Maha Sura Singhanat

Somdet Phra Bawornrajchao Maha Sura Singhanat (; , lit: His Royal Highness, Maharurasinghanat, Prince of Front Palace) (1 November 1744 – 3 November 1803) was the younger brother of Rama I, the first monarch of the Chakri dynasty of Siam. As an Ayutthayan general, he fought alongside his brother in various campaigns against Burmese invaders and the local warlords. When his brother crowned himself as the king of Siam at Bangkok in 1781, he was appointed the Front Palace or Maha Uparaj, the title of the heir. During the reign of his brother, he was known for his important role in the campaigns against Bodawpaya of Burma. Early life Bunma was born in 1744 to Thongdee and Daoreung. His father Thongdee was the Royal Secretary of Northern Siam and Keeper of Royal Seal. As a son of aristocrat, he entered the palace and began his aristocratic life as a royal page. Thongdee was a descendant of Kosa Pan, the leader of Siamese mission to France in the seventeenth century. Bunma had four other siblings and two other half-siblings. Bunma himself was the youngest born to Daoreung. Campaigns against the Burmese In 1767, Ayutthaya was about to fall. Bunma fled the city with a small carrack to join the rest of his family at Amphawa, Samut Songkram. His brother, the Luang Yokbat of Ratchaburi suggested that he should join Taksin's forces at Chonburi.