Balancing the foreign and the familiar in the articulation of kingship: The royal court Brahmans of Thailand
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Scholars of Southeast Asia have for several decades moved away from theories of ‘Indianisation’, in favour of theories of ‘localisation’. So far, however, there has been little attempt to apply the methodological shift from Indianisation to localisation to an important living relic of the prime agents of older Indianisation theories: the royal court Brahmans of Thailand. In this article, I examine the history of this still-functioning Southeast Asian Brahmanical institution, with respect both to evidence of its ties to India and to the ways it has been ‘localised’. I argue that it is best understood as a local articulation of kingship, negotiating a necessary tension between the foreign and the familiar in royal ritual.
Author: Nathan McGovern
Language: English
Topic: Indian and Buddhist Studies
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2610232171