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longtime. In 1767 these Buddhists of Burma did
not scruple to destroy Ayuthia as well as numerous
temples and images of the city. The constant Burmese
invasion had weakened the royal power and this
invasion came as the final blow to the ruling royal
dynasty. For the time being it seemed as if the
kingdom of Siam would die out, but it was not to be
so. A Siamese leader of Chinese origin, named
Phfiya Tak Sin rallied the scattered Siamese army,
drove the Burmese and established the new capital at
Bangkok, which is called the capital of the Angels.
Unfortunately, Phaya Tak Sin could not rule for a
long time. With the fall of Ayuthia, the monks had
become disorganised and corruption was prevailing in
the Buddhist church. The new king would not
tolerate such corruption and introduced drastic reform
in the church. But it was not liked by many, accord-
ingly he was deposed in 1782.
I—CHAO PHAYA CHAKKRI
(1782)
In the same year another dynasty was established
at Bangkok by Chao Phaya Chakkri (1782). The
present ruling king of Siam claims descent from this
new dynasty, being the sixth king of the dynasty.
For the purpose of reforming the Buddhist church,
Chao Phiya Chakkri called together a Council to
revise the texts of the Tripitaka. Thus this new
dynasty began its rule by the reformation of the
Buddhist church. The new king also made a special