?: 'In 1540 a Burmese invasion was repulsed with the aid of the Portugese who were rewarded with even more privileges, including the right to propagate their Santa Fe An invasion of Chiang Mai was undertaken in 1545 and it was on that occasion - most probably - that the city was first visited by Europeans. But no hard evidence survives, other than the chronicle of Mendez Pinto, a Portugese adventurer resident in Ayudhya at the time, who claimed to have been part of the campaign against Chiang Mai.'

Thanks for the response.

And excuse me for any ambiguities in my post.

I'm a graphic artist not a writer; so I lose my footing on a slippery slope occasionally.

You refer to possible missing text after my reference to the defeat of a Burmese invasion headed for Ayudhya in 1540 and King P'rajai's 1545 invasion of Chiang Mai.

As far as I know, nothing of importance to Chiang Mai happened between those two events.

Incidentally, my reference to "Santa Fe" - not to insult your intelligence - meant "Holy Faith", not that elephants burial ground for old hippies in New Mexico.

Thanks again for your interest.

[Rasseru]

Ah, thank you for that explanation, CMHomeboy78. Now I get it. Most of my not understanding that one sentence stemmed from my not knowing the meaning, which you have now explained, of 'Santa Fe' -- not that I thought, mind you, that it referred there to the city in New Mexico -- with a touch of further uncertainty added by there being no full-stop after it.

Once again, great stuff, and many thanks.

[zippydedodah]

while the topic at this site focuses more on Chiang Rai in some respects, it is about Lanna Kingdom (which includes Chiang Mai). Again, it is mainly from a thai perspective but does contain info of dealings with western traders and companies... check it out.. i have found it good reading

http://www.chiangraiprovince.com/guide/eng/40_11.htm

[CMHomeboy78]

while the topic at this site focuses more on Chiang Rai in some respects, it is about Lanna Kingdom (which includes Chiang Mai). Again, it is mainly from a thai perspective but does contain info of dealings with western traders and companies... check it out.. i have found it good reading

http://www.chiangrai...e/eng/40_11.htm

Many thanks for that useful link.

Full of interesting information about the teak trade and other topics that relate to Chiang Mai and Lanna Thai in general.

A valuable source for future reference.

[CMHomeboy78]

Chiang Mai at the time of the Richardson and McLeod diplomatic and commercial missions to the Northern Thai states.

For two centuries following the visits of Ralph Fitch and Thomas Samuel in 1587 and 1613 respectively, no farang is reported to have visited Chiang Mai. Both western and indigenous sources are silent about Northern Thai contacts with Europeans until the early 19th century.

The liberation of Lanna Thai from Burmese rule was a long struggle that dragged on for almost thirty years, devastating and depopulating large areas of the north. It started with an uprising in the south, culminating in the recapture of Chiang Mai in 1775 by Lanna and Siamese troops, and ended after several setbacks in 1804 with the conquest of Chiang Saen on the upper Mekong, which the Burmese had fortified as their main power-base in the region after they lost Chiang Mai.

In 1802, Kawila, ruler of Chiang Mai, travelled to Bangkok where King Rama I bestowed upon him the title Chao Prathetsarat, accepting him as a high-ranking vassal. The King acknowledged the supremacy of Chiang Mai over the formerly separate principalities of Lampang and Lamphun. Like Chiang Mai, the latter two vassal states were ruled by members of the Kawila clan.

The founder of the clan was Thip Chang, a commoner who expelled the despotic ruler of Lampang in 1732. He did so with broad popular support and moral encouragement by the local Buddhist Sangha. He ascended the throne under the name Phana Sulawaluchai [r. 1732-59]. His son Chai Kaeo [r. 1759-74] was instrumental in organizing armed resistance to the Burmese after 1770. His eldest son Kawila [b. 1742] helped his father in day-to-day administration, proved to be an able military commander, and finally played a crucial role in defeating the Burmese at Chiang Mai.

From 1775 on, Kawila and his six brothers dominated politics in Chiang Mai, Lamphun, and Lampang. Throughout the 19th century all leading administrative posts in these three closely allied principalities were held by the seven brothers and their offspring. People in the north called this dynasty Trakun Chao Jet Ton, the family of the seven lords.

Against this background, renewed contact with farangs was made in the early 19th century.

Dr David Richardson and Captain William McLeod were the first British and Europeans to reopen channels of communication with Chiang Mai. Their journeys overland from Moulmein to Chiang Mai and other Northern Thai states occured at a time when the region was recovering economically and socially from the destructive wars with the Burmese that had ended a generation earlier. Although all five Lanna principalities - Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Phrae, and Nan - recognized Siamese suzerainty, the actual influence of Bangkok in the north was limited. The two diplomats from British-held Moulmein therefore became witnesses of a rather unique historical situation. During this time the Lanna princes still acted as quasi-independent rulers preserving much of the traditional political and social system. Only in the sphere of foreign policy and in military matters did they acknowledge the supremacy of the Chakri Kings in Bangkok.

