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ANALYSIS OF THE ANCIENT ANNALS OF SIAM. 
INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
1. The Siamese in their historical writings give to their country 
the name ofSayam pratbet—country of Say am, and of Muang 
thai—kingdom of Thai. 
According to a number of learned Siamese whom I have 
questioned on the subject, their name of Sayam. comes from the 
Sanscrit Syama which signifies a medium colour between black 
and white. In their bali language this word is written Sanaa, and 
has the same meaning. * 
The word Thai in the Siamese language signifies free. They 
took this name, according to their own account, in the time of one 
of their former kings called Ruang, who freed the nation from the 
yoke of the king of Camboja. 
All the neighbouring people designate the Siamese under the name 
of Siam, pronounced a little differently according to the genius of 
each language. Thus the name of Siam was not invented by the 
first Europeans who visited this kingdom, as I think has been 
asserted by some authors. 
2. The Siamese divide their country into two parts, the North 
and the South; they give th6 name of Upper Siam (in their 
language Muang nua) to the northern part; the south part forms 
Lower Siam (Muang tai), and as the kings of Siam resided in 
Upper Siam many years before establishing themselves in the lower 
division, the Siamese have divided their annals into two parts, one 
called annals of Upper Siam, and the other annals of the royal city 
of Juthia. 
The analysis which I give here contains the first part of these 
annals. This part is full of fables, improbabilities, of anachronisms, 
and presents only a few historical facts. It seems to me, however, 
that this analysis will not be wholly useless, because it is not 
impossible that afterwards, by comparing this small number of facts 
with the histories of the neighbouring nations, and above all with 
the monuments which may be discovered in the ruins of ancient 
cities, we may be able to reconstruct the history of Siam, at least 
in part. 
3. The Siamese have two eras which they sometimes employ 
conjointly, although the one is more particularly employed for 
religious matters, and the other for civil affairs. 
Their principal era is that which dates from the death of Buddha 
SomanakhMom. Our year 1848 corresponds to the year 2391 of 
this era, which consequently commenced 543 years before the 
Christian era. The Siamese give the name of Phuthtba Sakkarat, 
which means the era of Buddha, to this era. 
Their second era, which they call the little era, in their language 
Chula sakkarat, dates from one of their ancient kings, regarding 
whom they are not at all agreed, some saying that it is the king 
