by SEAhistory » Wed Jul 17, 2019 5:51 pm
Dear people who are interested in Khmer history,
I have a story to tell.
Here, I will tell you one story which was taken by the Siamese and changed it into a Thai historic legend. It is the legend of Nai Khanom Thom, the father of Muay Thai.
The story goes as following: The Burmese king had conquered part of Ayutthaya and brought with thim all the soldiers of Ayutthaya as prisoners. The Burmese king celebrated his victory, and organized boxing matches between his soldiers and the soldiers of Ayutthaya.
There was one soldier who did a magical dance, and then knocked out the opponent during the fight. This dance is known as Ram-Muay dance, and was an indigenous Cambodian dance (Trot-dance) that was changed into a battle-dance, used to elevate a fighter's soul into the Hindu epic battle of Ramayana. The fighter that develops the most merit during the fight with his fighting skills, will be chosen by the spirit of Rama as the victor. The dance, except to get in trance, is also a sign of respect to the teacher, the spirits, the ancestors, and mother nature. This dance is called Wai Kru (Kru is Khmer word for Guru).
The Burmese believed the soldier had mesmerized the Burmese fighter with this dance, so the king let him fight nine more times to prove he was actually a profficient fighter. He beat all nine fighters with ease. The Burmese king was immensely impressed, and knew right away that he was in the present of very special divine warriors. He gave the soldier his freedom, and offered him a few Burmese wives. The Burmese king said that if all Thai were strong and fearless fighter as the soldier, then the Thai king would not have lost and ruled everything.
Nobody knows what happend to this soldier, who is now known as Nai Khanom Thom, the father of Muay Thai. In Thailand they say that he returned to the kingdom and taught Muay Thai to all the people, from where the art grew and gained a lot of popularity.
The truth is that Nai Khanom Thom was not a Thai, he was a Khmer. His name betrays this. The name Nai Khanom Thom exist out of 'Nai', which means 'Sir' in Burmese, and 'Khanom' and 'Thom' . Khanom has no meaning at all in any South-East Asian languages, except for 'dessert' in Thai (ขมน). 'Thom' does not have any meaning in any South-East Asian langauge, other than 'soup' (ต้ม). Nai Khanom Thom was named after soup and dessert?
In Khmer, however, the term 'Khanom' resembles the Cambodian word 'Khnom' (ខ្ញុំ). The word Khnom is an ancient Khmer word which means 'child', but it was also used to designate people in service of the ancient Cambodian chiefs, and is regarded as the word for slave/servant. It is widely used for many centuries in the ancient Cambodian inscriptions. The word 'Thom' means 'great' in Khmer (ធំ). Nai Khanom Thom would then have the meaning: 'the great respected slave'.
There is no evidence at all that Nai Khanom Thom was Thai, and there exist no evidence at all that he returned to Thailand, which is odd, since he popularized Muay Thai and must have received a lot of praise and respect from the Thai people. The historic sources of that time in Thailand were reasonably on point, so his presence would surely have been noted and told in history books. However, there is no trace of him at all in Thailand, and only after 1770, when Thailand completely conquered Myanmar, this story of Nai Khanom Thom appeared out of nothing.
There is, however, a trace of him going back to Cambodia. In 1702, a Cambodian Samré returned from captivity from Myanmar. He said he was destined to became their ruler and started a rebellion that didn't have much effect. The Thai were too strong and in the 18th century they conquered the whole of Myanmar, Laos, (Cambodia was already completely conquered in 1594 AD: the fall of Longvek).
There are still Chong people living in the Cardamom mountains stating that they were held captive by Ayutthaya and got away. I have no doubt in my mind that these people are the descendants of the followers of Khnom Thom, the father of Muay Thai, which should be named Muay Khom (meaning magic fighting) as the Cambodian word for fighting today; Yutthakhun Khom (magic fist fighting).
There is also no evidence of any trace of Muay Thai before the legend of Khnom Thom in Thailand. There is only one placque from Talaing, Southern Myanmar, that portrays a boxing match from before the fifth century. There is however, lots of evidence that Muay Thai was invented in Cambodia.
The Cambodian temples of Angkor have many depictions of these fighters, who are accompanied by musicians. The dance derrived from Hinduist believes, and depicts the epic battle of Ramayana. The fighter who builds up the most merit during the fight will be the one that was chosen by Rama as the victor. That's why they call the music today 'Ram Muay'. The traditional dance resembles the royal dances of the ancient Khmer kingdom. Dancers were selected and taught to perform magical dances to influence the weather and harvests positively, and if you pay close attention to the movements of the dance, you can see that the Ram Muay descends from the Trot-dance of Cambodia.
The Burmese had already incorporated the fighting techniques among their armies when they saw Khnom Thom fight. They were so impressed that they wanted to have the art among their own soldiers, and called it 'Lethwei". And this is how Muay Thai and Lethwei originated.
The headband (mongkon) is no longer worn in Cambodia, but the word 'mongkon' is a Khmer word and means 'magic'. There is no Thai, Burmese, or Mon word for mongkon, again indicating that Muay Thai was a Cambodian invention.
It is said that the Cambodians were not allowed to tell their legends, and any Cambodian trying to tell any story about their history would be persecuted. The Cambodians had tricks to keep their history known among the people. For instance, they used the first-person noun as 'Khnom'. Whenever the Cambodian talks about himself, he uses the word Khnom so that the story of Khnom Thom, the great fighter slave, would never be forgotten.