The weakness of Siamese influence during this period is reflected in the rare mention of Lanna in contemporary Siamese government reports. The wealth of information provided by the journals of Richardson and McLeod therefore helps to fill the gap of knowledge with first-hand accounts on society, economy, population, and politics of the region visited by them.

The early years of western contact with Chiang Mai - 16th to 18th centuries - are characterized by a paucity of historical documents on the subject; but beginning in the early 19th century it becomes a veritable tsunami. I'm trying to ride it without being overwhelmed by it.

The Richardson and McLeod journals mark the beginning of a very eventful and well-documented period in Northern Thai history when farangs, particularly British, French, and American nationals were involved in shaping events.

In my next post I will try to summarize that involvement through the reign of King Chulalongkorn, Rama V, who unified the country and brought it into the modern era.

To be continued.....

[Saan]

Thank you. Interesting reading and I am looking forward to your next instalment.

[CMHomeboy78]

Thank you. Interesting reading and I am looking forward to your next instalment.

And thank you for the encouragement.

[Thakkar]

@ CMhomeboy78

Fascinating.

Thank you for posting.

T

[cmsally]

Sorry a bit of a tangent - but the mention of King of Lampang , made me think of Luang Phor Kasem.

He was a very well respected monk who lived much of the time at a cemetery, if I remember correctly.

He was a direct descendant of the Lampang royal family.

Does anyone know the exact lineage?

http://www.buddhism-amulet.com/product.detail_25544_en_3056702

[CMHomeboy78]

Sorry a bit of a tangent - but the mention of King of Lampang , made me think of Luang Phor Kasem.

He was a very well respected monk who lived much of the time at a cemetery, if I remember correctly.

He was a direct descendant of the Lampang royal family.

Does anyone know the exact lineage?

http://www.buddhism-amulet.com/product.detail_25544_en_3056702

There is a genealogical chart of the Lampang Royal Family in Susan Conway's beautifully illustrated book, Silken Threads Lacquer Thrones - La Na Court Textiles [River Books. 2002].

It shows they were part of the Kawila clan, the Trakun Chao Jet Ton, whose founder was Thip Chang.

The last Lampang prince died in 1922 leaving an issue of eleven children, so his descendents must be numerous.

What the connection is to Luang Phor Kasem I don't know, but he may very well have been one of them.

Choke dee.

[JingerBen]

Your post is full of interesting information about Chiang Mai.

You didn't dumb-it-down but at the same time you kept it concise.

That said, I must point out one glaring omission, and that is the abandonment of Chiang Mai in the late 18th century - 1770s to 1790s, or whenever it was.

Surely that deserves mention in even an outline of the city's history during that period.

Can you comment?

[dogeatinghotchips]

I read that Chaing Mai was deserted between 1776-91 due to successive wars, with Lampang being made the temporary capital. An interesting and well written account of Northern Thai History, keep it up!

[Konini]

Thank you for taking the time to do this - you did it so I don't have to. Always been a bit interested, but not interested enough to go out and find a book or surf the web, now I don't have to because you did. Maybe we should all do something so other people don't have to.

On a side note, I've always looked at the artificial sweetener aspartame and thought "I really ought to find out a bit more about this stuff just in case it really is as bad as it sounds". Well, at the weekend someone mentioned something on Facebook and it spiralled from a mention into me doing the research and coming back with the 20 word advisory so everybody else doesn't have to go out and do the research all again. It's my job for the next few days, and if anyone is interested, I'll put up my (totally unscientific) findings and conclusion.

[CMHomeboy78]

Your post is full of interesting information about Chiang Mai.

You didn't dumb-it-down but at the same time you kept it concise.

That said, I must point out one glaring omission, and that is the abandonment of Chiang Mai in the late 18th century - 1770s to 1790s, or whenever it was.

Surely that deserves mention in even an outline of the city's history during that period.

Can you comment?

Dumb-it-down for Thai Visa members? Never!

I did indeed omit to mention that Chiang Mai was abandoned between 1775 and 1797.

But to what extent was it abandoned? This is a vexed question among historians.

The Chiang Mai Chronicle says: "At that time Chiang Mai was abandoned and overgrown with weeds, bushes, and vines. It was a place for rhinoceros and elephants and tigers and bears and there were few people." [Wyatt / Wichienkeeo translation. 1995].

