AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



THE ROYAL STOREHOUSES





In the early Ayutthaya period, trade was conducted mainly by kings, royal members, and noblemen, while private trading was limited. International trade was almost a monopoly, but free trade was still possible. Trade could be done directly between local and foreign merchants. In the middle Ayutthaya period, the king became increasingly involved in international commerce, and all trade had to go through the government. Revenue came from trading rights, profits, and import and export taxes.


Peter Hourdequin wrote in his review essay 'Muslim Influences in Seventeenth Century Ayutthaya' that by the 17th century, the Ayutthaya monarchy had developed a system of royal warehouses to profit from foreign trade on certain goods. The royal warehouses operated as wholesale outlets in that they bought (or received as tribute) and stockpiled exportable goods of both domestic and foreign origin. [1]


Justus (Joost) Schouten, at the head of a Dutch Embassy, obtained a right to trade for the VOC (Dutch United East India Company) in 1634 CE in paying a sum equivalent to 5000 Florins. Schouten obtained from the Phra Khlang an export monopoly of all East Indian goods to the Dutch and permission to select a site in Ayutthaya on which to build a factory.


In 1662 CE, the king imposed a royal monopoly on all trade and started to send his own trading ships to Japan.





(Tin storehouse near Wat Jao Phrap and along the Chakrai Yai Canal, Ayutthaya)



The Phra Khlang was the minister responsible for external relations and maritime trading affairs. He was in charge of the royal warehouses, the commercial monopolies, and the relations with foreigners. The Phra Khlang, referred to as the "Barcalon" by Western foreigners, was, in fact, the king's personal merchant.


The collection of local products was done through the system of 'suai', royal tributes gained from the dominions. These tributary goods, as well as the incoming goods of high value and arms, were stored in the royal warehouses, ready to be exported. [3]


In the 'Geographical description of Ayutthaya: Documents from the palace', the following storehouses or treasuries were situated outside the Grand Palace. [4]


- The Inner storehouse was beside the Crystal Pond of the Grand Palace. (1)

- The Government storehouse was beside the road of Wat Na Pa Fai. (2)

- The Goods storehouse was beside the Banana Leaf Quarter.

- The warehouse storing gear for war horses was beside the wall of Wat Thammikarat.

- The Inner and Outer Customs storehouses were beside the Jao Phrom Market Road. (3)

- An Armament storehouse was situated along the Nakhon Ban Canal.

- Two other Armament storehouses were by Wat Si Chiang.

- A warehouse building to store bullets and saltpetre (for gunpowder) was in front of Wat Jan and behind Wat Sangkha Phat.

- A warehouse building to store elephant harnesses and gear is beside Wat Yanusenthon. (4)

- There might have also been a warehouse to store articles for festivities, but the text in reference [4] is unclear.





(The Ammunition storehouse at Bueng Phra Ram on Phraya Boran Ratchathanin’s 1926 CE map)



Phraya Boran Ratchathanin (PBR), on his map drafted in 1926 CE, mentions two storehouses, a granary, and an unspecified building (Tuek Din). He drafted the Goods storehouse (Khlang Sinkha) to the southwest of Wat Borom Phuttharam, in an area that is generally accepted as being the Banana Leaf Quarter. He has a tin depository (Khlang Dibuk) near Wat Jao Phrap on the west bank of Khlong Chakrai Yai. A barn or granary was situated opposite Wat Monthian and on the south bank of Khlong Chang Maha Chai. The unspecified building (Tuek Din) could be the Ammunition warehouse to store bullets and saltpetre (for gunpowder). In fact, of all the warehouses summed up in the 'Geographical description of Ayutthaya', there is only the Goods storehouse beside the Banana Leaf Quarter that really could be identified by PBR. I presume that today, there are even no more traces left of the latter.


A 19th-century map indicates a 'Tuek Nakhon Ban' on the Nakhon Ban Canal. It could be the Armament storehouse as given in the 'Geographical description of Ayutthaya', but it could also be the old prison.





(Tuek Nakhon Ban, either the Armament storehouse or a jail on a 19th-century map)



Footnotes:


(1) Chris Baker has here "beside the [throne hall at]{the outer palace wall at the quarter of}Crystal Pond." adding translated parts of similar old documents. [5]

(2) Chris Baker has here "beside the road in front of Wat Pa Fai". Commonly, the monastery is known as Wat Pa Fai (Monastery of the Cotton Quarter). Wat Na Pa Fai can be translated as the Monastery in front of the Cotton Quarter. [5]

(3) Not the location of today's Jao Phrom Market. Trade in the area of today's Jao Phrom Market started with the establishment of the market in the form of permanent buildings around 1980 CE.

(4) Likely today's Wat Yan Sen.


References:


[1] Hourdequin Peter. Muslim Influences in Seventeenth Century Ayutthaya - A Review Essay.

[2] Villiers, John (1986). François Caron and Joost Schouten. A True Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam. Facsimile of the 1671 London edition. The Siam Society, Bangkok.

[3] Charnvit Kasetsiri. Ayudhya And Chinese Connection. Journal of the Siam Society.

[4] Pongsripian, Vinai, Dr. (2007). Phanna phumisathan Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya: Ekasan jak Ho Luang. Geographical description of Ayutthaya: Documents from the palace. Bangkok: Usakane. p. 55.

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



MAPS



All maps - Detail of Phraya Boran Ratchathanin's map 1926 CE. Wat Suwandararam, Ayutthaya.



When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.
(Alexis de Tocqueville)





HISTORY OF AYUTTHAYA



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