Buddhist kingship
Buddhist kingship refers to the beliefs and practices with regard to kings and queens in traditional Buddhist societies, as informed by Buddhist teachings. This is expressed and developed in Pāli and Sanskrit literature, early, later, as well as vernacular, and evidenced in epigraphic findings. Forms of kingship that could be described as Buddhist kingship existed at least from the time of Emperor Aśoka the Great and Kanishka. Important concepts that were used with regard to Buddhist kingship are merit, pāramī, 'person of merit', 'wheel-turning monarch', and Bodhisatta. Many of these beliefs and practices continue to inspire and inform current kingship in contemporary Buddhist countries. Since the 2000s, studies have also began to focus on the role of Buddhist queens in Asian history.
Origins
In a traditional Buddhist society such as Thailand, the king's role in society and position in the hierarchy was defined by Buddhist cosmography, which considered someone's role and position the result of karma accumulated throughout many lifetimes. In the Tipiṭaka, ideas about good governance are framed in terms of the ideal of the Cakkavati, the king who rules righteously and non-violently according to Dharma. His roles and duties are discussed extensively, especially in the Mahasudassana Sutta and the Cakkavatti-sihanada Sutta. The Cakkavatti must be a moral example to the people and possess enough spiritual merit and wisdom. It is through this that he earns his sovereignty, as opposed to merely inheriting it. Moreover, he is described to significantly affect society's morals.Apart from the Tipitaka, Pāli chronicles such as the Mahāvaṃsa and the Jinakālamālī have contributed to ideas of Buddhist kingship. Also, the Buddha himself was born as a prince, and was also a king in a previous life. Moreover, the Emperor Aśoka is featured in the later Pāli works as an important patron supporting the Sangha. In traditional chronicles, many of the kings mentioned in later Pāli works were considered part of the same dynasty. This dynasty of meritorious kings stretched back until the beginning of the current aeon, and in vernacular Pāli works and pre-modern traditions, the kings of Buddhist societies were linked to the same dynasty, through "ties of incarnation." Kings in Buddhist societies identified themselves with traditional kings in Buddhist texts, and this identification was expressed through discourse and ritual.
Kingship and merit-making
In South and Southeast Asia, kingship and merit-making were not mutually exclusive. Merit-making was not only a practice for the masses, but was also practiced by royalty. In vernacular Pāli works, examples are given of royalty performing meritorious acts, sometimes as a form of repentance for previously committed wrongdoings.Because of these traditions, kings have had an important role in maintaining the Sangha, and publicly performed grand acts of merit-making, as testified by epigraphic evidence from South and Southeast Asia. In Sri Lanka, from the tenth century CE onward, kings have taken on the role of lay protectors of the Sangha, including Thai kings, during the periods of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya. In fact, a number of kings in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma have described themselves as "Bodhisattas." Epithets and Buddhist terminology within royal language were established accordingly. The accumulation of merit in past lives has been attributed to kings' rise to power, and is captured in the Burmese and Thai sociological concepts of hpone and barami respectively, both of which have endured in the modern era.