Page 248 - A History of Siam

A HISTORY OF SIAM
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almost deserted, fled away by night, accompanied by
his younger brother, Prince Borommet, His elder
the Priest-Prince
brother, Naren, who had declined to
the retired to his
accept crown, monastery.
The Uparat now assumed the crown, with the title
of King Maha T'ammaraja II, but he is usually known
by the name of King Boromokot.
The two Princes with
fugitive got away by boat, very
few followers, and concealed themselves among the
reeds of a swamp. Here they remained hidden for a
week, but hunger at last compelled them to send out a
trusted retainer to buy food. He was recognised, the
swamp was searched, and the Princes were captured and
taken back to where met with the usual
Ayut'ia, they
fate of unsuccessful for the crown.
competitors
and Chakri assumed the
P'ya P'rak'lang P'ya yellow
robe. They were, however, brought back to Ayut'ia 1
and as the hesitated
quietly despatched by night, King
tq bring them to trial, for fear of offending the priesthood.
The new King took a terrible revenge on his opponents,
numbers of whom were executed. 1 So
very large great
was his resentment that he even thought of refusing
to cremate the of the late and
corpse King, expressed
an intention of it into the river. His better
flinging
and he abstained from
nature, however, triumphed,
thus avenging himself upon the dead.
In 1733 a Chinese rising took place, and three hundred
Chinese attacked the
palace. They were, however,
and of their were
dispersed, forty ringleaders captured
and executed.
King Boromokot had a good deal of trouble with his
children. At the time of his accession his was
family
1
Turpin says that they came back, relying on the yellow robe for protection.
'According to Turpin, more persons were executed than were killed in the
fighting.