History
The history of the city of Chaiyaphum dates back to the Khmer Empire in the 12th century, when it was a small city on the route from Angkor to Prasat Singh (Kanchanaburi province). The Prang Ku still remains from this time.
In 1817 the area was settled by Laotians led by Nai Lae, an official of King Anouvong of Vientiane, which was a tributary state of the Thai monarch. They settled in Baan Nam Khun Nong E Chan in Nakhon Ratchasima province, but soon abandoned it in favor of Ban Luang (today's city of Chaiyaphum). In 1826 Anouvong rebelled against the Thai King Rama III, seeking to gain complete independence. Nai Lae, by then made a chao praya by the Thai monarch, supported the Siamese troops. Chao Phaya Lae was killed defending his city against Anouvong's army, but it was totally defeated by the Thai forces weeks later and Anouong taken in chains to Bangkok. King Rama III remembered Chao Phraya Lae for his loyalty and awarded him the tile Phraya Phakdi Chumpon. He is still a local hero and his statue has become a symbol of the province.
Read more about this topic: Chaiyaphum Province
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Spain is an overflow of sombreness ... a strong and threatening tide of history meets you at the frontier.”
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)
“Systematic philosophical and practical anti-intellectualism such as we are witnessing appears to be something truly novel in the history of human culture.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)