Curse on the Water of Allegiance : the Power of “Curse” or the Power of “Surveillance” ?

Abstract

“Ongkarn Chaengnam” [ The Curse on the Water of Allegiance ] has been regarded as the oldest extant text of Ayutthaya Kingdom (1350 – 1767 A.D.). The length of merely 4 pages but full of archaic words, the Curse has stimulated highly different interpretations since King Chulalongkorn (1868 -1911) and King Vajiravudh (1911- 1925). In general, the Curse is viewed as the loyalty the Khunnang (the nobilities) professed to the monarchy. Hitherto, the study of the Curse focussed on its content. This article proposes instead that apart from its content, the importance of the Curse in Ayutthayan political life depended more on process upon which this ritual was performed. In other words, the ceremony in itself was the “surveillance” process the monarchy imposed upon the nobilities of the realm in order to safeguard the basic stability of the polity.