Hans Penth [A Brief History of Lanna. 1994] glosses it as: "For military reasons, but also because the city had suffered much physical damage and a serious loss of population along with a loss of food supply, the royal court, between 1775 and 1797 lived in a camp near Pa Sang, south of Lamphun. During that time Chiang Mai was nearly deserted. After King Kawila had ceremoniously re-entered the city on Thursday, 9 March 1797, Chiang Mai received new fortifications; what is left of them at present dates from that period around 1800."

My own opinion - for what it's worth - is that the city was never totally abandoned. Even if all social structures and institutions broke down and the place became a haunt of "wild beasts" - both two and four-legged.

There was just too much there; even if it was in ruins. The number of temples and sacred sites would make it almost a thebaid to rival Sagaing and Pagan. Even without an organized Sangha there must have been devotees of one type or another.

And a breakdown of civil society would embolden treasure-hunters.

I think there were always people in Chiang Mai; nevertheless I agree with you that the period does deserve mention. So excuse the omission.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Your post is full of interesting information about Chiang Mai.

You didn't dumb-it-down but at the same time you kept it concise.

That said, I must point out one glaring omission, and that is the abandonment of Chiang Mai in the late 18th century - 1770s to 1790s, or whenever it was.

Surely that deserves mention in even an outline of the city's history during that period.

Can you comment?

Dumb-it-down for Thai Visa members? Never!

I did indeed omit to mention that Chiang Mai was abandoned between 1775 and 1797.

But to what extent was it abandoned? This is a vexed question among historians.

The Chiang Mai Chronicle says: "At that time Chiang Mai was abandoned and overgrown with weeds, bushes, and vines. It was a place for rhinoceros and elephants and tigers and bears and there were few people." [Wyatt / Wichienkeeo translation. 1995].

Hans Penth [A Brief History of Lanna. 1994] glosses it as: "For military reasons, but also because the city had suffered much physical damage and a serious loss of population along with a loss of food supply, the royal court, between 1775 and 1797 lived in a camp near Pa Sang, south of Lamphun. During that time Chiang Mai was nearly deserted. After King Kawila had ceremoniously re-entered the city on Thursday, 9 March 1797, Chiang Mai received new fortifications; what is left of them at present dates from that period around 1800."

My own opinion - for what it's worth - is that the city was never totally abandoned. Even if all social structures and institutions broke down and the place became a haunt of "wild beasts" - both two and four-legged.

There was just too much there; even if it was in ruins. The number of temples and sacred sites would make it almost a thebaid to rival Sagaing and Pagan. Even without an organized Sangha there must have been devotees of one type or another.

And a breakdown of civil society would embolden treasure-hunters.

I think there were always people in Chiang Mai; nevertheless I agree with you that the period does deserve mention. So excuse the omission.

I suppose it remaIned a fertile valley, suitable for agriculture and just too obvious a place to settle. So it seems likely that there were always villages. It could still be correct that it was largely abandonded as any kind of urban center of importance. Of course that period of abandonement isn't that long; 23 years. It wouldn't have completely overgrown with jungle like Angkor. It'd just be a mess. Perhaps the current layout of the old city -other than the temples- is essentially the result of villagers resettling inside the moat area and building wooden houses in relatively random places; plenty space available. Before the abandonement you'd think there would be a royal palace somewhere, perhaps in the area where the government buildings and Yupparaj school are now.

[CMHomeboy78]

Chiang Mai farangs - renewed contact in the early 19th century.

Events in Burma during this period had a direct impact on Chiang Mai and the Northern Thai States. Those events can be summarized as follows:

Since the end of the 18th century British interests in Burma had been directly linked with security along British India's eastern borders.

The first official mission to Ava in 1795, led by Captain Michael Symes, had considered prospects for establishing a British presence in Burma. Apart from commercial issues, the mission's main objective was to prevent a Franco-Burmese alliance.

Symes reported: "A positive, and to us a very detrimental alliance between the Burmese and the French has been prevented and French influence, if not eradicated, has at least been considerably diminished and I am decidedly of opinion that a paramount influence in the government and administration of Ava, obtain it how we may, is now become necessary to the interest and security of the British possessions in the East."

That opportunity arose in 1824, when war broke out between Britain and Burma. In the peace treaty of Yandabo [1826] the Burmese had to acknowledge defeat and ceded two extensive coastal regions to Britain: Arakan in the west and Tenasserim in the east, where the British established the administrative center of the province in Moulmein at the mouth of the Salween River. British possessions now bordered most of the long western edges of the Thai-speaking world.

Encircled by the British from the west and south, Burma no longer constituted a serious threat to Siamese security. In the north, Tenasserim shared a common border with the principality of Chiang Mai, stretching along the Salween River. For the first time in its history Siam and her northern vassal states, forming the historical region of Lanna Thai, were directly confronted with a western colonial power as an immediate neighbour.

