AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



THE PALACE FORTS





The Grand Palace was protected by a wall and eight forts, of which two bastions were also part of the city wall and already mentioned on the page ‘Forts of Ayutthaya.’ The palace wall was 5 metres (10 cubits) high, including the parapet (2 cubits), and 3 metres (6 cubits) wide. (1) Along the walls, sentry boxes and a wall walk were running below the crest. [1]


Starting at the northwest corner of the Grand Palace, next to the Pak Tho Canal (2), there was the Pak Tho Fort. It is called Thai Sanom Fort (3) in the Palace Law (4). The bastion was north of the Janthawan Moranaphirom Gate and west of the Bowonnari Mahaphopchon Gate, also called Earth Gate. The fort can be found on the Kaempfer 1727 CE, Bellin c.1750 CE, Plan d'Ajuthia 1912 CE and Phraya Boran 1926 CE maps, but the bastion no longer exists.


On the northeast corner of the Grand Palace, there was the Tha Kan Fort or Boundary Landing Fort. The bastion was north of the Jakra Mahima Gate and east of the Koi Landing Gate. The fort can be found on the Kaempfer 1727 CE, Bellin c.1750 CE and Phraya Boran 1926 CE maps, but it is defunct.


Turning south, there was the Thanon Hua Jao Phrom Fort, in the middle of the southern palace wall and opposite the road leading to the Jao Phrom Market. The bastion was situated between the Saman Phisan Gate and Sila Phirom Gate. The fort can be found on the Phraya Boran 1926 CE map. There are no traces anymore of this fort.


On the southeast corner of the Grand Palace, by the Registration Hall, there was the Registration Hall Fort. The bastion was south of the Akhane Yatra Gate and east of the Wichit Phimon Gate. The fort can be found on the Kaempfer 1727 CE, Bellin c.1750 CE and Phraya Boran 1926 CE maps. There are no traces any more.


In the middle of the southern wall of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, there was the Sala Phra Wihan Mongkhon Bophit Fort. The bastion was between the Ritthi Phaisan Gate and the Bowon Nimit Gate (between Wat Mongkhon Bohit and Wihan Klaep, a remnant of Wat Si Chiang). The fort can be found on the Kaempfer 1727 CE and Phraya Boran 1926 CE maps.





(View of the Sala Phra Wihan Mongkhon Bophit Fort on the south side of Wat Phra Si Sanphet)



On the southwest corner of the southern wall of Wat Phra Si Sanphet was the Wat Ramawat Corner Fort, mentioned in the ‘Kotmai Tra Sam Duang’ or ‘Three Seals Law’ (5). Wat Ramawat could have been a defunct monastery near this fort, of which the foundations were never found. The bastion was west of the Bowon Nimit Gate and east of the Rabit Garden Lodge or Tamnak Suan Kratai. The fort can be found on the Kaempfer 1727 CE, Bellin c.1750 CE and Phraya Boran 1926 CE maps.


The western side of the palace is a bit more complex and the subject of debate regarding the enclosure of the areas known as the Grape Garden and Crystal Pond. The Grape Garden was likely walled during the reign of King Narai (1656–88 CE).


A fort at the corner of the Crystal Pond called Crystal Pond Corner Fort, or Pom Mum Sa Kaeo. It was probably a bastion used when the Grape Garden and Crystal Pond were not yet enclosed. Phraya Boran Ratchathanin situates the bastion in the southeast corner of the Grape Garden, near the Sawan Khoha Gate, the gate at the end of the cloister leading to Wat Phra Si Sanphet on his 1926 CE map. During the reign of King Narai, a wall was built enclosing the Grape Garden and Crystal Pond, which must have made the fort ineffective. Chris Baker positions the bastion on the northwest corner of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, east of the Bowon Jesadanari Gate, the latter still in existence. There are no traces anymore of the bastion.


Author’s input: If the Grape Garden and the Crystal Pond were not yet enclosed, it is logic that there was a bastion on the location where Phraya Boran situates it on its 1926 CE map, but there should also have been a bastion where Baker indicates it on the map in his ‘The Grand Palace in the Description of Ayutthaya: Translation and Commentary’, the northwest corner of Wat Phra Si Sanphet. This corner required defence.





