Social Statuses In The Sukhothai Era

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After the victory over Khmer, the kingdom of Sukhothai was established in the 12th-century, when King Sri Indraditya was the first ruler. The system of government was feudal, in which social status depended on the amount of land owned. However, the king was excluded, as it was believed that the king owned the whole country. Social statuses in the Sukhothai era can be classified as follows; 1. The ruling monarchs and nobilities. 2. The ruled, such as monks and peasants. It is still not clarified if there was slavery system in the Sukhothai era, as it does not exist in the stone inscription. (CHRIS BAKER, PASUK PHONGPAICHIT , 2005) The Ayuttaya kingdom was derived from Sukhothai kingdom; it did however have significant differences from Sukhothai. Theradivada Buddhism was declared as an official religion. The social status was strictly divided between the king and the rest of population, and the nobility was also divided into different classes. The majority population was also distinguished into upper and lower class, depending on the ownership of land(Patit,M 2010). The social hierarchy was a crucial and everyone needed to know their place. Slavery system was also existed in this period of time. The regime continued using slave until the Rattanakosin era. A hundred years ago, King rama V of the kingdom of Rattanakosin ended the feudal system in Thailand and also conducted the abolition of convée and slavery in 1905. This had been set up by King Ramathibodi II in Ayuttaya