The British wanted to build a railway from their possessions in Burma to Southern China where a lucrative market for their manufactured goods was anticipated; and as a means of transporting raw materials - mainly teakwood - to their newly acquired port of Moulmein. The direct route north was considered, then rejected because of the rugged terrain. Alternate routes passing through Lanna Thai, taking advantage of mountain passes and river valleys were proposed and some were even surveyed. This led to diplomatic contact with the Chaos of Chiang Mai and other semi-autonomous principalities in what is today Northern Thailand and the Burmese Shan States.

The British presence in Moulmein increased trade to Chiang Mai on the age-old route via Mae Sariang, and made farangs an influence in the affairs of the city that has continued ever since.

Trade relations with what was soon to become British Burma eventually led to the establishment of a British Consulate with an extra-territorial court in Chiang Mai in 1883. It was housed in a teak building that survives to this day, albeit in a lamentable state of disrepair. But in earlier times when it was surrounded by well-tended gardens and fruit trees it must have been a lovely sight in its location on the Ping River; replete with a statue of Queen Victoria [now at the Foreign Cemetary] gracing its front lawn.

American Protestant Missionaries, beginning with the arrival of the Rev. Daniel McGilvary and his wife in 1867, were also active in formenting the dramatic changes that were about to take place.

The missionaries had a considerable effect upon the lives of the people because they brought modern scientific knowledge with them. They also brought a printing press and set up books and papers in the Kahm Muang alphabet. But they were not successful in obtaining many converts. Buddhism is too deeply ingrained in the people. King Mongkut's astute comment on the Christian religion was: "What you tell them to do is excellent. What you tell them to believe is foolish."

The combined influence of the British diplomatic and commercial presence and the American Protestant Missionaries in the mid-19th century undermined the power of the aristocratic families of Chiang Mai, the Chaos of the Kawila Dynasty.

A Siamese royal commisioner was appointed to reside in Chiang Mai in 1874 to arbitrate the continual legal disputes between the ever-increasing number of farangs and the autocratic regime of Chao Intanon.

1874 marks the end of an era of independence that began with Thip Chang, founder of the Kawila Dynasty that drove the Burmese out of Lanna Thai.

In my next post I would like to look at some individual farangs and the roles they played, and perhaps shed some light on the overall history of Chiang Mai during this eventful period.

To be continued.....

[Wopanese]

Who were the first Americans in Ciang Mai?

[CMHomeboy78]

Chiang Mai Farangs - In Perspective.

I would like to continue the topic with biographical sketches of Richardson and McLeod whose mission journals contain a wealth of information about Chiang Mai and the Northern Thai States during the early part of the 19th century.

Much abbreviated abstract versions of the journals had been published in 1837 in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, in Calcutta, with remarkable alacrity just a few months after they had been officially submitted to the government. They were subsequently printed in London as a Parliamentary Paper in 1869, and have been used extensively by historians ever since.

The journals are currently available in the Turton/Grabowsky edition [silkworm Books 2003] which also includes relevant information about the principal players, the journey, and the countries visited.

Dr David Richardson [1796-1846] has the distinction of being the first farang on record to visit Chiang Mai since the ill-fated Thomas Samuel in 1613.

Richardson was born in humble circumstances to a family of London Scots. Parish records state that he was the son of "Hugh Richardson, Slopseller, by Jane - Wapping Street". So he grew up in the environment of the London Docks, probably living above his father's shop selling clothing and other goods in what would be familiar to Americans as an Army/Navy store.

The next thing we know is that he studied medicine, becoming a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1817 at the age of about twenty-one.

His first employment was as Surgeon's Mate on an East India Company armed merchantman sailing twice to China and back to England. He was commissioned Assistant Surgeon on 9 May 1823 and set sail for Madras, arriving on 3 September. Ten days later he left for the garrison at Masulipatam to the north where he joined the Madras European Regiment [MER] which was composed of British troops under the East India Company; it was not a regiment of the British Army as such. Most of the other forces at Madras would have been "Native Infantry" [NI] which had mainly British officers, a few junior Indian officers, and all Indian men.

When war was declared with Burma on 5 March 1824 the MER was ordered to be part of the ten thousand or so expeditionary force to sail from Madras to Rangoon. Richardson was never to return to Madras, let alone Europe. This was to be true too of the greater part of his regiment who were to die in Burma; as dispatches remark ruefully it took three ships to carry them out, but only one for the return journey.

Richardson took part in several major actions. After the Treaty of Yandabo [24 February 1826] which ended the war and ceded to Britain the provinces of Arakan and Tenasserim, the Madras European Regiment stayed on in Burma while the Native Regiments returned to Madras.

