Rattanakosin Island ( th, เกาะรัตนโกสินทร์, , ) is a historic area in the
Phra Nakhon District in the city of
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. It is bordered by the
Chao Phraya River to the west and various canals to the east that were dug to serve as moats for what was originally the fortified city center. Situated on the eastern convex bank of a
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...
in the
Chao Phraya River, the island is the site of the
Grand Palace and Bangkok's
City Pillar Shrine, among other places of historical significance.
History
King
Phutthayotfa Chulalok
Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok Maharaj (, 20 March 1737 – 7 September 1809), personal name Thongduang (), also known as Rama I, was the founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom and the first monarch of the reigning Chakri dynasty of Siam (now Thai ...
(Rama I) founded the city as the capital of his new
Rattanakosin Kingdom in 1782.
Before Bangkok became the capital of Thailand, the capital city was
Thonburi
__NOTOC__
Thonburi ( th, ธนบุรี) is an area of modern Bangkok. During the era of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, its location on the right (west) bank at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River had made it an important garrison town, which i ...
. The old city straddled the Chao Phraya, but was mainly settled on the western bank where the royal palace and other institutions were situated. The eastern bank was mostly home to
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
and
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
(forced) settlers.
When Phutthayotfa Chulalok established himself as king, he re-established the capital on the eastern bank, relocating the prior settlers to the area between Wat Sam Pluem and Wat Sampheng.
(The area is now
Bangkok's Chinatown
Bangkok's Chinatown is one of the largest Chinatowns in the world. It was founded in 1782 when the city was established as the capital of the Rattanakosin Kingdom, and served as the home of the mainly Teochew immigrant Chinese population, who ...
.) Fortifications were ordered to be rebuilt, and canals extended to form moats around the fortified city. The inner moat, created by connecting Rong Mai Canal and Talat Canal, is now known as Khlong Khu Mueang Doem (lit. ''old city moat canal'').
Khlong Rop Krung (''canal encircling city'') was merged from Bang Lamphu and Ong Ang Canals. The area enclosed by Khlong Khu Mueang Doem and the river is referred to as Inner Rattanakosin, while Outer Rattanakosin refers to the originally less developed area between the two canals. Two further small canals known as Khlong Lot (''tube/straw canal'') connect the inner and outer moats.
See also
*
History of Bangkok
The history of the city of Bangkok, in Thailand, dates at least to the early–15th century, when it was under the rule of Ayutthaya. Due to its strategic location near the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, the town gradually increased in importan ...
*
Fortifications of Bangkok
The fortifications of Bangkok consist of several series of defensive structures built to protect the city during the late Ayutthaya to early Rattanakosin periods. The earliest structures were built when Bangkok was an outpost of Ayutthaya guard ...
References
External links
*
{{Bangkok
Phra Nakhon district
Neighbourhoods of Bangkok
Populated places on the Chao Phraya River
River islands of Thailand
Historic districts in Thailand
Artificial islands of Asia