(Wat Ramawat Corner Fort on the southwest corner of Wat Phra Si Sanphet)



A fort at the corner at the end of the Crystal Pond called Pom Suan Angun or Grape Garden Fort. There are two interpretations: the Prathip Phentako’s interpretation and the Phraya Boran - Sumet Jumsai interpretation. According to Prathip’s interpretation, the Grape Garden Fort was at the northwest corner of the Grape Garden and south of the Cholachat Thawarasakhon Gate. Phratip believes the Cholachat Thawarasakhon Gate was an outflow from the Banyong Rattanat Pond. According to the Boran-Sumet interpretation, the Grape Garden Fort was at the southwest corner of the Grape Garden. The Cholachat Thawarasakhon Gate was an outflow from the Crystal Pond (enclosed Grape Garden). The old documents are not clear on this issue. The Grape Garden bastion is defunct. [2]


The fort can be found on the Kaempfer 1727 CE, Bellin c.1750 CE and Phraya Boran 1926 CE maps. Jacques Nicolas Bellin’s map was likely based on the sketches provided by de La Mare. La Mare arrived in Ayutthaya with the de Chaumont - de Choisy embassy in 1685 CE and remained in Siam at King Narai's request to build fortifications. Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716 CE) was a medical doctor working for the Dutch VOC (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) who surveyed the city of Ayutthaya in June 1690 CE. In his sketches and maps, it looks like the Grape Garden was enclosed. The enclosure of the Grape Garden and the Crystal Pond must thus have occurred between 1685 and 1688 CE.


Footnotes:


(1) Phraya Boran Ratchathanin measured the palace wall south of Wat Phra Si Sanphet and confirmed the height as ten cubits but the width as only four to five cubits. (Baker, 2013).

(2) Khlong Pak Tho is part of a waterway running through the west of Ayutthaya from north to south. The canal was a shortcut through the oxbow of the Lopburi River and connected the old Lopburi River, Khlong Mueang in the north today with - what is today - the Chao Phraya River in the south. The canal originated opposite Wat Choeng Tha and ran west of the Grand Palace to the Lam Hoei Bridge, where its further extension south was called Khlong Chakrai Yai.

(3) Thai Sanom was an area for palace officials who took care of cremations and detained royal family members undergoing punishment for some offence. (Baker, 2013).

(4) The Palace Law or Kot Monthianban is a class of legal texts dating from the Ayutthaya period (14th–18th centuries), prescribing the functions of the monarchy, royal court, and government. The Palace Law was one of the 27 laws compiled in the Three Seals Code, or Kotmai Tra Sam Duang, of 1805 CE on the orders of King Rama I, following the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 CE.


References:


[1] Baker, Chris (2013). The Grand Palace in the Description of Ayutthaya: Translation and Commentary. Journal of the Siam Society, Vol 101.

[2] Ibid.





(The Palace Forts on Google Earth. The forts indicated by a red square are disputed)



Selected PICTURES



Wat Ramawat Corner Fort



Sala Phra Wihan Mongkhon Bophit Fort



MAPS



Map 1 - Detail of Engelbert Kaempfer's Published map 1727 CE in 'The History of Japan (Together with a Description of the Kingdom of Siam)'. John Gaspar Scheuchzer.
Map 2 - Detail of Engelbert Kaempfer's Published map 1727 CE in 'The History of Japan (Together with a Description of the Kingdom of Siam)'. John Gaspar Scheuchzer.
Map 3 - Detail of Jacques Nicolas Bellin's map "Plan De La Ville De Siam’ based on a Jesuit survey in 1687 CE and published as plate No. 4 in volume 9 of the 1752 CE French edition of Abbé Antoine François Prévost's l'Histoire Générale des Voyages.
Map 4 - Detail of Phraya Boran Ratchathanin's map 1926 CE. Wat Suwandararam, Ayutthaya.



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