In 1827 British military headquarters moved to Moulmein at the mouth of the Salween River. Thus began Richardson's career in the Tenasserim Provinces. For twenty years, until his death, he was a leading member of the expatriate society of Britain's largest territory east of Calcutta at the time, though with Penang, Province Wellesley, Malacca, and Singapore, it was still part of British India.

Richardson's first political and diplomatic appointment came three and a half years after his arrival in Tenasserim. This was the mission to Chiang Mai which commenced in December 1829 following several requests for contact from the rulers of Lamphun and Chiang Mai. He returned on 10 March 1830; his report being forwarded to the government in Calcutta. A reply states that "the Governor-General in Council has perused Dr Richardson's report with great interest and it is considered to be highly creditable to his intelligence and zeal".

His success in this first mission to the Northern Thai States obviously confirmed his diplomatic and organisational talents in the estimation of his superiors.

The years 1834-9 are the busiest in terms of diplomatic journeys. During this six-year period he spent over two years absent on four major missions to principalities in Lanna Thai and what is today the Burmese Shan States.

The success of his diplomatic and commercial objectives is recorded in numerous official dispatches; but beyond that, his journals provide invaluable information about a part of Southeast Asia that was virtually unknown to Europeans at the time.

According to his grandson Arthur, who had been Deputy Superintendent of Police, and died in Moulmein in 1965 at the age of ninety-three, Dr Richardson married "the daughter of a Shan Sawbwa", and had two sons. One of whom, Edward Richardson, married May Phayre, the daughter of Sir Arthur Phayre [Chief Commissioner of British Burma 1862-7] and his Burmese wife. Edward and May left an issue of eight children. Descendents undoubtedly exist to this day in Burma.

Dr David Richardson died in Moulmein on 31 January 1846 a month after his forty-ninth birthday.

His grandson Arthur added that he had become a Buddhist and "was buried in the compound of the Kyaikthan Pagoda" [the oldest Mon Monastery].

Rest in peace.

William Couperus McLeod [1805-80] - W.C.McLeod as he seems always to have signed himself - was born on 16 September 1805 in Pondicherry, the former French colony in India situated south of Madras. It was during the Napoleonic War, and Pondicherry, not for the first time, was temporarily in British hands. So it is likely he was born into a military family. This is made the more probable by the fact that he was "gazetted as a Cadet and posted to the Madras Army" in 1821 at sixteen years old.

He was promoted to the lowest officer rank of Ensign on 27 April 1822. It is not certain what regiment he was posted to at this stage. He was promoted Lieutenant in the Thirtieth Madras Regiment of Native Infantry in 1826. He would have been at Madras for about two years when Dr David Richardson arrived, the latter some nine years his senior in age, and also of senior qualification, rank, and experience.

During the first Anglo-Burmese war McLeod took part in the assault on the old Portuguese fort and factory at Syriam, which the Burmese had stockaded. He also saw action at Pegu, Prome, and at Donabew where he quite likely would have met David Richardson again.

After the war he returned to Madras where he was appointed in 1829 to the Commissariat Department.

In 1830 McLeod was named to a commission determining the boundry between Burma and the State of Manipur where he combined border demarkation duties with his scientific interests; sending fossils and other specimens to the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, which later elected him to membership.

One of the stipulations of the Treaty of Yandabo was that a British Resident must be entertained at the Court of Ava. King Bagyidaw had begun to display symptoms of the insanity that was later to incapacitate him. Power was in the hands of the chief queen and her brother, both of low origin. Under the strain of dealing with this difficult situation, Major Henry Burney's health broke down. He had been Resident since 1830, but by 1833 McLeod was put briefly in charge.

Later in 1834 McLeod - now promoted to Captain - was appointed Assistant Commissioner for the Province of Mergui, the southernmost of the Tenasserim Provinces.

Richardson and McLeod were selected in 1836 to go on a diplomatic and commercial mission with the objective of opening an overland trade route for British goods into China and the largely autonomous and semi-independent states in what is present-day Thailand's upper-north, Burma, and Laos.

Starting together from Moulmein, with provisions and pack animals, and accompanied by traders and guides from Tenasserim, their brief was to ascend the Salween to the vicinity of Mae Sariang. There they were to part company, with McLeod travelling as far north as Chiang Rung via Muang Haut, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Sai. and Chiang Tung.

Richardson went northwest through the Shan States which were nominally tributary to Burma. His final destination was the Court of Ava.

As a result of Richardson's three missions to Chiang Mai and Lamphun between 1830-5 the British at Moulmein had considerable knowlege of Lanna Thai. The purpose of the 1837 missions was to go beyond Chiang Mai and establish diplomatic relationships with the ruling families wherever possible.

On this trip Richardson bypassed Chiang Mai but McLeod was here from 12 to 29 January 1837, and on his return from Chiang Rung, from 18 April to 11 May. His journal entries concerning Chiang Mai are fascinating reading and, together with Richardson's descriptions, are the first look we have at the city since Ralph Fitch's writings in 1587.