Dear people who are interested in Khmer history,
I have a story to tell.
Here, I will tell you one story which was taken by the Siamese and changed it into a Thai historic legend. It is the legend of Nai Khanom Thom, the father of Muay Thai.
The story goes as following: The Burmese king had conquered part of Ayutthaya and brought with thim all the soldiers of Ayutthaya as prisoners. The Burmese king celebrated his victory, and organized boxing matches between his soldiers and the soldiers of Ayutthaya.
There was one soldier who did a magical dance, and then knocked out the opponent during the fight. This dance is known as Ram-Muay dance, and was an indigenous Cambodian dance (Trot-dance) that was changed into a battle-dance, used to elevate a fighter's soul into the Hindu epic battle of Ramayana. The fighter that develops the most merit during the fight with his fighting skills, will be chosen by the spirit of Rama as the victor. The dance, except to get in trance, is also a sign of respect to the teacher, the spirits, the ancestors, and mother nature. This dance is called Wai Kru (Kru is Khmer word for Guru).
The Burmese believed the soldier had mesmerized the Burmese fighter with this dance, so the king let him fight nine more times to prove he was actually a profficient fighter. He beat all nine fighters with ease. The Burmese king was immensely impressed, and knew right away that he was in the present of very special divine warriors. He gave the soldier his freedom, and offered him a few Burmese wives. The Burmese king said that if all Thai were strong and fearless fighter as the soldier, then the Thai king would not have lost and ruled everything.
Nobody knows what happend to this soldier, who is now known as Nai Khanom Thom, the father of Muay Thai. In Thailand they say that he returned to the kingdom and taught Muay Thai to all the people, from where the art grew and gained a lot of popularity.
The truth is that Nai Khanom Thom was not a Thai, he was a Khmer. His name betrays this. The name Nai Khanom Thom exist out of 'Nai', which means 'Sir' in Burmese, and 'Khanom' and 'Thom' . Khanom has no meaning at all in any South-East Asian languages, except for 'dessert' in Thai (ขมน). 'Thom' does not have any meaning in any South-East Asian langauge, other than 'soup' (ต้ม). Nai Khanom Thom was named after soup and dessert?
In Khmer, however, the term 'Khanom' resembles the Cambodian word 'Khnom' (ខ្ញុំ). The word Khnom is an ancient Khmer word which means 'child', but it was also used to designate people in service of the ancient Cambodian chiefs, and is regarded as the word for slave/servant. It is widely used for many centuries in the ancient Cambodian inscriptions. The word 'Thom' means 'great' in Khmer (ធំ). Nai Khanom Thom would then have the meaning: 'the great respected slave'.
There is no evidence at all that Nai Khanom Thom was Thai, and there exist no evidence at all that he returned to Thailand, which is odd, since he popularized Muay Thai and must have received a lot of praise and respect from the Thai people. The historic sources of that time in Thailand were reasonably on point, so his presence would surely have been noted and told in history books. However, there is no trace of him at all in Thailand, and only after 1770, when Thailand completely conquered Myanmar, this story of Nai Khanom Thom appeared out of nothing.
There is, however, a trace of him going back to Cambodia. In 1702, a Cambodian Samré returned from captivity from Myanmar. He said he was destined to became their ruler and started a rebellion that didn't have much effect. The Thai were too strong and in the 18th century they conquered the whole of Myanmar, Laos, (Cambodia was already completely conquered in 1594 AD: the fall of Longvek).
There are still Chong people living in the Cardamom mountains stating that they were held captive by Ayutthaya and got away. I have no doubt in my mind that these people are the descendants of the followers of Khnom Thom, the father of Muay Thai, which should be named Muay Khom (meaning magic fighting) as the Cambodian word for fighting today; Yutthakhun Khom (magic fist fighting).
There is also no evidence of any trace of Muay Thai before the legend of Khnom Thom in Thailand. There is only one placque from Talaing, Southern Myanmar, that portrays a boxing match from before the fifth century. There is however, lots of evidence that Muay Thai was invented in Cambodia.
The Cambodian temples of Angkor have many depictions of these fighters, who are accompanied by musicians. The dance derrived from Hinduist believes, and depicts the epic battle of Ramayana. The fighter who builds up the most merit during the fight will be the one that was chosen by Rama as the victor. That's why they call the music today 'Ram Muay'. The traditional dance resembles the royal dances of the ancient Khmer kingdom. Dancers were selected and taught to perform magical dances to influence the weather and harvests positively, and if you pay close attention to the movements of the dance, you can see that the Ram Muay descends from the Trot-dance of Cambodia.
The Burmese had already incorporated the fighting techniques among their armies when they saw Khnom Thom fight. They were so impressed that they wanted to have the art among their own soldiers, and called it 'Lethwei". And this is how Muay Thai and Lethwei originated.
The headband (mongkon) is no longer worn in Cambodia, but the word 'mongkon' is a Khmer word and means 'magic'. There is no Thai, Burmese, or Mon word for mongkon, again indicating that Muay Thai was a Cambodian invention.
It is said that the Cambodians were not allowed to tell their legends, and any Cambodian trying to tell any story about their history would be persecuted. The Cambodians had tricks to keep their history known among the people. For instance, they used the first-person noun as 'Khnom'. Whenever the Cambodian talks about himself, he uses the word Khnom so that the story of Khnom Thom, the great fighter slave, would never be forgotten.