ナコンシータマラートの拡大政策：1811-1839年

This paper analyzes the expansion of Nakhon Sii Thammarat in the first half of the nineteenth century. Nakhon Sii Thammarat was an entrepot on the eastern coast of Malay peninsula. It was an important hub of Siamese trade-network and a port-polity which maintained the highest administrative rank in Siamese local administration since the Ayutthaya period.After the fall of Ayutthaya, the new Siamese dynasties of Thonburi and Ratanakosin, fundamentally kept the system of trade and former administrative practices of Ayutthaya intact. Nakhon held trade routes to supply products sent to the capital city of Bangkok as tax. However, in the last two decades of the eighteenth century, Nakhon Sii Thammarat confronted various new political and economic conditions. These were the settlement of Penang by the British East India Company which became a significant port-polity and the destruction of Thalang port-polity due to Burmese invasion. Furthermore, Songkhla, a port-polity supported by the King of Siam and Chinese traders developed to rival Nakkhon Sii Thammarat for political and economic positions.In 1811, Noi was appointed as governor of Nakhon Sii Thammarat. Noi was extremely active in expanding his political and economic influence over the southern areas of the Malay peninsula. Several port-polities were put under his control, and Siamese governors were dispatched to the Malay Muslim state of Kedah.Noi’s policy was supported by the powerful aristocrats in the Court of Siam who shared benefits from the southern states. As to the Siamese system, the expansion of local port-polity brought increased benefits to the central port-polity. Thus expansion of Nakhon Sii Thammarat was accepted by the Court of Siam.Movements to prevent the expansion of Nakhon Sii Thammarat began outside Siam. The Malay Muslims revolted against the Siamese governor and the tax system. Another was the East India Company’s intention to demarcate Siamese territory by treaties.After the death of Noi in 1839, Nakhon immediately lost its political influence, and Songkhla gained acceptance in the Court of Siam. Overall, the expansion policy of Nakhon Sii Thammarat provided the Court of Siam an opportunity to acknowledge the need for an efficient system of a centralized administration