Nothing in McLeod's subsequent career is of much relevance to Chiang Mai, but to round out this brief sketch the following facts may be of interest:

McLeod returned to his post as Assistant Commissioner at Mergui after the 1837 mission. In April 1838 he was appointed Special Assistant to Colonel Benson who became British Resident at the Court of Ava after Henry Burney's departure.

Following nearly two years of diplomatic service in the Burmese Kingdom, Captain McLeod was posted to British military headquarters at Moulmein where he remained for the next seven years.

In 1840 he married the twenty year old daughter of the Inspector General of Army Hospitals. They were to have ten children. The next reference to McLeod's military career is his promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1853, and service in India during the 1857 Mutiny. He was appointed full Colonel of his regiment, the Thirtieth Madras Native Infantry in 1865, a post he held until his retirement in 1869 at the age of sixty-four.

Historical sources speak of his "return" to England in 1869. But since there is no record of his ever having been there before, I don't see how it can be considered a return. Anyway, he retired there, where he died on 4 April 1880 in London.

He would have been known by those with an interest in Burma, and official circles may still have sought his advice. He was the only British officer to have visited Chiang Tung and north to the mountainous borderlands of China.

There had also been a Burmese embassy to London in 1872 in which McLeod might well have been involved in some way.

All in all a remarkable life.

Rest in peace.

The next significant development in Chiang Mai was the arrival of the Rev. Daniel McGilvary. The American Protestant Missionaries and the British teak-wallahs were the first farangs to take up residence in the city.

In my next post I would like to look at that event and the consequences that ultimately led to the end of the Lanna Dynasty.

To be continued.....

[scd]

Thank you for your ongoing series. I look forward to future installments.

[PoodMaiDai]

Facinating information. Please keep it coming and thanks for sharing.

[CMHomeboy78]

Who were the first Americans in Ciang Mai?

The consensus among historians seems to be that it was the Rev. Daniel McGilvary and his wife, who came in 1867. As far as I know, there is no record of any Americans being in Chiang Mai before them.

But Americans were a considerable diplomatic, commercial, and missionary presence in Bangkok following the arrival of the first American ship in 1821.

McGilvary's A Half Century Among the Siamese and Lao - An Autobiography, was published in 1912, a year after his death, and is available as a reprint from White Lotus [2002].

[samsara]

awesome stuff. are the bulk of your sources books or online?

[CMHomeboy78]

awesome stuff. are the bulk of your sources books or online?

Books mostly.

Many primary sources have been reprinted within the past twenty years or so; notably by Oxford in Asia, Silkworm Books, and White Lotus among others.

There is probably a lot of information online that I hope to make better use of in the future.

Payap University has a microfilm archive relating to 19th century Chiang Mai that I would very much like to have access to. But without any connection to the school, and without academic credentials as an historian it may be difficult. I'll give it a try anyway.

Thanks for your interest.

[CMHomeboy78]

Chiang Mai Farangs - In Perspective.

After the Richardson and McLeod missions [1829-37] Chiang Mai was visited in 1844 by the French Catholic missionary M. Grandjean, whose report was published in the Annales de la Propagation de la Foi.

There is a paucity of biographical information about him in English, so I have had to rely on his writings alone. Based on these, it is hard not to judge him unfavorably in many respects when compared to the Catholics who were in China - Matteo Ricci and others - and the aristocratic French Jesuits who were at the court of King Narai in the 17th century.

Nothing Grandjean saw in Chiang Mai seemed to please him. He was critical of almost everything. Blind to the art and culture of the Chaos, and the highly refined folk arts of the Kohn Muang, he was only interested in converting them all to Christianity. A mindset that was to become increasingly common with the arrival of the Rev. Daniel McGilvary and the American Protestants in the 1860's.

Grandjean and his party left Bangkok on 5 December 1843 and, "Passing up the Mienam as far as Thoen we abandoned our boats, and engaged elephants to travel through a country of immense mountains and perilous defiles where we had only the shade of forrest-trees to protect us by day, and large fires at night to keep off the multitudes of wild beasts."

