Mongkut
King of Siam from 1851 to 1868
Mongkut (18 October 1804 – 1 October 1868), posthumously honoured as King Mongkut the Great was the king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama IV. He reigned from 1851 until his death in 1868. Although the term "Siam" had long been used by foreigners to refer to the kingdom, the title "King of Siam" came to be formally adopted during his reign, particularly in official and diplomatic contexts.
The reign of Mongkut was marked by significant modernization initiatives and diplomatic engagements, which played pivotal roles in shaping Siam's trajectory towards progress and international relations. It was during his reign that Siam first felt the pressure of Western expansionism. Mongkut embraced Western innovations and initiated reforms in technology, science, and culture, earning him the posthumous title "the Father of Science and Technology" in Siam. His accurate prediction of the total solar eclipse of 18 August 1868 – later dubbed "the King of Siam's eclipse" – demonstrated his scientific acumen and became a symbol of Siam's engagement with modern science.
Mongkut was also known for appointing his younger brother, Prince Chutamani, as Second King, crowned in 1851 as King Pinklao. Mongkut told the country that Pinklao should be respected with equal honor to himself (as King Naresuan had done with his brother Ekathotsarot in 1583). During Mongkut's reign, the power of the House of Bunnag reached its zenith: It became the most powerful noble family of Siam.
Mongkut is known in the West primarily through the lens of the 1951 musical The King and I and its 1956 film adaptation, in which he was portrayed by Yul Brynner.
The public source identifies “Mongkut” as king of Siam from 1851 to 1868. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mongkut, King and Siam.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q312849. VIAF identifies the subject as 267562789. The Library of Congress control number is n50004210. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1804, 1868, 1851 and 1583.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mongkut” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.