Page 283 - A History of Siam

A HISTORT OF SIAM 267

government of Chiengmai any longer, so depleted ahd im-
poverished had the city become. He retired to Lampang,
followed by most of the inhabitants of Chiengmai, and
for the once of
twenty years mighty capital King Mengrai
was left as a lair for the beasts of the
jungle.
King Taksin had no more trouble with Burma during
the rest of his but of it on his eastern
reign, plenty
frontier. In 1777 the Governor of Nangrong, in K'orat
and threw in his lot with one Chao
province, rebelled, O,
who ruled over Champasak, at that time an independent
Chao Chakri was sent to deal with
principality. P'ya
the rebel, who was quickly caught and executed ; but
this led to hostilities with Champasak, and another army,
under Chao P'ya Surasih, had to be sent to the east.
The result was Chao O was
very satisfactory. caught
and executed, and all the territory on the bank of the
Mek'ong, as far south as K'ong, was added to King
Taksin's dominions.
Chao P'ya Chakri, on returning from this expedition,
was the rank of a with a title which
given Royal Prince,
"
may be translated as Supreme Warlord/' 1
About this time King Taksin began to show signs of
mental derangement. He imagined that he had dis-
covered certain resemblances between himself
physical
and Buddha, and indulged in various other eccentricities.
His also fierce and On one
temper grew very suspicious.
occasion he was roused to fury merely because his hair
had been dressed on a ceremonial occasion,
imperfectly
and when his son, Prince In P'itak, ventured to say a
word in defence of the the unfortunate
offending servant,
Prince was seized and most
unmercifully flogged.
1
It was most unusual to confer princely rank on any person not related to the
reigning King. The only previous instance recorded was that of K'un P'iren
(later King Maha T'ammaraja), who in 1549 was made a Prince by King Maha
Chakrap'at, He was,, however, the King's son-in-law, and was a descendant of
the Kings of Suk'ot'ai.