They reached Chiang Mai on 18 January 1844, where they stayed for two and a half months. He noted that, "This kingdom is the farthest to the west of all the States of Laos, and it is the most considerable. Xieng Mai is built at the foot and to the east of a pretty high mountain, on a large and beautiful plain. It has a double girdle of walls, both surrounded by broad and deep ditches. The interior circumference is - if the King is to be believed who told me - a thousand fathoms long by nine hundred broad. It is not easy to estimate the population. The eldest son of the King assured me that it contained more than one hundred thousand souls; but he evidently exaggerated, and largely. After having traversed Xieng Mai many times and in all directions, I do not believe that we can give it more than twenty thousand inhabitants, even including the different suburbs which are without the walls. To the east of the city, and at only three or four minutes from the fortified space, runs a river, the banks of which are partly covered with houses; unfortunately, they are all inhabited by the bankrupts of Bangkok, who have fled there, changing their names, to shun the pursuit of their creditors. The King willingly gives them asylum, because they increase his power and revenues. In this State the villages are very numerous; but not having seen them I cannot state the total population."

The barbaric practice of tattooing didn't escape his attention, "There are ordinarily distinguished two kinds of Laocians - one of whom are called Thaung Dam, that is, Black-bellies, and the other who are called Thaung Khao, that is, White-bellies. They are thus named, because the men of the race of Black-bellies, when they arrive at the age of fourteen or sixteen years, are accustomed to have drawn upon their bodies different figures of men, flowers, elephants, tigers, serpents, and other animals. This operation they perform by making, by means of needles joined together, a number of punctures upon the epidermis; they then apply a black ink, which brings out all the designs traced upon the skin; they quietly bathe themselves afterwards, and the impression is ineffaceable. The tatooing is not executed without pain. However as the young Laocians cannot obtain wives if they lack this kind of beauty, there is not one amongst them who does not voluntarily submit to this painful operation. The White-bellies, on the contrary, are contented with their natural graces."

And food... "They commonly live on rice, without any other seasoning than a kind of very strong red pepper - to which the mouth of a European can scarcely accustom itself - or little fishes, which they pound and cause to rot previously; I never could prevail upon myself to eat them. These people have a great many cattle, very small, which have scarcely any milk, and which they never think of using. When we told them that in our country the milk of the cow was much esteemed, and that it formed a savory food, they laughed, and only held our countrymen in contempt." So much for Lanna Thai Cuisine

Grandjean's comments about women are similar to those expressed by the Portuguese in the 16th century, and by other travellers in other periods, up to and including our own. He continues, "As regards the women, they are more active, more industrious, and more intelligent than the men. They have an undoubted empire over their husbands, and can drive them away when they are not content with them."

The Buddhist Religion and Sangha failed to impress him favorably, "At Xieng Mai there are nearly as many pagodas as houses; we cannot take a step without encountering them to the right or to the left. There are reckoned in this city alone at least a hundred, which are each inhabited by ten, twenty, or thirty talapoins, without mentioning those, in very great numbers, which have fallen into decay, and which they do not repair. As for these talapoins, they are almost all young men, who scarcely know how to read, and who pass their time in sleeping, gaming, or in doing worse still. I have sometimes reproached them with having no other religion than the depraved desires of their hearts, and they have acknowledged it without blushing."

In early April of 1844 Grandjean and his party finally decided to leave. "Departing from Xieng Mai we reached the same day another small kingdom, called Lapoun, to the south of Xieng Mai. On our arrival, we repaired to the seat of government, the town-hall of the place, where we found six to eight mandarins, who assembled there everyday to hear the complaints of the people, adjudicate disputes, and administer public affairs. They asked us who we were, from whom we came, and what business had brought us to the country. They knew already, for many of them had been at Xieng Mai; but these are the questions which they are accustomed to begin the conversation. We took advantage of them to announce the good tidings of Jesus Christ. A mocking laugh was almost the only answer which they gave us. They permitted us, however, to install ourselves in a kind of room, situated within the city, where we admonished, from morning to night, the curious who came to examine us. We were never at rest. During the night, forty to fifty talapoins met outside of our asylum, beating the drum, and uttering vociferations which did not allow us an instant of repose; sometimes they even threw stones against our dwelling, but without, nevertheless, pushing the insult further. After having uselessly complained at the town-hall, I took the resolution of going alone to the King. I entered his palace without being announced, and spoke to him with such boldness that he was afraid, and immediately prohibited these talapoins from molesting us in future. They obeyed him; but as these people were anything but disposed to receive the Word of God, we shook the dust from our feet and directed our course towards the southeast." Good riddance.

After Grandjean, the next farang whose record of a visit has been kept was Sir Robert Schomburgk, British Consul at Bangkok. He travelled to Chiang Mai on the Ping River upstream via Tak and Lamphun, arriving on 14 February 1860.

His visit and the subsequent arrival of the Rev. Daniel McGilvary will be the subject of my next post.

McGilvary was the first farang who came, and came to stay. His remains are in the CM Foreign Cemetery to this day. So he was the first "Chiang Mai Farang" in the truest sense of the term.

McGilvary was soon followed by other American Presbyterian missionaries, and later by employees of the British teak companies and consular staff. These resident farangs began a new era in Chiang Mai history that I will try to summarize as best I can.

