Chakravartin Belief Appearing in the Names of King Rama V’s Sons and Daughters

Abstract

This article is an academic article whose main objective was to study the belief in Chakravartin of the ruling class, especially in Siam, a country where such belief has been adopted in order to increase the king’s administrative status and become the Chakravartin king. The theoretical concepts comprise three elements: 1) great merit that renders a person destined to be the Chakravartin king, 2) auspicious tokens symbolizing the Chakravartin king, and 3) the Chakravartin king’s manners.

The results, derived from a study of relevant research and documents, revealed that King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), who succeeded to the throne of the Chakri Dynasty, had the belief in Chakravartin through the way he governed the country and traditions. Particularly, there was a significant issue involved in the Chakravartin belief, that is, the names of his sons and daughters, whose meanings were related to the seven sacred jewels. It was also found that King Chulalongkorn had qualities comparable to those of the Chakravartin king.