Phraratchaphithi Sipsong Duan and the Colonial Experience

Abstract

This article examines Phraratchaphithi Sipsong Duan (Treatise on the Royal Ceremonies of the Twelve Months), a manual of royal ceremonies written by King Rama V. The article argues that the book partly replicates the experience of Rama V’s visit to the colonial cities during the tours of Singapore, Java and India in 1870 and 1871. The royal ceremonies are presented as festivities of diversity and consolidation of cultures and religions along with the image of a social order. This in turn reflects a particular image of social and cultural order of colonial cities under colonial administration at the time. This article also argues that the historical experience of colonial social world was masked within the accounts of royal ceremonies explicated in the book.