To be continued.....

[DeaconJohn]

"Nothing Grandjean saw in Chiang Mai seemed to please him. He was critical of almost everything."

It sounds like he was a prototypical Thai Visa member.

You also state that Grandjean mentioned that the city had "a double girdle of walls." Wouldn't that tend to confirm the authenticity of the controversial Finlayson Map of Chiang Mai?

What's your take on that?

[CMHomeboy78]

"Nothing Grandjean saw in Chiang Mai seemed to please him. He was critical of almost everything."

It sounds like he was a prototypical Thai Visa member.

You also state that Grandjean mentioned that the city had "a double girdle of walls." Wouldn't that tend to confirm the authenticity of the controversial Finlayson Map of Chiang Mai?

What's your take on that?

Yes, Grandjean sounds quite modern in many ways; but at least he did everybody the favor of leaving when he did.

As regards the Finlayson Map, I would refer you to Dr Andrew Forbes' The Ancient History of Chiang Mai, vol. III [CPA Media 2011].

Forbes is one of the leading authorities on questions relating to this map.

Dr George Finlayson [1790-1823], who was a member of the Crawfurd Mission to Bangkok [1822] never claimed to have visited Chiang Mai himself. Therefore I didn't include him among the "Chiang Mai Farangs."

The "authenticity" of the map that bears his name isn't really in doubt. Its provenance is documented to approximately the time of its production. It was among his papers at his untimely death at age thirty-three in Calcutta, and arrived at the British Library via the East India Company shortly thereafter.

Whether or not the Finlayson Map is an accurate representation of Chiang Mai at the time [c.1820] of its creation is another question that has often been debated.

That it is the work of a Thai is generally accepted, in spite of the fact that it is drawn on [presumably] English paper with an 1814 watermark. So 1814 and 1822 - when Finlayson was in Bangkok and acquired it - bracket the year of its making.

At this time European cartography had far surpassed anything that was produced in East Asia. The map in question is most probably the work of a local cartographer; and its original notations in flawless Pah-sah Glahng make that even more probable. It was subsequently marked at the top margin in pen in English script "Cheung Mai", and directly below that in a smaller hand, "before the inner wall was removed." Finlayson himself possibly wrote that. It would be interesting to know if there is any other instance of his spelling the city's name in this anomalous way.

The map shows - in a highly stylized manner - a double girdle of walls, just as Grandjean notes, and a walled inner precinct with the residence of the ruler at the center. This schematic is contradicted by the expert testimony of Captain McLeod on his visit in 1839; five years before Grandjean, and twenty or so after the drawing of the map.

McLeod states unequivocally that there was one wall and moat. He was a trained military engineer and part of his brief was to evaluate and report on the defences of Chiang Mai. We can take his word for it, or we can take the word of Grandjean, a religious-nut whose sole purpose was the mass-conversion of the entire population.

I think that what Grandjean meant by a second wall was the actually the Kampang Din, built [or possibly rebuilt] by Chao Kawila c.1800, around the time he refounded the city and restored the Kampang Muang.

This conjecture seems even more likely because there once existed walls defending the northern suburbs as well.

Professor Hans Penth during the 1960's traced the flattened remains of walls from near the northwest Hua Rin corner going north, then turning eastward past the White Elephant Monument to the Nong Bua, once a swamp and lake near the northeast Sri Phum corner where the Kampang Din began.

Therefore, in Grandjean's time there would have been an almost continuous outer wall from near the Hua Rin corner to near the Ku Ruang corner in the southwest of the city.

I feel certain that what Grandjean was referring to was the Kampang Din and its northern extension.

But how can the map be explained? In my opinion - and not to labor the point - the Finlayson Map is a symbolic representation of Chiang Mai as a celestial city with the royal residence as Mt. Meru at the center.

I hope I have - to some extent - answered your question without confusing the matter even more.

[dru2]

'But how can the map be explained? In my opinion - and not to labor the point - the Finlayson Map is a symbolic representation of Chiang Mai as a celestial city with the royal residence as Mt. Meru at the center'.

I second that.

Thank you for a fascinating contribution.

[DeaconJohn]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

But I'm still not convinced that Grandjean was talking about the Kampang Din.

The Finlayson Map is visual evidence, of a sort, and reinforced by the added note "before the inner wall was removed."

Your evident bias against missionaries has possibly led you to underestimate Grandjean as a reliable witness.

You've probably read Carl Bock's Temples and Elephants. Did a more obnoxious farang ever set foot in Lanna Thai? His tactlessness was almost comical. Not to mention the fact that he plundered and desecrated religious sites as well. Yet his writings and observations are generally accepted as factual.

Maybe it's a good idea to put aside our prejudices when evaluating historical information.